FAWM: "Square Peg in a Round Hole"

Square Peg in a Round Hole

1 week ago by @arkka

Liner Notes

I was messing with some quartal voicings over triads (like A D G C over C major) and then had the idea of writing another #quartal-harmony part using all the open strings on a #guitar because I thought it was dumb and thus funny.

Comments

@trashmilk 1d

This gives me vibes from stuff Bulb did (Periphery) for his self-titled and the work he did with Animals As Leaders. I need to up my theory game, I know enough to be a little dangerous but you know enough to sink the whole battleship brother. This is such a beautiful piece of work extrapolating sounds we always hear when we tune to making a whole composition based on it. This is what happens when talent studies. . What a show. :)

@headfirstonlyMod 1w

This is gorgeous. Jazzy as much as it's proggy, and those harmony guitar parts are quite frankly stunning. When I read your explanation about quartal voicings in the comments below, a huge light bulb came on in my head, so thanks for that! I get it!

@ragbag 1w

I enjoyed listening to this. The guitar melody over the progammed piano works well to create an airy feel. Great work. 😄

@yourhumphrey 1w

So inventive!!! You are an incredible guitarist, this is so spacious and clear!

@coolparadisoMod 1w

Nice piano and that classy guitar again. nice build up - organised chaos

@sync 1w

So many thoughts here. I don't remember hearing you play piano before. First if all: great chops! Also, the juxtaposition between the MetallyFusionish guitar tone and the CharlieBrownXmas piano vibe is really interesting! Nice drum work! Great composition - puts me in the mind of some Zappa, but much more accessible.

So, I'm thinking with the addition of piano, we're gonna finally hear some vocals this fawm? 😜

@arkka 1w

Hah, I see I've fooled yet another. I wish my piano skills were on this level, but the piano track is programmed fully in piano roll. I did do some velocity/position tricks, but I think it's the Salamander Piano SFZ that makes it realistic. It's a tiny bit out of tune, and the velocity layers aren't "perfect," which is, of course, perfect.

Thanks for the kind words, I was thinking of Zappa myself at some point while recording this. And no, no vocals 😅

@seppo 1w

Cool. By brains twisted a bit.

@florian 1w

Sounds otherworldly. Me likes!

@intangible 1w

And that's how a (supposedly) 'dumb' idea gives birth to a masterpiece. 😂 I love how the solid guitars and the playful piano intertwine. What I'm hearing is delightful in every respect, I wouldn't mind listening to a 10+ min version.

This one goes into my Arkka favourites.

@nadine 1w

This sounds wonderful, magical. And yet I have no idea what you're doing in terms of music theory. Is everything sus? (pun intended)

@arkka 1w

Haha, it all sounds a bit sus, right? Quartal harmony simply means harmony built in 4ths (perfect or otherwise), and it's typically mixed with "normal" tertian harmony (built in 3rds). So sus4-chords can often be viewed through the lens of quartal harmony, especially if the "suspension" isn't resolved.

Thanks for the comment!

@nadine 1w

I'm pretty terrible in music theory, so you mean the chords are like I-IV-x ... II-V-x... etc.?

@arkka 1w

Close but not quite. It's all about forming chords, not as much about progressions. In normal tertian harmony, a chord is built using notes that are 3rds away from each other, like in G major (= GBD, G to B = major 3rd, B to D = minor 3rd). Stack another 3rd on top of that, and you'll get a 7th chord, then 9th, and so on. In quartal harmony, you do this with 4ths, so you might come up with a chord with notes G C F, or G C# F# B (just like with 3rds in "normal" harmony, you can have 4ths of different qualities).

@nadine 1w

Got it! Means a lot of counting xD

@arkka 1w

Yeah, it's nerd business for sure 😅