“Boom Box”

This was number six of the series, and it broke in a slightly different direction from the previous few. Put it up to your ear:

Why did this happen?

The project was initially called “Crumpies” based on a botanical strain I recently met. The first part to come about was the shuffling, buzzy bass line, courtesy of Beatskillz Retro Keys, which drove the project in its own direction and constituted the “verse” segments.

The heavy piano played a part while the brass section from the last three tracks got swapped for a more limited woodwind presence. The guitar played a more substantial part than usual, with the AAS Strum GS-2 coming through big time, and featuring most prominently in the stripped-down cycle starting at 2:28.

A small string section joined the band this time, adding a cascading progression in cahoots with the whistle to the “chorus” segments. Logic X’s Studio Strings are phenomenal, btw.

As expected, a drum-centric intro and eventual interlude set off the final arrangement, with a scratch drawn from a 2014-15 verse:

No radio inside my headspace,
pop payola, commercial dead space,
poison on the air like the signal's lead-based,
but keep a boom box cuz it plays cassette tapes.

A second, lower profile scratch for the chorus segments came from the same verse’s opening bar, “Don’t stop now, the beat’s just breakin’…”

“Boom Box” was the natural title, and the artwork came together easily.

Stay tuned to my Soundcloud and Bandcamp pages for new tracks in this series, mixtapes, and whatever else happens. Check out more “Behind the Beats” here.