Introducing: The Camel Toads
It is with great pleasure that I announce the birth of The Camel Toads[1] and our first CD "Seahorse Valley."
This was a daddy/daughter project from the start when we found ourselves noodling around in Garageband about a year ago. I freely admit this is the work of total amateurs using MIDI instruments, some loops and a very insufficient software package, but I'm pretty proud of the results anyway.
So far, we've got five cuts, totaling a paltry 20-minutes or so worth of music, but I'm satisfied this is a good start. We've got a few more pieces we're working on that we will probably add to this later, but at this point we've backed ourselves into a few compositional corners and, while it's very cool what we're working with, it's also very advanced stuff for us and we can't figure out how to bring it all together. Oh well. I guess we'll keep hacking away and maybe read a few books on musical composition.
Here's a breakdown of what Seahorse Valley is all about:
1. The Velvety Softness of Kleenex: This was just some loops we assembled one night. The whole thing took us a half-hour to do, laughing hysterically while putting it together. I felt it was empty, so I added a few cymbal crashes and that was basically it.
2. Buffaloes and Indians: Again, a collection of loops, but with drum-piano-guitar tracks inspired by typing out "Thoreau" on the keyboard, only six letters of which actually correspond to musical notes.
3. You're Gonna Need a License for That: This was our first totally loop-free piece, with everything composed and assembled by our lonesome selves. I decided to experiment with a basic 5/4 drum beat (that I probably couldn't play on my own), and it built up from there. There is an awkward moment in the middle of the piece, unfortunately, and I still tinker with it and still can't smooth it out. Maybe one day I'll get it nailed down.
4. Evolution! (There is no Controversy): You can guess where the title came from. This is basically me trying to channel Tangerine Dream and falling way short. Naomi came up with the sixteen note sequence that was supposed to be played very fast as a background ostinato, but I stretched the notes out and found that they created this creepy kind of melody. By adding a couple of synth-voices and placing them two octaves over the basic ostinato, and then using some creative panning and fading, it really came together nicely. I'm still very proud of this piece, despite it's simplicity.
5. Seahorse Valley: This is me surrendering. As stated before I was simultaneously working on two extended multi-movement pieces under the careful guidance and advice of my daughter. They both yielded some cool stuff, but wound up being too advanced for us to bring together, so I'm shelving those for a while. Anyway, one night, while stuck, I just started noodling and came up with this short and very simple little synth piece. It's very dark and gloomy, but a satisfactory ending to the collection.
Sadly, I don't have a way to post these to the internets for download. I'm still a little stupid in that way, and the files are too large to email. But, I am making this freely available in CD form to anyone who wants a copy. Shoot me an email with your home address and I'll be glad to get you one within a month or so whenever I get around to printing up the very cool artwork for the jewel case.
[1] Again, evwhore gets credit for all my best punch lines. Some names are just way too cool to let slide, and at the time we were calling ourselves some bland little name that I totally forget. The Camel Toads is a huge improvement and strikes the right chord.
This was a daddy/daughter project from the start when we found ourselves noodling around in Garageband about a year ago. I freely admit this is the work of total amateurs using MIDI instruments, some loops and a very insufficient software package, but I'm pretty proud of the results anyway.
So far, we've got five cuts, totaling a paltry 20-minutes or so worth of music, but I'm satisfied this is a good start. We've got a few more pieces we're working on that we will probably add to this later, but at this point we've backed ourselves into a few compositional corners and, while it's very cool what we're working with, it's also very advanced stuff for us and we can't figure out how to bring it all together. Oh well. I guess we'll keep hacking away and maybe read a few books on musical composition.
Here's a breakdown of what Seahorse Valley is all about:
1. The Velvety Softness of Kleenex: This was just some loops we assembled one night. The whole thing took us a half-hour to do, laughing hysterically while putting it together. I felt it was empty, so I added a few cymbal crashes and that was basically it.
2. Buffaloes and Indians: Again, a collection of loops, but with drum-piano-guitar tracks inspired by typing out "Thoreau" on the keyboard, only six letters of which actually correspond to musical notes.
3. You're Gonna Need a License for That: This was our first totally loop-free piece, with everything composed and assembled by our lonesome selves. I decided to experiment with a basic 5/4 drum beat (that I probably couldn't play on my own), and it built up from there. There is an awkward moment in the middle of the piece, unfortunately, and I still tinker with it and still can't smooth it out. Maybe one day I'll get it nailed down.
4. Evolution! (There is no Controversy): You can guess where the title came from. This is basically me trying to channel Tangerine Dream and falling way short. Naomi came up with the sixteen note sequence that was supposed to be played very fast as a background ostinato, but I stretched the notes out and found that they created this creepy kind of melody. By adding a couple of synth-voices and placing them two octaves over the basic ostinato, and then using some creative panning and fading, it really came together nicely. I'm still very proud of this piece, despite it's simplicity.
5. Seahorse Valley: This is me surrendering. As stated before I was simultaneously working on two extended multi-movement pieces under the careful guidance and advice of my daughter. They both yielded some cool stuff, but wound up being too advanced for us to bring together, so I'm shelving those for a while. Anyway, one night, while stuck, I just started noodling and came up with this short and very simple little synth piece. It's very dark and gloomy, but a satisfactory ending to the collection.
Sadly, I don't have a way to post these to the internets for download. I'm still a little stupid in that way, and the files are too large to email. But, I am making this freely available in CD form to anyone who wants a copy. Shoot me an email with your home address and I'll be glad to get you one within a month or so whenever I get around to printing up the very cool artwork for the jewel case.
[1] Again, evwhore gets credit for all my best punch lines. Some names are just way too cool to let slide, and at the time we were calling ourselves some bland little name that I totally forget. The Camel Toads is a huge improvement and strikes the right chord.