What have you hidden in a song/mix? Have been writing music for 15 years, this is still my favorite little trick: Morse Code Bass line, "COBRA"
Posted Jun 5, 2013, 1:17 AM UTC
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If you like, skip right to the Morse code, or the tb303 bass line version of it.
TCP of the Rocket Propelled Geeks asked me to write a song about the COBRAs and explained the intro would need to sound like you were sat down in the middle of a GI-Joe battle. I figured the way to go about that (were we filming in, anyway) would be an establishing shot on some cartoon satellites, then an impossible zoom down to the rubble of an edge of a war town building.
What better sound for satellites than a throwback to Sputnik. Seems every satellite in 80's movies all sounded like they were broadcasting some cheesy tone generator's output.
So, if we're gonna beep like a satellite, why not morse code for cobra? Turns out the morse translation (click to hear and to make your own Morse code) was pretty rhythmic. Programmed some 303's with the same pattern and the rest sorta fell together.
For any savvy engineers out there, you'll notice there are other Morse phrases panned left and right. A bandpass filter will reveal them in enough detail to decipher. It's the name of the record label on one side, and a 404ed-long-ago web address.
Mandatory apologies for the mix. At the time, I was learning ITB mixing on a new setup in a new room. /excuses
Thanks for reading!
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My old band put some more code at the end of this song: http://drawnablank.bandcamp.com/track/im-not-bad-im-just-drawn-that-way
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Sometimes I record my sister listening to weird songs I show her on YouTube (stuff like BOC, Bjork, Kraftwerk, and other non-pop songs) and get her reaction and put it so quietly in the mix that its not possible to hear unless you turn up the volume to like 80dB...
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On anything of my own that I record, I stereo mic my testicles for the duration of the song, just to know that anybody listening is also listening to my junk.