14. C# Minor (111 BPM)

Episode Description:

The Wheel of Destiny is putting random to the test by serving up C# Minor on Episode 14 of ’10 Minutes to Make a Loop.’ After a quick monologue about his desire to put his most authentic self and music out there and about choosing fun over perfection in the studio, Oliver is ready for a tempo consultation. The Balls of Fate select 111 beats per minute for this episode, and immediately begs the question “is three ones a good sign?” Eager to find the answer, Oliver dives straight into the jam session. He starts by exploring around on the piano, using an Akai MPK249 controller. After a minute of fumbling around, nothing quite inspires anything to start the loop so Oliver decides to lay down the tempo first. He uses a couple of percussion shakers to establish 111 BPM. Hearing the percussive layer starts the creative juices flowing, so Oliver cycles through some synthesizer and pad sounds to see if anything sparks an idea. A Mellotron strings sound triggers some interest, but because of the uncertainty of the random key, he keeps moving to find a different synth sound until a soothing, calming ambient pad synth sound emerges. Once a simple chord progression comes together using that sound, the live loop is alive and off. Immediately Oliver hops over to the bass synth to add a driving, energetic bassline using an Akai MPK mini. This driving bass part inspires a simple kick and snare/clap pattern on the electronic drum kit using a Korg nanoPAD2. Unsure of the tightness of the rhythm section with the drum pattern added, Oliver adds emphasis to the snare by adding another percussion instrument; a collection of shells tied as a shaker. He then grabs the guitar before realising the drums could in fact be tighter; a quick redo of tracking them and he proves that to be true. It’s then over to the guitar for an atmospheric, hypnotic guitar solo that intertwines simple lead melody lines and loose solo sections. A few guitar loops are pieced together, taking us on an epic journey through different dynamics coloured in reverb, tape delay, shimmer delay and a touch of distortion and gain. Oliver envelops us in meditative, soothing, mellow, sound bath type atmospheric music to get lost in, music to sleep to, music to meditate to. Warm guitar tones and stream of consciousness, improvised playing.