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Hey everyone, welcome back to Sunday Skool. I know it’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve held a session, but it’s all for a great cause! Which one is that? Well, I am now officially out of the U.S. Army & National Guard after 11 years of service (including 2 yearlong tours in Iraq). It’s been an exhausting couple of weeks full of; paperwork, equipment turn-in, retirement parties (for me), memorial services (for those lost), deployment parties (for the rest of my unit deploying to Afghanistan this month), and even a little quiet contemplation about — my accomplishments, sacrifices (mine, my brothers in arms, and especially my family), the joy, the pain, the loss of friends & comrades, the small & large victories, the defeats, and the suffering by all parties involved in war. I just want to take another moment to thank all of the: NCO’s, officer’s, mentors, friends, and family who have helped and guided me throughout my time in service. It’s been a wonderful experience from beginning to end and I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my life.
Now git back to SKOOL!! Yay! During our last session, which was a holiday, I decided to share several tracks with you in an effort to get you ready for a multi-part session discussing FIDGET. Through the tracks posted, I hope you were able to get an idea of what I mean when I say FIDGET. There are just so many names for this style/sub-genre that consists of Fidgety, Wobbly, Wonkity Beats & Basslines. The best way to start a discussion about FIDGET was to literally show you a technical tutorial that describes how the sound is made. This way, I’m sure you will immediately begin to hear the sound in many songs you already listen to. This genre/sub-genre may already be turning into a passing fad, but I don’t believe it will necessarily disappear. This is because the production of the sound has been showing up in various other genres lately. Some of the more popular producers are already beginning to say that they do NOT produce fidget. For instance, the super popular producer duo Herve & Sinden now call their sound “Bass Heavy Club Music.” However, if you listen to their latest remixes, you will still hear the same production style used. I suppose this is because they don’t want to be pidgeon-holed into any particular genre. Either way, I wonder how long it will be before hip hop picks it up?
Here’s what Wikipedia says:
Fidget is a style of house music that is defined by “snatched vocal snippets, pitch-bent basslines, and rave-style synth stabs over glitchy 4/4 beats.”
Wow, how much did someone get paid coming up with that vague definition?
This particular tutorial is specifically directed toward users of Native Instruments “Massive”, which is an awesome little program by the way. I searched out and viewed a ton of FIDGET centered production tutorials and this one is by far the most clear and conscise explanation of how to get a sound to fidget or wobble. This one is also geared toward the production of a Dubstep track, but the skillset is the same. This is how a fidgety, wobbly, or wonkity bassline is made:
How to Create Wobble Bass with Massive video
Wow, pretty cool huh? Like I said before, I viewed tons of other videos before I found this one. Since then, I fully understand how it is made and can pretty much replicate it on any synth. Be sure to check back over the next few weeks as we explore some history of where this style came from, what other genres share this production trick, and where else this sound is starting to rear it’s wobbly head.
Classic Track of The Week:
This week is a double feature, because I just received (what I believe to be) the first good remix of this 1996 Armand Van Helden Classic.
Armand Van Helden – The Funk Phenomenon (Original Mix) [Henry Street Music] (1996)
Armand Van Helden – The Funk Phenomenon (Starkillers 2010 Mix) [Henry Street Music] (2009)
Armand Van Helden – The Funk Phenomenon (Original Mix)
Armand Van Helden – The Funk Phenomenon (Starkillers 2010 Mix)
AND NOW, YOU CAN CONSIDER YOURSELF SCHOOLED!
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