Madness – George Blamey-Steeden

ZOOLON AUDIO – PING PONG BALL MASH

Using a random ping pong ball and an ancient Indian brass dish, all the sounds in this video (synths and bass included) are directly manipulated from the hits you see me make with the ping pong ball upon the dish.

This and projects like this give a small insight (although in the actual sample packs we sell we would produce hundreds more hits and texture sounds than on this video) as to how we create various types of genuinely unique sound sources for Field sample packs for sale on the Zoolon Audio website. As well as the unique sound sources, we also produce Electronic and Guitar sample packs. New products are regularly added. Excursions into new marketplaces are planned. All products are royalty free, top quality and low cost plus there are free taster downloads to try out from each product.

Even though our marketing is mainly aimed at musicians, electronic musicians, sound artists, video game producers and anyone creating music on just about all media platforms, I thought readers on WP might find this piece about how we process a product interesting. I hope so, anyway.

The website address is https://www.zoolonaudio.com/index.html

The website is not just a store. Under the banner, Extras, we have a Help for Beginners Guide and are always pleased to answer any email queries/questions via the Contact link.

We are also at,

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/zoolon

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZoolonAudio

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=zoolon+audio

POOR EXCUSES (A Lyric)

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In this land where the sky knows mostly only how to rain,

I wondered if and when I would see the sun again,

On this planet that mostly knows only how to fight,

The clock is ticking down to toward dark midnight.

Bombs and poor excuses feed the hawk,

In return the broken innocents get sweet talk,

From the leaders in ivory towers faking distress,

The same leaders who created this evil mess.

The jazzman’s blues is worthless on deaf ears,

The poet’s words can’t take away the fears,

Graffiti artist’s paint messages from before,

The threats and promises turned into a war.

The chatter of the mindless made this mess,

They say the right words for an ever-watching press,

Pretending all along they had a moral plan,

Leading us backward to before time had began.

In this land where the sky knows mostly only how to rain,

I wondered if and when I would see the sun again,

On this planet that mostly knows only how to fight,

The clock is ticking down to toward dark midnight.

The great lyricists can write lyrics that stand alone as poetry. There aren’t that many of them. I am not one sadly. I do the best I can.

Before university putting words to melody was easy. I didn’t bother with rules. Sometimes I wrote music to a lyric, other times the opposite way around. For 18 months after leaving uni I had a complete block. No music and no words. Then I decided that to move forward I needed to go back. I don’t bother with rules anymore.

Over the last few weeks, apart from making samples for Zoolon Audio and running the business generally I have made time to write a few pieces I have already shared on the blog. Over the last few days I have been working on a new song. The melody is there, now the words have arrived. Now, they are in verse to fit the meter. When I get to marrying the melody and the words the verse must change into a lyric. Lyrics, with the need for repetition, some lines to die at birth, a chorus to work with etc. never read that well without the melody. That’s why only great lyricists achieve lyrics that read back as great poetry.

This is a first for me. I’ve never let anyone see a WIP before. The melody doesn’t appear with this post, just the basic verse I have written to fit the mood of the melody, before it becomes a lyric that may not look anything like this verse. Soon I will post the new song complete.

Zoolon Audio website is at www.zoolonaudio.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZoolonAudio

YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCtOtegaQCJKBCZWYJDHOTPg

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/zoolon

RANDOM THOUGHTS OF ZOOLON, NO. 3

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Most places that call themselves a ‘gallery’ aren’t galleries at all. They’re just shops selling paintings, some of them OK, others rubbish, most with silly big price tags on and piled up one way or another. This shop type gallery I saw in France the other day was alright, even though it was a shop. Quality.

The bit of life that stood between what I was and what I wanted to be is the bit of life where boredom and no pressure killed all creativity. That bit has disappeared now. I wonder where it is sometimes, check and remind myself that I don’t care.

Talking about bits of life where I lost all creativity there was an 18-month period after uni when I couldn’t find a new melody no matter where I looked. This song broke my duck. For obvious reasons I called the song ‘REBIRTH’. Hope you enjoy;

https://soundcloud.com/zoolon/rebirth

For musicians wanting affordable, top quality samples, my Zoolon Audio website is at www.zoolonaudio.com/

We also have a shop window at shop window at https://sellfy.com/zoolonaudio

You can also follow ZOOLON at;

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZoolonAudio

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Zoolon-Audio-763403243800696/

YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCtOtegaQCJKBCZWYJDHOTPg

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/zoolon

DECIDER (experimental sound art)

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But first, Zoolon’s thoughts on wasps and spiders!

Wasps set out to terrify best they can I think. Spiders don’t, they just terrify the terrified, they can’t help it.

In my studio this morning there was a wasp attacking a window and a spider looking a bit down about life fixed to the wall. It, him or she looked as if they want the wall as a home for winter.

As a rule, wasps are easier to get out of the studio than spiders. I put on gloves and a thick coat (haven’t got a face mask or a hat I like yet) and opened the window, let it out. Think it was the last living wasp of 2016. Took off my gloves but left the coat on for a while until it warmed up. Seemed sensible.

Catching spiders and setting them free can be difficult. A mug and a postcard usually does the trick. Problem was, when I started looking for it, him or she, it, him or she wasn’t there. Worrying. I’m trying to write a new mega melody. I thought I’d give the spider a name before I started work, then forgot.

Anyway, here’s an experimental, electronic song I hope you like called DECIDER made using Bitwig;

https://soundcloud.com/zoolon/decider

If you know of, or are a musician seeking samples then look no further than the new, even better than before ZOOLON AUDIO website where you will find ‘produced in house’ top quality samples at seriously affordable prices. The website is at www.zoolonaudio.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZoolonAudio

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Zoolon-Audio-763403243800696/

YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCtOtegaQCJKBCZWYJDHOTPg

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/zoolon

RANDOM THOUGHTS OF ZOOLON

(photo I took somewhere in Loire Valley, France – near the Troglodytes)

RANDOM THOUGHTS OF ZOOLON

Subject: Sunglasses

I think I’ll wait until dusk before I look at the sky again

Although I worry that my sunglasses think they no longer have a purpose

What they don’t know is that they are not redundant just yet

If the roof falls in, or gets blown away on a sunny day I may find I need them

I think I saw them moving this morning.

Now, a PEN MASH;

All sounds in the video are directly sourced from what you see on screen. Here, I wanted to explore the creation of sound to reveal what one can do using, subjectively, mundane sources, namely just a pen and my fingers. A simple idea, yet accomplished by manoeuvring the pen and my fingers to create bass and synth sounds, then time stretching the sounds in loops and distorting the pen and fingers hits.

For musicians wanting affordable, top quality samples, my Zoolon Audio website is at www.zoolonaudio.com/

You can also follow ZOOLON at;

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZoolonAudio

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Zoolon-Audio-763403243800696/

YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCtOtegaQCJKBCZWYJDHOTPg

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/zoolon

ON THE EDGE

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This experimental electronic demo track (made in Bitwig) is my look at a mind on the edge of madness. We all go that way sometimes I think. It gradually builds up from a revolving beat, gets a bit choral (I think madness is a bit choral) goes darker before a little panic sets in. The photo is one I took at the bi-annual World Puppet Theatre Festival in Charleville-Mézières, France. Weird place. I hope you enjoy this track. Here’s the link;

https://soundcloud.com/zoolon/on-the-edge

My Zoolon Audio website is at www.zoolonaudio.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZoolonAudio

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Zoolon-Audio-763403243800696/

YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCtOtegaQCJKBCZWYJDHOTPg

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/zoolon

I’m still new to social media so if you feel like hitting a ‘like’ or ‘follow’ I’ll do the same in return