4AD by Alexander Towell

4AD Sampler Project

By Alexander Towell GDNM YR3 http://www.pagesleftblank.gdnm.org

Gang Gang Dance CHINESE NGUZUNGUZU

These Tracks are Samples Based Experimental electronic. With the rise of music technology becoming so available and computers being able to process Musical media these types of artists are becoming very common and give way to a lot of background music / experimental music. Personally a good track for inspiration when working with a computer in the aim of creating a musical piece or track.

Mindkilla Vox Remix

Again an interesting track with a strong emphasise of sample based music production. But it hold’s a more solid music composition. It is a bit of an odd remix to be honest but still holds a large amount of substance. The images it brings up are complex and rather difficuzzlt as well as the samba type it makes for interesting listening.

Relaxation Remember When

With an ambient start, this track is definately more up my street. Soothing introduction, it could of picked up a little bit faster. Again This track is more electronic due to its use of synthesizers rather than a sample based media. With an asrray of arpegios and other devices it gives the listener a great deal of peace.

The Big Pink Stay Gold Hit The Ground(Forest Swoird Remix).

Called ‘Stay Gold’, it features singer Robbie Furze’s boy next door yet expansive voice, full of wonderment. Personally, I don’t hear any of the expected hip-hop stylings that Furze promised to Lowe over a phone interview during the song’s premiere on national radio; to be fair, urban is not what immediately comes to mind when the name Paul Epworth is bounced around, dance is. And Furze confirmed that instead of the paltry three songs from the band’s 2009 debut ‘A Brief History of Love’ that Epworth presided over, he’s had a hand in all 10 tracks of the London duo’s second album tentatively entitled ‘Futureless’, due out in early 2012. (That’s assuming all goes well in the final stages of recording, because it sounds like the songs aren’t all written yet.) As an aperitif to the album, ‘Stay Gold’ is of a similar sweeping grandeur like ‘Dominos’, just not as catchy. Still, I think this is a good sign of things to come. Bring it on.

Twin Shadows Changes

A friendly fires spin off, But more of a front man formation like the pig pink. But still it feels as though all the instruments are computer based. Or sampled real instruments and then arranged with a sequencer or electronic recording device.

Below

Ipad App concept drawings for the cube app Just an insight into some of the imagery the app might draw up. Personally openGl is coming along a long way hopefully you can see the vision.

4AD Music Sampler

CUBE4AD

For the 4AD sampler project we are being asked to Design and pitch an idea for a digital product that is built around a sampler that 4AD will release early 2012 to promote the label and its artists. I have chosen the app orientated project as a final result with a concept for a musical sampler that plays an album of music in a more fun and creative way allowing for an interactive experience that reaches further than simply listening to music. When I started the brief I began to question what the purpose of music really is. It gives a person enjoyment first and foremost. But it also brings people together doesn’t it, at gigs or even just hanging people who like similar music to you. We relate top music as humans we try and see more in a simple song, place memory’s some times we associate music with personal times in our life. It’s our subconscious time line that helps us wrap up our life into a few songs and words that resonate with us. So how would you extend this experience? For my initial questions i drew a small character imagine him as an avatar that might guide the viewer through an experience in the form of an iPad or iPhone App. But where would the interactivity come from? What the app needs is a puzzle or some kind of quest that the viewer can engage in during the listening experience. This is where i stumbled upon the idea of a virtual rubix cube. Imagine that you open the app like an album and a track starts playing. Upon this track playing you are confronted with a cube, on gestural swipes the cube moves and rotates. When you double tap on particular square the square reacts and morphs. Now if you’ve ever sat down with a rubix cube its a challenging situation to find

your self in. So why not unlock instructions that push you towards opening up the next track. The application is therefore giving the user a list of cube instructions that lead to the next track. It allows for mistakes and just resets the cube back to its original state. As the album plays however the cube becomes more deformed and therefore the commands become harder to follow through. If you look at the interface on the following page you can see the layout of the game / interface. In the bottom corner you have a menu you can reset the move here, or the album in its entirety as well as exit the app all together. There is the 3d Dimensional cube, in the middle of the stage this is in essence the game controller. Above it you can see a small interface with a anchor controller for show and hide purposes. The top Interface displays the current track name as well as controls for the sample music as well as that list of commands i talked about earlier that the user has to complete in order to unlock the next track and the next puzzle pieces. As you can see some moves refer to moving the cube with gestures and others refer to double taps on specific parts or planes of the cube. When the user double taps on a part of the cube the cube becomes modified and changes. In essence this is the puzzle/ game. A puzzle makes for great entertainment, but wheres the carrot? Every donkey needs a carrot dangled in front of it in order to pull it along rite? Well heres where i think the game may come into its own. The rubix cube and he list of commands are all well and good but does it make the game to easy a lot like being lead through a field? This may be so but we all need a little help lkearning the rules rite. But lets say we incorporate levels into the game that the user complete’s as we teach the user the way of the cube. Why not strip him of the commands but offer him a free track on the other side of the puzzle. A free track with another level, this is bound to keep people locked in for the challenge no? Or would people get frustrated and leave the 4AD app and never revisit it? Im not sure this is just a concept. But you could see the possibility of puzzle based applications that as you follow unlock’s features or download’s new levels on the basis of completion. The 4AD sampler is no longer an app with lets say artwork or just a simple extra feature, we are taking the user into a more addictive experience. Where he is rewarded with new songs from the sampler. The instructions at the start lead the user through the purchased sample pack and once completed he can start trying to unlock the harder levels that require a person to really sit down with the puzzle in order to take him further through the 4AD catalogue. I hope you enjoy looking at some of the preposed art work for the sampler in the following pages.

Gang Gang Dance CHINESE NGUZUNGUZU

0.11

3.45