CHARLIE TWITCH

DOWN IN THE DARK

admin — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:44:06 +0000

Silent update, February has been insane. Played shows on the 5th and 10th that went pretty swell if I may say so. Wrapping up the Original Words EP mix and artwork has been a learning experience (I’m still not set on a printing method). Mixing an EP and a full length for some good friends and doing my best to compete in the 2012 RPM Challenge. It should be interesting to see when and how everything comes crashing into place at the end of the month… I am also having some of my lyrics in an upcoming Montreal zine thanks to Marcus Lake (Markus Floats, Silver Dapple). More info on that in the coming days.

Here are two songs of no consequence that I figured somebody out there could appreciate. Both are electronic and were part of Derm, an early, early version of what is now Black Friend.

Pleasure in Parts (2007)

Muik (2007)

SOMETIMES IN MY DREAMS I HEAR

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:17:33 +0000

Here is a FLIST! work in progess that I’ve been hammering out for the last few months that I hope to include on the incredibly delayed and over-produced Black Friend album this year. I will also be playing the full song at my upcoming shows on the 5th and 10th of February.

¡FLIST! – Set (2011-2012, unreleased work in progress)

The intro is taken from Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra’s Sundown Sundown off of Nancy and Lee from 1968. While sounding similar there are quite a few differences, particularly how much heavier I wanted my version to sound as it serves a different purpose to the song. While the Lee Hazlewood version starts off sweet and rises into a bass and kick heavy bombast mine stays relatively flat and drops off into a broken beat. Another disparity between the two is the use of virtual instruments for the strings and horns. Little has been done other than velocity control to hide this fact and there is still quite a bit to be done at this point but it should still give a good idea of what my intentions are.

For those who know the Hazlewood original my hope is that they will be reminded of Lee’s opening lines which will be tied into the songs lyrics later on. Working such direct references into anything is always a risk as it can often take a lot away from the song if it’s success is dependent on the audience getting an inside joke. Here is the original intro:

Nancy & Lee – Sundown Sundown (excerpt; 1968, Lee Hazlewood, Billy Strange)

The sample that plays directly after the intro is taken from ToneScape’s (free!) Animato pack which I highly recommend, along with his other sample packages for any digital musicians looking to expand their libraries. While I’m not sure I will be using this sample in the final version of the song it serves it’s purpose at the moment.

I am playing this weekend on Sunday, the 5th of February with the Dirty Organs at Virgil Reality and on Friday, the 10th of February at the Concordia Co-op Bookstore for their annual Anti-Valentines day party. Hope to see some of you there!

A HUNTING WE SHALL GO

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:58:16 +0000

I completed my new Demo Reel today, trying to cram as much diversity into the shortest amount of time. It runs at just under two minutes and covers everything from my cartoon work to my personal music projects. Enjoy!

Comments are welcome as I will be updating it over the course of the year and as video editing is not my forte I will take all the help I can get. Read the rest of this post for the full video credits and links to their creators.

A near disaster has put a short delay on the Original Words EP and Warm/Bug 7″ but production has resumed and I will post the complete details on both projects shortly.

FULL VIDEO CREDITS:

Editing and titles by Charlie Twitch

Woogi English online Advertisent
Created by Woogi English
Animated by Ivan Boivin
Sound effects and music by Charlie Twitch
©2011, Woogi English. Video used with permission. All rights reserved.
www.WoogiEnglish.com

Woogi English ESL Video 30 – 79 Days
Created by Woogi English
Animated by Ivan Boivin
Sound effects and music by Charlie Twitch
©2012, Woogi English. Video used with permission. All rights reserved.
www.WoogiEnglish.com

Kino 10 DVD Advertisement
Created by Kino Kabaret
Edited by Olivier Bonenfant
Music by Charlie Twitch
©2010, Kino Kabaret. Video used with permission. All rights reserved.
www.Kino00.com

Kill Him
Created by Samuel Hilton
Music by Charlie Twitch
©2011, Samuel Hilton. Video used with permission. All rights reserved.
www.Kino00.com

US of Z
Concept and coding by Scott Rae
Art assets, music and sound effects by Charlie Twitch
©2011, Scott Ray (scottpr@gmail.com) & Charlie Twitch.

Battle Capacity
Created by Ivan Boivin
Music by Charlie Twitch
©2010, Ivan Boivin. Video used with permission. All rights reserved.
www.ivbn.com

Carriage Descending Staircase
Voyage à travers l’impossible by Georges Méliès
Music by Charlie Twitch
©2010, Charlie Twitch.

Reproches
Created by Olivier Bonenfant
Music by Charlie Twitch
©2008, Olivier Bonenfant. Video used with permission. All rights reserved.
www.SynapticTV.com

¡FLIST! – Boys
Created by Charlie Twitch
Written by Bauhaus ©1981
Video, arrangement & performance by Charlie Twitch
www.CharlieTwitch.com

WE DON’T THINK SO

admin — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:22:54 +0000

Getting things ready to release the Original Words EP next month. I made a video for Boys, originally by Bauhaus.

The songs were recorded for a benefit for Blue Sunshine, an experimental film center in Montreal and are being released on CDr and as a digital download. More details to come!

Edit: I will be merging this blog with my main website over the next two months but will be back to a semi-normal update schedule.

Edit 2: You can download the single through Bandcamp for free now http://flist.bandcamp.com/track/boys-video-version

COAL MINER

admin — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 04:25:19 +0000

Had to take a short hiatus from posting as a lot of different projects are coming to a head right now. Here is a rough image from a secret EP that may be available in the next little bit.

There are two shows coming up, one on December 10th at Blue Sunshine around 2pm in Montreal where several bands will be raising money to keep the wonderful film house around and another in January that has yet to be announced. More info to come.

I also updated my portfolio and added some new work as well as a FLIST sampler that has some new works in it.

MONDO PAZZO

admin — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:09:16 +0000

Here are two comps for a short film by Samuel Hilton who had a showing in a recent Kino Kabaret in Montreal called Kill Him. I was asked to make something akin to the soundtrack from Drive and came up with these two pieces:

Mondo Mondo (2011, music for Kill Him)

Uomo Uomo (2011, music for Kill Him)

The two songs picked were Tick of the Clock by the Chromatics and A Real Hero by College. For bass and lead synths I used the Novation Bass-Station and Tal-Bassline. I would also like to take this oppurtunity to share with you the wonderful world of free Togu VST’s. I tend to use their generators sparingly in my own music but their reverb and delay effects are great to work with.

CAN’T FORGET YOU

admin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:12:47 +0000

When people think of David Bowie’s Berlin period most will turn to “Heroes”, no doubt due to its familiarity. James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem reproduced the single’s signature guitar on All I Want off of This is Happening but to me, his most interesting homage to Bowie and Eno came from the album’s first single, Drunk Girls, pulling from Boys Keep Swinging off of Lodger (not to mention the album cover). Lodger saw Bowie’s return to a percussion driven album, a more pop oriented sound and the start of a long hiatus from collaborations with Eno.

My favorite song on the album is without a doubt, Move On. Bowie’s voice leads us to a pain stricken climax as the traveler cries for a love he left behind. Something always struck me about his delivery and how controlled he sounds all while appearing to be losing his thread. Songs like Red Money and DJ could have been found on other albums but I think this track is what pulls this album together as something different and the perfect end to the trilogy and partnership.

Move On (2011, unreleased)

I tried to make this my own but I soon came to the realization that Bowie songs are good for a reason. You change too much and it just becomes another crummy cover so I’m hoping my delivery sets me apart at least a little.

FIGHT!

admin — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 20:35:22 +0000

A new version of Battle Capacity is being released this weekend and I was asked to create some new menu music. This seemed like an appropriate follow up to last week’s post as we have two completely different styles of menus. Trying to accentuate the bright colours and characters of a game is important and as I tend to lean towards moody and broodier themes I always appreciate working on something different.

Battle Beach (2011, main menu theme for Battle Capacity)

Not much to say about this piece other than taking a lot of inspiration from later Sonic game menus. I used one of the main bass riffs from the Battle Capacity boss battle music and built from there.

The rest of the soundtrack, including Battle Beach is available for free on CharlieTwitch.com.

BIG WHEEL KEEP ON TURNING

admin — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:43:30 +0000

I’ve been developing a game for the last few months as a personal project and vehicle (heh) for some new music and atmosphere ideas I had over the summer.

This next piece is a work in progress for the game’s menu music. Being a car combat game I took a lot of cues from the enormous catalogue of past car combat games and what they used for their menus. One of my favorite themes is the music from Rogue Trip 2012‘s main menu. It immediately gives off the sleazy atmosphere you should expect from the rest of the game.

As the project I’m working on involves a lot of exploration and RPG elements I wanted to give the impression of discovery along with a heavy, driving beat. Players will be picking their character name and stats while this is playing so it’s important for them to know what lies ahead.

Don’t Look Back (2011, WIP menu theme)

I tried several ways of incorporating vehicle sounds into the theme all while trying to keep it from sounding forced. Using them as instruments rather than purely narrative devices seemed like a much better choice. The ignition at the start as a drum roll, the ticking of a car cooling as a loose percussive element and tire squeals accompanied by horns and strings. Tools and metal impacts are added to lead sections to make them more uneasy and chaotic.

An example of the effectiveness of music on a menu is the music for the Vigilante 8 series composed by Howard Drossin. For the first game menu Drossin chose a steady beat, running bass and borrowed heavily from standard disco stabs and progressions. It was great for setting the vibe of the game and got you ready for the rest of the 70′s influenced soundtrack.

For the second game the menu theme was more funk based with a slower beat and light Italo disco influence. It was also mixed very cleanly. While it definitely fit the new menu screens it was far too busy with vocals stabs and catch phrases and lacked the rawness of the previous game to prepare the player for the road ahead. Regardless, the Vigilante 8 soundtracks are great and diverse examples of original music in video games and I highly recommend checking them out. Drossin avoids a lot of the standard, heavy-metal riddled soundtracks that tend to accompany car combat games with great success. I’m looking at you, Twisted Metal…

BROAD SALUTE

admin — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:03:04 +0000

This next piece is an excerpt from a seven minute composition for a short film by myself and Daryl Legge that we hope to release in the next month. The film is an exploration and exhibition of his most recent sculpture series which I will be sure to post here once it’s completed.

The Broad Salute – I & II (2010-2011, work in progress)

Each segment is made to reflect the shape and presence of each of the five pieces in the exhibition which range from the sublime to aggressive and violent. The two segments in the above composition are of a warning light and barb wire hive. As the objects are stationary I am hoping to evoke movement and further the anxiety brought on by the sculptures but at the same time, not overwhelm the audience. For the musical style I made a few tests with a more electronic, atmospheric focus and found them conflicting with the visuals. Settling with more traditional instruments had the music envelop the visuals rather than push them around while still creating a sense of malaise in the listener.

The final work will be exhibited on a web space built around the video piece.