Tripecac - Zipit

No compromise. That's the name of the game. That's also the name of this lame song.

Don't you love my negativity? Ain't it charming? Super charming? Charming to the max? Like, charm me with a gnarly spoon?

Well, to me, this sounds like a throwback to the 80s junk stuff. I had been plowing through lots of "Modern Rock" mp3 blogs and podcasts when I started this. Too much Duran Duran, Flock of Seagulls, Tears for Whatever, etc.

I hate all that synthy sappy synthy puffy-haired cotton candy pop. Just like I hate the lumbering whiny falsetto 70s hick faux-blues rock. Unfortunately, those abhorrent retro sounds got stuck in my head.

So here you have it: my retro dump. Is it an exorcism? A parody? Who cares??? Whatever it is, it is. Just keep that frizzy pink hair away from me!

Television addicted. That's all she wrote. Except you didn't notice. Because you were too busy watching TV.

Okay, stupid notes aside, here's some "serious" observations. Well, not really observations. More like comments. Or whatever. Hmm...

This song is very unpolished (just like these notes). I was utterly bored creating it (ditto for the notes). I didn't even bother mixing it on the speakers and instead just used headphones for everything (well, that doesn't really apply to the notes). I can't remember being this musically bored in years (blaa blaa blaa notes). Zzzz... (notezzz).

Perhaps it's end-of-vacation blues. Or maybe it's too cold and dark in my studio for me to feel energized. Or maybe I'm getting tired of certain instruments, or certain parts of the Sonar interface. Or maybe I'm getting tired of feeling like I'm creating the same songs over and over again. Oh well.

Hopefully the next song will have more spark. It seems like I'm always telling myself that, though.

Well, at least the end of the song (where is gets trancy) is kinda cool. That gives me hope. Kinda.

I wanted to make something that sound like krautrock. I needed a pun, so I was thinking "what's a pun on krautrock?"

Let's see... Pun on krautrock... Pun... krautrock... Punkrautrock... Poutrock...

There we go. Actually, I think I like "punkrautrock" better. Maybe I'll save that for a future song.

Anyway, I wanted to shake off the feeling of being in a rut, so I chose a weird time signature: 13/8. Not that it had any influence on my solos, or half the percussion parts. It's all sort of jumbled together. Well, at least it doesn't sound too awful... Probably because I avoided chord changes.

Hooray for zero chord changes! Hooray for zero melody! Hooray for zero vocals! Hooray for zeros and ones!

And most of all: hooray for anniversaries! :) :) :)

The week before I started this song it snowed a lot. One day I went for a long jog in the snow. Part of my route took me through the woods. I kept hearing deep cracks and crashes. Then I started seeing big branches falling. Trees were collapsing under the weight of the snow. It was loud and scary. Meanwhile, back at home, our cars were stuck in our driveway for about 5 days.

So that explains the pun title: snow din, snowed in.

As for the music, well... Umm... It's typical Tripecac. Tripecal.

Actually, I like that: "Tripecal". I might use it for an album title. Hey, something good actually came out of this song! Hooray! If I keep this up, I'll have a million clever titles (and a million lame songs).

Pun on "slaughter". We were talking about fresh foods after dinner. Yum!

The song is equally unappetizing. It's aggressive and choppy. Ha! Get it? Choppy? Sorry.

Well, at least it ends (apocalyptically) better than it begins. The start is a real dud. Like a cow chewing its cud.

Speaking of cows, I sometimes feel like Tripecac songs are a bunch of cows, all lined up in slots, getting slowly fattened up for slaughter, which is when I record and upload them. Yeah, they're still "natural" (since I play every note myself), but there's a sort of rigid, industrial quality to the way I assemble them. It'd be interesting to try to find ways to make the music production process more "organic" (or "free range").

The other day we saw a baby cormorant. It looked really scrawny (like a runt) next to a full-sized one. Hence the lovely song title.

For the music, I wanted something trancy, moody, and European-sounding. I was tired of the American swing feel of the previous song ("Slotter"). This time, I aimed for strict 16th notes, no swing, no blues notes.

Chord-wise, it may have worked. I don't know. Does it sound European to you? Non-bluesy? If so, I get a point.

Rhythm-wise, though, I blew it. At first it was straight 16ths, but then I started to feel the urge to add a little bounce, a little swing... And so I did, just a little. And then I added it to some more tracks. And more. And by the time I got to the bongos, I switched over to 16th triplets. And did the same for some more tracks... Sigh. So much for straight 16ths. So I guess I lose a point for that.

Well, my final score is either 0 or -1, depending on whether you think the chords sound Euro. Not that anyone is counting.

Counting. Count. Comorunt. Cormorunt.

:)

Several building in my old apartment complex lost their shingles in a recent storm. Hence the title.

The music is slow, moody, and empty. I wasn't feeling very perky when I started this, and had trouble summoning the energy to finish it. I was probably exhausted due to lack of sleep... from the wind.

I used so many "swooshy" effects (to represent wind) that I didn't have enough tracks left for melody. It was an interesting lesson. So I guess something good came out of this song. Certainly not the music, though.

New year, in Latin. In case you were wondering.

What, not wondering? Okay, then, fine. I'll just shut up and play the d**n music.

My grandfather's 90th birthday was coming up in a couple days. He's a reverend. So I named the song after him.

Of course, I had to twist the title into a double meaning. The closest match was "river's end", which isn't exactly funny (given the context) but gave me an idea for how to shape the music.

I wanted it to be really trancy and repetitive, like a river, or perhaps the life of someone in his 80s or 90s. I wanted it to sound straightforward and upbeat in general, with occasional ominous undertones (and then of course a dark, still finale).

I know, it's a little macabre, but oh well. It's not like Tripecac is the most sensitive or tactful music in the world.

Hugepogs like an environment full of conifers, preferably one that is carnivore-free (and carnival-free, since they don't like loud noises).

They are the reclusive larger cousins of the Hodgepog, and appear soft, plump, gentle, and slightly mysterious... Sort of like the beginning of this song.

But watch out! The hugepog is in fact a carnivore itself, with a ravenous appetite! It consumes up to two thirds of its body weight every day, and is able to suck up to three gallons of blood per hour, usually from cattle and moose, but occasionally from injured or sleeping hikers. (The hugepog cannot move very quickly).

Despite its rare distribution, the hugepog is one of the most dangerous mammals in North America. In Washington state during 2001-2005, hugepogs killed more livestock than bears, cougar, and coyotes.

Well, that's what the card says.

This is the first song I started after turning 34. Hopefully you will get the pun in the title. After 34 years of practice I should be decent at punning by now. Of couse, the same could be said about making music, but, um...

So does this song sound like it's opening up a new phase? Deliciously different? Savoringly sophisticated? Mesmorizingly mature? Does it enticingly evoke inspiring images of a winsomly wise manly man?

Or is it just more juvenile scatty scat from a bratty brat?

:)

I don't really mind if you say the latter. I think I'd rather sound young and sloppily energetic than old and sloppily lethargic.

Yup. Yuppy yup yup.

Of course, if you say the former, then I start to get confused, because I don't remember what we were talking about. That's what happens with old age, you know.

What?

I received an Amazon box shortly before I started this. I hadn't opened the box yet, and guessed that inside it is a KVM switch. When I sat down to play music, I was thinking of possible puns, and remembered the KVM switch. So I was thinking "KVM", and then naturally "Emmitt", so I put 'em together and you get the funniest pun in the history of the universe.

The music, unfortunately, is neither funny nor fun.

Nor fuzzy. Nor fizzy.

Nor dasher. Nor dancer...

Okay, I think it's time for me to go now.

I hurriedly created these backwards samples from "KVM It" as a last minute attempt to end the album on an interesting note.