Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Week 9 - "Bathsheba's Song"

Bathsheba's Song
by George Peele (1558-1598)

Hot sun, cool fire, tempered with sweet air,
Black shade, fair nurse, shadow my white hair.
Shine, sun; burn, fire; breathe, air, and ease me;
Black shade, fair nurse, shroud me and please me;
Shadow, my sweet nurse, keep me from burning,
Make not my glad cause cause of mourning.
Let not my beauty's fire
Inflame unstaid desire,
Nor pierce any bright eye
That wand'reth lightly.


Well, "A Year of Song" is all about trying new things. Here is an audio piece that I put together with SoundForge and Audacity. It is my reading of George Peele's "Bathsheba's Song" with musical fragments that I composed and put together to make a poetic/musical collage.

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Update: "Bathsheba's Song" will make its concert premiere at the High Voltage concert at the School of Music Recital Hall at Louisiana State University on Monday, April 30, 2012.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Week 8 - "Mutt Sander's Brother"

Lyrics:

Ab Gb Db Cb

Mutt Sanders was a good kid.
And people liked the things he did.
Mutt didn't do that well in school
but when you're a football star you don't have to follow the rules.

The first Sanders son could never lose
But his little brother could never quite fill his shoes.
And so I asked him, "Is Mutt too big for you?"
He said, "That may be, but what are you gonna do?"

You know that Mighty Mutt is like no other,
but you don't know what it's like to be his brother.
You know that Mighty Mutt is like no other,
but you don't know what it's like to be his brother.

You know, Mutt's brother never had a name.
And it was really quite a shame.
But what kind of places can you really go?
When you spend your whole life in a shadow?

You know that Mighty Mutt is like no other,
but you don't know what it's like to be his brother.
You know that Mighty Mutt is like no other,
but you don't know what it's like to be his brother.

[Organ solo]
Db (Gb-Db)
Cb (Fb-Cb)
Db (Gb-Db)
Eb (Db/Eb)

Mutt's brother knew he'd never win the game.
He knew he'd live up to his brother's fame.
So he decided to leave one day.
He didn't say good-bye but he never really knew Mutt anyway.

You know that Mighty Mutt is like no other,
but you don't know what it's like to be his brother.
You know that Mighty Mutt is like no other,
but you don't know what it's like to be his brother.

You know that Mighty Mutt is like no other,
but you don't know what it's like to be his brother.
You know that Mighty Mutt is like no other,
but you don't know what it's like to be his brother.

This song is based on the unseen character of Mutt Sanders from one of my favorite movies - Dead Poets Society. The video shows the story of Knox Overstreet who is mistaken for Mutt Sanders' brother at a party where he begins his pursuit of Chris Noel, the girlfriend of football star Chet Danburry.

The chord changes are pretty simple and repetitive, most of the variety being provided by the Rhodes electric piano sound generated by my RD-600 keyboard. I experimented with the noise reduction feature on Audacity, which really cleaned up the vocals and also helped the clarity of the audio clips from the movie.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Week 7 - "Story of a Girl"

Lyrics:

Let me tell you the story of a girl that I met
On a lovely autumn night - one that I will not forget.
Let me tell you how I felt like I never felt before
And how I knew in a moment we would be together more.

When I saw her standing there I didn't know what to say
but it really didn't matter 'cause I said it anyway.
I walked across the room and I took a little chance.
We smiled and said "hello" and then I asked her to dance.

Somehow I knew right then and there
that you would be my one and only girl.
Yes, it's the truth. I love no one but you.
Somehow I thought that love would never find me
but then you came and changed my world.
Yes, it's the truth. And I'm glad you love me, too.

It's hard to believe that it's been so many years.
All the time we have shared - all the happiness and tears.
But still today to hold your hand feels so right
Just the same as the first time that lovely autumn night.


I wrote this song for my wife, Kari. It's a song about the night we met. The second photo in the video is actually of the two of us on that very night.

A an interesting compositional note on this piece is that the chorus is in the key of G, while the verses are in F, so there is an interesting harmonic shift. I also used the E. Organ 10 sound on my RD-600 keyboard during the choruses to give it a different color.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Week 6 - "We Have a Visitor"

Lyrics:

Willie: We, we have a visitor.
Brian: A real alien!
Willie: Brian's right it's an ALF. An A. L. F. - that's short for alien life form. A. L. F.
ALF: Yo, yo, yo, yo.  Well let me tell you a little story about a guy named Gordon.
Brian: Who's he?
ALF: Someone I grew up with on Melmac.  Nice kid - handsome, intelligent, great athlete, wonderful sense of humor, ha!
Brian: It was you, wasn't it?
ALF: How'd you guess?
Willie: A. L. F.
Brian: Your name's really Gordon?
ALF: Yeah, Gordon.
Brian: That's funny.
ALF: It was my mother's maiden name, alright?
Lynn: I, Gordon Shumway . . . Shumway?
ALF: Don't blab that around 'til I'm gone.
Rick: Hey, hey Gordon.
Skip: Hey, hey, hey, Gordo.
Willie: A. L. F.
ALF: There's hair in this tuna fish - I like it!
Brian: How come I didn't get any hair.
Kate: We ran out.
Willie: A. L. F.
ALF: Yo, yo.
Racquel: Is there such a thing as a cross between a kangaroo and an aardvark?
Hunter 1: It's an ugly little sucker.  I think it's a dog.
Hunter 2: That's no dog.  That's one of those weird animals from Australia.
Dorothy: You hicupping hairball from hell!
ALF: Hey, there's no need for name calling.
Willie: A. L. F.
(Phone rings)
ALF: Hello.
Willie: What are you doing answering the phone?
ALF: I live here!
Willie: Where's Mrs. Ochmonek?
ALF: She lives next door.
Willie: Is everything alright?
ALF: Everything's fine.  Oh, oh, and the cat's going to be okay.
Willie: The cat? What happened to the cat?
ALF: I closed the refrigerator door on his tail.
Willie: What were you doing in the kitchen?
ALF: Well, I had to break in the back door after I fell out the window.
Willie:  Where are you now?  What are you doing?
ALF:  I'm in the bedroom wearing a blue dress.
Willie:  Don't move from that spot!
ALF:  Where would I go?  I don't have the right shoes.
Willie: A. L. F.
ALF: Yo, yo, yo, yo.  The Melmac touch.


And now for something completely different. This is the first song that I've ever composed using audio samples. I got the idea from Ben Liebrand who wrote a song called "Stuck on Earth" back in the 1980s. Since I'm a huge fan of ALF, I have wanted for a long time to make my own ALF tribute.

To put this piece together, I recorded and edited sound clips using SoundForge. Then I imported them along with the music that I composed into Audacity and placed things where I wanted them. I know there are probably more efficient ways to do this and software more specifically designed for this purpose, but since I'm on a budget, I made do with what I had. Actually, it was a lot easier than I expected, once I figured out what I was doing.

I hope you enjoy the video! By the way, you can watch ALF for free at http://www.hulu.com/alf

Sites that all ALF fans should visit:
ALF Wiki
ALF TV
Bring Back ALF