- Title: Convenience
- Artist: Tripecac
- Timespan: 2002
- Theme: going back to the raw
- Length: 66:24
- Tracks: 8
- Lyrics: 2
- MP3s: 8 play all locally
- Rating: **** [4] (2 ratings) rate this album
Track List
# | title | lyrics | time | download | listen | started | recorded | rating |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Convenience | lyrics | 10:19 | download | listen locally | 2002-08-22 | 2002-09-11 | ****½ (2) |
2 | Respit | - | 4:42 | download | listen locally | 2002-09-04 | 2002-09-18 | **** (2) |
3 | Crisper | - | 6:35 | download | listen locally | 2002-08-30 | 2002-09-23 | ***½ (2) |
4 | Stifl | - | 5:45 | download | listen locally | 2002-08-28 | 2002-09-25 | **** (2) |
5 | Seattle Eve | - | 8:43 | download | listen locally | 2002-08-20 | 2002-10-01 | **** (2) |
6 | Config Sissy | - | 15:03 | download | listen locally | 2002-08-10 | 2002-10-08 | **** (2) |
7 | Anniverse | lyrics | 6:35 | download | listen locally | 2002-08-09 | 2002-10-15 | **** (2) |
8 | Convenience Instrumental | - | 8:42 | download | listen locally | 2002-08-22 | 2002-09-12 | **** (2) |
Total | 66:24 | play all locally | album rating: | **** (2) |
Notes
Recorded during early Fall 2002, these experimental jams were started weeks or months previously and then polished up in (roughly) reverse order.
Gear: I used a Korg Triton as a controller, sound module, and effects module, sequenced using Sonar, and included electric guitar (via a Pod Pro) on "Config Sissy".
Songs
Convenience
- Mix 2 (triton vocal) track 2
- Convenience track 1
- started: 2002-08-22
- recorded: 2002-09-11
- length: 10:19
- Travis Emmitt - Korg Triton, vocals
- mp3: download listen locally (flash player)(HTML5 player)
This kicks off the album with fury, wit, and wild vocal effects, much as "Millions of Monkeys" did for The Hermit. It's far more "rock" than anything on Renewal. It tried very hard to inject raw passion and drama into the music (particularly the vocals), and it shows.
The lyrics are about (you guessed it) my dependence upon convenience. I wrote a couple verses and choruses, and then adlibbed the rest. There's often multiple vocal tracks at once, which makes it hard to understand what I was saying. I therefore decided to transcribe the main improvised vocal tracks serially instead of trying to interleave them. Hopefully that'll help add some clarity!
I finished the song exactly a year after I had started "Memorial". It felt like I had come a long way. Sure, my songs were still too long, but at least these were starting to rock.
Lyrics to "Convenience":
INTRO: Okay, everybody. Put your hands together and welcome to the stage the little boy who stays all day in his room... (who stays in his room all day) (you screwed up, you screwed up) working on computers and chairs and couches (just... be quiet) and never seemed to do much more than (play and play and play and play) what he did yesterday what he did and what does he say? he says, "at least i'm having fun" 'cause he is, in a way (play and play and play and play) things repeating, things repeating (play and play and play and play) (play and play and play and play) oh well, here's another song VERSE 1: if it isn't at my feet i won't go to it (when you talk about convenience) (you talk about everything) (when you talk about convenience) (you talk about everything) if it isn't within my reach i just don't do it (when you talk about convenience) (you talk about everything) (when you talk about convenience) (you talk about everything) if it isn't nice and neat i won't plow through it (when you talk about convenience) (you talk about everything) (when you talk about convenience) (take a walkabout everything) and if i gotta get out of my seat i just won't do it no i won't (when you talk about convenience) (you talk about everything) (when you talk about convenience) (you talk about everything) CHORUS: gotta talk about convenience gotta talk about everything 'cause i've thought convenience and i've thought about everything take a walkabout convenience take a walkabout everything gotta talk about and walkabout and talk about and walkabout VERSE 2: if it isn't at my feet i won't walk to it and if it isn't within arm's reach i won't reach to it if it isn't short and sweet i won't go view it (gotta talk about convenience) (gotta talk about everything) ('cause i've thought convenience) (and i've thought about everything) 'cause if i gotta get out of this seat i just won't do it i won't (take a walkabout convenience) (take a walkabout everything) (take a walkabout convenience) (take a walkabout and talk about everything) CHORUS: (gonna walkabout convenience -- oops) (gonna talk about everything) (gonna walkabout convenience) (gonna talk about everything) just shut up, travis just shut up and listen to the piano 'cause that's the good part just shut up and stop doing what's convenient for you just listen to the piano because that's all people wanna hear BRIDGE: [these next 3 parts were recorded together] [part 1] so selfish, so selfish so selfish, so selfish so selfish, so selfish i'm so selfish, i'm so selfish so selfish, i'm so selfish go sell fish, go sell fish so selfish, so selfish i'm so selfish, so selfish so selfish, so selfish so selfish, so selfish so selfish, so selfish so selfish, so selfish so selfish, so selfish [part 2] i won't, i won't, i won't, i won't i won't, i won't, i won't, i won't i won't, i won't, i won't, i won't i won't, i won't, i won't, i won't i can't, i can't, i can't, i can't i can't, i can't, i can't, i can't i won't, i won't, i won't, i won't i won't, i won't, i won't, i won't i won't, i won't, i won't, i won't i won't, i won't, i won't, i can't i can't, i can't, i can't, i can't i can't, i can't, i can't, i can't i can't!!! [part 3] i can't change i can't change i can't change VERSE: i can't i guess i can't (can't do what?) what a shame i can't (can't do what?) i can't do it i can't (can't change?) what a shame (can't change) [these next 3 parts were recorded together] [part 1] if it isn't at my feet if it isn't within my reach if it isn't nice and neat if i gotta get out of my seat if it isn't within my reach if it isn't nice and neat if i gotta get out of my seat if it isn't at my feet ... i can't, i won't i can't, i won't i can't, i won't i can't, i woooooooon't [screaming] [part 2] I just said that, didn't I? Well, I couldn't get around to writing other lyrics, so this is what you get. I'm sorry, but the song is not gonna end for another five minutes, ha ha! because I'm too lazy to shorten it, because shortening it takes time. Well, here's a solo to comfort you during this time. I can't think of anything else to say that's witty... except time is something that you have and you don't but you think you do and that's cryptic and pretentious but i'm too lazy to stop the music so i keep recording and i do whatever is convenient and it sounds like junk but that's what you get when you don't spend some time perfecting and polishing and doing other things and it sounds really stupid but that's okay because this is live it's as live as you get this sounds stupid but that's what you get when you don't do something like, like plan and just reach any futher than you did and you could and you want to just reach take a risk take chance i guess this is a risk i guess this is a chance i know i'm screwing up but that's okay because i guess i have a point i don't know what it is now this sounds stupid it sounds so stupid well maybe i'll think of something to say this is like a really bad rap really bad rap like IPECAC bad rap [laugh] all i can do is laugh and laugh and you know what today is? it's september 11th 2002 a year after i started my first song that i finished that's the only thing that i really care about is me and my creations because i don't have time to think about other people like new york citizens or people at the pentagon or people just in cities in general and people of different religions and different politics and all that gunk so i just sit in my room and i do what's convenient and safe and sometimes it's fun and catchy like this sometimes i'll get into a groove and i'll love it and i won't trade it for anything else i won't want to do anything else all i want to do is preserve the moments that are fun and re-experience them 'cause that's all i can do it's the best i can do and that's what i do it's what i always do and if i say "do" a lot of times it's because i like to do i don't like to just watch i hate watching if i'm not doing something too and that didn't come out very clear or very organized or very wise or professional or even interesting but maybe in parts it was interesting and that's the whole point of making music and writing is everyone once in a while your synapses form something that you regard as interesting and there's always that hope and sometimes the reality that other people find it interesting too and then you gonna lose the energy because you get self-conscious because the music gets quieter and i can't stand quiet because it just... it takes away the din i like din i like lots of din din is good din, din is really good and so here's some more din! and i can't... won't can't and i won't and i can't and i won't i don't, that's the point i don't, i just don't and i won't, i can't and this is repeating 'cause that's all i can do i just can't do anything else i can't, i don't i can't, and i won't i can't, i can't i can't break the cycle i can't, i can't i can't, i won't i can't, i don't i never get out of the rut it just keeps repeating just keeps repeating just keeps repeating... [repeat many times] just keep repeating [repeat until end] [part 3] oh great i can't understand what i'm saying i know; it's obvious i'm gonna do my own thing gonna talk about convenience gonna talk about everything... [repeated variances many times] you're screwing me up stop it! stay in time 1 2 3 4 now you can do it just like this you blew it! [sigh] come on, i'm trying to sing here you're making it really inconvenient for me talk about... i can't even do it what a groove kill a buzz kill you kill everything you just go on and on and you kill everything all fun you tire me you tire us you tire everyone 'cause all you do is cater to your own convenience talk about everything 'supposed to talk about everything talk about... you screwed me up i'm gonna try to stay in time to do it right to be creative to do it all to be a success to do things cool to be cool to be okay to do things okay to get it okay to be all right to think ahead to plan ahead to sing ahead to see ahead to look ahead to look out to see out to think about to stay out gotta focus on ahead on forward on the future on the future on the future on the next measure talk about convenience you talk about everything when you talk about convenience you talk about everything when you talk about convenience you talk about everything you talk about convenience 'cause you've thought about convenience and you think about convenience and you think about it every day you think about convenience your own convenience that's all you think about: convenience your own convenience you think about convenience and you think about it every day and you think about it every day and you think about it every day and you think about it every day and you think about it every day and you think about it every day and you think about it in the same old and you think about it every day and you do things in the same old way
Respit
- Convenience track 2
- started: 2002-09-04
- recorded: 2002-09-18
- length: 4:42
- Travis Emmitt - Korg Triton
- mp3: download listen locally (flash player)(HTML5 player)
Shortly after recording "Convenience", I decided to complete all my unfinished songs before starting any new ones. I began with the most recent project ("Respit") and methodically worked my way backwards, for the rest of this album and the next (Back Up).
"Respit" was a simple jazz/pop/reggae ditty. Stylistically, it's a step back into easy listening from "Convenience". I tried to toughen it up by giving it a [keyboard] guitar solo and effect-laden drums, but overall the song still comes off pretty light.
The title is a play on the word "respite". I could have been referring to a respite from the aggression of "Convenience", or from the pressures involved in starting new songs.
Crisper
- Convenience track 3
- started: 2002-08-30
- recorded: 2002-09-23
- length: 6:35
- Travis Emmitt - Korg Triton
- mp3: download listen locally (flash player)(HTML5 player)
Inspired by a recent trip to Vancouver, this was an attempt to make "modern" sounding jazz. It had synthy instruments and an "artsy" time signature (6/4) which for some reason reminded me of "prog rock". I was trying to see what would happen if I didn't aim for a "live band" feel.
Meanwhile, my dad had told me that although he liked a lot of my new (post-2000) music, most of the songs sounded muffled. I decided to work on making the sound more "crisp", and used this song as a guinea pig (hence the title). My engineering strategy was to:
- reduce the amount of low-frequency reverb
- increase the master treble
- separate instruments via pan and pitch
- mix with speakers rather than headphones
In the end, the song does sound "crisper" than, say, "Walkman", but it's still a bit messy. Instead of low-frequency reverb, there's now a lot of distracting high-frequency "swishing". Also, it sounds like I pitched all the instruments higher; they're just as much collision in the highs as there used to be in the lows. So now, instead of low-frequency mud I have high-frequency sleet. :)
The music itself is okay; not awesome or anything, just okay. I generally don't like "synthy" music, so my heart wasn't in it. Also, I wasn't sure how to solo in 6/4, so there's not much variance. It was an interesting experiment.
Stifl
- Convenience track 4
- started: 2002-08-28
- recorded: 2002-09-25
- length: 5:45
- Travis Emmitt - Korg Triton
- mp3: download listen locally (flash player)(HTML5 player)
This is a simple, catchy EP ditty which I set to a blues progression. It was inspired by my friends Peter and Haakon, whom I had recently visited in Vancouver. There's actually two EPs: one low and one high. For the main melody, they play together harmoniously, but then they drift apart and "do their own thing". In a way, this is a musical portrait of life as a couple.
The title predated the actual music, so no, I wasn't implying that married life is stifling. It's just a bit of wordplay a combination of "stifle" and "stiff". I don't remember why I picked it. It doesn't really fit the song.
Seattle Eve
- Convenience track 5
- started: 2002-08-20
- recorded: 2002-10-01
- length: 8:43
- Travis Emmitt - Korg Triton
- mp3: download listen locally (flash player)(HTML5 player)
I started this mellow jam the evening before a trip down to Seattle. I was envisioning driving down the highway at night in the rain. The auto-panning, strings, and sound effects (thunder, rain, zooming cars) are a bit overkill, but some of the solos are nice. There's no "hook"; the song is basically solo after solo after solo, none of which I wanted to throw away. The end result is soothing background music.
Config Sissy
- Convenience track 6
- started: 2002-08-10
- recorded: 2002-10-08
- length: 15:03
- Travis Emmitt - Korg Triton, Ibanez StageStar
- mp3: download listen locally (flash player)(HTML5 player)
Get funky! This is a simple, bouncy dance/trance loop with lots of solos thrown on top. It also features my first wah-wah-powered guitar!
My wah pedal is actually a MIDI foot controller plugged into my old SY55 keyboard. I connected the SY55 via MIDI to a second PC running SoundDiver, which controlled my Pod Pro (also via MIDI). In SoundDiver I mapped foot controller events to the Pod Pro's wah level. I then recorded output from the Pod Pro on my main music PC. This elaborate setup let me press down on the foot controller and hear the wah effect. I used the same strategy to map a sustain pedal to the Pod Pro's delay toggle.
The title is a play on "config.sys", a DOS configuration file. I was tweaking my studio configuration by setting up the wah-wah pedal. The "sissy" comes from the fact that I wasn't using a real wah pedal, but was instead taking a geeky (MIDI) approach.
I never get tired of listening to this 15-minute monster! I love the slow, funky groove.
Anniverse
- Convenience track 7
- started: 2002-08-09
- recorded: 2002-10-15
- length: 6:35
- Travis Emmitt - Korg Triton, vocals
- mp3: download listen locally (flash player)(HTML5 player)
"You're doing everything wrong." How many times have I heard this? How many times have you heard this?
This song is about a friend (Ann) who had a habit of making "bad" life decisions. Several of us thought her decisions were "bad" but she may have felt differently. I'm sure people thought (and perhaps still think) that I made "bad" life decisions too: hermiting, moving across the country, exercising excessively. My occasional use of "we're doing everything wrong" indicates that I was including myself among the people who have moments of apparently self-destructive cluelessness.
I had just gotten into the band Suicide. If you've ever heard their music, you'll spot the influences: deliberately "cheesy" sounding drum machines, synths, and nasty, distorted vocals.
The title is a play on "anniversary" and "Ann's universe". I don't remember whose anniversary it was.
Lyrics to "Anniverse":
INTRO: this is a song for a girl because everything wrong because we don't know why we try to figure out why but it just confuses us when we try to understand why she keeps on screwing up CHORUS: hey baby you're doing everything wrong hey baby you're doing everything wrong don't you see, don't you see don't you see, don't you see you're doing everything wrong (doing everything wrong) don't you know, don't you know don't you know, don't you know you're doing everything wrong (doing everything wrong) VERSE: why must you self-destruct? why must you self-destruct? are you really self-destructive? CHORUS: baby you're doing everything wrong (like this song) hey baby you're doing everything wrong (everything wrong) VERSE: you had it going on you had it going good you had it going on you had it all for yourself and then you had to self-destruct (self-destruct) and then you had to screw it up you had to screw it up (why did you have to screw it up?) why did you have to screw it up? (why did you have to screw it up?) why did you have to screw it up? (why did you have to screw it up?) why do you have to screw it up? (why did you have to screw it up?) why do you have to screw it up? (why did you have to screw it up?) why do you have to screw it up? (why do you always screw it up?) why must you always screw it up? (why must you always screw it up?) CHORUS: hey baby (hey baby) you're doing everything wrong (you're doing everything wrong) hey baby (yeah) you're doing everything wrong (you're doing everything wrong) VERSE: you're doing everything wrong (it's a habit) (to do everything wrong) you're dragging your kids down you're dragging your friends down you're dragging your family down you're dragging your sister down you're dragging your life down you're dragging my life down you're dragging my time down you're dragging, dragging everything down, down, down, down, down, down, down you're taking everything down down, down, down, down, down, down, down you're taking everything down CHORUS: hey baby (yeah) you're doing everything wrong hey baby you're doing everything wrong VERSE: [w/ repeated "everything wrong"] you're screwing everything up everything up you're screwing everything up everything up you're always screwing up you're always screwing up you're always screwing up at one point you were doing things okay at one point you were doing okay at one point you were doing okay at one point you were doing okay but then you had, you had to make stupid decisions (why did you do that?) you're always screwing up (why did you do that?) why are we always screwing up? (why did you do that?) why are we always screwing up? (why did you do that?) CHORUS: hey baby we're doing everything wrong (doing everything wrong) ann we're doing everything wrong (doing everything wrong) VERSE: (you're doing everything wrong) [repeats through verse] we're doing everything wrong doing everything wrong doing everything wrong doing everything wrong doing everything wrong doing everything wrong doing everything wrong doing everything wrong we're doing everything wrong we're doing everything wrong we're doing everything wrong always screwing up always screwing up you had it started good you had it going good you had it all good you had your life good you had everything you had a degree you were doing okay and... but then you had to screw it up why did you screw it up? why must you always screw it up? why must you always screw up? CHORUS: oh, ann you did everything wrong why must we do everything wrong? END: why must you do everything wrong? tell me why why must you do why must you why must you do anything anything wrong anything wrong you're doing anything wrong you're doing everything wrong you're doing everything wrong you're doing everything wrong you're doing everything wrong you're doing everything wrong you're doing everything wrong you're doing everything wrong you're doing everything wrong you're doing everything wrong doing everything wrong doing everything wrong doing everything wrong doing everything wrong doing everything wrong everything wrong you're doing everything wrong everything wrong everything wrong everything wrong everything wrong everything wrong everything wrong everything wrong you're doing everything wrong everything wrong everything wrong everything wrong
Convenience Instrumental
- Convenience track 8
- started: 2002-08-22
- recorded: 2002-09-12
- length: 8:42
- Travis Emmitt - Korg Triton
- mp3: download listen locally (flash player)(HTML5 player)
This instrumental version of "Convenience" is shorter, cleaned up a bit, and has more emphasis on the solos. I decided to throw it on the end of the album instead of putting it on a separate CD (a la Re-treat). You can think of it as a "bonus track".