How to Make a J. Biebz Song Bearable…
…Slow it down 800% using time-stretching software, maybe slap some sort of reverb on it, and presto change-o, you’ve got an unexpectedly stunning piece of downtempo ambient that ranks right up there with M83, Sigur Ros or All Sides. Who knew?! Kudos to Shamantis for turning the slick, overproduced sow’s ear of “U Smile” into such an expansive sonic silk purse.
(Via Antony, ta.)
August 17th, 2010 at 8:35 am
You just made me listen to my first Beiber song, and WOW. “Overproduced” is putting it lightly. Is there any part of that song that hasn’t been harmonized? Ugh! The poop-avalanche of the original is a stark contrast to the beauty of this version.
August 17th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
this sounds like the cinematic world music that was used during some of the sweeping panoramic shots in disney’s “the lion king”….
August 17th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
This is really neat.
After a little research it seems this was made with Paulstretch, an open source time stretching (and shrinking) program optimized for the more extreme end of stretching. Seems like it might be a lot of fun to play around with.
Also I found (via metafilter) a Sigur-Ros song that had been time-compressed to 1/8 its length with Paulstretch. Time-compressed Sigur Ros does not turn into Justin Bieber.
August 17th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
IT’S THE CIIIIIIIRRRRRRCLE OF LIIIIIIIFE….
August 17th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
@Ben Morris Although really, if it did, I would never be able to listen to Sigur Ros again after knowing the awful truth of what lay on the other side of the “132x” speed button. I am thankful for this.
August 17th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Apparently not made by shamantis. Not that it took much tech flexing to put it together, but I suppose credit should be applied with the appropriate direction. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that many comments on a soundcloud track. Has it finally arrived?
http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/2010/08/justin-beiber-synth.html
August 17th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
@Bagger
Shamantis says: “I never claimed this song to be my own. It’s obviously Justin Beiber’s. I just timestretched it using PaulStretch. :)”
It may not have taken much effort on his part, but the results are no less epic!
August 17th, 2010 at 7:05 pm
Another non-Belieber:
August 17th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
Ooh, pretty… haunting vocals and waves crashing. Of course, I don’t know what the original sounds like :)
You had me at “expansive sonic silk purse”, by the way.
August 18th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Absolutely haunting. I feel an urge to do this with other pop crap and see what happens.
August 25th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
hahahahaha