Little Boat

[Balder]

Here is my first composition of 2015 - a quiet little tune, sort of like a lullaby.

[DavidM58]

Nice!  Hey, are there ever jam sessions at ITC?  I noticed Will Varey plays keyboards. I play cornet/flugelhorn.

https://soundcloud.com/monkey-puzzle-orchestra/ephemera

[Balder]

Very cool, David - and thank you for giving it a listen.  I took an audio "peak" at your song while here at work but will wait till I get home to give it a proper listen.  I'm not sure if there have been jam sessions at past ITCs, but this one looks like the right time for it, with the looser organization and the emphasis on arts, dance, and other non-academic elements....

[Edward theurj Berge]

Very soothing. Where did you get the background music and nature sounds? A program? Or are you playing the background music as well as the flute?

PS: Also nice David.

[Balder]

Thanks.  I'm playing the flutes and the xylophone.  I used a desktop synthesizer to make some of the ambient 'wash' in the second half of the song, and I used loops for the guitar and the nature parts.

[Balder]

Very lovely, David.  I'm not sure if you've told us about your group before, or if I've just come across your work before -- it is very familiar to me.

[DavidM58]

Thanks, I may have provided a link somewhere here before.

For that tune, we were originally trying to record something that would go behind a spoken poem.  We had just listened to some ECM recording, and were trying to channel that vibe.  That's all the communication we had before recording.  Then Joe Jowdy, who normally plays drums/percussion, sat down at the keyboard and started laying down some simple pentatonic keyboard layers, and I improvised over the top of it on flugelhorn. That was our first take, though there were a few small flourishes (such as the Fender Rhodes) that were added later in the studio. 

[Ambo Suno]

I tipped the recliner back, David, while Southern California light suffused through beige canvas window covers. Ephemera played as eyes closed. The body recovering, following a long rest, still pulsing and pulling in odd ways from a very energetic surf session, then a modest skateboarding, sank into the cushioned shape. Body-mind sank into the rare treat of music. The horn rose clear from early on in the piece. Partly because I read that that was your instrument, but mostly because the horns place in the orchestration was an auditory beacon, a dominant-not-domineering acoustic aroma.

Music is not part of my regular diet. This was a lovely taste treat for a semi-quiet mind, unsure of itself, yet steady in its unsteadiness.

Ah, I say more about myself than the music - the music was foreground and was, again, lovely.

It must be a very rich experience making music with others! Good and thanks David. ambo

[Ambo Suno]

Beautiful montage of clear photos. Boats. Water, sky, clouds, green land masses, a feast of hues and shades. The music and images soothed one another.
Very nice, Bruce.

[DavidM58]

Thanks Ambo. Very nice to read your poetic word play in relation to my music!