the time machine (final mixes)

1) so, i've completed (yet) another track.

a reminder: what i'm doing right now is sorting through a number of scores (these are literally written pieces of music) that i wrote out over 2001 and never got around to converting into listenable music. they've been sitting around, for the most part, because i was hoping i could actually get real life orchestras to play these pieces. delusions of grandeur...

the technology is now accessible and pliable enough that you don't really need real musicians to play a score anymore. i've played most of the guitar sections, but i have to admit that the vst-based samplers that are out there now are quite phenomenal. i actually had to come to the hard realization with this track that i couldn't play the nylon guitar part better than the sequencer, and i was just going to introduce noise to the track by mic-ing myself. now, the nylon guitar part in this piece is very metered - there is no expression in the arpeggiation and the notes need to be directly on the beats. so, on one hand it's not surprising that a machine is able to be a robot better than a person. regardless, as a musician, it's a disturbing feeling to come to terms with.

i retain the right to add my wanky guitar part at the very end, but i don't think it's going to happen. it's better without it.

written in early 2001. drastically rearranged in june, 2014. further constructed, warped and appended to over july, 2014.  



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTXTBZcQK

2) so, this is the final version of this track, with live guitars throughout. i've cut off the end section and placed it in a separate track; the full version in one piece can be found on the single's associated record, jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj.

written in early 2001. drastically rearranged in june, 2014. further constructed, warped and appended to over july, 2014. this version of the track was completed on july 11th, but picked up the end swell on july 19th when it was separated from the full mix.



3) i've added an ambient section to the piece, as i always meant to. the thematic idea behind the time machine actually just comes out of the introductory guitar part, but it was supposed to be further interpreted through a sound collage that creates the impression of floating through space.

written in early 2001. drastically rearranged in june, 2014. further constructed, warped and appended to over july, 2014. this version of the track was completed on july 19th. 

yeah, this is probably coming to a close without those guitar theatrics, after all.

i'm torn between stopping and noodling over the end part and leaning very heavily towards stopping.

it's just that i want to maintain the sombre, reflective quality of the section as an end to the piece, and ultimately a transition into the next track. it does get a little more busy at the end as it fades out, but all i'm going to accomplish by putting an electric guitar in there is to saturate the track.

i haven't decided entirely. i'm going to make some spaghetti and come back. but i think this version is done...

what i did instead is run a guitar through a synthesizer, and then shift it over a few octaves. that makes it sound a little like a trumpet.