Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.
𝘼́𝙧𝙗𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙣 𝙁𝙡𝙤𝙧 – 𝘼𝙙𝙖́𝙣 𝙍𝙖𝙢𝙞́𝙧𝙚𝙯
Charles discards his inner geek…
In my line of work, I listen to a great deal of music. Nah, let’s start again. I listen to a great deal of music. I always have done. But even more so in recent years, perhaps due to my line of work. Yeah, that’s better. And what’s my line of work? Some of you may chortle at such a question because to you it’s very much known. But I have come to realise that many newer members of the community actually have no idea what I do, other than writing these weekly articles. I’m a mixing engineer, a fixing engineer and a producer. This is what I do for my pennies, in order to retain that flapping roof over my head (and I don’t mean a combover). I also make music of my own – although there haven’t actually been any new releases in quite a while. Friday did however see the release of a new Bernice Marsala song, which features me in various ways. It’s called Crazy One. So that’s one shameless plug done. The other shameless plug is this. Should you feel that your music could do with a little oomph, un petit peu de pizzazz, or even just a little loving (early in the morning), feel free to get in touch with me. Whether it’s just a little vocal tuning or click removal, whether it’s a general mix, or even a full production; maybe the song just needs a bit of balancing… I’m here to help. I’ll stick a link at the bottom of the article for anyone who might be interested – here you’ll find more info, a playlist of my mixes and productions, and some before/after videos. Right. Shameless plugs are done. I don’t really like doing this, but occasionally promo is necessary – I am notoriously poor at promotion. Apologies to those who thumped the table with a clenched fist while muttering profanities. You can unclench now.
Where was I? Oh yes. Listening to a great deal of music. This is what I do when I’m not working (working is also a time of constant listening). I have noticed a change over the years in how I listen to music. I used to listen like normal people. Hearing the song as a whole. Just simply enjoying the music – or not, as the case may be. But it was just about enjoyment. The joy of music; the reason I fell in love with music in the first place. Lately, however, I have found myself zoning in and analysing. I have naturally turned into a bit of a geek. Sure, I still can’t help but hear the song itself, but I tend to concentrate on the nitty-gritty. This is something I simply cannot help. It is my job. It is my life. I am fascinated by how a piece is put together. Compelled by production techniques and mixing magic. I think one main reason this is happening now and not, say, a decade ago is because artists tend to (seemingly) concentrate more on the sound, the performance and the feel than the writing itself. Meaning that there is more emphasis on production and mixing than the bare bones of the song. The wow factor has changed from “Woah, that melody makes me tingle” to “Woah, it feels like it’s surrounding me” (or “Woah, that bass kicks ass”). And I believe to a certain extent, that this is the case for many modern listeners – we have all become a bit geeky.
Occasionally, though, the technical aspect takes a backseat and we are overwhelmed (in a good way) by the art, and not by the craft – like we used to be. Of course, the sound is still absolutely vital, otherwise its flaws can be a distraction from the art. The best mixing is invisible/inaudible. The best production is simply inseparable from the song itself. Have you noticed that you pay attention to the mixing on independent releases more than mainstream releases? That you concentrate more on the song itself with mainstream releases? This tends to be because they have a team of 10 people making sure that everything is perfect, regarding the technical aspect, leaving our ears free to admire the mediocre mainstream song itself. Because, yes, writing has undoubtedly gone downhill when it comes to the mainstream. They tend to rely on around 3 of the world’s hottest mixing engineers to save a weary song from drowning. And that’s where independent music tends to shine… The writing. The best is leagues above the mainstream. But then the sound can sometimes be lacking. Which (for me, at least) is a mighty shame – hence my initial second plug above. Ahem. Great, balanced sound allows your unique song and artistry to shine. Adding great sound to great music trumps the mainstream.
That feeling of being taken over by the music, is something to which nothing else compares. When the only distraction is a welcome one: the music becomes a distraction from life. But you know what also makes a welcome change? Listening to something different. Something you might not usually choose to listen to. Something that wouldn’t even occur to you. Take, for example, classical music. Honestly, how many of you have actively put on a classical piece of music, album or playlist in the month? I would imagine, relatively few of you. And I get it, there’s no solid beat to nod to, no vocal line to sing along to, no lyrics to identify with, no swanky OWgan solo “with which to get funky” (thank you, Homer Simpson). But where it has none of these familiar pleasures, it has plenty of potentially unfamiliar ones. Sure, classical music can be a bit daunting if you’re not used to it. Or even if you ARE! There is just SO much, and some pieces can be an hour long. The automatic (and easiest) decision might be “Ain’t nobody got taam fo’ dat”, but if that’s the way you’re viewing life, then maybe you don’t deserve such goodness. We need to be open and willing, we need to be curious, and we need to bother. There is of course the risk that it doesn’t float your boat and you’ve potentially lost an hour of your life, but you don’t know until you try. You might kick yourself for having never given it the chance. It might be just what you need! When you eat out, do you always go for the same thing? Do you always opt for the tried and tested “safe option”? Or do you live a little and discover something new and fabulous? I understand that you might not like it, but it’s always worth trying new things.
This week’s new thing is not something that will take away much of your precious free time. I heard your sigh of relief as you unclenched once more. It is 2 minutes and 27 seconds, leaving you ample time to twiddle your thumbs afterwards. But somehow I doubt you’ll only want to play it just the once. In being such a brief piece, you can guzzle its goodness many times over, and STILL you’ll have plenty of time to do whatever you wish to do in your spare time. Please welcome Adán Ramírez to this particular Corner. Having appeared here once before, this Mexican man is not the type to occasionally release the odd ditty. Adán is evidently driven, as shown by his prolific output. Having done my fair share of writing over the years, I would say that it takes more time, effort and experience to compose a fully orchestrated classical piece, than to write and produce a pop song. And yet, Adán released 25 pieces, just last year! This new release of his – ‘Árboles en Flor’ – is his 7th of the year so far. Normally, with this kind of frantic output these days, I might naturally become suspicious. Especially if the quality holds up (which it does). Is this real music? Is this actually a plethora of human creations, or is this something rather more automatic, with the release being just as unfamiliar to the artist as it is to us…? Thankfully, Adán Ramírez prides himself on not using any HAL (A.I.) for his creations, because he sees that HAL has no place in the creative side of the art process. He enjoys this very process. That’s the whole point of a talented artist. And this particular one is highly prolific. While we don’t have many classical composers in the community, we do have a few. I do however consider Adán to be among the very best of them. Let’s look at ‘Árboles en Flor’.
Okay, let’s LISTEN to it, then. We commence straight in with a Spring field of woodwind. The bassoon cheekily and tentatively pads like footsteps up to no good, while flute, oboe and cor anglais (English horn) hold the windy melody in staggered harmony. Within just 12 seconds, the strings come into bloom. The piece translates as “flowering trees”, after all. By just 33 seconds in, we have soft horns marching carefully, so as not to compress the soil; their watering cans giving life to the strings that follow at 0:46, complete with cymbal swell and timpani roll. 0:54 gives way to the flutes, as they climb like a spiralling ivy with counterpart from the lower range woodwind. It’s like watching one of those mesmerising natural timelapses from an Attenborough series (Happy Centenary, Sir David!). The cor anglais and oboe then round off the flutes with a tip of colour. 1:35 sees a conversation between older, experienced strings and younger, eager flutes and piccoli. Our final 34 seconds is a culmination of everything as if it were truly Spring. A dazzling waltz! And yet… While the introduction seems somewhat positive and perky, this piece largely remains rather sad in a minor key, with doses of “maybe things will be okay in the end”. Perhaps this is Winter saying goodbye as it passes the baton to this new, fragrant season. As with all of Adán Ramírez’ work, he does everything himself, from first idea to final master. This is his way of sprinkling beauty on a world that needs all the beauty it can get. As usual, it’s pretty pointless to describe music, so you’d be much better off sticking on your headphones and listening. You might find your day to be that little bit more peaceful and enriched.
Do you think me insane for choosing a classical piece this week…? I can’t be the crazy one in the room…
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