Rattle

So maybe it's cliche to have a rattle in Rattle, but honestly the title was borne in complete absence of the rattle and eludes to the quick rattle-evoking sound at the end of the longer melody passage, as well as at the beginning of the lead part. Anywho, this tune started with the mandolin rhythm part and was originally going to be another overtone piece (see the post, Overtone), but quickly took an entirely different direction when the melody was completed. I would love to convert one or two of the melody and harmony guitar parts to trumpet and/or sax. Another possibility for the title is Snake Eyes.

10 til

Here's one version of this idea. The "melody line" or theme is something that drops in once in a while when I'm whistling. The lead guitar track is one take. The title stems from the time signature, which is based on ten beats. It will change (the title that is).

Audio Reflections

I've been reviewing and reflecting on some of the early audio projects I created for this blog, and I'm amazed at how much I've learned about audio production. Looking back at the actual production files I can see all of the less-than-optimal recording, editing, and mixing methods I've employed, and note how my methods have changed through experience. I've come to understand that while I'm limited by my tools, I can find ways to work with and around them to create more sophisticated projects than I originally anticipated. Audio is a field to which I've always been drawn, and now that I've discovered joy in navigating some of its many intricacies on the production end, I hope to continue learning and creating new projects into the foreseeable future.

Wayback 2

This is a more polished version of "Wayback" (previous post), with improved presentation and streamlined parts. The rhythm guitar part came in a dream a few nights back. It's interesting to note that the rhythm guitar is in 6/8 while the bass is 8/8. The other tracks are more open to facilitate the convergence of these two time signatures. This track reminds me of Dr. Didg.

Wayback

First post and composition in a while. Felt inspired to get back to my analogue roots. Enjoy!

Audio Log: Straesum

Ableton session number three.

Audio Log: Morning Dreamscapes

Another Ableton Live session.

Audio Log: Funny Life

This is a fun little ditty composed on Ableton Live.

Bread and Art

I finally baked an honest loaf from the sourdough culture I started back in December. I shot it from this angle so you wouldn't see I already dug in on the other side. It's a nice dense loaf (the kind where you can eat one or two pieces and get pretty full) with a wonderful crumb, and the flavor is as rich and complex as a fine cheese. I still have to work on the crust a bit through refining oven temperature and moisture levels, but in the meantime, Ooh La La!



It seems to me that bread and art go so well together that I couldn't pass up this opportunity to marry them. The above photo is of a little beach piece put together by my sister and myself - photo by Mom. The below photo features a collaborative piece composed by my four-year-old nephew and myself on the house dry-erase board. He loves to draw superheroes, and lately I've been trying to steer his creative expression away from violence toward the virtues of respect and responsibility.



What's interesting about these two works is the striking design similarities despite the shift in context and almost a year of separation. What's more is that both mediums are incredibly transient, sort of like the loaf of bread above.

Audio Log: By Twos and Threes

This piece was born out of an attempt to create a soundtrack for a web-based promotional video I created for a client. Thankfully it didn't work out at all for the video, because it's a hot tune! In this composition I'm gradually refining my approach to MIDI-based instrumentation, and hopefully getting a bit closer to the things I'm trying to emulate. That said, I hope listeners will be able to appreciate the piece with fresh ears, or possibly imagine how it might sound with a real live band. This piece also features a couple of solos that showcase the power of the MIDI keyboard, as I wouldn't be able to do this stuff without it. BTW the video track turned out excellently, and perhaps I'll be able to share a link or embedded file in a future post.

That Sink-ing Feeling

I got hold of a new mother the other day. In this case, a mother is a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast that ferments a mixture of black tea and sugar into a refreshing and potentially health-promoting drink known as kombucha. I kept one other kombucha culture in the past (actually the new one is an offshoot of an offshoot of the original culture I kept), and never before realized the incredible toughness of these mothers. I wanted to split the new mother in two pieces so I could work up two separate jars of kombucha, and had an incredibly difficult time. I eventually came out with two mangled pieces, but hopefully I'll have a couple of intact mothers after a week or so of fermentation.

If you look at the photo, you'll see layering near the top of the jar. Each layer is a distinct mother (more or less). This whole thing has me wondering what a mother consists of exactly... Ahhh! More info here: Kombucha. Well you can check out some of the purported health effects of kombucha while you're there.

I replaced a bathroom faucet yesterday at the request of my sister. This was a first for me, and I have to say it turned out pretty well. Looks good, and no leaks! Is it strange that the liquid that gets trapped in the sink drain looks a lot like kombucha?