n/t

[tell him i am not at home]

The first time I’ve had a political message, the first time I’ve ever used a vocal overdub. I’m one step closer to KMFDM. Speaking of, I suppose I should call them over-dubyas. Yuk Yuk. Worst liner note joke ever.

That’s all I’m saying about it. Listen if you’re curious.

[i don’t fit this shoe]

The last track was almost entirely bass, drums, and harsh sounds. This one has hardly any of those. It’s almost…pretty. And though the composition is sloppy, it has the best sounding strings I’ve ever had a hand in.

Really I was just trying to test my keyboard over lunch break (I rearranged a bunch of USB wires) and this sorta happened. I was trying to figure out how to do a Gapper effect in Reason, which I was more or less successful at. Well, you be the judge.

[it washes people]

It’s actually pretty good, though again in the > 2:00 club. This is one of the only songs I’ve ever done where I’ve done all the drum stuff myself, and I don’t totally hate the song. It’s actually got a sort of smooth beat to it. Yay me.

Too bad I got a little nutsy with the nine inch nailsy sounds. Must be all the Prodigy I’m listening to.

Oh, and if any of you have actually decided to listen to this, do so on a system with some bass. You’ll be glad you did.

[total glass breaky sound]

It’s not very good. I was messing around with some plucked guitar string samples and got sort of carried away. It’s very caustic, not very well composed, and simply put, not as good as the last thing I put up, which I like a lot better in almost every way. Plus, the main thing I was trying to do, which is replicate an effect I’d heard, I managed to do, but I only use it for like 3 seconds at the very end of the song.But I suppose it was a learning experience.

[‘nü-klE-&r]

Often I tell people that whatever emotion I’m trying to work out of my system when I sit down to fiddle with music comes through in the music. Some seem sad, some seem angry- that’s pretty much why.

Right now, I pretty much just want to die. I’ve had a full-body death infection from the experimental pathogen laboratories of hades since Wednesday or so, and the drugs I got Friday suck balls. I’m basically only alive through the good over-the-counter graces of the Vicks corporation.

But, I couldn’t sleep, I wanted to have something to show for my misery, and it’d been a while since the ole blog got updated, so I tinkered with this. This is not an entirely new track, (well, it will be to 90% of you) but I added some neat stringy bits and finally overcame the roadblock I was having with it.

Now I think i’m going to take enough Nyquil to kill a team of horses and sleep until morning, when I begin Operation “Kill Local Doctor in cold blood without getting caught ever and also score good and applicable drugs to end terrible illness.”

The boys are still working on hiring a new guy to come up with the Operation names.

[please take me now]

This is another ~ 2 min piece, but this one is kinda interesting to me. Creates a definite mood, involves a lot of really strange and disparate sound sources, and was quite fun to create.

It’s not often you get to abuse the hell out of a Harmonica in a sampler.

Part of this abuse brought to you by the number 442. All hail the random number selection of Kalidassa.
I must sleep now, but tomorrow there will be the write-up of the weekly events, including a very very special dinner.

This is the third song in as many weeks that I’ve cranked out in less than 4 hours. I’ve done that on kidnapped inspiration, using what I could stuff into pockets and carry back with me from trips out and visits with people. And Leslie, it is honeslty beyond me how someone could claim stifled creativity.

In summation, this track may not be anyone’s cup of tea, but it’s on my list of favorites. And either way, the juices are flowin’.

Hannibal is on the jazz.

[woah lord]

This one got away from me a bit. It was supposed to be a fairly uplifting track, designed to cheer someone up, since I was unable to do much of anything with my sympathetic energies, and the particulars of this situation hit home with me.

Unfortunately, it hit home a bit too well, and so this became a somewhat melancholy track. And it took on a kind of different structure than I’d originally intended. I made this string patch that doesn’t fit the song too well, but I decided to use it anyway. This also ruins the kind of clean sound the track had until then.

Speaking of – lately, due to Leslie and Jannica (hope thats your actual name)’s influences, I’ve been listening to some old Depeche Mode that had been deemed verboten, and have begun a love affair with a band called Hybrid. Thank you both so much. It’s been a wonderful time to sit and think with music playing.

Both of these sources influenced this track, in that I tried for a very simple, very clean foundation (ala DM) and, well, the Hybrid stuff just really got me in the mood to make music. I’m still wrapping my head around Hybrid, but I have a feeling I will get some ideas from them. In any case, Hybrid are quite the awesome, and I can’t believe I shut myself off to DM. Gods among men.

This track is nowhere near as good as either group’s work, but I like to document influences. I like to document a whole lot of stuff, which you’ve probably realized by now. If not, you should see the pictures of the time I sorted computer screws. Yeah.

Strangely, this is the first track I’ve had a problem coming up with a satisfactory name for, and this comes on the heels of an IM discussion about my song titles. Huh. Alternate titles were: Praises that go Unspoken, Self Imagination, and the ultra-pretentious The Crushing Weight of Molehill Mountain. I even considered King Jeremy the Wicked, because it fits the emotions I associate with the song, but I just couldn’t do that. The first of these almost certainly would have been the final track name had the track stayed like I was intending, but like I said, it got away from me. I like to think about the road not traveled. Sue me.

This one goes out to anyone with family that make you feel worthless for being human. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been so crushed down in that regard that it’s little consolation if others around you see your goofs for what they are, and love you all the same. But, nonetheless, chances are there are people who do.

And chances are there are many many praises that could be said about you, that cause that love, and they go unspoken.

</pretentiousness>

n.p. hybridfinishedsymphony
[that’s all there is]

Note: this download was updated 10/22/08, for the release of Twilight.

For my disclaimer about how this is not a great song, I suggest you read the annotated download page.

comments are welcome.

there are other labors that will be highlighted in this space soon.

the show, such as it is, is back on.

[and yet harmonic]

This cost me most of the evening’s sleep to do, and was completed at the expense of 2 other blog entries I meant to get fit for public consumption tonight.

And on top of that, chances are, nobody’s gonna like it. But it’s 160bpm of creative output for the evening, and has a synthesized steam jet sound I’m quite proud of. It’s yet another of the ~2min demos I seem to be cranking out, which I think will have their own section on the forthcoming TRB cd.

[smoking gun or mushroom cloud?]