FLIPCUBE017: Evgeny Svalov (4Mal) — Breaking The Mind Puzzle / Simple Answer

Evgeny Svalov (4Mal):

Breaking The Mind Puzzle

Unlike with various previous tracks and remixes, there is some kind of a story behind «Breaking The Mind Puzzle», which I would like to tell you. While listening to various parts of flamenco and rumba recently, I had an idea to put some different guitar parts together and combine different moods within one production. There were at least these few difficulties to overcome and problems to solve within this project: first of all, the guitars were recorded using different microphones, different hardware and it was vitally important to tune every part involved to sound consistently, as a team and, at least, logical. Obviously, the guitars were recorded at different tempos and harmonies, it was necessary to cut the parts into tiny pieces and put those together.

In the middle of the track I had a wish to change the mood to a darker, heavier one and, at the same time, to make the track much simpler for a short moment; i.e. while we listen to a complicated mind-twister from the very beginning, then suddenly comes its very simple, straight-forward solution, which is the piano melody of three notes. A bit later comes a downswing — the feeling when you solve the puzzle and temporary face the emptiness, the absence of a riddle. Next, an absolutely illogical melody appears in the background, its rhythm is knocked-down and incoherent, not attached to the general track grid: although the solution is found, you can’t explain all the parts of this mind-twister, exactly this melody consists of abstract puzzle parts, which refuse to pack up into one string of logic in your head.

I’m pretty sure, everyone of us experienced this at least once in a lifetime.

Simple Answer

Друзья, разрешите представить вашему вниманию новую композицию «Simple Answer». Она является… продолжением или своеобразным «ответом», неким дополнением к «Breaking The Mind Puzzle», которая была презентована чуть ранее, в конце августа.

Поначалу так и было запланировано — первый трек, затем небольшая пауза — и практически сразу второй. Оказалось, что эти двое стали импульсом к воплощению нового проекта, которым сейчас занимаюсь. Пока без подробностей, но в прошлом и нынешнем репертуаре 4Mal такого ещё не было. Надеюсь, Вам будет интересно.

Второй, «симметрично-ответный» трек хотелось сделать максимально простым, даже прямолинейным. С ровным битом и лёгкой перкуссией, фактически, вся его конструкция держится на линии баса и четырёх очень простых аккордах: они создают плавное, прохладное — в общем, осеннее течение. Только после брейкдауна настроение немного меняется, становится чуть более агрессивным за счёт менее мелодичного баса и более напористой перкуссии. Так они и живут, загадка с разгадкой.

Dear friends, today I would like to introduce a new track entitled «Simple Answer». It is… well, some kind of a sequel, or maybe a «response», an addition to «Breaking The Mind Puzzle» which I published online a bit earlier, in August.

At the start it was scheduled to upload the first track, then take a short break and continue with the second one. But it emerged that both these short sketches turned into an impulse for me to launch a new musical project which literally consumes all the time and should be completed within the next few months. Without revealing any details at the moment, just let me convince you — there is nothing similar in previous and current 4Mal discography. Hope it will be a pleasure for you to listen.

The second, «symmetrical-reverse» track was supposed to be as plain as possible, very rectilinear, straightforward. With a smooth beat and light percussion, in fact, its entire construction is holding back on the bass line and four simple chords: they build up a fluent and breezy — let’s just call it «autumn» — stream. Only after the breakdown the mood changes a little bit — it becomes slightly more pushing, aggressive due to the less melodic bass and tougher percussion. This is how they coexist – the puzzle and the answer.