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Progress Report Number 83
Fortunately, the last few weeks have been much easier in the department of my being able to create. Chalk it up to luck that some music came together through the ups and downs. As for grandma’s health issues, it will be several weeks before the shunt is inserted.
At the moment, there are eighteen pages where blogs are maintained. An additional one was canceled when I discovered the code for video formats wasn’t going to work out. On every page compatible with what gets used, the videos for “Tropic Of Antarctica” and “Flight In Ursa Minor” were uploaded. It was an all day project, even with a DSL connection. (Posting blogs on that many pages requires about ninety minutes of work.)
Right after finishing that task, work resumed on the new track “Technosaur” for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX. A lot of time went into getting the instrument sounds just right. This came to a point where I realized there was simply too much music. The first parts removed either added nothing to the existing piece or where cluttering things up. When that happened, the Percussion went through a serious transformation as well. The idea in mind was to go with a jungle sound; a mix of Tribal Drums and wooden Percussion. They all came out.
Getting the textures was my next focus. I rotated many Guitar sounds for a layer I’d written for an Acoustic Guitar. None of the adjustments worked. That part came out, all except a small part used as an Intro. From there, the Percussion went through another transformation to bring up the volume. Count-ins were created to lend the live feel of the other tracks in the BELLATRIX collection.
The last part giving me problems was a twelve bar section toward the middle where I felt slowing the track down to create a change in mood would be a good idea. The part was classically orchestrated and did nothing except bog down the overall flow. Removing that section cured everything. “Technosaur” works much better as a straight Rock & Roll track. Proof again that music can come to life through cosmetic surgery.
After months of waiting, I heard the decision about my story “Persephone”. The publisher passed on it. The funny thing was, I kind of suspected they would, however, the reason they gave had absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the content of the story. It was quite comical, considering this was a romance publisher. Remember, “quality editorial is paramount”! “Persephone” will find a home somewhere. I’ll keep shopping it around.
The next piece of music in my queue is also intended for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX. It’s an Oriental flavored piece entitled “Mystic Temple”.
The track actually started out as two separate pieces of music. But, I found a way to make them compliment each other in a single track. The first half relies mainly on Acoustic Guitar. There is a spot where a Keyboard comes in. The music pauses, changes Key, and takes on Percussion and Flute. In fact, I could hear the Flute in the music before even deciding to have one. In this second part, the Acoustic Guitars crosses four channels, adding dimension not present during the first part. It’s very mellow, almost magical. The setting might be the inside of a temple filled with fine linens decorated with Japanese writing flowing in the breeze. It’s very tranquil, very serene.
Once again, the next track is the last planned track for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX. (You’ve heard me say that before, right? ;-) ) The track is called “Draco”, named after the northern constellation wrapped around Ursa Minor, the star pattern with Polaris, or the North Star. In Greek Myth, Draco was one of the Titans. While battling for control of the world, the dragon very foolishly tried to attack Athena, goddess of strategic warfare and wisdom. Athena grabbed Draco by the tail and hurled him up into the sky. Draco was caught around the North Star and became knotted and entangled as the Earth rotated, leaving the dragon forever imprisoned. When star maps were drawn with lavish illustrations a few hundred years ago, Draco was often depicted as twisted or coiled.
When beginning work on “Draco”, I wanted to use some of the leftover parts from “Technosaur”. This was an idea that sounded very good in theory, but, didn’t work so well in practice. The music went through a transformation, none the less. The Percussion was drastically altered to fit the mood the track took on. In fact, at that point, it reminded me a lot of “Xenomorphic” (another track for BELLATRIX). “Xenomorphic” has a very distinct march going for it. “Draco” picked up some of that feel, but in a different way. (To make sure I wasn’t rewriting a track, I kept comparing the two to make sure “Draco” was working on its own without borrowing too much from “Xenomorphic”.)
Gaining texture, however, did borrow an idea from another track. A trick I used in “Kutulu” from XENOPHOBIA, except in reverse. Part of the Percussion line was placed into a Keyboard and into an Electric Guitar. The effect created is a low, growling pulse. This brought the second part of the track to life in a much better way than the Guitar parts I left out of “Technosaur”. “Draco” evolved into a sort of dragon march, building up from the first half of the track, reaching full potential by the second half. Taking the minimalist approach once again did the trick.
At this point in time, all of my original musical work is finished. Unlike before, this felt much more anti-climatic. Maybe it’s because I know, deep down, the music will never be over. Ideas will present themselves again.
The next thing getting attention was a track released by Duran Duran in 2004 entitled “(Reach Up For The) Sunrise”. I’d wanted to do some Duran Duran for my INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION. Unfortunately, as you’ll recall, none of those worked. This time was different!
“(Reach Up For The) Sunrise” came together very quickly and very easily in comparison to most of my work. It was as if this track was the one meant to be for my project. The only part that took any length of time was the shimmering opening Keyboards. The rest of the mixing and instrument placement went off without a hitch.
With one final idea in mind for the INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION, I started working on a track from the Vangelis soundtrack of “Antarctica”, the title theme. Right after I started getting things going, I realized about half of the music was missing. Unwilling to settle for just part of such a great piece of music, I scrapped the idea for that obvious reason.
Second project finished within a week’s time. The creative juices were flowing, so much so, an idea for a cover graphic for INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION finally came to mind. Using the upside down RA rune symbol, I’m going to draw it into a Guitar, possibly as a stand alone picture, or possibly using a drawing of myself holding it. It will be red, my favorite color, and will look great!
My writing teacher, Mary Rosenblum, writes a weekly newsletter for the Long Ridge Writers Group. Last week, she included a link to an organization that provides grant money for performance arts projects called Creative Capital. I went over and checked out the site and then decided AD ASTRA would be my target project. I spent a few days working exclusively on the proposal. In many questions, you’re only allowed about one hundred words (Me?! Only one hundred words?! You have to be kidding, right? LOL). While answering the questions and outlining my vision for the recording, I had to be very careful about what I wanted to say in terms of how to say it in the very best way possible. These things are good exercise, always. The deadline is March 4th. I don’t know how log after that I might hear any kind of decision. Any financial effort I could get launching something a special as AD ASTRA would really be welcomed!
At this point, only four tracks of music required my attention, music for the Sonic Remixed 2008 project. The one I chose to work on first is a bouncy, incredibly fun track for the level “Collision Chaos Past” from the Sonic The Hedgehog CD. That’s the only title I’ve ever known the music by, so, that’s what I’m calling it unless I find out otherwise. The track was part of the original Japanese score penned by Naofumi Hataya & Masafumi Ogata. Like all the music used in the “Past” levels of the game, the music is very different than the Spencer Nilsen & David Young tracks. This one has always been one of my favorites. I really can’t tell you how fun it is. You want to get up and dance, that’s for sure!
Because I don’t do Vocals, I used a trick with the Basses to double for the really low Vocal parts. One of the Basses pans back and fourth through the channels, just like the original recording. The second Bass has a built in undulating sound. The combination of the two filled in very nicely for deep voices.
The main Melody in the original is played by Flute. In mine, the Flute is a gorgeous Synth sound combined with Electric Guitar. The Rhythm section also became an Electric Guitar, bringing out more of the track’s underlying texture. At the very end, I close with Percussion, creating a live feel, much like the BELLATRIX body of work. In the final mix, my track is every bit as fun as the original. I’ll have to keep you posted as to when the Sonic Remix 2008 project is ready so you can hear it for yourselves. At the moment, I’ve run out of space on my albums.
Well, here we are. We’ve reached the end of another two weeks of progress. I’m hoping the next few keep going well. Once again, I can’t promise a weekly blog at the minute. I will try, though.
What’s happening in your life? Share your thoughts with me. See you back here soon!
Rob
At the moment, there are eighteen pages where blogs are maintained. An additional one was canceled when I discovered the code for video formats wasn’t going to work out. On every page compatible with what gets used, the videos for “Tropic Of Antarctica” and “Flight In Ursa Minor” were uploaded. It was an all day project, even with a DSL connection. (Posting blogs on that many pages requires about ninety minutes of work.)
Right after finishing that task, work resumed on the new track “Technosaur” for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX. A lot of time went into getting the instrument sounds just right. This came to a point where I realized there was simply too much music. The first parts removed either added nothing to the existing piece or where cluttering things up. When that happened, the Percussion went through a serious transformation as well. The idea in mind was to go with a jungle sound; a mix of Tribal Drums and wooden Percussion. They all came out.
Getting the textures was my next focus. I rotated many Guitar sounds for a layer I’d written for an Acoustic Guitar. None of the adjustments worked. That part came out, all except a small part used as an Intro. From there, the Percussion went through another transformation to bring up the volume. Count-ins were created to lend the live feel of the other tracks in the BELLATRIX collection.
The last part giving me problems was a twelve bar section toward the middle where I felt slowing the track down to create a change in mood would be a good idea. The part was classically orchestrated and did nothing except bog down the overall flow. Removing that section cured everything. “Technosaur” works much better as a straight Rock & Roll track. Proof again that music can come to life through cosmetic surgery.
After months of waiting, I heard the decision about my story “Persephone”. The publisher passed on it. The funny thing was, I kind of suspected they would, however, the reason they gave had absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the content of the story. It was quite comical, considering this was a romance publisher. Remember, “quality editorial is paramount”! “Persephone” will find a home somewhere. I’ll keep shopping it around.
The next piece of music in my queue is also intended for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX. It’s an Oriental flavored piece entitled “Mystic Temple”.
The track actually started out as two separate pieces of music. But, I found a way to make them compliment each other in a single track. The first half relies mainly on Acoustic Guitar. There is a spot where a Keyboard comes in. The music pauses, changes Key, and takes on Percussion and Flute. In fact, I could hear the Flute in the music before even deciding to have one. In this second part, the Acoustic Guitars crosses four channels, adding dimension not present during the first part. It’s very mellow, almost magical. The setting might be the inside of a temple filled with fine linens decorated with Japanese writing flowing in the breeze. It’s very tranquil, very serene.
Once again, the next track is the last planned track for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX. (You’ve heard me say that before, right? ;-) ) The track is called “Draco”, named after the northern constellation wrapped around Ursa Minor, the star pattern with Polaris, or the North Star. In Greek Myth, Draco was one of the Titans. While battling for control of the world, the dragon very foolishly tried to attack Athena, goddess of strategic warfare and wisdom. Athena grabbed Draco by the tail and hurled him up into the sky. Draco was caught around the North Star and became knotted and entangled as the Earth rotated, leaving the dragon forever imprisoned. When star maps were drawn with lavish illustrations a few hundred years ago, Draco was often depicted as twisted or coiled.
When beginning work on “Draco”, I wanted to use some of the leftover parts from “Technosaur”. This was an idea that sounded very good in theory, but, didn’t work so well in practice. The music went through a transformation, none the less. The Percussion was drastically altered to fit the mood the track took on. In fact, at that point, it reminded me a lot of “Xenomorphic” (another track for BELLATRIX). “Xenomorphic” has a very distinct march going for it. “Draco” picked up some of that feel, but in a different way. (To make sure I wasn’t rewriting a track, I kept comparing the two to make sure “Draco” was working on its own without borrowing too much from “Xenomorphic”.)
Gaining texture, however, did borrow an idea from another track. A trick I used in “Kutulu” from XENOPHOBIA, except in reverse. Part of the Percussion line was placed into a Keyboard and into an Electric Guitar. The effect created is a low, growling pulse. This brought the second part of the track to life in a much better way than the Guitar parts I left out of “Technosaur”. “Draco” evolved into a sort of dragon march, building up from the first half of the track, reaching full potential by the second half. Taking the minimalist approach once again did the trick.
At this point in time, all of my original musical work is finished. Unlike before, this felt much more anti-climatic. Maybe it’s because I know, deep down, the music will never be over. Ideas will present themselves again.
The next thing getting attention was a track released by Duran Duran in 2004 entitled “(Reach Up For The) Sunrise”. I’d wanted to do some Duran Duran for my INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION. Unfortunately, as you’ll recall, none of those worked. This time was different!
“(Reach Up For The) Sunrise” came together very quickly and very easily in comparison to most of my work. It was as if this track was the one meant to be for my project. The only part that took any length of time was the shimmering opening Keyboards. The rest of the mixing and instrument placement went off without a hitch.
With one final idea in mind for the INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION, I started working on a track from the Vangelis soundtrack of “Antarctica”, the title theme. Right after I started getting things going, I realized about half of the music was missing. Unwilling to settle for just part of such a great piece of music, I scrapped the idea for that obvious reason.
Second project finished within a week’s time. The creative juices were flowing, so much so, an idea for a cover graphic for INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION finally came to mind. Using the upside down RA rune symbol, I’m going to draw it into a Guitar, possibly as a stand alone picture, or possibly using a drawing of myself holding it. It will be red, my favorite color, and will look great!
My writing teacher, Mary Rosenblum, writes a weekly newsletter for the Long Ridge Writers Group. Last week, she included a link to an organization that provides grant money for performance arts projects called Creative Capital. I went over and checked out the site and then decided AD ASTRA would be my target project. I spent a few days working exclusively on the proposal. In many questions, you’re only allowed about one hundred words (Me?! Only one hundred words?! You have to be kidding, right? LOL). While answering the questions and outlining my vision for the recording, I had to be very careful about what I wanted to say in terms of how to say it in the very best way possible. These things are good exercise, always. The deadline is March 4th. I don’t know how log after that I might hear any kind of decision. Any financial effort I could get launching something a special as AD ASTRA would really be welcomed!
At this point, only four tracks of music required my attention, music for the Sonic Remixed 2008 project. The one I chose to work on first is a bouncy, incredibly fun track for the level “Collision Chaos Past” from the Sonic The Hedgehog CD. That’s the only title I’ve ever known the music by, so, that’s what I’m calling it unless I find out otherwise. The track was part of the original Japanese score penned by Naofumi Hataya & Masafumi Ogata. Like all the music used in the “Past” levels of the game, the music is very different than the Spencer Nilsen & David Young tracks. This one has always been one of my favorites. I really can’t tell you how fun it is. You want to get up and dance, that’s for sure!
Because I don’t do Vocals, I used a trick with the Basses to double for the really low Vocal parts. One of the Basses pans back and fourth through the channels, just like the original recording. The second Bass has a built in undulating sound. The combination of the two filled in very nicely for deep voices.
The main Melody in the original is played by Flute. In mine, the Flute is a gorgeous Synth sound combined with Electric Guitar. The Rhythm section also became an Electric Guitar, bringing out more of the track’s underlying texture. At the very end, I close with Percussion, creating a live feel, much like the BELLATRIX body of work. In the final mix, my track is every bit as fun as the original. I’ll have to keep you posted as to when the Sonic Remix 2008 project is ready so you can hear it for yourselves. At the moment, I’ve run out of space on my albums.
Well, here we are. We’ve reached the end of another two weeks of progress. I’m hoping the next few keep going well. Once again, I can’t promise a weekly blog at the minute. I will try, though.
What’s happening in your life? Share your thoughts with me. See you back here soon!
Rob
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