[Giant Hamster]

A chill out track with bass, brass, rhodes and guitar. It's pretty quiet and laid back throughout but jumps up a bit around 2:00 with some nice chord changes and brass around 2:30. The solo trumpet is from a Herb Alpert song. The other brass and instruments are programmed.

Download:
http://hamsteralliance.com/quicksongs2/Hamst3r%20-%20Time%20Out.mp3 (~5.46mb)

[balistic]

I predict that Gort will like this one.

I like it too. This is by far my favorite out of all of your tracks. Is the guitar programmed too? What are you using for that?
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brian.prince|light.comp.paint

[Giant Hamster]

;D

The guitar is programmed, yeah. It's the "Bluesmaster" soundfont from the Quantum Leap Guitar and Bass library, sequenced with the Jeskola XS-1 sampler. It has about 5 velocity zones for different sounds. Most of the slides are faked.

It's the same guitar as in an older THA track called "Chill Groove" which is similar but more hip hop elevator music sounding: Chill Groove.mp3

[balistic]

Dope. Keep on truckin.
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brian.prince|light.comp.paint

[Lunatique]

I like the feel of it, and you're always so good at the production/arrangement end of thing. But it always seem like your melodic development is fragmented--almost in a loop-like manner (talking about the guitar). I don't think I've ever heard you actually develop a full melodic line that travels some sort of a journey--even a short one. You tend to favor fragmented licks strung together--maybe it's a personal taste thing. The repeating brass line could also use more variation. I think repeating works when it's a riff, but as a melodic line, repeating is tricky unless you do it in a clever way.

It's funny, I just went over to your site not too long ago because I was getting withdraw from lack of new hamster tunes. I thought maybe you'd have stuff that you forgot to share with us here. I found your MySpace page too.

[Giant Hamster]

[Lunatique]

[Nilwort]

Giant Hamster!
Hymn Compo 6!
2:17...Awesome.

[Nilwort]

I'd also like to add to some of the stuff Lunatique said. I think formal training tends to give people a better understanding of the fundamental concepts of a particular study and maybe some more discipline, but on its own, that training is completely lifeless. When I mess around with making music or art, I really try to get in touch with the basic feeling of what I want to express and then try to manipulate the tools/media I am using to present that feeling as accurately as possible. With visual art, you have to learn about color, value, composition, ect., and with music, it is about harmony, rhythm, and getting a song or track to progress in a captivating way.

So, yes, formal training is good, but all artists and musicians need something else in addition to this. Something that comes from the sum of all their personal experiences and their passions in life. In my opinion, when this shows through in an artist's or musician's work, the viewer or listener will be helpless to not feel some sort of appreciation for it.

You do need to know your medium and the fundamental concepts behind your art form, but if your passion is strong enough, all that learning will happen automatically as you struggle to express your vision. That is why art and music are so great. You can let your intuition guide you and let your analytical side take a subordinate role learning the basics in the background. You still, of course, need a lot of discipline to work through all of this and the ability to see your work objectively. I don't consider myself a great artist or musician, but when I imagine myself as one, this is the kind of stuff I think about.

This is a really good article about learning how to practice intelligently that sort of ties into this.

Sorry if that sounds preachy. Your stuff sounds good Giant Hamster, keep at it.

[Max]

Very unusual compared to your other stuff. - I Love it anyway!!!

[Ian Jones]

Love it, really nice track.