Serendipity steers our lives far more than control freaks are willing to admit. Something on SoundCloud a few days ago (of June 2013) had me thinking of the great “Rogue River Suite” theme by François Tétaz from the independent Australian thriller “Rogue.” Within this same timeframe a local public radio station (WFPK in Louisville, KY) played Gary Jules’ cover of “Mad World” from the soundtrack of the cult indie film “Donnie Darko.” Then yesterday in an instant, unbidden moment, the earworm of one met up with the earworm of the other. My eyes widened with the thought these two hauntingly lovely themes would fit together like hand in glove, both melodically and rhythmically.

I found out they most certainly do indeed, and this mash-up track I’ve woven together is the result of my little earworm epiphany. The first 42-seconds are from “Rogue” alone, then both tracks play out in their entirety with minor adjustments on my part here and there. Hope you enjoy this 10% perspiration and 90% inspiration of mine.

My Korg is stubbornly finding a way to foil my piano tracks. You will hear some snap/crackle/pop at specific points [WARNING: @11 - 13 secs is the first big spot], and apparently there is not a thing I can do about it short of buying a new piano, which is not feasible. I even rerecorded the piano track with no pedal and all volume controls very low, and yet the scritches occurred at the precise same points in the second take. At least that time-wasteful experiment eliminated volume levels and keystroke pressure as sources. Must be something the Korg is sending via certain modes (E-piano here) and notes or note combinations. My C-3500 model is 24 years old and has endured seven household moves, so I suppose it has earned its scritchiness.

Not overly thrilled with the vocal or melodica tracks either, and I considered scrapping the project altogether. Then I remembered: I’m not uploading these self-recordings with any aim toward great gain or acclaim. I’m simply having a bit of fun and, hopefully, the listener’s having some too. Sufficient free time and digital tech are finally allowing me to track “my back pages,” to belatedly archive the musical legacy I began building over four decades ago. [“Ah, but I was so much older then / I’m younger than that now.”]

“…Richard” is either the very first, or one of the first, repertoire songs where I developed a full piano arrangement by ear. I never studied any music theory nor owned a Mitchell songbook, so it’s only a spare approximation of Joni’s version on her sublime “Blue” LP. I’ve also taken liberties with the lyrics in tweaking and omitting as suits me. I hope you can and will get past the occasional unintended noise to listen to my intended sounds all the way through to the resolving chord.

A mini-LP compilation of one original and six covers.

No, Not Yet (But Soon)

A recommendation: For those who love lyrics that make you want to listen closely; for fans of talkin’ blues and Luka Bloom; for any of you dear readers still in possession of a conscience, I suggest you take a listen to the offerings of No, Not Yet available here:

http://nonotyet.bandcamp.com/

It’s my own arrangement, and the lyrics are changed a bit here and there to suit me better, but I learned this ditty way-back-when off my vinyl of “Just Dave Van Ronk.” In this mix I’m on acoustic guitars, vocals, Korg piano (vibes mode) and drumsticks, as well as those melodica, slide whistle and electric bass snippets—a veritable circus of one, whew and wheeee!

Updating My Original Bon Mot


Beware of geeks bearing .GIFs (especially if they call them “jifs”)! 

More to the point: If the originator of the first self-contained underwater breathing apparatus preferred to pronounce the resulting acronym, SCUBA, as “scyuba” rather than “scooba,” do you think that personal choice would have prevailed with the public in the end?  Of course not.

It’s very simple: the “G” in .GIF stands for a word that is pronounced with a hard G—period—so pronunciation rules dictate that the acronym also be pronounced with a hard G. Now that’s a reasoned “end to the discussion” as opposed to bowing to the dictates of a single individual’s “personal preference,” originator or not. Sometime in the future, sooner or later, we will only hear the term as .GIF and not .JIF, I jarantee it.  ♥

New Macho v. Machaut

First, here’s my redo of Fariña’s anti-macho anthem,”Hard Lovin’ Loser,” using now a direct Korg plugin. Not sure how much the piano part is enhanced, but at least I was able to slow it up and leave space for a much better vocal version (I think). I decided against the melodica this time, but was able to add two of my recent birthday presents on this redo—bongos and slide whistle.

Next, third time is charm, hopefully, for my second do-over of Guillaume de Machaut’s 14th c. rondeau, “Rose, lis, printemps.” Besides a direct plugin to remove the thudding keystroke noise, I’ve tuned the kantele with the proper tool this time.

This tandem track for my third “Rose Rondeau Redo” is identical to the one above except it adds a unison vocal track an octave lower. I could claim I pulled in a ringer tenor to record with me. Or, would you believe a timely convergence of congestion/cold/allergies opening my Nico cords and lengthening them Faithfull-y, while also enhancing nasality en français?

I’m with the POTUS, and it’s long past high time this is straightened out. “JIF” is for kids and only for people who pronounce “graphic” as “giraffic” and “GUI” as “Jewy.”

Besides, my own tagline—Beware of geeks bearing .GIFs!—requires the correct “hard G” sound.

(via mudwerks)

Since You’ve Asked

JT got the proper wiring so REAPER can finally groK my Korg, and now I can proceed with self-recording some of my keyboard repertory. I probably will rework “Rose, Lis…” and “Hard Lovin’ Loser” eventually. In the meanwhile here’s a short and simple tune from the Judy Collins’ “Songbook.” While now the keyboard is recording loud and clear, I’m none too pleased with my vocals here. Allergy season is taking a stiff toll on my cords this mid-spring. Perhaps I’ll rerecord vocal sections sometime down the line.

Besides the Korg (on harpsichord/chorus mode) and vocals, I’ve included melodica and kantele tracks. I’m pretty happy with these additional theme snippets I devised.

Happy Earth Day!

It always re-bears repeating:

http://kat330.tumblr.com/post/3242598956/getting-real

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Green-Economics/2010/0928/Ode-to-the-resource-wasters-a-poem

http://greeneconomics.blogspot.com/search?q=kathleen+martin