The Deamons of Apel Street

I started work on The Deamons of Apel Street on the 23rd of August 2013. It is an orchestral piece in three movements composed and recorded using only Gestrument 1.3.3 on my iPhone 5.
The first movement was recorded on the 26th of October and the second and third movement on the 17th of November. All movements were recorded straight in Gestrument in one continuous take.

70% of the work (planning, settings, structure, practice) was done on my daily bus rides to and from work and in the taxi between assignments. The remainder on my bed, my sofa or different public places like libraries, bars and coffe shops.

Set up

  • Gestrument 1.3.3
  • iPhone 5 running iOS 6.1
  • Bowers&Wilkins P5 headphones

Mastering
The files were transferred from Gestrument to AudioShare 2.6 and distributed to DropBox.
Mastering by Mr. Derek Buddemayer at Hangnail Studios on an iPad 3 using Auria and Audio Mastering.

Artwork
Artwork by Niclas Tamas. Original photo taken on the bus home from work with my iPhone 5 and processed before I got home in PhotoStudio.

Conclusion
After spending three months with Gestrument I feel there is so much more that can be accomplished and created. I've just scratched the surface with The Deamons of Apel Street and Emoticons. I will continue to devote myself to Gestrument full time.

Gestrument, imho, is a game changer for the ability for all of us to create music in a totally new way. All it takes is a lot of passion, even more practise and occasional tantrums. :-)
Uppsala 30th of November 2013
/Niclas Tamas

Any inquieries or questions will be answered without tantrums at

  • niclas.tamas@gmail.com
  • facebook/niclastamas
  • My music diary describes my journey and daily work with Gestrument, my life and adventures in general. It is published by mail the first Saturday every month. Please send a mail to:
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The first movement
After an initial orchestral outburst, two string sections play a theme. It develops and finally all string sections lands on a jazz inspired chord. Thus placing the centre point of the first movement.
This is followed by a solo oboe part played with a three finger technique. The oboe reunites with the strings and they end up in the centre point for a second time.
The oboe and strings continue to play together in the next part where I introduce a fading technique using only one finger on the grid. When the strings fade out I do not use any of the controls. By using different note values and utilising the pulsating function, fades are possible to execute this way. This technique lets one or more instrument/s fade out while others keep playing/pulsating at their initial velocity.
After a peaceful ending the melodic structure falls apart and a new breed of deamons makes their entrance when the brass section comes to life. Disruptive powerfull rythms appear. The oboe returns together with brass and percussion. They move towards the centre point a third time but don't quite reach it. Instead the brass section leads the orchestra to a moment of silence.
A harp is introduced playing in sync with the brass section and the whole orchestra comes to life again. Another one finger fade bring the strings to the background, keeping the clarinet at one continuous tone while letting the oboe change notes. At this point you can hear two harps running fast in the background while the strings rest on their chord. For me that's one of my favourites spots.
The full sonic power of the orchestra ends the first movement.

The second movement
The second movement starts with two bells. By setting different note values, a vertical slow finger movement accomplishes a seemingly random pattern for the bells when they interact.
The bells are followed by a slow four note movement build up by the bass string section. It evolves by slowly incorporating all four string sections up to a moment of silence. This introduction is accomplished by simply repeating the bass string section four note theme on the grid.
At this point I ran into difficulties. My original idea was to leave the four string settings turned on along with the piano setting. By using a super quick touch with my index finger I was at times able to play only the piano without the strings reacting to the touch. That was pretty cool because it let me add strings at appropriate intervals for effect. But it turns out I need much more practice to use this technique, so I ended up with the string section turned off at this point.
The piano part that follows was the hardest to get Bristol ship shape. The piano (two settings) and the accompaning strings (four settings) are played using only an index finger.
After a lot of swearing and tantrums I finally accomplished what I wanted; the strings holding their chord while changing the piano lead.
The lonely piano is joined by the strings and the result is clearly inspired by my admiration for Russian composers. This movement ends with the random bells returning.

The third movement
The third movement took me on a very interesting journey in the vast capabilities of Gestrument. I struggled, with what turned out to be the final setting, over two weeks before I grasped how it should be played. Passing a bridge it suddenly dawned to me that waltz was the key.
After that the third movement evolved surprisingly quick. By playing the same rythm, and after every turn adding one more setting, I created interesting music. By varying the pressure and time of my index finger on the grid, different settings with sections/instruments plays in carefully planned patterns.
In the part that follows the whole orchestra is made to play by using swift continous finger movements with hard pressure at the edges of the grid. Horizontally, vertically and diagonally. Keeping the pressure is of vital importance. Otherwise everything will suddenly go quiet. That happened during the first takes of this movement and resulted in yet another of my tantrums.
After a moment of silence the full orchestra returns playing in another rythm with different emphasis and general balance. This is accomplished by using the same finger movements as before, but in swiping gestures upwards, downwards and diagonally. To keep the tempo and continuity up I needed to adjust the reverb level to suit my needs. This was doable on the fly.
The last part of the third movement is executed by interchanging these two techniques. Creating these melodic structures demands a lot of practise with delicate adjustments of the index finger.

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