Crystal Slide

Shivam Rath

AUM212_SlideSonicBranding_1022245_Rath.wav

Hi everyone !

Welcome to my little universe ~*~

I have decided to showcase a variety of things I have done since coming to SAE focusing mostly on sharing projects from the last current Trimester. Each project is significantly different however (I like to think ) so feel free to browse through until you find something that really resonates. I am including some Music Videos as well as audio tracks which are all original compositions and social media channels below.

~ What is the Crystal Slide ?

As a musician and artist I decided to use one of the projects this Trimester to create some sonic branding to represent "my sound" and style towards further reaching online community presence.

The Crystal Slide is symbolising my style of music with the Indian slide Guitar and a concept name I have given to myself for a number of years because I use a crystal ball as my means of "sliding".

The Sonic Branding for this personal image and theme meant I wanted to create a rich harmonic sound that captures the purity of what a crystal represents and also the notion of the sound sliding between notes or perhaps even octaves. The track is only 10 - 15 seconds and was a good practice of trying to create something in a such a short duration that represents who you are / the product you are presenting. I likened this process to creating a sonic signature.

Hit play on the track beside the animated logo image to get an idea of how they would sit together in the future as logo and sonic branding on my website. This image is a collaboration with a fellow Byron Bay local and SAE designer student Kiah Richmond who did an amazing job creating the visual representation of what I was trying to create through sound.

The Indian Slide Guitar or more commonly known as the Mohan Vina (which actually this model is not). Better to call it a Hindustani Slide or Chattarangi ;)

Surf Music Video

Starring Dave Rastovich

Video by surf India in Castles in Sky ~ Momentum Files

MUSIC Track : Soul Sonic Surfing

by Shivam Rath

Key D / BPM 88

(Rhythmic count 5/4 )

(Rhythmic count chorus 5/4)

This project allowed me to create an 'in sync' music video to a musical composition that I really wanted visual for.

I was quite happy with this project because the visual and music just naturally came together in a quite seamless way. Obviously I adapted the music to the visuals but I did not need to change the BPM and the fact that this surf video is blending footage of India allowed me to really accent the Indian instruments I was playing and sharing in this track.

The clip and process was fairly straight forward but a little challenging with timing and quick random scene changes to adhere to the flow of my pre arranged song and composition. The song itself goes for about 6 minutes while the video goes for nearly 8min so it meant I had to obviously change some things but meant I also had some room for further exploration and flexibility within the arrangement of my song and composition.

I really enjoyed this project and look forward to running into the main surf star Dave Rastovich in the surf and sharing this with him !

Trying to Create Slow Motion Effects

"By changing sine waves to triangle waves this can allow smaller sound systems to catch the upper harmonics despite losing the lower ones and has the result of our brains filling in the gaps. This phenomena is called Phantom Frequencies. "

Tip From https://vi-control.net/community/threads

There were a few places in the video where I really wanted to explore some Slow motion Sound effects to really capture the visual aspect of the shot and by playing long enough around with Wavetable in Ableton and the corresponding envelops and LFO on the pitch I think I got a nice effect going.

(See image below).

The original Song track link via bandcamp.

WORLD SYNC MUSIC

Track : Cho Wa ~ Hei Wa

BPM 82.00

Key F

This track began with an in class 'song a week' challenge which quickly evolved more and more due mostly to the melodic scale that resonated with me. The words of the song are:

Cho wa - wa heiwa - heiwa wa - Cho wa ~ Meaning in Japanese :

Harmony is peace and peace is harmony

Ironically the song is about peace and harmony but the track itself has been very challenging and at times frustrating due to the magnitude of it especially with the layers of vocals intending to create audible "harmonies". This took many many takes and tweaking and then of course I would change something with the effects or EQ and find I needed to retake or readjust something again and thus the domino effect would consequently keep me running in circles!

But perseverance paid off with a great harmonised track resulting because I stuck to the intention of the work being just that:

To emphasise the concept and notion of harmony within the actual harmonies and melodic composition itself without people needing to necessarily understand the words.

Female Vocal Tracks

by Mico Sundari

By the time I was recording Mico to harmonise with my vocals I was well aware of the concepts of gain and good head room right at the mark and was able to balance the levels throughout. Also I was clear with the arrangement process and layers of harmonies I wanted so it was relatively easy to communicate and finish the recordings quickly.

My Vocals

Recording multiple layers was hard! The solution was taking my time to clearly reference which tracks I was harmonising too and give myself clear levels to hear and listen with. Plus simply subtracting all the crap that was not at all necessary! Adding layers I have noticed in production is easy but fine combing through all the edits after is quite time consuming and thus more difficult. Realisation: get it right the first round before moving on.

SAE audio student Kingsly James rocking the electric Guitar for this track.

Using The NT2A to mic a guitar Amp for the first time.

The unique chord progression that started the whole track off +

My musical partner in crime Mico Sundari with her unique and powerful voice.

Other Collaborative Work:

Now Entering the more experimental Side !

For a side project I collaborated with an Animation student Phoenix Bachelor for a song that I was working on. The track is a combination of Indian Music, Sanskrit Mantra and Hip Hop and Jungle like Beats giving birth to the new concept album I am inspired to create called " Mantra Hop" and was shot with a drone before later morphing into the "spaced out" animation you below on my flying carpet.

Something musical, something ethnical, something traditional & something funky!

This is a trailer for the full video clip which I am yet to release.

More Recent Work + My first ever EDM style

Goa Inspired Trance track Mixing live Instrumentation with a professional Bansuri (Indian Flute) player named Shyan Kishore living in Japan and myself on the slide guitar.

Warning

This track goes for awhile (12 minutes) so a good one to save for later if your not prepared to ride the journey !

I am quite proud of this track as my most current work because of the amount of time and energy it took to really grow it to where it is .

The vibe feels something festival like and pertinent with the upcoming NYE countdown and is the kind of music I would also love to play on stage using my DAW Ableton Live to its full potential in the near future :)

Testing My new Midi Tabla with the real Tabla sounds. The midi tabla is brand new prototype and has potential but still sounding a little too digital in comparison.

Tabla first with Sm7 and then after with NT2a to contrast sound quality. I found the NT2a had a clearer quality for the overall dynamic range.

Tabla required me to tune them from C up to D which was quite a job but I managed to get there which made the tone the same Key. I found a good signal balance but needed to add compression for some odd peaks on certain percussive strikes.

Slide Guitar with Sm7 but I also used the NT2a for both the instrument and tabla to compare sounds.

MOST Recent Work

Pop style Production Track

Title: Energy Synergy

* Warning Could be catchy *

While I tried to follow in a short punchy pop style tune I could not quite make it under 4 minutes however in contrast for example the Goa Trance Track is 3 x as long literally. Also I did not want to follow the general Pop structure of Verse Chorus Verse etc because I wasn't really singing a traditional style song with varying lyrics but more a variation on the chorus from start to end and some heavy drops and hip hop style lyrics interlaced. This was a fun playful track that was also something that I was working on before my house burnt down in march early this year (2021). It just so happens that I was recording this exact track the night the fire happened and I lost all of that work including everything else.

8 months later it felt good to revisit that track and finally record it again.

(See my Music Video below " Fire & Rain Home Burnt Rap" for full story of the fire which I created also in SAE documenting the trauma and gratitude to those who supported me after such an intense experience).

I also got to play with a white noise riser and all sorts of unique effects to create a particular psychedelic pop mood on this track plus experimented with voice sampling, pitch shifting and using a WUB like base effect with LFO modulation. Was great fun !

Below image: I am Using Mastering Tools to adhere to pop style production parameters for this track.

Reflection

The amount I have learnt in the last Tri let alone last year in SAE has been exponential to say the least. The only trouble is I wonder at how much of the overwhelming knowledge I am retaining ? But then again when I look at the work I have done even for the purpose of this exhibition I feel proud and literally astonished at the diverse array of work and accomplishments I have set my mind to and managed to work through, constantly challenging and reinventing the way I approach and perceive music.

I feel without a doubt that since studying at SAE I have really opened myself to a broader scope and taste in music in general and thus opened myself to be a more diversified musician with the ability to cross pollinate across many different genres at the same time as having my feet still firmly established in my Indian classical training (check out my website for more of a BIO regarding this).

I am inspired to continue studying and learning what the teachers and other students have to offer and look forward to equally inspiring others through my constant musical growth. The prospect of getting into live performance is particularly promising for me and one of the chief reasons that got me to SAE in the first place in order to understand Ableton deeper for such purposes. In the meantime I hope to continue to build my song repertoire and continue to share my music online and in live performances if Covid regulations allow me.

Contact Details

Name: Shivam Rath

Skillsets: Music Producer, Performer, Composer, Multi-Instrumentalist and Vocalist, lyricist, event management including promotional skills and marketing

Email: the_sunrise-surfer@hotmail.com

Website: www.crystalslide.com

Facebook: ShivamRathCrystalSlide

Instagram: crystal_slide_shivam

MUSIC LINKS ( Bandcamp is your best bet for all my recent works)

https://soundcloud.com/shivam-rath

https://shivamrathakasha.bandcamp.com

https://insighttimer.com/crystalslide

Spotify : Shivam Rath / Micotsuki Shivamoon

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChn8xESXgvQa7dZ8qID8m0w

Thanks for dropping in !

My Home Website at the Bottom of the page