listening for the muse

composing circlesongs - hirabam

song_owl — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:51:14 GMT

for your listening enjoyment, i have posted another mp3 online. the link can be found near the top of my page "composing circlesongs". hirabam is the newer one. it's another soundscape - an exploration of layered harmony and polyrhythm. the syllables are a vehicle for sound; they have no particular meaning. the music conveys it's own message - beyond words.

across the universe

song_owl — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 21:02:45 GMT

if you've ever wondered what it would look like if various stories and characters from the beatles songs were woven together into a technicolor tapestry rendering a poignant flashback into the 60s, then this movie is for you. across the universe is more than a musical. the story takes a hard look into what it was like to be in the midst of social upheaval, the civil rights movement, vietnam war protests, and the psychedelic journey of new paradigms. it's well worth seeing - if for no other reason than hearing bono sing "i am the walrus" on the further bus with merry pranksters.

ollabelle

song_owl — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 18:01:51 GMT

it was like that telephone game when one person says something and by the time it gets round to you there's a different message - but i found it! the band is called ollabelle and the song is "no more my lawd". i spoke with the dj yesterday who straightened it all out for me (btw, the radio station is kkup and the show is the friday folk off). easy to find things online once you have the right name :-)

lola belle

song_owl — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 19:51:17 GMT

i was listening to the radio yesterday while driving and i heard this beautiful song with great vocals and harmony. the dj said that the artist was called lola belle and the song was titled "no more load". the genre kind of fits with soulful blues or maybe gospel. slow tempo. smooth sound. anyway, i've been trying to find out more about this artist online to no avail. has anyone else heard this song?

imogen heap - hide and seek

song_owl — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 20:08:11 GMT

i've just posted a youtube video here on tribe and wanted to share a something with you about the artist - imogen heap. she's amazing. for some reason when i hear her sing a cappella it makes me cry (you know, the good kind of tears). i'm not usually as interested in electronic music - i prefer to hear the raw voice of a person, but imogen heap has a really interesting way of bridging the worlds of electronic and a cappella. a friend introduced me to this music by sending me a youtube link "just for now", which was recorded at the same time as the one you'll see here. anyway, it's good music and worth knowing what she's saying so here's the lyrics: where are we? what the hell is going on? the dust has only just begun to fall - crop circles in the carpet - sinking feeling - spin me round again and rub my eyes, this can't be happening - when busy streets a mess with people would stop to hold their heads heavy - hide and seek - trains and sewing machines - all those years - they were here first - oily marks appear on walls - where pleasure moments hung before the takeover - the sweeping insensitivity of this still life - hide and seek - trains and sewing machines - oh, you won't catch me around here -blood and tears (hearts) - they were here first - mmm whacha say, mmm that you only meant well? well of course you did - mmm whacha say, mmm that its all for the best? of course it is - mmm whacha say? mmm that it's just what we need - you decided this mmm whacha say? mmm what did she say? ransom notes keep falling out your mouth - mid-sweet talk newspaper word cut outs - speak no feeling no i don't believe you - you don't care a bit, you don't care a bit - hide and seek - ransom notes keep falling out your mouth - mid-sweet talk newspaper word cut outs - hide and seek - speak no feeling no i don't believe you - you don't care a bit, you don't care a bit

circlesongs

song_owl — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 02:08:31 GMT

today i have just figured out how to share some of my songs with you - there's a link near the top of my page that will open an mp3 of a song that i composed and recorded on my digital 4 track. all the voices are me. i'm sure that the song could be polished up a bit more (that's my disclaimer) but i'm ok with sharing this rough draft with you, because it's so much more fun to share music with friends than keep it to myself. this is the first of several circlesongs that i have created. they're meant to be sung by a number of people grouped into parts which get sung all together, making a polyphony of texture, rhythm and harmony. last summer on the solstice i brought this song to my circlesinging group and got to hear about 60 different voices singing this song - it was great!

plum trees

song_owl — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 22:12:55 GMT

There are two plum trees on the land where I live and they are both laden with ripening fruit. The other folks that live here have gone away for a few weeks - just as the plums become ready for the picking. So, I'm wondering what kinds of tasty things I can make with this surplus of fruit... sweet, savory, dried or fermented? Let me know if you have a favorite recipe for plums that you would like to share.

you got to know your chickens

song_owl — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 17:48:59 GMT

For the past several years I have lived at places where there were chickens. They're great to have around :-) Simple and always entertaining. They like to eat fresh greens, so I give them left overs from the kitchen or clippings from the garden. In turn they provide delicious fresh eggs with bright yolks for breakfast (plus good fertilizer for the garden). It's a mutually beneficial relationship, and it's fun to let them out and watch them waddle around pecking at things in the yard.

art forms in nature

song_owl — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:58:21 GMT

for those of you who love to see how nature presents itself as art, this book is the best! the original drawings were made in the 1800's. this work has inspired countless artists and architects and has definitely woven a theme into my ideas for metal arts. i've been working with drawings in a new way this summer. i've gone through stacks of interesting images and done sketches of them - focusing on the parts that really resonate with me. i've also been looking through the drawings that i have done over the past several years to find a common thread that runs through them all. my intention is to find out more about my stylistic expression and to distill and refine my designs.

the world's smallest recording studio

song_owl — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:04:51 GMT

my sweetheart gave me the best birthday present this year - a palm sized recording studio! a few weeks before my birthday we were driving up the coast singing in the car and we came up with a circlesong with several overlapping parts - but we could only sing two at a time - and then there was the problem of remembering what the other parts were. we wrote the song down in solfeggio (do,re,mi,fa, sol...) and that was good enough, but i remember saying how cool it would be to have some kind of recording device that i could carry around and put all the layers together to hear how they sound. so, he went out and found this very thing! it's been great fun playing with the boss micro br. there are 4 main playback tracks plus 32 virtual tracks (bouncing tracks!) so all kinds of layers can be added. it has a built in microphone, an additional line in, a usb port, and all kinds of special features. i highly recommend this product - boss micro br digital recorder.

from wax to bronze (someday)

song_owl — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 00:00:01 GMT

this square of wax is one of six sides that i made to cast in bronze and then weld to make a box with a lid. although i have worked with smaller scale casting before, i had much to learn about suitable gating for larger pieces. time seemed to quicken while i was in the midst of problem solving, and i ended up missing the day of investment. it was ok though - because i had the chance to see what my design would look like and learn about important techniques. this piece has inspired me to work on another box - the new one will have a similar texture, though it be fabricated. time will tell which one i finish first :-)