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Work in progress

2K views 20 replies 5 participants last post by  Michael Ward 
#1 ·
This is basically a theme I'm going to develop into a full blown composition. I wanted to get the chords and melody close to what I was hearing even in this raw state. In my group Mzylkypop I have been following as faithfully as I can the instrumentation of my favourite combo The Mothers of Invention. So I use electric and acoustic woodwinds , Fender Rhodes el-piano, RMI electra Piano, Gibson organ. etc etc.



This is one mastered composition I have finished using my intended instrumentation.



I spent today laying down piano chords, sample drums and bass guitar. I played my alto through the Maestro effects unit and the baritone is straight through a mic as I don't have a pick up for bari. As I develop the composition I'll post updates if anybody's interested. I'm going to create a vamp for a bass clarinet solo maybe electric. The theme will be played in different combinations of instruments,
Real drums and bass guitar. keys , percussion and guitar will be added. More woodwinds including tenor sax.
 
#3 ·
Thanks Warp..brother in arms. I'm going to play the theme on electric tenor an octave below the alto . Maybe leave the bari. I've been trying to figure out how to get out of the theme
and I think I will use a gong or cymbal crash to go into a totally different time or maybe a slower free section...Use a more collage type of approach.

So your Maestro is down? My drum box went so I have to find a repair guy myself. I will be sending you the tune to play on too now I'm back on it after a long lay off. CHEERS!
 
#4 ·
Great stuff Michael.

With most new music I usually find it pretty straight-forward to identify the one or two main stylistic influences, but there is so much going on here. Touches of Nelson Riddle, Lalo Schifrin, The Magic Band, Carl Stalling, Motown, surf music, etc. And a really interesting mix of instrumentation.

I would certainly be interested to see where this leads.

Nice one.
 
#7 ·
Thankyou very much. All those influences are floating around in my subconscious. I would say the early Mothers of Invention from Weasels Ripped My Flesh up to Hot Rats are what I return to all the time trying to figure out how they got those sounds. I like Zappa's idea of an Electric Chamber Music. I remember talking back in the day with Don Was when I was working in Detroit( Tamla Motown yes) and we concluded that trying to ape your heroes is good but you never quite make it and so what you end up with has some originality in it.
Mingus is another artist I like very much.

I do love how Zappa mixed segments from live recordings with studio recordings... his collages are stunning on those early records and the improvisations of the band ..the mixture of free jazz, 50's rock n roll and modern classical music is still some of my favourite music.
 
#6 ·
Michael, I like your vision very much. So much big band music sounds, to my ears, like it's cut from a similar cloth....at least with the basic concepts of a big band sound. Whenever I hear something that's fresh and different my ears perk up. It's sounds to me that you're on to something very cool and distinct.
 
#11 ·
Thankyou. Yes I like some later piece too and I think live particularly the Jean Luc Ponty group with the Fowler brothers was great. The original Mothers maybe because they weren't all the virtuosos of later bands had a unified sensibility and natural dada esque humour... maybe it was the era... I love the horn players and I love Don Preston. The two drummers. I remember getting Weasels second hand... I think I traded it for two Return To Forever albums in my local Boho record shop.... I couldn't believe the music. It just opened doors for me and I still hear new things...Uncle Meat and Burnt Weeny Sandwich too.
 
#12 ·
Loved the work with Ponty. Burnt Weeny is great. Still have it on vinyl. Hot Rats may be my favorite alum of all times. I should probably be embarrassed to say that Live at the Fillmore has a special place in my heart too. (probably a place and time kind of thing for me). Funny you traded Return to Forever albums for it. They were another regular in my play list growing up.
 
#13 ·
Yes I need to get those RTF albums again they were outstanding. I lost all my records in a fire whilst in storage so I have been buying old vinyl. Mostly early MOI and Beefheart for now. I bought a lovely mint copy of Hot Rats on Bizarre ( original pressing) . The Japanese reissue mini CD albums were nice and I have all those up to Chungas Revenge. I half like Chungas for the obvious reasons... The Flo and Eddie unit I have tried to like but I can't get past the humour. Strangely last night I got Road Tapes out and mistakenly put on the Ponti/ Underwoods/ Malone band on but I just couldn't get through it.... Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue was Precision incarnate but sterile next to the amazing original on Weasels.

ps I don't mind Fillmore for Peaches en Regalia myself.
 
#14 ·
Michael, If you haven't heard Michael Gibbs' writing, he's definitely worth checking out. He has a distinctive sound in his writing as do Carla Bley and Jack Walrath.
 
#15 ·
Thanks Roger. I know Michael Gibbs early work and Carla Bley. I once appeared on a record with Carla's big band in the 80's featuring Johnny Griffin.

Here's a big band writer/ musician I love. I have many of his recordings. Edward Vesala. Finnish. His work is very original. Please check him out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Vesala.
 
#16 ·


On this finished and mastered song piece. I used electric soprano sax with wah wah pedal carrying the melody behind the spoken sections.. The bass line is unusual in that the line I wrote was too low for the conventional bass guitar so I played it on my Fender Rhodes piano bass ( ala The Doors) but through a Maestro octave divider. In the faster later section the bass guitar plays a melodic solo through a fuzz phaser before the Fender piano bass resumes the bass line.
The two electric saxes tenor and alto are played through two different Maestro woodwind effects boxes. Baritone sax through a mic. Clarinets through the Maestro, Flute and alto flute through conventional mic. I found that being hand wired the two Maestro Woodwind effects have differing characteristics which adds more individuality to the ensemble even though I'm playing both.

The Gibson G101 combo organ is the dominant keyboard. I like the baroque vibe in some of the settings ( Intro to Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and made famous by Ray Manzerek of the Doors my interest came from the Mothers of Invention's use of it in the late 60's ... The Kalamazoo mentioned on " Uncle Meat" and the combinations of sound Ian Underwood achieved on Hot Rats.)

My singer is Polish and the vocal line sounded so strong in her native tongue I opted to use it rather than English going for a musical effect rather than worrying about the lyrical element.. The Chanteuse..Chanson quality.. I think she also has echoes of Nico the Velvet Underground singer who I like.

I do purely instrumental versions of my pieces too. I think the layering of instruments on this piece produced a very dense , rich tapestry... maybe too rich?

Drum set and guitar with effects complete the instrumentation.
 
#17 ·
Very cool! Thanks for the info about Edward Vesala. I think that I've heard of some of his work, but it's been awhile.
 
#18 ·
Nice stuff, Michael! Hear the FZ throughout. Really nice instrumentation and orchestrations. Its not too dense for me. I like having so many elements to listen too. Loved the vocals in Polish, although knowing what a FZ fan you are, I can't help but wonder what she might be singing about:) Dental floss?
 
#19 · (Edited)
Haha... thanks again. I gave Sylvia the lyrics to translate so hope fully it is similar. It's about a trophy hunter who dies and goes to the afterlife ( heaven? ) However when he gets there he finds that" the God of man is indisposed and taken to his bed" He is being judged by the god of all clawed animals " the god of claws" and he's none too happy.
 
#20 ·


This finished master is again part spoken word in Polish( From a short story set in the future under a right wing coalition ). The tune is named after the UK environmentalist George Monbiot who I admire very much and I incorporated some of his ideas into the story especially from his book " Rewilding"

The Fender bass piano and Gibson organ throughout. The alto solo is played through the Maestro and a wah wah pedal. I used a Maestro phaser on the drum solo and I really like the effect. The organ solo played through a fuzz phaser.
 
#21 ·


Update. I added electric tenor, Fender bass played with a plectrum( which I may change). The free drum set/ percussion solo in the middle is one continuous unedited solo. I added more guitar through a new pedal. The insides of an acoustic piano through a Maestro echoplex. The RMI electrapiano is a sample so will be replaced by a real RMI or Rhodes depending.
This is played through a psychoplex pedal which is a good analogue tapeless echo.

All the sounds to be rearranged. This is the first track where I haven't used the range of sounds offered by the Gibson organ and it's proving a challenge to get new combinations of sounds. More horns to be added. Percussion and voice.

Any observations from interested folk welcome.
 
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