Tripecac - Brroom

Woah, vocals! This is the first full-fleged vocal song since "Half Hour". I constructed the main groove and wrote the lyrics for the choruses ("I am bad...") back in 2002. In 2004 I fleshed out the rest of the music and improvised all of the chorus. I have no idea what the title has to do with the lyrics; it probably doesn't matter, since the lyrics themselves are mostly stream-of-consciousness. I really like the way this song turned out. It's a little muffled, but it's fun!

If "Click" was me being a "bad boy" (with the in-your-face rock), "Gentle" is my leap back into being a "good boy". I wanted to see if I could make some really pretty jazz. This starts off kind of "tender", with harp, strings, and light EP arpeggios; it reminds me of "Tension". When I tackled it again in 2004, I gave it a stronger groove, added sound effects, improved the dynamics, and ended up turning a somewhat drab new-age ditty into a miniature epic. I really like the way it turned out!

This was the first song I started using Logic. I was testing Logic, Cubase, and Sonar, trying to decide which to buy. I quickly decided I didn't like Cubase. I really admired Logic, despite its learning curve, but then Apple bought it and discontinued the PC version. That left Sonar, which was the easiest to use, the most Windows-oriented, and the cheapest; yay!

For some reason, all my Logic test songs sound different from the ones I started in Sonar. They seem more forceful, electronic, and cold. Maybe it's just a matter of my using different Triton effects templates in my Logic projects, or maybe the Logic workflow pushes a certain type of music; I don't know. I don't necessarily dislike the Logic sound, but very few of the songs I started with it really grabbed me, this song included.

This sleepy number is about as exciting as toast. Get it??? No? Oh. Sorry, if you don't understand Spanish (or even if you do), that probably won't make any sense. Neither does the song. We get glimpses of a groove, but then lose them in a puddle of annoying synths and distorted bass.

Initially, this song was a pure instrumental; I had no plans on adding vocals. When I listened to the mp3, I felt like the song needed something to spice it up. I scribbled down some quick lyrics and re-recorded this vocal version in a couple hours. I didn't like the initial vocal mix, but when I tried to re-record it, I ended up with a bunch of timing problems. This song became a huge headache to finish.

Musically, this song is labored and muffled. The bass is much too loud and the delay-laden groove muddies the mix instead of providing a cool texture. I tried to liven things up with the vocals, but they ended up being depressing (about hangovers). Oh well. There is one really cool part to the song, though: the sudden "wake up" at 4:39.

Here's another Logic test, this time focusing on backwards reverb. I like the forcefulness of the drums and bass, but didn't have a "plot" in mind for the song. It ended up sounding pretty empty. It might be cool background music, but there's nothing to hold your attention, nothing to burrow its way into your memory. It has no soul.

This is one of the few Logic songs that's almost memorable. It's got nice drums and bass, but seems a little too mechanical. It sounds like all I did was copy a pattern over and over and then lay some hasty, heartless solos on top. For a while it's cool, but I think the patterns are too full to be comfortably repeated.

You know; my comments about this song are plagued by the same "disconnect" as the song itself. It's like I'm approaching insight, approaching a connection to the audience, but then I fall short. The Logic songs are all like that. There's something about them that prevented me from being as expressive as I wanted to be. They're fine for background, but disappointing under scrutiny.

Or maybe the problem has nothing to do with Logic. Maybe it's a matter of temperature. When I started the song, there was lots of snow outside (if we can trust the title). Right now, as I type this, my fingers are freezing. Maybe the "cold" music and "stiff" writing are due to the environment. Maybe it's a coincidence that I was using Logic in the winter, when my fingers were cold and it was hard to play fluid solos. That's a possibility!

I named this after the date I started it: 2002-02-02. Like the other Logic tests, this is repetitive, industrial-sounding trance. The sound effects are interesting in the beginning, but then I repeat them too much. The drum and bass groove's solid enough, but where are the subtle textures? Where are the wild, enthusiastic solos? Hello? Is anybody home?

I probably started this on the day I ordered Sonar, and intended it to be my last Logic test. It's just as repetitive and "cold" as the other Logic songs, but at least the groove is upbeat. I think I was happy about finally deciding on a sequencer.

This is the first song I started with Sonar (before that, I had been using Cakewalk, Cubase, Logic, and the Triton's sequencer). It's the first in a trio of bluesy jams recorded on Valentine's Day 2002. I decided to break the trio into three parts for the CD.

None of the "Valentine" songs are interesting or "cool" in themselves. They're muddy and rambly, but they seem to have more of a "live" feel, which I like. They sound completely different from the Logic tests. Whenever I hear them, I think "yay, the Tripecac is back!"

This the second of the three jams recorded on Valentine's Day 2002. It has the same tempo as part 1 and the same key as part 3, so it acts as a sort of bridge between the two. I think I named these songs "No Valentine" because I didn't get any valentines that year. Poor Trav!

This is the third and final of the trilogy I recorded on Valentine's Day 2002. It didn't have a click track, which means I couldn't quantize or loop anything; hency the sloppy, minimalist feel. It was originally over 15 minutes long! I kinda regret whittling it down to under 2 minutes for the CD; it had a neat trancy groove going.

I like the peppy, piano-based groove, but dislike the fake-sax melody. My favorite part is the "ditch" in the middle, where everything gets quiet and focuses on a long piano solo. The annoying melody starts up at the end again; I could have faded the song out earlier, but then the title wouldn't make any sense. This is one of the few songs where the title actually described the structure of the song (another is "C Cm F Fm").

This noisy guitar and keyboard funk groove is dedicated to Miro, who got married the weekend I finished it! It was originally called "Funk Timing Test"; the new, improved title comes from something Miro said that week, something along the links of his "freedom clock" ticking off its last few seconds. I love the dual guitars on this song! The synthy sounds actually help out for a change, giving the song an "epic" feel.

I think I was having some sort of problem with Sonar, and decided to go back to Logic for a bit. Perhaps I was having second thoughts about buying Sonar? Well, Logic may have worked more smoothly that day, but the resulting song was a real clunker. When I first finished this, I called it "mind-numbingly boring mood music". I kinda agree, but at least it's short!

This is a return to the long, piano based jams that I was creating before I started messing around with Logic. I really like it! I think the title comes from a vibration the Triton used to get; I fixed it by wedging bits of paper into cracks in the case.

This is an early version of "Logic Test", recorded in mono. I didn't bother to convert it to a Sonar project, and instead simply added fades.