trav's exercises, experiments, and excursions

Participants

Name Performed Wrote
Travis Emmitt Casio CT-310, Yamaha PSS-470, Yamaha SY55, Korg Triton, mellophone, cornet, piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, percussion, drums, vocals, talking music, lyrics
(various friends) see individual album pages

History

Trex is what I'm calling my non-Tripecac solo recordings. These consist of early songs and then later practice tapes.

1980s

My earliest recordings are from 1980. I was 7. I improvised some stuff on piano. My parents might have earlier recordings but I have yet to bug them about it.

A couple years later, I recorded myself talking and singing some song ideas. These feature my earliest known lyrics.

In 1986 I got my first keyboard (Casio CT-310), and started making "real" songs. I also helped form IPECAC in 1988 and the Anchovies in 1989. Playing in these bands gave me a lot of experience, but I still continued to record solo material.

1990s

In 1990 I got a keyboard workstation (Yamaha SY55) and a four-track, both of which I used throughout the decade. These tools let me edit my music, and I started taking my creations more seriously. I organized my tapes better and settled on the name Tripecac.

Meanwhile, I continued to record practices, usually with acoustic instruments (e.g., piano, acoustic guitar). I never bothered to edit these songs, although I did remake a few as Tripecac.

2000s

In 2001 I got a new keyboard workstation (Korg Triton), and connected it to a computer. That's the setup I use for Tripecac.

Trex is still mostly recorded "live". It consists of piano, electric gutiar, and any other instruments I happen to encounter. I usually don't bother to edit or mix the recordings, so they are very rough-sounding.

Right now, Trex is free, cathartic exercise, while Tripecac is deliberate, rule based polishing.