5 Composition Games (to play with your musical friends)

[@CharlesCornellStudios]

I usually play the game where I stare at a blank Sibelius file until 5 in the morning the day of a 9am rehearsal for the show where I'm supposed to play the new music I still haven't written.

[@BenLevin]

Your videos are very funny and I'm impressed you can catch all those patterns so musically!

[@lourdesvano3288]

wow this is not my favourite game but i play it a lot

[@natigrinkrug]

Charles cornell's comment only has 150 likes? That's less than it should

[@amj.composer]

Your first error was using Sibelius

[@OrdinaryLatvian]

I felt this comment on a spiritual level. The only thing that's missing is Sibelius crashing when you're halfway through.

[@lucastseh4709]

"Think of a Number between one and 10" Ben: 11!

[@MisterAppleEsq]

11 factorial?

[@NoName-jh7yj]

the cartoon's called Ben Ten u idiot

[@gabrielgandini1566]

THIS GOES TO ELEVEN

[@KiraPlaysGuitar]

5.5?

[@KleversonRoyther]

Ben Elevin?

[@jaydotpeg]

The first step is to have musical friends

[@joselekiwi5695]

Justin R True

[@n00dl3]

The first step is to have friends

[@raniabouzekraoui707]

😢

[@nostalgia_junkie]

:/

[@lordman5497]

The first step is to have

[@AdamNeely]

Yessss, yesss, leave your hate comments about that Tool diss in the comment section. Feed KZbin’s engagement algorithm. Yesss yessssssssssssssssss

[@BenLevin]

I can't believe that the drum guy in that band is stupid doesn't like it!

[@DasGanon]

No! I refuse! *realizes he's left 2 comments already and this is technically a third* Damn!

[@lochnessmonsterrr290]

*laughs in fibonacci/4*

[@riczi.j]

I love it

[@Tenchuz101]

How could you

[@Viper-dz2kw]

Watching without headphones Adam: “yeah let’s make magic happen” *complete silence*

[@putridabomination]

Same

[@packaday266]

Ben: "It's another day!" *eternally pained screeching*

[@EliasFuentesC]

i thought that was the joke! lol

[@MAUD_IFY]

The story about the violin gig really tied this video together

[@dragon-id5uj]

Nah man bens screech

[@gpeddino]

That studio, damn.

[@AdamNeely]

It’s a big nice studio

[@gpeddino]

@@AdamNeely It sure looks like it!

[@Bignicestudio]

Come thru!

[@gpeddino]

@@Bignicestudio Wish I had the budget and the geographical proximity! The gear list had me drooling.

[@dead-prophet]

Adam Neely A-grade pun right there.

[@luuk341]

That first idea actually ended up sounding really freaking cool!

[@AnnaKhomichkoPianist]

luuk341 thought the same!

[@anthong_]

Ben’s whole sequence at 9:07 is so relatable and has me in shambles “It’s another day!” *painful screaming*

[@mitchinatr7093]

Rest of Bent Knee: cool musical ideas. Ben: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[@SlyHikari03]

He went the beefheart route.

[@maldivirdragonwitch]

10 seconds before he was chosen I knew he was gonna scream - and I still got a great kick out of it when he actually did it! 😂

[@Bignicestudio]

What a pleasure to have ol' Adam Kneely and the crew over!!

[@thibautpalma3512]

Every time I hear Ben talk, I just want to give him a hug

[@dcurry7287]

I'm still dying at his Bernie Spears mashup.

[@tylerhackner9731]

Same he’s so lovable

[@midnightkiteflight6333]

He sounds like he has a cold.

[@monowavy]

this but also Jessica

[@powermetallistic2293]

Good for you. He irritates me.

[@metal6897]

"Luckily, and you can put that on your channel, rich people are dumb, and they ate it up" lmao gotta love the salt

[@gunnarsamuels5782]

I read your comment right as he said this in the video that was neat

[@sesclaytpoop8525]

@@gunnarsamuels5782 me too I' m serious

[@noahmay7708]

Not that salty, really,

[@inescapableisolation8844]

Composition game: Choose any song. Select a bar. Determine what bar that is. Roll a dice. That’s the number of semitones you transpose. Flip a coin. Heads, go up, Tails, go down. Reverse the order of the notes. Choose a number from 1 to 10 1 - Major 2 - Mixoydian 3 - Minor 4 - Dorian 5 - Lydian 6 - Locrian 7 - Harmonic Minor 8 - Phrygian 9 - Mixolydian b6 10 - Major Blues Transpose it to a different mode based on the number chosen. Build upon that.

[@denamit89]

Dude, that sounds like the DnD of composition games.

[@JoePaquin26]

Bold of you to assume I have friends

[@flame2106]

my synths are my friends :.)

[@ssbbmaster]

"5 Composition Games" oh this sounds like fun! "to play with your musical friends" ...well frick

[@d3crescentia]

:thinking:

[@ssbbmaster]

crescentia *irl friends

[@michelthibodeau3474]

What are these "friends" of which you speak?

[@unclepodger]

@@d3crescentia Still wondering whether you mean that your friends aren't musical or you don't have any friends

[@brendangibson8200]

@@unclepodger yes

[@flat6_music]

9:06 I image this is bens exact morning procedure

[@deniedvalhalla]

It surely is mine

[@launder0]

underrated comment I lol'd at the video, and lol'd again with this

[@jacobschmidt]

this is the best comment I've seen on an Adam Neely video lol

[@ivyssauro123]

Someone please edit it out of context for the love of god

[@wolpertinger4719]

Including the screaming.

[@ShortMan_123]

There couldn't be a more Ben Levin thing than being told to pick a number between 1 and 10 and choosing 11. What a visionary.

[@room34]

This reminds me a lot of some free improv stuff my friends and I recorded back in college. Makes me wish we were doing that NOW instead of 25 years ago.

[@nostalgia_junkie]

haha old no but really, glad you got to experience that

[@KillerSkullX]

Room 34 Creative Services I can’t even find musical friends in college.

[@room34]

@@KillerSkullX Well… it was actually something I did with a friend from high school, when we were in college, with another guy he met at his college. This kind of thing was definitely NOT happening at my college.

[@KillerSkullX]

Room 34 Creative Services the music department is snobby and cliquey at my uni. I’d rather play with old heads that seem cool and homeless people.

[@pulpogaraje]

"I play drums in the band you know as Bent Knee". I wonder what he calls the band.

[@anemicfiend]

Ben T. Leg

[@pulpogaraje]

"Gavin and The Other Guys"

[@anemicfiend]

@@pulpogaraje Gavin's immaculate drumming accompanied by some other instruments the band

[@RCAvhstape]

He wanted to call it "Tool" but that name was already taken. Enter resentment.

[@s1nnocense]

@@RCAvhstape you need more likes for that one

[@tiddlypom2097]

"Pick a number between 1 and 10" Ben: it goes to 11

[@s3ri0uz99]

The last one was really cool, never expected such a nice and kinda structured result, respect

[@musicjst]

9:06-9:10, the most hilarious cut you've ever made. Utterly buckled, thank you! :')

[@DrBackBeat]

I woke up my kid for laughing at Ben's 30 seconds @ 9:07 "I think that will definitely tie the room together". The Dude abides.

[@charliewootton8748]

Ben: Ayyyyyyyyyyyy itsss anotha dayy! *screams in horrified terror while guitaring*

[@nicksimms3771]

The decrescendo game sounded like every king crimson improv

[@cbj4sc1]

You get 100 internet points for mentioning the greatest band of all time

[@hickorymccay2994]

@@cbj4sc1 Prepare to be sued by Robert Fripp.

[@AWintersong]

This was all very nice. But honestly? The true treasure I got from this? I got to hear about Bent Knee. INSTANT FAN. Wow. Thanks.

[@Mauplaya1227]

IKR?! They're SO good!!

[@alicec1533]

Been my favorite band for a few years now! I also have Adam Neely to thank for the introduction.

[@michaelherscheid9709]

Alternative title: HOW TO MAKE REVOLUTION 9

[@joshcharlat850]

Michael Herscheid More or less!

[@horowizard]

You are seriously insulting Revolution 9. Have you even listened to it?

[@Sockem1223]

Dude I was just listening to that

[@mariejohanna2166]

Miss him Miss him

[@RJiwatram]

~5:14 when you added the bit crush, and then the drums come in, that was killer!

[@Inyrth]

You know something good happened when adam neely and ben levin upload at the same time with each others name in the title

[@Hyphonetics]

Every few months some friends and I who all produce electronic music will do what we call the "20 Song Game" Rules are simple, write as many tracks as you can in 12 hours, then meet up and listen to what everyone makes. Usually we'll spend 10am-10pm producing, grab some snacks and beer, make a playlist of everyone's music in the order it was made and give feedback and critique each other's work. It's spawned some very interesting production techniques, one time someone used a bunch of sample pack clips, threw a track together and exported it without listening to it. Once around 9pm I was out of ideas so I sampled a bagpipe, put it in a sampler, threw a midi scale effect on it and just bashed my head against my midi controller for 45 seconds and called that good. All in all, it's a ridiculous game that really pushes you to your limits and I highly recommend you try it sometime

[@lucassanches3568]

that midi vocal chop recording sample thing came out psychedelic asf, so cool

[@pequalsnpsquared2852]

When he said: A bunch of people dry, I immediately thought: OH YEAH! getting drunk is the key to success! then I was disappointed.

[@TheOddKris]

Dude... that opening game was amazingly beautiful

[@hezaplaya]

There is a place within me, between my heart and voice, that rejoices every time I see that you have a new video. Thank you for being.

[@xddddxdd119]

first composition game is by far the best one i've heard

[@gracewenzel]

I’ve come back to this again..... I loved that first music so much that I wanted it to never end.

[@Firing_Order]

You forgot the part where you explain how to get friends.

[@AnnaKhomichkoPianist]

Shadow Giratina's Evil Clone seems everyone is commenting on the friends 😂

[@SlyHikari03]

You go to music school. Duh.

[@stephenfunk690]

The ambience/reverb in Game 5 really tied it all together.

[@MichaelWilliams-tw7ft]

I hereby would like to nominate Adam Neely for the smoothest stank bass face award.

[@bipbong2906]

Michael Williams 9:28

[@Yerjckk]

that first meloy was awesome, it sounds like sky

[@MisterAppleEsq]

That boat story was sort of a metaphor for how my whole life seems to go.

[@charlesmayberry2825]

That last one ended way better than I was hoping. I was honestly hoping for a total trainwreck, and that was something, tense, uneasy, but not awful. Speaks to the skill level of the people involved

[@fabianvanderelst9643]

5:00 made my day! What a sick groove! The bass, the chopped up audio, and then the drums with the ride! So sick!

[@jlw3_vb]

I know right?! Nobody is talking about it in the comment section.

[@fabianvanderelst9643]

@@jlw3_vb Yeah!

[@CPalanysamy]

hanging out that way in such a cozy studio creating music reminds of the "sociedad gastronómica"in north Spain where a bunch of friends rent a rural-house kitchen to experiment and make food

[@katat4649]

I love these sorts of challenges. One of my favorite to do alone is randomly pick out 3 synth presets and a pack of samples then write a song in 90 minutes only with that.

[@YannSelka]

Dear Adam, by giving Bent Knee the spotlight time after time you are doing this world justice. Thank you.

[@GigglebunsUV]

okay, but literally the coolest studio ive ever seen

[@storingjazzinmycheeksforth5319]

ok but the vocal chopping was actual fire that sounded ridiculously cool

[@micheleperla]

Amazing 'tent. The last game turned out wonderful, it sounded to me like something Zappa would have written for a Lynch movie.

[@angelramos5945]

4:36 I love this part lol I sample a lot myself and the idea of creating your like own sound to sample but doing that by having a big group read a random line from a book is awesome lol

[@eliasmg9144]

5:25 talking about tool "This is necessary"

[@Januzsekta]

These bent knee guys are great

[@DavidDiMuzio]

Your channel is so entertaining 🤘

[@MCherkashin]

Courtney's game (#4 at 03:56) results in something reminding 65daysofstatic, probably because of that first sample at 04:36 & 04:40, and definnitely in part due to bit crushing (y'all are of insane musicanship)

[@augustgreig9420]

"Play the LAMEST groove you can think of." "I'll try to learn a bunch of TOOL songs." Disliked, unsubbed, reported for illegal content, created a hashtag, threw phone in the toilet.

[@tylerhackner9731]

#CancelAdamNeely (jk)

[@bufferjoetommas]

i think he doesnt refer to tool to be lame but often use unusual beats

[@DasGanon]

I mean you could. I know for a world music class, I did a comparison of Soviet Bootleg music to Western music and finished it all up with Iron Maiden and Aria as a "Well... that didn't work" sort of demonstration. That said the Tool line reeaaaaly doesn't help Jazz's image of a bunch of wine sniffing rich white snobs who are "deep".

[@MickZarco]

*Call 911*

[@num1shinfan]

I wouldn't get too butthurt about it. All these "games" sounded like shit and how they're helpful for anything Musical other than team building exercises is beyond me

[@rattrap1009]

Fuck I love Bent Knee so much, they’re so fucking talented.

[@Guitarfool202]

I LOVE the Peavey Bass. T-40 was such a monster ripper.

[@pentapandamusic]

Good vibes... loved it.

[@Alexeiyeah]

The last game sounded kinda what I think when people say "I love music" in a generic way.

[@timothyching6715]

bro not enough people are talking about that first game that shit is enough to bring me to tears its so gorgeous

[@monomakes]

Wow, that engineer did a great job with the blind (deaf) improv.

[@Dkdudeman]

My love for Bent Knee is eternally overflowing.

[@sinistermephisto65]

"Play the LAMEST groove you can think of." "I'll try to learn a bunch of TOOL songs." SAVAGE. Insta like

[@Shitocki]

Looks like he eats McDonald’s for a living, look at Daney Vs. This guy and how humble daney is compared to this… thing

[@BroudbrunMusicMerge]

Bent Knee is legitimately my favorite band

[@juicyrusty1205]

The fifth exercise is a visual representation of how "Drunk" by Sungazer was born

[@mykhedelic6471]

YES, BENT KNEE and ADAM NEELY! I want to live in that studio.

[@lacoalfredo]

Niceee Adam rocking the legendary T-40

[@difquin]

That last comp was incredible. Somehow you all found a compatible vibe? Such eerie, so ambience.

[@polyphonicdissonance6612]

"Play the lamest groove you can think of." "I'll try and learn a bunch of TOOL songs. Hah!" *Danny Carey has entered the chat*

[@timepasskale]

Appreciate the change in colour palette and subtle lighting changes. Can't wait to watch the rest of the video! xD

[@p_mouse8676]

Besides all the goofing around, the quality of the recordings are actually pretty nice as well!

[@robertgramley8383]

"It's another day! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHHHAHHHHHHHH!" (Light riffing in background) -Ben

[@Ngasii]

3:07: I liked the first game. This one sounds really nice🔥

[@1ke_jke56]

Bruh, I still come back to this video for that one song in the beginning! Post that shit on spotify!

[@ghgodsexposed]

I wanna know what is going on in Ben's head sometimes lmao that guy is on a different wavelength

[@joashchechet]

It is my extreme honour to make this the 69th like *diabolical laughter*, unless some idiot come and fucks it up.

[@MM-vs2et]

@Lucas impossible, it's at 95 now

[@olgierdvoneverec4135]

Its back at 96

[@ScottBaietti]

I love your stuff, and appreciate all the stuff you put together for us, all the hardwork and time/ talent/ etc. With that said, that string ensemble story is one of the best things on your channel all time. Thanks for including it.

[@VioletAOP416]

Yo Bent Knee is playing with Thank You Scientist in my town soon. I didn’t know Ben Levin was part of that, now I definitely gotta go.

[@ZackSeifMusic]

JackBluebee TYS is a killer act as well.

[@VioletAOP416]

RegressionMusic yes, I’m a big fan.

[@mami42g]

I love the carpets in the studio, very oriental

[@Sebax]

When Adam said "oh shi..." I felt that

[@thomasulrich3107]

3:40 one of the best king crimson covers ive ever heard

[@beforetheburial5605]

Lol immediately made me think of Providence or another one of those styles of KC songs

[@alantelemishev9335]

The layered meters game sounded a lot like one of the tracks from Death Note.

[@WyattCayer]

Same

[@kaitlyn__L]

My exact thought

[@Mr.Batsu12]

I absolutely love these videos. The complete lack of fear and openness to just "create" no matter what the outcome is very inspiring. I know way too often I feel too much pressure about the result of what I try to create.

[@endriu55]

03:25 Ok so that's how Swans writes their music?

[@teadrinkerfication9160]

This is very cool 😎 I’m gonna play these with... myself for now

[@drakonyanazkar]

My favourite composition game is a very nerdy one (DM things): > Roll 1d12 to choose a random note > Roll 1d10 to choose a random mode (1-7 = Greek modes; 8 = pentatonic; 9 = Blues; 10 = roll again, but flatten the 6th) > Roll 1d%+60 (or whatever number you want) to choose the tempo > _I M P R O V I S E_ More steps can be made to add more randomness and some steps can be taken if you already know what to do in that field If you don't have dice, just use an app or website to roll those for you. On the internet you can even "roll" odd numbers like 1d7 or 1d63. If you rolled pentatonic or Blues, you can use other rolls to define the root note. If you just think Major/Minor, you can always use a d2 (coin).

[@dragon-id5uj]

"Aleatoric Music". Reminiscent of Terry Riley

[@TheSquareOnes]

I used to do something similar to structure compositions, but with vague descriptions of what sort of thing to write there. So you might roll "major shreddy ska grind in 23/16" for one section which then leads into "minimalist phrygian synth jazz drone in 7/8" for example, then you try to write something interesting that kinda sorta covers all the bases of whatever you rolled. It's a good way to get outside of your comfort zone since it's pretty hard to stick to your usual methods when you have to figure out how to cram together a bunch of genres and styles you wouldn't normally write in and that don't mix well.

[@drakonyanazkar]

@@TheSquareOnes Ohwell I've been a musician for exactly 2 years now. That's way beyond my level, but I'll keep those in mind for the future. Also, the "game" I suggested is meant to be simple and get you started on the fly. Your level of the thing could be superimposed over it as further steps to get a full song idea.

[@emmalynn1142]

okay that first bit was awesome and i love it and please turn that into a full track

[@albaal7035]

I was thinking what to call you guys but Bent Neely just sounds so wrong

[@thomasdixon8952]

I need more of these games! MORE!!!

[@personeighty9304]

9:23 love the new radiohead song

[@MrCardman12345]

it's amazing what this band can do when they're actually playing the right instruments

[@gzurti]

[insert meme] "I don't know what's happening, and at this point I'm too eager to learn."

[@KrustyAnne]

bro that last one, I can't even describe it, it was so surreal

[@ParkerMagee]

As a drummer, one thing I have heard of is numbers.

[@Joshua-ym9ki]

Please do more collaboration with Bent knee. Its honestly a dream come true

[@MK_Ultra.]

"Did we just figure out how to Flying Lotus"...

[@of_the_valley]

your profile pic and your comment go together perfectly

[@MK_Ultra.]

@@of_the_valley dog bless x

[@TheOneThreeFour]

"A number from 1-10" Ben: ELEVEN

[@onkelpappkov2666]

I mean, he IS a guitarist, so...

[@_oe_o_e_]

I wish my practice space was as well kitted out.

[@philthiest]

Hanging out with musicians just jamming and trading ideas is the dream life.

[@loganstrong5426]

Pro tip: make sure the people who are in separate rooms and not even playing the same thing are in the same key.

[@TheOnjLouis]

I love this. Literally don’t know what else to say other than that. This has given me so many ideas to try out with the bands I work with. Thank you. This has to be one of the best videos I’ve come across this year.