Tried something (almost) completely different this week. Only once before in the Cycle have I worked completely without guitars (SC#29: Faith). Only once before have I worked without lyrics (SC#3: Timeblazer). And really only once before have I tried writing by sequencing music, rather than recording live takes (SC#23: I Resolve, sort of).

Truth be told, though, those really weren’t the reasons why I wrote Bad Luck/Good Luck this week - though it was nice to revisit some methods I rarely use. The party that inspired SC#27: Maya Dances Trees last summer was sound-tracked by my friend Stevo, and he was playing a lot of great, new-to-me dance music - classic stuff from the early 90s, extended programmed stuff, and some modern, spacey cuts. What really caught my ear were the tunes that fell into that last category - the sort of rave/trance tracks (I’m not sure what they would officially be called) that build slowly and surely to epic sizes. They have far out, treated hooks that repeat until they’re totally familiar and then layer on top of each other, creating a almost palpably thick jungle of sound. It was the first time in my adult life that I found something other than rock and roll to be the perfect music for the middle of the night.

With a little extra time on my hands, I wanted to try and replicate that feeling - my specific goal being to create a “trance” track that would be solid enough to make it on to Stevo’s ipod. I started with a simple bass line that I distorted to thicken up the low end (I’m pretty sure most folks consume the Song Cycle via their tinny, less-than-bass-friendly laptop speakers), and looped it to infinity while experimenting with hooks. When I found something I liked, I’d record it into the loop, so that anything else I wrote would need to build on top of it. Once I had that “jungle of hooks,” I took a few steps backwards, splitting them up and sequencing them into a build.

I worked with one section of the song until I got bored and then started over to create a second section (the ‘Good’ and the ‘Bad’ lucks). I linked them together with as many tricks as I could remember from last summer - the drop out and slow rebuild, the EQ switch from bass to treble for the drum track, etc. I had fun imitating the sounds I remembered - some of which I simply stumbled across while experimenting with rhythms and audio treatments.

I faced a few problems that I never quite figured out. Most importantly was the repetitive and pretty boring drum track - I wish I’d done a bit more research on how to program and treat the drums in this case, especially since they’re so important in this genre. I also had some trouble trusting my hooks for the build. I love dancing, but I wasn’t dancing while I wrote this - That means I was constantly second guessing how long I could trust a hook to last before it got boring. I’ve been to clubs before where they hang the same groove up for minutes on end with very few changes. I wonder if this track’s a bit too spastic with it’s build and changes to really get into a groove at all.

I do know that I had a blast trying this style out. I still very much felt I was doing my “thing” (hooks, builds, dance), but also fell in love with the form’s freedom in a way I haven’t elsewhere in a while. I think I’ll be giving this another try soon. And I’ll be sure to post an update on whether Stevo approves.

UPDATE: He likes it! He said it sounds like early House music (so I was off with all that "Trance" stuff). Mission accomplished!