Some of these challenges I know I can do, today’s challenge of using an object as an instrument is one of them:
I knew I was going to use one of the following objects as an instrument, it just remained to be tested to see which one would sound best.
I debated whether I should use more than one as that would widen the soundscape but after doing some test recordings, I settled on just using the glass container, or, more appropriately, the glass jar.
The next issue was finding a suitable pattern for this object. As odd as it might sound, I’ve always been fascinated by the sound of a jar lid. There is a particular sound that occurs when you take a lid off of a jar and it crosses several soundscapes. I don’t mean to say I listen intently every time I take off a jar lid, but I’ve always wondered how to make it more musical. This track explored that possibility.
The base rhythm for the track is a paradiddle sticking pattern R L R R, L R L L. With each alternate stroke I either tapped the lid against the jar or thumped the jar down onto the table, which was padded with a few coasters to given it a fatter sound.
On top of that paradiddle rhythm, I overlaid the lid tapping against the jar itself. This was meant to complement the feeling of clapping along with the main rhythm.
Next, if you listen closely, one of the neat sounds you can get from a tin lid dropping down onto a glass jar is a bit of a wobble of sorts. It’s very subtle and you have to listen carefully for it but all I did was invert the lid (so it wouldn’t close) and then, from about a centimetre above the jar, dropped it onto the top of the jar. I had to punch this one in because it didn’t always work properly. Although the effect gets buried a little bit during the body of the track, you can hear the effect clearly right at the end of the track.
Next was tapping the lid against the table in a down-rhythm type of count. Every four counts I double up the tapping and so, combined with the underlying “extra” bass track, it creates this rolling “dun dun dun” effect that sounds as if it’s one take but isn’t.
Finally, I doubled up the “bass” end of things by recording one more track of the jar thumping against the padded table. This gave the track a little bit more presence and a bit of continuity once the paradiddle pattern drops off at the end.
Why the drop off?
I was debating whether I should keep going. One of the things I’ve found with percussion tracks like these is that they do have to be layered in and layered out. So, if you start with a basic rhythm, you then added other sounds until a peak of sorts and then start subtracting each sound towards the end of the track. If you all of a sudden change the beat, then it usually changes the feel of the song and, in my mind, usually constitutes another song. To get around this, of course, you could “hug” the middle pattern with a beginning and ending that are similar in feel and sound.
As for post processing, I applied the Expansion plugin to everything to kill room hum and then added extra Expansion on an Auxiliary track, but only sending -36.4 of each strip. This cleaned up the sound substantially and made it sound like it was recorded on a vacuum of sorts.
Next, I added some reverb since I’m guessing most people would find the natural sound of a jar clinking against a jar kind of annoying, so I put a little bit on using the Chromaverb “Chamber” setting but dialled down the wetness a little bit.
Finally, I threw on the Multiprocessor with the “Punchy Deep Fatness” and boosted the gain a little bit to give the track a bit more presence.
As for track panning, I shifted the lid drops left and right just a little bit so they didn’t hit the ear drums right at the same time. That helped take off a little bit of the bite of their high pitch.
And so that was me playing a glass jar. All up it only took a couple of hours to put together and edit. The track is only one minute long but I think it does what it needs to at its current length. If I were to continue the track I believe I would start doing variations on top of the main beat.