Over the weekend I released a 2-song EP called Jackson. For now it’s available on Noistrade, just as a test to see how it goes.
I also wrote a blog post talking a bit about it. Oh, and here’s a live performance of the title-track:
Category Archives: Music
Song by song: Minimize and The Griot
It’s been a while since I wrote one of these…let’s do two songs this time:
I think of Minimize as my prog song. As I composed it I was reminded of Discipline-era King Crimson with some Steve Reich. There’s definitely a minimalist vibe to it.
I don’t really remember how the Griot came about, but I remember really liking the melody. The rhythm changes between an afro-beat groove in the verses, and straight-ahead rock in the choruses. I could lie and tell you that it’s a juxtaposition of different cultures or something or other, but it isn’t. It just sounded cool…
Song by Song: Build
I’ve been meaning to write about each song from A Work in Progress for a while now. To talk a bit about how they came to be and the thinking behind each one. I figure it’s about time I get around to it…
So let’s start with the very first song on the album: Build. Here it is, in case you haven’t heard it:
This is one of the first songs I wrote for this album. I had been messing around with a C minor tuning, and I came up with the pounding bass that starts the song.
It kinda just grew from there, to be quite honest. This was one of those rare songs that just write themselves. I don’t remember thinking too much about it…just playing it a lot and letting it grow.
Originally, it was meant to be entirely in 5/8, and it does start the way. But once the melody starts, the rhythms adapt around it, making for a lot of tricky time changes.
Again, I don’t remember thinking too much about it, I was focusing on the melody. I didn’t even realize how complex it was until I had to write it down for other musicians! I guess all those years of listening to prog, Stravinsky, and eastern music finally came through.
The title ‘Build’ refers to the overall structure of the song…I know, not very romantic. But it also brings images of anything that builds up…like the clouds that gather before a storm. I think the song already creates quite a lot of imagery, so I didn’t want the title to be too specific. Better leave it to the listener to give it their own meaning I say…
By the way, this is one of favorite songs to play live. The hypnotic quality seems to really get people’s attention and I always get a good reaction.
Video: We’ll Always Have Siberia
Here’s another new video, this time for We’ll Always Have Siberia:
New Video: Post-
Here’s a video for my song Post- :
Playing with Odd Times
I’ve been messing around a lot with odd-time signatures in my music lately, and that’s gotten me thinking about how I count and feel them when I play.
When one plays in 4, it’s common to change how one feels the beat, i.e. double-time, half-time, etc. This depends on the groove itself and what makes one more comfortable. For example, once the music starts getting too fast, it’s easier to count in half-time, which usually leads to a more relaxed feel for the musician.
But when you move into odd-times, like 5 or 7, things get tricky because the bars don’t subdivide neatly.
The way I’ve been counting them up till now is by sub-dividing them into groups of 2 and 3, which I think is pretty common. For example in my song We’ll Always Have Siberia, I’m counting 2+3…basically two beats, with the second one being a little longer.
The problem with this, is that the rhythm itself has a very strong momentum and I tend to rush. A lot.
So i started experimenting with counting it in different ways. First, you can count it in quarter notes, which means that what was 2 bars of 5/8 becomes one bar of 5/4.
The advantage here is that your counting straight quarter notes, so it’s easier to keep a solid tempo. You could even go further and count in half notes, which means you have to go through 4 bars of 5/8 before landing back on the 1.
This one is bit trickier, but once you get the hang of it you can really get into the groove. Plus, it really helps when playing in faster tempos.
So basically these are just different ways of feeling and subdividing the rhythm. I’m practicing switching between the different feels while playing to a metronome to really get it internalized. Fun times!