Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Writing Challenge

This is a follow up to my post:

The Retro Project

Originally, as I was thinking about this song, I imagined I would sing, as I often do, for the majority of my songs.  But then I had another thought.



I was thinking about Kraftwerk and how much I like when they use speech synthesis in their songs.  While I would not be breaking any rules using a speech synthesizer (since they existed in the 80s), I didn't have one, so I'd be breaking my own rules, to only use instruments and tools I had in the 80s.



While I didn't have a speech synthesizer, I did have a Speak 'n Spell.  I was a terrible speller, so my parent's bought it for me in the hopes it would improve my spelling, and it did, but not nearly as much as auto correct has in the days since.

Now, you cannot dictate language to a Speak 'n Spell, right?  I mean, it won't say whatever you want, it will only say what it is programmed to say from the factory.  With one exception.

It says all the letters of the alphabet, and the names of some letters can be combined to make sentences:

I C U

And this created a very interesting challenge to me, could I write song lyrics like that, only using letter names to make sentences.  The answer is yes, but I'm not going to reveal what I came up with (after all, there should be some mystery, even as I explain how the sausage is made).  It was both challenging and cool to be forced to write this way, but I cannot see getting more than a single song out of this method.

3 comments:

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  2. Speak & Spell is a great idea for a sound source. I recorded this project http://carrillion.bandcamp.com/album/futura with one in 1984. See also: Orchestral Manoevures In The Dark's 'Genetic Engineering' and Depeche Mode's debut album is named for it too!

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    1. That track is really cool.

      With clever use of the echo maching, you managed to make the VL-1's beats sound very distinct, in such a way that I wouldn't have guessed the origin if you hadn't revealed it. And the distant Speak and Spell does not call attention to what it is either.

      I like how, when you flatten the cassette cover art (front, back and side showing altogether) it forms a near square shape with a very cool, distinct, design. This actually gives me some ideas for the cover art for my track.

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