floyd goes to the open mic

episode four:

floyd’s really nervous about going to open mic night.  he’s got some songs he’s been dying to try out live, but he’s nervous that they won’t go over well, and generally has a hard time with social scenes.

listen, and see how it goes.

ABOUT:

this was another experiement for me, initially to find a way to combine a lots of instruments without maxing out my computer completely.  i ended up with a lot of instruments, all generally playing minimal parts.  i wanted lots of different color’s, and wanted to play with more instruments than i have been.  so i started a session of about 5 or 6 orchestral instruments or sections, then 5 or 6 more in another file, and so on, until i had about 4 sessions going, that all got mixed into the final live recordings.  the last step (live stuff) was the melodica, some sound effects, guitar and vocals, and mixing the end to sound cinematic, with volume and panning choices.  considering the number of things going on, and time it took, it feels very short to me now, but hopefully effective.  let me know what you think!  this was also fun, because it started without any clear idea, just sound and idea searching.  the one thing i wanted was the sneaky/creapy/pensive thing, which influenced some of the instrument and note choices.  the entire openning of the piece takes place inside floyd’s head, until he gets out of his head and into a bar at the end of the piece, and makes his decision on the “open mic” experience.

thanks for listening!

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and see detholz, baby teeth, danny black, and dj bobby conn at hideout this saturday night for a benefit for lena yohey’s trip to Nepal this Fall!  http://tmt.detholz.com/yohey-fest.jpg

six shooter

“six shooter” (mp3)

i watched 3:10 to Yuma recently. and immediately began writing this song. i liked the movie, but was more generally inspired by the genre. i hadn’t seen a western in a while, and just love ’em. love love love ’em.

so, “six shooter” is my music for some version of the “final showdown” and/or “walk to the grave bravely” music.

i went for stringy stuff, guitars, etc. an effected piano that sounds a little tinny and scratchy, and a slow minor key progression, and some dirty-ass drums and other percussion. and bass. and whistles. and organ. and a church bell. those are all things that are in there.

well, i hope you enjoy this one. imagine it with me as a tall skinny dirty cowboy determined to do the right thing even though it may cost me my life. and everything is brown.

love,

brown and dirty

theme one

welcome back.

i call this one “theme one” (click to listen) because i think of it as the first of a specific collection of “film music with no film.” i wrote it this weekend at my parents place in Missouri, on their piano, in a food coma.

i’ve been getting more and more focused on writing for picture, and at times when no picture is readily available, i’ve written a few things to mental pictures. this pieces mental picture isn’t as specific as some, but i think it leads the minds eye in a certain direction. while i was writing in MO, i started transitioning into entirely different music at the end of the piece, but in this case, chose and recorded and ending to it. in said film, it probably wouldn’t end the way it does in this case.  i dunno.

Form/Theme

A. the main theme is presented right at the top of the piece, heard in the high voice of the piano…playful but with a bit of a “trouble in paradise” idea.

B. transition material darkens the character a bit, then redeems/lightens (“ah” vocals) the character a bit. this section acknowledges that something mysterious/questionable is abound i think.

A1. the main theme in a new key with slight alterations – a back and forth of light and dark ideas…using a whole tone scale at the end to add escalating tension.

C. transition/truncated theme brightens things up a bit, quoting the theme and creating a nice little “V I” to the end section. a “V I” (five, one) is basically a way to set up a new resting place, or harmonic “home” for the ear. it’s like the “amen” at the end of a hymn, with two chords (five/one or four/one) that say “all-done” or “your home” to the ear.

D. new material – we arrive at this “home” and slow the pace down. the character is tired perhaps, or contemplative. this section goes back and forth between light and dark versions of itself, nodding to that conflict still existing (whatever that conflict is). then, maybe the character falls asleep.

what do you think?

YOUR MISSION, if you choose to be awesome:

come up with a short narrative for this piece and post it as a comment. i have ideas, but they’re pretty open. i’d LOVE to hear yours.

j

radio poo pee

“radio poo pee”

hey loves.

running a little late this week, cause friends and i were working on a video project for our friend steve niketopoulos, that we finished and presented last night at his suprise birthday party. super fun.

this weeks “song of the week” is comprised of music from the video.

i wrote and arranged a variety of little incidental musics, and a couple of themes that were more “out front”, and in THIS recording, stuck them all into this “tuning a radio” context. it’s fun to think that everything on the radio is my stuff, and by “fun” i mean “narcissistic.”

i tried to mix it so that it sounded like i’m in a car, driving, tuning a radio, and occassionally talking to myself. the outside sound is from a sound effects library and i just looped it. i then mixed it so that it sounds a little muffled, as it would from the inside of a car. the ambulance that you hear at 2min and 38secs or so i panned from right to left and faded out so that it sounds like it’s moving, both from right to left and AWAY. my “talking etc” vocals i left dry (no effects), cause they should sound like they’re right in your space.

the radio stuff is all mixed together with bits of the songs, bits of white noise, fuzz, interference, and different volumes and eq’s.

this is all an experiment in creating an environment, which i think i’m understanding better and better as i do it. but it still doesn’t sound the way i want it too yet. this one gets close to what that environment would sound like, i think, but it’s not there. i don’t think it PUTS YOU IN THE CAR yet. i’ll probably keep tweeking it over the next week or so and see if i can do that.

see if you can pin-point a couple pre-existing themes in the music too. pretty famous ones. 🙂

as always, thanks for listening!

have a great week.

j

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