Mellow Cello Podcast

• Episode 83 No Requests

  This episode comes from the YouTube stream on August 13 2024. Things begin with a lighthearted feel to the beat and progression, and eventually turn into a nice thematic arco melody that has a running feel to it. The second piece has more of a dirge to it, albeit a lively one, which eventually bridges into an “Oni island” style of eery dissonance, that really drives things forward. This one may be keeper, especially with some selective editing to take out the meandering and pace things along more deliberately. The third piece is a more major back and forth sounding venture that has some nice swirling arco parts, with a nice bass line that develops and then some more dreamy elements towards the end. The next piece continues in a similar back and forth vein, but with a more minor and driving feel to it, with a trill pattern that makes the whole piece sound more inquisitive. The final piece is more upbeat and is more bass driven in its groove, and has nice jammy feel to it.

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• Episode 81 Post-Covid

  This episode comes from the Youtube livestream on July 30 2024, and as the name suggests was at a time I had just finished recovering from Covid. I can hear in the initial song a sense of relief in my recovery, and things open up like a dawn breaking, with some gradual brightness slowly being shed on things. The second piece eventually takes on a bit of a desert oasis characteristic to the sound, once the arco parts come in, and not without some strange encounters to boot. With the third piece I realize that I was trying out an idea I had of recording several pieces to the same drum loop, so that multiple pieces could be edited together into a single cohesive piece, either that or I was still suffering the effects of brain fog. The third piece has more chordal movement and more bounce, and if I do edit the pieces together this would serve well as a chorus if I do decide to try to combine things. The fourth and final piece (a shorter episode due to covid fatigue) is a nice darker exploration, that has some nice heroic travails and epic moments.

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• Episode 79 RUNNING ITS COURSE

  This episode comes from the YouTube livestream on July 23, 2024. Things start off in darker space and then gradually get lighter and more hopeful as the piece progresses, with somberness in the beginning that opens up into a lighter hearted feeling. The second piece is a bit of a sonic reset, the likes of which typically comes later in the stream, but I felt the need to do early on to get the feel for things right. These types of open ended melodic meanderings are nice because they don’t require too much thinking about form, and are more incidental and a collection of harmonies. Third piece reminds me of something I can’t quite place my finger on, but in any case has a lyrical quality to it, with its call and response structure and slightly melancholy vibe. The fourth piece has a jaunty progression, but almost seems like something more upbeat that’s happening in slight slow motion, like the dreamy action of a slowed down super 8 family film. The fifth piece is an underwater journey into some mysterious spaces, with lots of nice color and curiosity. The sixth piece unfolds nicely, and has a tinge of an older sound, slightly bluesy, slightly desert epic, with a couple of brief Nirvana quotes. The final piece has a bit of a nostalgic feeling to it, like the end credits of a 90’s family movie, but with a bit more of a psychedelic tinge to it at times.

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• Episode 77 Pardon the Interruption

  This episode comes form the youtube livestream on June 26 2024. Things start off with a nice mellow flow, with a repeating arco figure that sets the mood off the bat with a bit of sass. The second piece takes a little while to develop, with some missteps along the way that give things a bit of an unsettled vibe, but it eventually lands somewhere, and achieves a bit of a watery flowy space. The third piece has a nice flow throughout and I really like the build at the end. The fourth piece has some interesting ‘self-sampling’ that I resorted to after some technical difficulties. I enjoy this effect, because without the attack of the initial part of the note, it becomes difficult to tell what instrument generated the sound. The final piece eventually gets some nice long legato arco layers as a bed for some pizzicato exploration.

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• Episode 75 Tip Toeing

  This episode comes from June 18 2024. I’d just loaded some new drum loops and as a result there’s a freshness to this episode that’s pretty fun. I really like the contemplative nature of the opening track that develops into something a bit more confident and forward marching with a nice closing theme. The third piece, has a lot more immediate structure, and I’m happy about the way I split up the energy of the different parts, most of which is driven by the nice ethereal background set early on. The fourth piece takes a while to develop into what it eventually becomes, which as it happens turns out to be a take on a previous progression which I used in the upcoming album, although I don’t think I realized it at first. The fifth song takes on a bit of a darker tone, with some really nice darker arco lines that create some nice big ethereal spaces. The sixth piece is brief and has an almost reggae feel to it, if that’s possible with cello I search a bit for a ‘chorus’ progression to relieve the searching nature of the initial progression, but don’t pursue it very far. The final piece develops into an exploration of different driving arco figures and layers,

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