Cosmosis blogs

Cosmosis and Ajja - Live at The Giger Museum

bagginz — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 17:47:39 +0000

Ajja and Cosmosis and - Live at The Giger Museum

Cosmosis Destiny's Child Remix?

bagginz — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 22:15:33 +0000

Q. So, is Cosmosis working with Beyoncé now?

Yeah, I wish : )

Cosmosis - Live Looping - (loops download)

bagginz — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 14:05:34 +0000

A while ago I posted this video of me creating music on the fly by "live looping".

Polyphony - Simultaneous Melodies

bagginz — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:38:41 +0000

Question:

I have a question on leads. On your track "Keys to the Innerverse", before the break at 4:35, you have multiple melodies playing at the same time. When ever I try this, it just sounds like garbage.

All the melodies are fighting with each other, but when you do it, it sounds great. Can you give me some pointers? I've have some knowledge of music theory, but just can't get the feeling right. A finger in the right direction would be great!

Bill says:

First off, credit where credit's due, Key to the Innerverse was very much a a co-written track. Props to the Laughing Buddha himself: Jez Van Kampen.

At that time, Jez and I were living out of each other's pockets musically and financially and practically living in the studio and out partying in London when we weren't. So the track was born from that environment. And like all successful collaborations I like to think the result was greater than the sum of the parts. So; that said...

Creating the Cosmosis "Contact" Album

bagginz — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 10:16:35 +0000

&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=&amp;amp;quot;http://cosmosis.bandcamp.com/track/contact&amp;amp;quot; _cke_saved_href=&amp;amp;quot;http://cosmosis.bandcamp.com/track/contact&amp;amp;quot;&amp;amp;amp;gt;Contact by cosmosis&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;

>Hey Bill,

>The sound that comes in on 1:52 in "Contact", the "AA EE OO", vocal sound. Was the synthesized? I assume it >was two band pass filters? Can you explain the 'architecture' behind the sound?

>BTW, Contact is a brilliant song, so much movement. Great sounds as well. Thanks for all your help!

Hello matey,

below are the sleeve notes to the Contact track, taken from the sleeve notes to the album. ( whole album track notes at the bottom)

______________________________________

As I mentioned, the title track contains a key monologue which unlocks the underlying concept. I wanted the music to support this by conjuring up otherworldly images. So I created a (hopefully) evocative, spacious intro sprinkled with a few appropriate samples. Also I deliberately avoided using any familiar or clichéd melodic intervals (as far as is possible in composing music anyway) as it would sound familiar and therefore not otherworldly. To this end I ended up playing any melodic phrases using harmonics via the cutoff knob on some resonant synth patches, which gives a different flavour. In addition I used a square wave-form, which unlike a saw or pulse wave, has an unfamiliar sounding harmonic series, which also adds to the overall weirdness. All melodies apart from that is, the spooky sounding melodic theme played with a bell like sound, which make it's first appearance right at the intro in the intro and occurs throughout the track.

The vibe of the track also called for a slower tempo, as it is difficult to convey the type of poignant emotion and space that I had in mind with faster tempos. So I used a dub style bassline coupled with a slow funk groove, which then progresses up into a slow trance groove for variety. It also gives the track somewhere to go dynamically. By far the most difficult thing technically was to tune into the frequency to receive the alien transmission. In the end I had to interview a earth resident alien and pretend that I had recorded one of the real transmissions broadcast from somewhere beyond Sirius ; )

_______________________________________

>>The sound that comes in on 1:52 in "Contact", the "AA EE OO", vocal sound. Was the synthesized? <<

Yes, an Access Virus Indigo B. (not that you need a Virus btw...)

>>I assume it was two band pass filters? <<

Yep

>>Can you explain the 'architecture' behind the sound? <<

Here you go: http://cosmosis.co.uk/tips-and-tricks/creating-talking-synth-sounds

Do that, then add a bit of distortion...

Cheers,

Billy Cosmosis

Music Webshop: http://cosmosis.bandcamp.com

Summer and Studios

bagginz — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 21:06:21 +0000

The weather today was just too beautiful to be sitting in a darkened studio making music, so I snuck off for a walk resolving to carry on with the studio stuff once the sun had gone down.

Being an aurally focussed type of guy, I took a small handheld stereo recorder (Yamaha Pocketrak CX) with me to catch any interesting sounds that may present themselves.

More Pre Cosmosis Music

bagginz — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:32:01 +0000

A old bandmate just sent me a recording of a track that I played on while playing in the Acid Jazz/Hip Hop/Soul/Arthouse band Ute. YouTube's great for that, I get to hear some of my re

Cosmosis Live - Slow Motion

bagginz — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 22:35:38 +0000

Short clip shot at Sunrise Party in Leeds U.K. by someone in the audience with a slow motion camera.

I think it's part of the guitar solo in Martian Blues...

Interview before the show at Tel- Hai, Israel 26-5-2011

bagginz — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 21:51:19 +0000

“A Fantastic event!”: One on one with Cosmosis, a trance legend, moments before he conquers Tel-Hai College. Interview by Oded Oron & Liron Gavenda – Student Newspaper “Holech Batel”

Waking up after a long night of celebrations, thousands of hung over students started piling up the compliments on a successful Student-Day, conducted and produced by the student-body. We interviewed Bill “Bilbo” Halsey, a.k.a. Cosmosis a few minutes prior to his set, Halsey spoke of touring, music and his upcoming projects – And there were no hesitations with compliments.

Cosmosis at Club ZZ Tripo Tel Aviv 26th May 2011

bagginz — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 19:55:32 +0000

ZZ Tripo Tel Aviv - a club with an excellent underground party vibe...