Sympath

[Jeff]

There is no way I am going to finish this tonight. But it's the last song in my four song cycle that I've decided to call Rearview in the Rain. The sequence goes like this:

Rearview in the Rain EP
1. Somewhere on Mars
2. Decision
3. Undoomed
4. Sympath

I am proud of the music on Sympath. I'll try to post a quick mix in a few minutes, but I won't be able to record the lyrics tonight. Still here they are. I think these are my best lyrics in quite a while, which is not to say they are flawless.


Sympath

(Home)

Driving alone
Through the long night Home
I’m supposed to be

(Home)

Clearing my head
Of all ends Dead
I’m supposed to be

(Home)

Wreckage in another lane
Flashes in the rain
Officials officially waiting
We're all worrying

Motions me to drive on by
A hole rips in the sky
Courtesy and love collide
In its polarizing light

Everything is plain
In my rearview in the rain

(Home)

(Home)

[“Fire Department, standby for medical emergency.”
“10 to 1-5, motor vehicle accident […] 400 South Norwood , 4-0-0 South Norwood Ave, […] 13-24.”
“3-2, medical emergency. Hemorrhaging. Patient is a 56 year old female. Isn’t responding […] 13-82.”
“[…] 3-0 Medical emergency breathing problems from Brookhaven Hospital.”
“10 to 1-5, motor vehicle accident”]


Work still left on the EP:
1. Rerecord vocal on Undoomed and remix the pianos for a crisper sound.
2. Rerecord the vocal harmonies on the final section of Decision.
3. Get the vocal down on Sympath.

And probably some other things I haven't thought of yet, like get Rick to design a cool CD cover or something. Eh, Rickus?

Jeff

[Jeff]

Okay here is the file: www.savefile.com/files/8486367
It's also in the yahoo briefcase.

No vocal!

The vamp out is (perhaps) a little long. Keep in mind that this is the outro. I hope to find some police scanner sounds to put at the end. If I can't get it to work then I'll shorten it up by 4 to 8 measures. I've listened to it a few times and I think that the progression--though only 4 chords--is interesting enough to carry the song for about a minute. I tried about 6 different versions of the ending and they all seem tacked on. This one is just a straight repeat. Anyway, I'd really like to hear what you think of the music.

Jeff

[Jeff]

An image:

[Jeff]

Last thing: I just listened to it several more times. I am definitely going to shorten up that ending. It will end at 2:34 not 3:11. I'll just do a fade out instead of the breakdown ending that I have now.

[Jeff]

This is the same track with no vocal. Three problems have been corrected:
1. Shorter and less annoying. 2:44 including the tail.
2. A mysterious drum fade in the original has been taken out.
3. I put a little more reverb on the rain piano largely because it protruded from the mix at the end in a grating way. I think I solved the problem.

Anyway, I think I was right: The last chord progression can hold your attention for about a minute. My error was making the vamp out 1 ½ minutes.

Updated Sympath (No Vocal): www.savefile.com/files/5881844
The version in the yahoo briefcase is now the edited one.

[Jeff]

I was looking for police and EMS scanner noise to use in the song tonight. I looked all over the internet but the things that people tend to archive are crimes instead of accidents. If accidents are archived it is in the form of as it happens video. By the time the police get there I guess people think it's no longer as interesting. So I figured I would have to come up with my own sounds, maybe get Jenn to act for me.

Then I found this: tulsametromedia.net/modules.php?name=Scanner

I've been listening and recording police talk for about an hour now, since a little after Big Love went off. It reminds me of being a kid. Grandma and Grandpa would sit around in the pool room coffee in hand listening to the scanner. A strange kind of entertainment.

[Jeff]

Here is an idea for the cover art for the EP:



The artist is Patricia Russotti. Her homepage is here: www.pattirussotti.com/

[Guest Justin]

Jeff,

I've listened to "Sympath" a couple of times this evening, and as usual I really dig it. I really like the sound of the guitar starting at about 1:14. It's crunchy and feedbacky without losing its atmospheric quality. The drum samples are great, too. Not that you're looking for criticisms or suggestions, but I do have a very minor one. Very minor--just an observation after a few listens, really. I think the decay times on your lead piano is a little too quick. So, instead of offering the deep resonance you get on, say, "Christmas Eve at Our House," the tone feels a tad on the plinky side. But it doesn't detract from the overall effect of the melody, and it still works well.

(Geez, it seems like I haven't been to the site for about a week. Not that I don't want to, just haven't had the time. But, sadly, it looks like there hasn't been much activity at all. I was thinking for sure someone would have posted about the freakin' hilarious religious dialog in last night's Sopranos episode, but--as Michael Palin might say--nuffink.)

[jtmx1]

“Nuffink.” That's great. I will change the decay times immediately! Part of the problem is the compression I used on the piano. Maybe I'll start by tweaking that.

I've been thinking about the Sopranos stuff all day, but I've been terrifically busy. Maybe you could discuss some things...like how the fundamentalist was all for scientific studies that supported his conclusions (e.g., the efficacy of prayer) but was willing to say that no evolutionists could be saved.

[Jeff]

The big difference with the drums is that I've gotten away from using drum loops. After working with loops almost exclusively for about 6 years, I've finally made up my mind about them: They should only be used for flavor here and there. Instead my drums are now done in Native Instruments' wonderful Battery 2 ( www.native-instruments.com/index.php?battery_us&ftu=419652f4ff&flash=8 ), which is the best software drum kit around. The samples I am using are multimiked, e.g., the same bass hit is sampled from four different places in the studio with the most appropriate mics. To the wonderful starting sound, I've added a spring reverb--which I really like on acoustic kits--and a small amount of compression. I also pretty carefully crafted the ambient sounds at the beginning to mix well with the acoustic sounds that come in at the 1/2 way point. This was supposed to symbolize the both/and message of the song, which I tried to communicate in other ways too, e.g., the gradual build up in complexity. This idea will come across even stronger when the vocals are added. They also gain complexity and harmony as the song progresses.

Anyway, thanks for the kind words.

[rickus]

Where are you getting these awesome picts?

I really love the one with the heart over the hand. It reminds me of the statue of Jesus at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa. It's on the right as you walk toward the elevators from the main entrance. I'm down loading your tunes now but wanted to complement you on your selection of photography to accompany your work.

rickus

[Jeff]

This is going to sound pretty stupid.

They way I write music these days is to start with nothing. No idea or anything. Then kinda look inside and find a feeling that wants to come out. This works much better for me if I've had 3+ beers. Then I write and record the song at once while preserving the feeling as much as possible. I am trying to write in about 4-6 hours each time. I have to do this without interruption to preserve the basic tenor (he he) of the project.

AND when it is all done I start to punch in words from the lyrics into the image search engine at google ( www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi&q= ). Sometimes I punch in other words that the lyrics make me think of. For instance to get the Russotti piece the search term was "lamentation." I can't remember what the search term ("heart hand"?) was for the tombstone picture, but I did remember it was the second time that I had hit photography from that artist, Michelle Woodward. I think I even posted a link to her site on the board already: www.mwoodward.com .

PS What I love about the heart hand picture is this: How do you know it is a heart in the hand? It doesn't look like much more than a lump.

[rickus]

admin said:

How do you know it is a heart in the hand? It doesn't look like much more than a lump.

Funny you said that... The statue in St. Francis; Jesus has his hand sticking out so that you can see the palm. And in the palm is a heart. And unless I'm mistaken the heart is on fire. The reason I've remembered the thing is I've never really known what to think of it. The statue is on a pedestal so the hand is like right in your face. His head is maybe a foot or more above yours. And he seems to be looking beyond you. I don't know. It's just always been a weird moment for me whenever I've had to pass it. I have to look at the flaming heart each and every time I pass it.

[Jeff]

www.franciscanfriarstor.com/stfrancis/stf_devotions_sacred_heart_of_jesus.htm

[Jeff]

Justin,

I cleaned up the piano. The problem was the compression algorithm that I was using. But since I was working on the file anyway, I recorded the part with 3 other sets of piano samples that I have, and mixed them all down to one piano sound. Now it has a kind of pool hall detuned timber, which I quite.

I also added the scanner sounds to the end of the song. Here are the words that I picked up from scanning Tulsa last night (04-03-06 from 12am till 1 am). I couldn’t understand all the codes, but I wrote down what I could identify. Of course, I only selected the most poignant bits.

“Fire Department, standby for medical emergency.”
“10 to 1-5, motor vehicle accident […] 400 South Norwood , 4-0-0 South Norwood Ave, […] 13-24.”
“3-2, medical emergency. Hemorrhaging. Patient is a 56 year old female. Isn’t responding […] 13-82.”
“[…] 3-0 Medical emergency breathing problems from Brookhaven Hospital.”
“10 to 1-5, motor vehicle accident”

In the context of the entire EP the police and EMS voices are supposed to contrast with the NASA voices on Somewhere on Mars.

New link to the song:
www.savefile.com/files/4632990
Also, this is now the version in the yahoo folder

Jeff

[Jeff]

Rickus,

A sculpture, but I also quite like this:

[Jeff]

Sympath finally has a vocal. What do you think of it?

Direct link: www.savefile.com/files/8648747
Also in the yahoo briefcase