And so it goes...

I spent part of this weekend tracking drums and writing a bass line for the first revamped, song, "Poseur". I've actually been pretty good about writing notes and ideas down while I was going through listening to the tracks, so I had an idea about what I thought the music should sound like.

One of the obstacles I face when I write music, however, is that I'm primarily a bass player first, guitar player...like...8th. This is not to say that there's anything wrong with being a bass player. I LIKE being a bass player. The problem with it in regards to song writing is that I'm a very drum focused bass player. My lines will invariably follow what the drums are doing. (The most important job of the bass player is, in my opinion, merging the percussion with the melodic instruments.)

So without drums, I have a hard time coming up with interesting bass lines. This makes the drums the first task for any given song that I want to create. Remember when I said I was a bass player, not a guitar player? Well, I'm also a bass player, not a DRUMMER. In the old days, we used 'Bill the Drummer' for everything, which made things easier.

Bill the Drummer (We called him something else on the first album, but I believe he was Bill the Drummer after that...) was the Yamaha SHS-10 keyboard. It was actually a 'keytar,' really. (Trivia: When I first fell upon doing this project, I was going to buy another SHS-10 and use it's generic drum beats for all of the percussion on the album. This plan was scrapped when I found out that the Yamaha SHS-10 was selling for 150-250 bucks on ebay. I should have kept that thing.) We'd pick a beat set the tempo (usually really fast) and start recording. (You can hear how 'quality' this method was in the first couple of tracks I posted about earlier.)

For this project, though, I've got a couple of friends who actually play drums who are going to help me out. Rather than just have them come over with their kits and jam while I come up with some interesting music, however, I'm trying to come up with general representations of what I feel the beat will end up being. This gives me something to play bass along with, and it'll give them an idea of what I want them to play when we record them.

So, the long and the short of it is that I spent the weekend banging out drum lines on the keyboard, going into staff view (in Sonar) and 'fixing' the time on them so that they actually sound coherent.

For the record, here's a clip of the drums I did for "Poseur" which amply demonstrates that I am not, in fact, a drummer: WhyIAmNotADrummer.mp3

Track 15 - The Flight for Height

Here are the lyrics to "The Flight for Height" off of the Friendly Agrarian Tower album, as transcribed by Mark Rathke in 2005:

Remember the silos from before
I can see them outside my door
They store the grain and maybe seed
But elevation is what we need
I see them rise, everywhere
But they just don't surge
Like the one in the 'Burg
All of the farmers in the land (egos abound)
Want the tallest silos in demand (all around)
When it is all said & done
There is only but one
They can try to make theirs high
But the grain elevator
Can't be denied

And here is an MP3 of "The Flight for Height" that Mark pulled off of the CD:
TheFlightForHeight.mp3

This little ditty is off of the first and, I'll wager, only concept album written about the feed mill that stands in the middle of Harrisonburg, VA. It's a sad testament to nature of Harrisonburg as a 'city' that this building is (by far) the largest man made structure, and I believe that the second highest building is also a grain elevator as well. Interestingly, I believe that part of the problem with the economy in Harrisonburg (indeed, in the United States in general) is that agriculture is become less and less of a viable means to make a living, and the farmers seem to be vanishing, as is the need for feed towers. I'm not actually sure if the one in Harrisonburg is even used anymore.

Anyway, enough about that, onto the song. What can I say? It's a song. It's metal. It's about a feed tower. And egotistical farmers. I'm considering recording this as a 'doo-wop' number. Maybe lay down a bit of harmony on the vocals, and make it (largely) acappela. Seriously. That's what I'm considering. Is this the way the album ends, not with a bang, but with a doo-wop? We shall see, my friends. We shall see...

In any event, this wraps up the 15 'song' posts concerning the new album. The creation of 'new stuff' has already begun in earnest. Expect to see some sound clips, video clips, and image scans of content being liberally dumped into this project in the near future.

Track 14 - Dorothy's Peculiarity

These are the lyrics to "Dorothy's Peculiarity" from the Megland album, as originally transcribed by Mark Rathke in 2004:

Dorothy - your so beautiful
With your yellow spots and white gloves
Dorothy - wearing you're summer hat
And nothing else and that's a fact
But Dorothy I've just gotta know
Where did your lower jaw go?
Dorothy - with you're sharp teeth
You're Australian accent is really neat
Dorothy - just 5 years old
Not extinct, but rather bold
When you eat you're roses how do you chew
Without a lower jaw, I'm really confused
Dorothy's teeth shine so bright
But there's something that's just not right
Peculiar as I've said all along
Her lower jaw seems to be gone

And here is the mp3 of "Dorothy's Peculiarity" that Mark pulled off of the original album:
DorothysPeculiarity.mp3

I like this song a lot. Granted, I won't pretend to understand what it's about. It almost sounds like it's about a fossil or something. We'll have to get Mark's input on the lyrical meaning. I like the first guitar riff, and the synth work is interesting. It seems a bit stilted, flow-wise, but that almost works with the lyrics. The song is a bit...unsettling. It kind of reminds me of one of Danny Elfman songs off of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It brings to mind one of those situations where you feel like you should know what's going on, but you clearly don't.

In fact, the whole Megland album is like that. I'm pretty convinced that it's Mark's best solo work to date. Almost all of the songs have that same whimsical feel about them. In terms of the remake, I want to keep the guitar progression at the start, the synth feel, and of course the kid saying, "Dorothy! He-he!" I wonder if Mark still has that kid? In a dream situation, I'd also get a recording of Larry G. saying "Dorothy! He-he!" I doubt that'll happen, though.cd