High Space Drifter

Continuing with the theme of creating a sound environment I came up with this ditty: High Space Drifter.

Here I was imagining a band of vagabonds playing in a nearly empty hold of some space cargo freighter. Needless to say I used a bit of reverb on this one. Also, I used effects filters (echo, flange, etc.) to alter each of the instruments: guitar, horn, bass, percussion. I imagined these as being some sort of future variety that was reminiscent of traditional instruments but not quite the same.

Which brings me to a point about virtual or software instruments. Here I worked hard to get them to sound like they may have been blown or plucked (as opposed to tapping the melodies out on the keyboard). I think I made strides in improving my technique but I also realized the project of recreating the richness of an expertly played guitar or trumpet is probably hopeless and certainly not worth pursuing.

I think the value and fun of virtual instruments is to use them on their own terms and not try to pass them off as the real thing. I offer High Space Drifter as an example of doing that. Some of the results are little surprising. There are a couple of guitar licks at the end that may well be impossible to play on a real guitar (unless you have three hands).