inri031 is going to require some careful thought, specifically with the string orchestra version. if i update it, it will probably be to replace it.
the weather here was really nice all week, but went to shit last night. the drop in temperature gives me an opportunity to get some compost out tomorrow morning. but i've otherwise committed to zero packs of cigarettes over june - and am absolutely serious about enforcing it. i was almost cold turkey in february, but the weather helped. june is going to be a bit tougher, but i'm not cracking. this should hopefully overlap with the web site push, once i get through this clean-up and push through to completed material up to mid 2004, putting aside incomplete material over late 2003 and 2004 for a few weeks.
i have a final appointment on the 16th and will be mailing my odsp on the 16th or 17th, for analysis some time around the beginning of july. i will either be granted a few more years or have three months to get a reaction. i've already decided to appeal, which will probably give me a few more months. but if i have to do that, i will have to drop the website idea and get back to production, because i will be in a race against time at that point. i've already decided that i don't have a future post-odsp. i haven't decided on an exact path, which will probably depend on the nature of the denial, if it happens.
i'm thinking about hitting three shows this month for sure and a few more are maybes, but a lot of it is going to depend on how focused i am on what i'm doing. i could very well not want to go to any at all, depending on factors like the weather, my disposition and whether i think i can get through it without buying smokes. i've previously prioritized the show and said "i'll quit the next day". i'm reversing that priority. if i'm convinced i'm going to crack, i'm going to stay in.
so, this is an important few months for me coming up. by the end of june, i should get through a lot of loose ends and have an entire period of my music career behind me, and i should have a better understanding of how likely it is that i'm going to be able to plan around disability.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
finalizing to me, myself and the time i thought this was a good idea (inri049)
inri030 has been permanently finalized without being updated.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/me-myself-and-the-time-i-thought-this-was-a-good-idea
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/me-myself-and-the-time-i-thought-this-was-a-good-idea
thoughts on the new son lux single
this isn't the first son lux track where it's like "check the latency, dude". i've been wondering for a while if that's how he's actually getting that glitch effect. i'll wait for the record, i suspect the most compelling material will be buried in there...
finalizing to spin inside dull aberrations (inri048)
inri029 has been permanently finalized without being updated.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/to-spin-inside-dull-aberrations
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/to-spin-inside-dull-aberrations
Saturday, May 30, 2015
republishing the intersection of two identical particles moving in completely opposite directions (inri047)
inri028 has been updated and permanently finalized.
===
ok...
so, to understand this piece, it's necessary to go back to 1998.
i was working out primitive sequencer parts for the first inri demo and it just sort of crossed my mind that there was really nothing stopping me from composing symphonies except for a lot of music theory. well, if i could write electronic music without training, why couldn't i write symphonies without training? i mean, the score writing program exists in front of me. it was just a question of experimenting with it. i could do it myself...
...but i actually already had a pretty hefty disdain for music theory by the age of 17. i'd managed to come across a music history textbook that traced the deconstruction of western theory from beethoven through to schoenberg and this, combined with my experiences as a guitarist, was enough to prevent me from taking it seriously. the perception i had was of modern composers viewing music theory sort of like how biologists viewed creationism. i use that analogy fairly frequently. it just didn't strike me as relevant.
now, i've softened a bit over time to a view that music theory is best understood in terms of the underlying physics. this renders the theory useless, but upholds the basic relationships between tones as physical, mathematical realities. the thing is the next step of abstraction is understanding that these mathematical objects can be arranged and analyzed in any arbitrary way, and the conventional theory really *is* a fallacy akin to creationism. so, i still hold to the general thesis. this is actually the first serious example of me putting that disdain for the idea that music should have a theory into real action. i remain adamantly of the view that art is not a realm where theories should exist or be viewed with anything other than scorn. theories are rigid, formal things; art is informal, chaotic.
so, it's 1998. i have a scorewriter and a very basic soundcard and i want to bullshit a symphony out of it. i did this by composing a single brief melody by randomly mashing notes into a scorewriter. i then took that melody and pasted it over top of itself at differing speeds (64th, 32nd, 16th, 8th, quarter, half, whole notes). i then took that, cut it off near the end of the half notes and pasted it over itself, backwards.
that might sound like it's going to sound awful, but it actually sounds quite lovely. one could analyze it quite easily, but it's creation is beyond the realm of any rules of construction.
which is where art belongs.
...excepting the algorithm i used, of course. i suppose it's more reich than schoenberg, but kind of more xenakis than either.
the initial version ended up subsumed underneath a messy noise collage that i created independently and have lost the source material for. that messy noise collage was eliminated from the track for the 1999 version, which was reconstructed by reproducing the algorithm. these are tracks 19 and 20 on this systematic exploration of the theme.
in 2001, i ran the midi file through my soundblaster live!, which as primitive as it is, has a much nicer wavetable in it than the primitive soundcard i used in 1998 and 1999 (i don't remember what it was). this is track 21. i also slowed it down by about 20 bpm and allowed the full file to "intersect", which let it breathe more. i've previously not done anything with this mix other than append it to some mix cds. the guitars on the soundblaster are notoriously bad, so there wasn't a lot to do with it....
why? well, i was writing a lot with scorewriters at the time and was just experimenting with the old file, really. but i was also finishing up what would be the only year i would spend in the math-physics department, and thought it sounded like i would imagine intersecting particles *should* sound like. i was generally interested in finding ways to combine science with music then - an interest that is present in older tracks as well and that has stuck with me. i may explore these themes further in time. one of the ideas i really wanted to accomplish was a physical modelling of the universe, to actually simulate the music of the spheres, as pythagoras imagined it. i think i underestimated the complexity of such a task....
of course, i never expected the music of the spheres to be tonal. and i wouldn't expect the sound of particles intersecting to be musical, either. but, we can take some artistic license. if intersecting particles are to make a sound, it OUGHT to be something like this!
now, the place to work out the actual intersection is rather arbitrary. i had initially cut off the entire section of pure whole notes, back in '98. what i wanted to do in '01 was create a sequence where it's cut off incrementally, creating shorter and shorter pieces. i didn't actually do that then, but i did do it in july of 2014.
as for the piece, i haven't changed it much. i've doubled the guitar with a pizzicato string section, and put it through a better guitar synthesizer (and amp simulator, and effects). the sound fonts are otherwise identical, just updated mildly to a better synthesizer.
a string orchestra mix was added at the end of may, 2015.
i've included the midi files of the original composition, if you'd like to mess with it on your own.
written june, 1998. reimagined june, 2001. slightly rearranged and re-rendered at the end of july, 2014. the renders here are from june 1998, june 1999, june 2001 and july 2014. intially released on july 25, 2014. re-released with a new string orchestra mix & finalized on may 30, 2015. as always, please headphones.
credits:
j - programming, digital effects & treatments, digital wave editing, composition.
the rendered electronic orchestras variously include piano, electric guitar, orchestra hit, synth pads, pizzicato strings, violin, viola, cello and pc card.
released june 18, 2001
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/the-intersection-of-two-identical-particles-moving-in-completely-opposite-directions
===
ok...
so, to understand this piece, it's necessary to go back to 1998.
i was working out primitive sequencer parts for the first inri demo and it just sort of crossed my mind that there was really nothing stopping me from composing symphonies except for a lot of music theory. well, if i could write electronic music without training, why couldn't i write symphonies without training? i mean, the score writing program exists in front of me. it was just a question of experimenting with it. i could do it myself...
...but i actually already had a pretty hefty disdain for music theory by the age of 17. i'd managed to come across a music history textbook that traced the deconstruction of western theory from beethoven through to schoenberg and this, combined with my experiences as a guitarist, was enough to prevent me from taking it seriously. the perception i had was of modern composers viewing music theory sort of like how biologists viewed creationism. i use that analogy fairly frequently. it just didn't strike me as relevant.
now, i've softened a bit over time to a view that music theory is best understood in terms of the underlying physics. this renders the theory useless, but upholds the basic relationships between tones as physical, mathematical realities. the thing is the next step of abstraction is understanding that these mathematical objects can be arranged and analyzed in any arbitrary way, and the conventional theory really *is* a fallacy akin to creationism. so, i still hold to the general thesis. this is actually the first serious example of me putting that disdain for the idea that music should have a theory into real action. i remain adamantly of the view that art is not a realm where theories should exist or be viewed with anything other than scorn. theories are rigid, formal things; art is informal, chaotic.
so, it's 1998. i have a scorewriter and a very basic soundcard and i want to bullshit a symphony out of it. i did this by composing a single brief melody by randomly mashing notes into a scorewriter. i then took that melody and pasted it over top of itself at differing speeds (64th, 32nd, 16th, 8th, quarter, half, whole notes). i then took that, cut it off near the end of the half notes and pasted it over itself, backwards.
that might sound like it's going to sound awful, but it actually sounds quite lovely. one could analyze it quite easily, but it's creation is beyond the realm of any rules of construction.
which is where art belongs.
...excepting the algorithm i used, of course. i suppose it's more reich than schoenberg, but kind of more xenakis than either.
the initial version ended up subsumed underneath a messy noise collage that i created independently and have lost the source material for. that messy noise collage was eliminated from the track for the 1999 version, which was reconstructed by reproducing the algorithm. these are tracks 19 and 20 on this systematic exploration of the theme.
in 2001, i ran the midi file through my soundblaster live!, which as primitive as it is, has a much nicer wavetable in it than the primitive soundcard i used in 1998 and 1999 (i don't remember what it was). this is track 21. i also slowed it down by about 20 bpm and allowed the full file to "intersect", which let it breathe more. i've previously not done anything with this mix other than append it to some mix cds. the guitars on the soundblaster are notoriously bad, so there wasn't a lot to do with it....
why? well, i was writing a lot with scorewriters at the time and was just experimenting with the old file, really. but i was also finishing up what would be the only year i would spend in the math-physics department, and thought it sounded like i would imagine intersecting particles *should* sound like. i was generally interested in finding ways to combine science with music then - an interest that is present in older tracks as well and that has stuck with me. i may explore these themes further in time. one of the ideas i really wanted to accomplish was a physical modelling of the universe, to actually simulate the music of the spheres, as pythagoras imagined it. i think i underestimated the complexity of such a task....
of course, i never expected the music of the spheres to be tonal. and i wouldn't expect the sound of particles intersecting to be musical, either. but, we can take some artistic license. if intersecting particles are to make a sound, it OUGHT to be something like this!
now, the place to work out the actual intersection is rather arbitrary. i had initially cut off the entire section of pure whole notes, back in '98. what i wanted to do in '01 was create a sequence where it's cut off incrementally, creating shorter and shorter pieces. i didn't actually do that then, but i did do it in july of 2014.
as for the piece, i haven't changed it much. i've doubled the guitar with a pizzicato string section, and put it through a better guitar synthesizer (and amp simulator, and effects). the sound fonts are otherwise identical, just updated mildly to a better synthesizer.
a string orchestra mix was added at the end of may, 2015.
i've included the midi files of the original composition, if you'd like to mess with it on your own.
written june, 1998. reimagined june, 2001. slightly rearranged and re-rendered at the end of july, 2014. the renders here are from june 1998, june 1999, june 2001 and july 2014. intially released on july 25, 2014. re-released with a new string orchestra mix & finalized on may 30, 2015. as always, please headphones.
credits:
j - programming, digital effects & treatments, digital wave editing, composition.
the rendered electronic orchestras variously include piano, electric guitar, orchestra hit, synth pads, pizzicato strings, violin, viola, cello and pc card.
released june 18, 2001
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/the-intersection-of-two-identical-particles-moving-in-completely-opposite-directions
Friday, May 29, 2015
republishing the symphony of psilocybin induced madness (inri046)
inri027 has been updated and permanently finalized.
==
the core of this was written in my parent's basement in the spring of 2001. planning on going to a rave that weekend, i had previously purchased a large amount of drugs; i was, however, forced to stay in due to having a calculus test that sunday (the rave was out of town). well, my parents were gone for the weekend, most of my friends were out of town and i had a massive stash of drugs...
it is quite literally a symphony of psilocybin induced madness and was written directly into an ancient, hacked score-writing program. while it has been labelled as a symphony of drunken confusion in certain contexts to get around certain social stigmas, this is inaccurate.
around 2006 or so, i took a course in electronic music design that had a recorded component and pulled the score off of my hard drive with the intent of finally recording it properly. the dx7 i had available to me greatly improved the synth patches, enough that i'm willing to let the track rest that way.
i've included midi files of the original composition, if you'd like to mess with it on your own.
written in the spring of 2001. lent out for a different project in jan, 2004. reconstructed in the first quarter of 2006, especially over march. released as a one track single on april 1, 2006. expanded with alternate mixes and re-released on july 23, 2014. the vst mix was added on jan 10, 2015 and the two guitar mixes were added on may 29, 2015. re-released & finalized on may 29, 2015. as always, please use headphones.
credits
j - electric guitars, programming, digital effects & treatments, sampling, composition, production.
the rendered electronic orchestras variously include synthesizers, clavinet, kalimba, nylon guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, piano, banjo, electronic drums, pc card, violin, cello, bamboo flute, flute, viola, soprano saxophone, tuba, trumpet, organ and music box.
released may 15, 2001
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/the-symphony-of-psilocybin-induced-madness
==
the core of this was written in my parent's basement in the spring of 2001. planning on going to a rave that weekend, i had previously purchased a large amount of drugs; i was, however, forced to stay in due to having a calculus test that sunday (the rave was out of town). well, my parents were gone for the weekend, most of my friends were out of town and i had a massive stash of drugs...
it is quite literally a symphony of psilocybin induced madness and was written directly into an ancient, hacked score-writing program. while it has been labelled as a symphony of drunken confusion in certain contexts to get around certain social stigmas, this is inaccurate.
around 2006 or so, i took a course in electronic music design that had a recorded component and pulled the score off of my hard drive with the intent of finally recording it properly. the dx7 i had available to me greatly improved the synth patches, enough that i'm willing to let the track rest that way.
i've included midi files of the original composition, if you'd like to mess with it on your own.
written in the spring of 2001. lent out for a different project in jan, 2004. reconstructed in the first quarter of 2006, especially over march. released as a one track single on april 1, 2006. expanded with alternate mixes and re-released on july 23, 2014. the vst mix was added on jan 10, 2015 and the two guitar mixes were added on may 29, 2015. re-released & finalized on may 29, 2015. as always, please use headphones.
credits
j - electric guitars, programming, digital effects & treatments, sampling, composition, production.
the rendered electronic orchestras variously include synthesizers, clavinet, kalimba, nylon guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, piano, banjo, electronic drums, pc card, violin, cello, bamboo flute, flute, viola, soprano saxophone, tuba, trumpet, organ and music box.
released may 15, 2001
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/the-symphony-of-psilocybin-induced-madness
rap news 32
systemic racism is systemic. racial profiling. a culture of supremacism. the policies are by design, and the results are intended. it's not a few shitty cops that need further education.
there was a case a while ago when a cop was excluded from the force because his iq tests came back too high, and the court system upheld the rights of the force to exclude him on that basis. smart people are more likely to act independently in the face of clear injustice. cops are literally singled out for their ability to be dumb enforcers, and then instructed to interpret people through a racial filter. it's design.
and, if you understand that the role of the police is to protect property, it's an inescapable necessity from the elite's perspective. it's rational. if you want to maintain the status quo of racial based inequality, you need a system of extreme force to do so and you need it thinking in racist terms.
one of the core issues is the continued existence of prison labour. this is basically unheard of anywhere else in the developed world. a constitutional amendment to ban prison labour would be a huge step forward.
but the only way to really overturn this kind of system is to tear it down.
of course, looting the 7/11 is not a useful tactic. but, the videos i saw exposed an average age of around 17. on some level, these are the people that have the most at stake. on another, they're not old enough to vote.
there was a case a while ago when a cop was excluded from the force because his iq tests came back too high, and the court system upheld the rights of the force to exclude him on that basis. smart people are more likely to act independently in the face of clear injustice. cops are literally singled out for their ability to be dumb enforcers, and then instructed to interpret people through a racial filter. it's design.
and, if you understand that the role of the police is to protect property, it's an inescapable necessity from the elite's perspective. it's rational. if you want to maintain the status quo of racial based inequality, you need a system of extreme force to do so and you need it thinking in racist terms.
one of the core issues is the continued existence of prison labour. this is basically unheard of anywhere else in the developed world. a constitutional amendment to ban prison labour would be a huge step forward.
but the only way to really overturn this kind of system is to tear it down.
of course, looting the 7/11 is not a useful tactic. but, the videos i saw exposed an average age of around 17. on some level, these are the people that have the most at stake. on another, they're not old enough to vote.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
finalizing j’s adventures in guitarland (inri045)
inri026 has been finalized without being updated.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/js-adventures-in-guitarland
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/js-adventures-in-guitarland
republishing the time machine (inri044)
i've added six more mixes to inri025: two techno mixes, three for solo instruments and an arrangement for string orchestra. this was initially a classical guitar piece, but it is unplayable on a standard 19-fret classical and i do not currently have access to an extended board. there is a placeholder for a final performance on a suitably constructed instrument. but, for now, it is otherwise closed.
inri025 has been updated and semi-permanently finalized.
==
regarding this piece, my memory is blurry; yet, i have a vivid recollection of playing parts of it for my guitar teacher on a sunny day, where there was still snow on the ground. it's funny how we remember seemingly irrelevant details, but i guess the atmosphere of the performance is important because the performance is. that would date it to roughly march, 2001.
i switched the piece from classical guitar to piano halfway through writing it, and vaguely remember thinking that an impossible interval had something to do with it (a specific c# cannot be hit on a standard classical). yet, that doesn't change the fact that it's guitar music. the counterpoint is very guitar.
to further complicate things, i've long wanted to turn the piece into a jazzy idm romp. it has a kind of a jingly feel to it that belongs in the warp records sphere.
so, what is this? a classical guitar piece? a jazzy piano piece? a techno tune? all of the above! as with other pieces from this period, this is presented here in multiple formats: several rendered midi tracks, live guitar versions, a vst version and a "full band" version - as well as multiple remixes.
i have included the original midi file (and sheet music in pdf) as a bonus item in the download, if you want to play with it on your own.
conceptually, the time machine aspect referred simply to the slowed down guitar chords at the beginning of the song. if you play it a certain way, it sounds like time is collapsing in on itself. or, so i thought, anyways. the various versions i have created here have made an attempt to take that idea to it's logical conclusion. it's a mix of the vision i had at the time and a bit of hindsight.
six further mixes were added at the end of may, 2015. two of these are "techno" mixes of the song, three are interpretations of the piece on a solo instrument and one is a rearrangement for a full string orchestra. i've decided to present the material in a way that is really two eps combined together, with the first being arrangements for multiple instruments and the second being arrangements for solo instruments. note that there is a placeholder for the track as it was initially written for a 21-fret classical guitar.
written early 2001. drastically rearranged in june, 2014. rendered, arranged and performed over june and july, 2014. released on july 21, 2014. six new mixes were added in late may, 2015. re-released & put on indefinite hold as to status on may 28, 2015 as always, please use headphones.
credits
j - electric guitar, programming, digital effects & treatments, digital wave editing, loops, production, composition
the various rendered electronic orchestras include acoustic bass, synth bass, electric bass, upright bass, brass section, orchestra hit, drum machine, electronic drum kit, nylon guitar, electric guitar, violin, viola, cello, contrabass, french horn, trumpet, tuba, trombone, synthesizers, synthesizer effects, harp, music box, detuned piano, piano, bells, flute, hammered percussion, vibraphone, marimba and mellotron. it also includes choir.
released march 21, 2001
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/the-time-machine
inri025 has been updated and semi-permanently finalized.
==
regarding this piece, my memory is blurry; yet, i have a vivid recollection of playing parts of it for my guitar teacher on a sunny day, where there was still snow on the ground. it's funny how we remember seemingly irrelevant details, but i guess the atmosphere of the performance is important because the performance is. that would date it to roughly march, 2001.
i switched the piece from classical guitar to piano halfway through writing it, and vaguely remember thinking that an impossible interval had something to do with it (a specific c# cannot be hit on a standard classical). yet, that doesn't change the fact that it's guitar music. the counterpoint is very guitar.
to further complicate things, i've long wanted to turn the piece into a jazzy idm romp. it has a kind of a jingly feel to it that belongs in the warp records sphere.
so, what is this? a classical guitar piece? a jazzy piano piece? a techno tune? all of the above! as with other pieces from this period, this is presented here in multiple formats: several rendered midi tracks, live guitar versions, a vst version and a "full band" version - as well as multiple remixes.
i have included the original midi file (and sheet music in pdf) as a bonus item in the download, if you want to play with it on your own.
conceptually, the time machine aspect referred simply to the slowed down guitar chords at the beginning of the song. if you play it a certain way, it sounds like time is collapsing in on itself. or, so i thought, anyways. the various versions i have created here have made an attempt to take that idea to it's logical conclusion. it's a mix of the vision i had at the time and a bit of hindsight.
six further mixes were added at the end of may, 2015. two of these are "techno" mixes of the song, three are interpretations of the piece on a solo instrument and one is a rearrangement for a full string orchestra. i've decided to present the material in a way that is really two eps combined together, with the first being arrangements for multiple instruments and the second being arrangements for solo instruments. note that there is a placeholder for the track as it was initially written for a 21-fret classical guitar.
written early 2001. drastically rearranged in june, 2014. rendered, arranged and performed over june and july, 2014. released on july 21, 2014. six new mixes were added in late may, 2015. re-released & put on indefinite hold as to status on may 28, 2015 as always, please use headphones.
credits
j - electric guitar, programming, digital effects & treatments, digital wave editing, loops, production, composition
the various rendered electronic orchestras include acoustic bass, synth bass, electric bass, upright bass, brass section, orchestra hit, drum machine, electronic drum kit, nylon guitar, electric guitar, violin, viola, cello, contrabass, french horn, trumpet, tuba, trombone, synthesizers, synthesizer effects, harp, music box, detuned piano, piano, bells, flute, hammered percussion, vibraphone, marimba and mellotron. it also includes choir.
released march 21, 2001
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/the-time-machine
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
republishing stuck in the middle of an alley closing in on all sides (inri043)
i've been in the process of closing down my second artistic phase for longer than i'd like, but i'm really getting to the final points on it, which means taking one last run through everything and making final decisions on it. this is the fourth mix i've appended to this single over the last week, but it is now final. closed.
so, behold inri024, which is now a 90 minute 12-track "single" of reinterpretations of this track.
inri024 has been updated and permanently finalized.
===
this is one of the tracks that i can't date well. i do, however, remember working on it during the winter, which means it must have been late '00 or early '01. i'm going to consequently deduce that it must have been what i was working on over the 2000 christmas break and date it coming out right after it.
actually, i have another reason to date it in early '01 rather than late '00: the introductory piano part was recorded live into my notation program on my dx100, which i was given over christmas (maybe a little before; it was a cheap garage sale pickup) to act as a controller for my recently broken jx-8p, that i had tried to take apart over the summer to clean a sticky key (a common problem with mid-80s roland analog synths) but failed and left keyless. it's still keyless. yet, the dx still drives it....
that introductory piano part formed the basis of the track, which built itself up fairly quickly. somewhere, i lost the nwc file by saving it as midi, which ruined all the formatting. it's been sitting on my drive ever since.
why put together seven different midi versions of the same track, and sequence them after a polished recorded version? well, this was never actually meant to be computer music. i was just composing something the old fashioned way with the intent of later giving it to some musicians to play. that never happened. what did happen was that i found myself playing it back on multiple sound cards over many years, trying to make it sound as good as possible in the short run - until i could finally get the chance to sit down and actually record it. while each of the different renders has it's strong and weak points, i ultimately don't feel that they form a total order. something i thought about doing was recording tracks independently on different cards and then pasting them together, but that would have just created another dozen incomparable mixes. rather than arbitrarily pick one, i decided to just upload all of them.
in hindsight, i think the format is interesting in itself in terms of it being a psychological experiment with sound. the differences from track to track are sometimes inaudible and sometimes extremely noticeable. stringing it all together in a row like this is challenging to any listener in the sense that it rips apart the process of becoming familiar with a piece. it means listening to exactly the same song through multiple different sound libraries. i think your brain would have to interpret that as a sort of a trip, especially when it comes to trying to build associations in sound within tracks that are both similar and different sounding, soundcard wise. i think that might be part of the reason i had so much difficulty isolating tracks in the first place.
so, listening to the ep through all the way is likely to be a bit disorienting and might ultimately be a strange experience. however, if you like the track for what it is as a collection of overlapping sequences of notes then i hope you get something out of the process of comparing and contrasting the renders together.
i have included the original midi file as a bonus item in the download, if you want to play with it on your own. the added guitar sections in the final version are recent additions and have not been written out.
thematically, the track is meant to orchestrate a feeling of claustrophobia with society pushing down on you too hard. it's meant to transmit a feeling of existential dread. at the time, i really felt stuck with life in general and not sure how i was going to get out of it.
four further remixes were added at the end of may, 2015, which has forced me to move two of the midi renders to 'download only'.
written late 2000 & early 2001. the renders present here are all from after 2013. minor instrumentation changes to facilitate a small wind section were implemented in late april, 2014. live guitars were layered into the final version over may, 2014. initially released on june 7, 2014. four new orchestral mixes were added in late may, 2015. re-released & finalized on may 26, 2015. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - electric piano, programming, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals, vocoders, digital effects & treatments, digital wave editing, composition.
the rendered electronic orchestras variously include piano, bass, synth bass, distorted electric guitar, clean electric guitar, other guitar effects, steel string acoustic guitar, nylon string classical guitar, sitar, violin, viola, cello, contrabass, french horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, oboe, english horn, bassoon, synthesizers, clarinet, flute, piccolo, xylophone, glockenspiel, woodblock, tubular bells, orchestra hit, jazz drum kit, hand drums, melodic toms, orchestral drum kit, hammered percussion, marimba, taiko drum, synthetic percussion and electronic drum kit.
released january 10, 2001
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/stuck-in-the-middle-of-an-alley-closing-in-on-all-sides
so, behold inri024, which is now a 90 minute 12-track "single" of reinterpretations of this track.
inri024 has been updated and permanently finalized.
===
this is one of the tracks that i can't date well. i do, however, remember working on it during the winter, which means it must have been late '00 or early '01. i'm going to consequently deduce that it must have been what i was working on over the 2000 christmas break and date it coming out right after it.
actually, i have another reason to date it in early '01 rather than late '00: the introductory piano part was recorded live into my notation program on my dx100, which i was given over christmas (maybe a little before; it was a cheap garage sale pickup) to act as a controller for my recently broken jx-8p, that i had tried to take apart over the summer to clean a sticky key (a common problem with mid-80s roland analog synths) but failed and left keyless. it's still keyless. yet, the dx still drives it....
that introductory piano part formed the basis of the track, which built itself up fairly quickly. somewhere, i lost the nwc file by saving it as midi, which ruined all the formatting. it's been sitting on my drive ever since.
why put together seven different midi versions of the same track, and sequence them after a polished recorded version? well, this was never actually meant to be computer music. i was just composing something the old fashioned way with the intent of later giving it to some musicians to play. that never happened. what did happen was that i found myself playing it back on multiple sound cards over many years, trying to make it sound as good as possible in the short run - until i could finally get the chance to sit down and actually record it. while each of the different renders has it's strong and weak points, i ultimately don't feel that they form a total order. something i thought about doing was recording tracks independently on different cards and then pasting them together, but that would have just created another dozen incomparable mixes. rather than arbitrarily pick one, i decided to just upload all of them.
in hindsight, i think the format is interesting in itself in terms of it being a psychological experiment with sound. the differences from track to track are sometimes inaudible and sometimes extremely noticeable. stringing it all together in a row like this is challenging to any listener in the sense that it rips apart the process of becoming familiar with a piece. it means listening to exactly the same song through multiple different sound libraries. i think your brain would have to interpret that as a sort of a trip, especially when it comes to trying to build associations in sound within tracks that are both similar and different sounding, soundcard wise. i think that might be part of the reason i had so much difficulty isolating tracks in the first place.
so, listening to the ep through all the way is likely to be a bit disorienting and might ultimately be a strange experience. however, if you like the track for what it is as a collection of overlapping sequences of notes then i hope you get something out of the process of comparing and contrasting the renders together.
i have included the original midi file as a bonus item in the download, if you want to play with it on your own. the added guitar sections in the final version are recent additions and have not been written out.
thematically, the track is meant to orchestrate a feeling of claustrophobia with society pushing down on you too hard. it's meant to transmit a feeling of existential dread. at the time, i really felt stuck with life in general and not sure how i was going to get out of it.
four further remixes were added at the end of may, 2015, which has forced me to move two of the midi renders to 'download only'.
written late 2000 & early 2001. the renders present here are all from after 2013. minor instrumentation changes to facilitate a small wind section were implemented in late april, 2014. live guitars were layered into the final version over may, 2014. initially released on june 7, 2014. four new orchestral mixes were added in late may, 2015. re-released & finalized on may 26, 2015. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - electric piano, programming, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals, vocoders, digital effects & treatments, digital wave editing, composition.
the rendered electronic orchestras variously include piano, bass, synth bass, distorted electric guitar, clean electric guitar, other guitar effects, steel string acoustic guitar, nylon string classical guitar, sitar, violin, viola, cello, contrabass, french horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, oboe, english horn, bassoon, synthesizers, clarinet, flute, piccolo, xylophone, glockenspiel, woodblock, tubular bells, orchestra hit, jazz drum kit, hand drums, melodic toms, orchestral drum kit, hammered percussion, marimba, taiko drum, synthetic percussion and electronic drum kit.
released january 10, 2001
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/stuck-in-the-middle-of-an-alley-closing-in-on-all-sides
Saturday, May 23, 2015
publishing orchestral works (inri072)
this is inri049 - an orchestral works compilation to close my second compositional period. these pieces are diverse, but the commonality is that they are arranged for the whole orchestra.
==
an unexpected result of the project to complete my discography, undertaken in late 2013, has been the construction of a handful of orchestral pieces, mostly as remixes of original tracks from the jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj period. while these tracks were initially written out as scored pieces for expanded instrumentation, they were generally written around the guitar and the expanded instrumentation was largely meant simply for colour. the exception to this is the psilocybin symphony, which was written as a piano concerto from the start and previously completed in early 2006.
the ability to expand these pieces into orchestral works is the result of the advances in vst sampling technology that have occurred since 2003. while changes in instrumentation have been accompanied by extra writing (mostly on the guitar), tempo shifts and other general rearrangement choices, the existing technology makes it very easy to rearrange a rock song for an orchestra, by simply multiplying staves and changing the sound fonts.
the condition i've set for a piece to be "orchestral" is that it must utilize the entire orchestra: it must have percussion, piano, horns, woodwinds/reeds and strings. guitars are generally treated like "first violins", whereas violins are generally not considered to be more special than other similar string instruments. some of the tracks also have prominent choral sections. all of these pieces meet this condition, except the last one which does not have a woodwind/reed section.
my delve into scorewriting ended in 2003; the material in my third phase is more focused on live and manipulated guitars and synthesizers. i consequently feel that this is an interesting summary of my second period, taken from a specific angle that is otherwise largely relegated to single-only remixes.
initially written and recorded between 2001-2003 and remixed and recorded further over 2014-2015, except track 2 which was completed in early 2006. final compilation date is may 23, 2015. as always, please use headphones.
credits
j - controller inputs, drum & other programming, orchestral & other sequencing, live guitars, live bass, live synths, effects, sound design, digital wave editing, composition, production.
the various rendered electronic orchestras includes violin, viola, cello, contrabass, electric guitar, nylon guitar, guitar fret noise, bass guitar, synthesizer bass, french horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, english horn, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, saxophone, bamboo flute, flute, piccolo, synthesizers, mellotron, organ, piano, harp, koto, music box, clavinet, kalimba, xylophone, agogo, mallet, hammered percussion, woodblock, tubular bells, tinkle bells, glockenspiel, orchestra hit, melodic toms, electronic drum kit, timpani, orchestral drum kit and choir.
released april 29, 2003
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/orchestral-works-vol-1
==
an unexpected result of the project to complete my discography, undertaken in late 2013, has been the construction of a handful of orchestral pieces, mostly as remixes of original tracks from the jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj period. while these tracks were initially written out as scored pieces for expanded instrumentation, they were generally written around the guitar and the expanded instrumentation was largely meant simply for colour. the exception to this is the psilocybin symphony, which was written as a piano concerto from the start and previously completed in early 2006.
the ability to expand these pieces into orchestral works is the result of the advances in vst sampling technology that have occurred since 2003. while changes in instrumentation have been accompanied by extra writing (mostly on the guitar), tempo shifts and other general rearrangement choices, the existing technology makes it very easy to rearrange a rock song for an orchestra, by simply multiplying staves and changing the sound fonts.
the condition i've set for a piece to be "orchestral" is that it must utilize the entire orchestra: it must have percussion, piano, horns, woodwinds/reeds and strings. guitars are generally treated like "first violins", whereas violins are generally not considered to be more special than other similar string instruments. some of the tracks also have prominent choral sections. all of these pieces meet this condition, except the last one which does not have a woodwind/reed section.
my delve into scorewriting ended in 2003; the material in my third phase is more focused on live and manipulated guitars and synthesizers. i consequently feel that this is an interesting summary of my second period, taken from a specific angle that is otherwise largely relegated to single-only remixes.
initially written and recorded between 2001-2003 and remixed and recorded further over 2014-2015, except track 2 which was completed in early 2006. final compilation date is may 23, 2015. as always, please use headphones.
credits
j - controller inputs, drum & other programming, orchestral & other sequencing, live guitars, live bass, live synths, effects, sound design, digital wave editing, composition, production.
the various rendered electronic orchestras includes violin, viola, cello, contrabass, electric guitar, nylon guitar, guitar fret noise, bass guitar, synthesizer bass, french horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, english horn, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, saxophone, bamboo flute, flute, piccolo, synthesizers, mellotron, organ, piano, harp, koto, music box, clavinet, kalimba, xylophone, agogo, mallet, hammered percussion, woodblock, tubular bells, tinkle bells, glockenspiel, orchestra hit, melodic toms, electronic drum kit, timpani, orchestral drum kit and choir.
released april 29, 2003
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/orchestral-works-vol-1
Thursday, May 21, 2015
publishing ambient works vol 0-2 (inri071 + inri035)
i've got the mix tape up which means inri048 is now done...
i've got a number of snippets after about 1999 that i'm not sure what to do with. i'm probably going to just forget about most of it, but some of it will no doubt end up on volume 3, which will be somewhere in the 60s or 70s. so i'll just put it aside for later.
i put aside a number of compilation ideas as i was sorting through the material. i wasn't expecting anything to get a release in this space, but i'm now questioning that. it's largely a process of elimination. but right now it'slooking like inri050 is actually going to be a similarly epic guitar-focused disc.
that said, there's plenty of guitars on this disc, especially in the mix tape. i'll post it when i figure it out...
===
i've taken to splitting my discography into phases, and my hitch-hiking trip to british columbia is a very important separation point - both in terms of the nature of the material that came out afterwards and what is now a substantial body of work that came before it. that makes it a natural point to look backwards and build compilations of intersecting ideas.
a characteristic of my work is that it does not conform well to genre norms. this is not an accident; when compiling a record, i'm guided more by the late beatles' philosophy of vast diversity in a small space than i am by any kind of desire to collect together nice singles, or by some kind of compulsive organizing into categories or concepts. i write psychedelic music. that means something different in 2015 than it did in 1966, but the commonality is that it's necessarily challenging. i want all of my records to do everything at once, and accomplish everything by their end point. that makes compilations of this sort inherently difficult, because every song touches on every compilation idea at the same time. the jazz record would have the same tracklisting as the punk record, the classical record and the folk record - and none would really be what they're claimed to be.
the one exception to this conundrum is how i interacted with ambient music in this period. i very regularly utilized ideas from the genre, but i tended to interpret ambience as something that is necessarily obscure. in this period, ambient pieces are almost always outtakes or b sides. i tended to interpret covers and remixes as ambient pieces, probably because that was unexpected. when ambient ideas make it on to the record, they're almost always for effect: introductions, endings, connecting passages, that sort of thing.
when i began reconstructing my discography in early 2014, i came across a handful of songs i'd written out into midi format and put aside for later. a number of these ended up reworked into ambient pieces, and released as b sides. i also ended up converting some of the material i wrote in this period into ambient sound collages that are more in the style of music i created after 2003.
the end result is enough bsides and remixes to put together two full cds of ambient music. none of the tracks on volumes one or two are on any official record as they appear here; this is technically a collection of remixes and outtakes.
initially written and recorded between 2000-2003 and remixed between 2014-2015. sequenced over mid may, 2015. final compilation date is may 21, 2015,. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitars (acoustic, electric, nylon), effects & treatments, bass, synthesizers, electric air reed organ, orchestral & other sequencing, drum & other programming, generative programming (sounder), "projectile synthesis" (audiomulch), granular synthesis (granulab), sound design, electronic and conventional drum kits, sampling, loops, films, voice, digital wave editing, composition, production.
sean - vocal ideas (tracks 4 & 7, disc 1), ring modulator (track 9, disc 1)
jon - background guitar performance (track 4, disc 1)
greg - drum performance sample source (track 5, disc 1)
the various rendered electronic orchestras include synth bass, electric bass, acoustic bass, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, nylon guitar, guitar effects, guitar noises (fret noises, pick scrapes, knocks), synthesizer, synth pads, mellotron, choir, violin, viola, cello, contrabass, string section, pizzicato strings, french horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, oboe, english horn, bassoon, clarinet, flute, piccolo, mallet, piano, woodblock, music box, xylophone, tubular bells, other bells, orchestra hit, electronic drum kit, melodic toms, drum machine and orchestral drum kit.
released april 28, 2003
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/ambient-works-vol-0-2
i've got a number of snippets after about 1999 that i'm not sure what to do with. i'm probably going to just forget about most of it, but some of it will no doubt end up on volume 3, which will be somewhere in the 60s or 70s. so i'll just put it aside for later.
i put aside a number of compilation ideas as i was sorting through the material. i wasn't expecting anything to get a release in this space, but i'm now questioning that. it's largely a process of elimination. but right now it'slooking like inri050 is actually going to be a similarly epic guitar-focused disc.
that said, there's plenty of guitars on this disc, especially in the mix tape. i'll post it when i figure it out...
===
i've taken to splitting my discography into phases, and my hitch-hiking trip to british columbia is a very important separation point - both in terms of the nature of the material that came out afterwards and what is now a substantial body of work that came before it. that makes it a natural point to look backwards and build compilations of intersecting ideas.
a characteristic of my work is that it does not conform well to genre norms. this is not an accident; when compiling a record, i'm guided more by the late beatles' philosophy of vast diversity in a small space than i am by any kind of desire to collect together nice singles, or by some kind of compulsive organizing into categories or concepts. i write psychedelic music. that means something different in 2015 than it did in 1966, but the commonality is that it's necessarily challenging. i want all of my records to do everything at once, and accomplish everything by their end point. that makes compilations of this sort inherently difficult, because every song touches on every compilation idea at the same time. the jazz record would have the same tracklisting as the punk record, the classical record and the folk record - and none would really be what they're claimed to be.
the one exception to this conundrum is how i interacted with ambient music in this period. i very regularly utilized ideas from the genre, but i tended to interpret ambience as something that is necessarily obscure. in this period, ambient pieces are almost always outtakes or b sides. i tended to interpret covers and remixes as ambient pieces, probably because that was unexpected. when ambient ideas make it on to the record, they're almost always for effect: introductions, endings, connecting passages, that sort of thing.
when i began reconstructing my discography in early 2014, i came across a handful of songs i'd written out into midi format and put aside for later. a number of these ended up reworked into ambient pieces, and released as b sides. i also ended up converting some of the material i wrote in this period into ambient sound collages that are more in the style of music i created after 2003.
the end result is enough bsides and remixes to put together two full cds of ambient music. none of the tracks on volumes one or two are on any official record as they appear here; this is technically a collection of remixes and outtakes.
initially written and recorded between 2000-2003 and remixed between 2014-2015. sequenced over mid may, 2015. final compilation date is may 21, 2015,. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitars (acoustic, electric, nylon), effects & treatments, bass, synthesizers, electric air reed organ, orchestral & other sequencing, drum & other programming, generative programming (sounder), "projectile synthesis" (audiomulch), granular synthesis (granulab), sound design, electronic and conventional drum kits, sampling, loops, films, voice, digital wave editing, composition, production.
sean - vocal ideas (tracks 4 & 7, disc 1), ring modulator (track 9, disc 1)
jon - background guitar performance (track 4, disc 1)
greg - drum performance sample source (track 5, disc 1)
the various rendered electronic orchestras include synth bass, electric bass, acoustic bass, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, nylon guitar, guitar effects, guitar noises (fret noises, pick scrapes, knocks), synthesizer, synth pads, mellotron, choir, violin, viola, cello, contrabass, string section, pizzicato strings, french horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, oboe, english horn, bassoon, clarinet, flute, piccolo, mallet, piano, woodblock, music box, xylophone, tubular bells, other bells, orchestra hit, electronic drum kit, melodic toms, drum machine and orchestral drum kit.
released april 28, 2003
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/ambient-works-vol-0-2
Saturday, May 16, 2015
publishing refractions (inri065)
inri046.
the just uploaded ambient mix is track 11. you might want to sit down for this, it's something else.
--
some time in late 2002, sean sent me a message over msn or icq requesting that we begin a song based on looped birds chirping. i thought his idea was kind of cliched, but i took to working around his suggestions by converting them into something more musically expressive. i didn't want to write a song that literally climaxes around birds chirping, but i was willing to write something tonal that evoked the feeling of birds chirping.
at the time, i had my sister's electronic piano downstairs. she had a miniature grand upstairs. it was initially written on the keyboard with a very strange timing, which the scorewriter had difficulties capturing - partly because i was inconsistent in performing it. the piece was greatly simplified as it was arranged.
however, i believe the piece sat for a long time before the second section was added to it.
sean and i didn't talk much over the next few months, and the truth is that i just never brought this piece up to him. by the time it was finished, i had firmly placed it in my successor project, the trivial group. it was initially dedicated to sean as a part of the going away disc, but that's really as close as this ever got to being a rabit tune.
i don't have clear memories around composing it, although circumstantial evidence makes it very likely that this happened in the late winter and early spring of 2003. i vaguely recall playing it on the grand upstairs, which could have only happened after sarah moved home to the outer suburbs to get ready for the trip. this was around march. i do remember recording the guitar parts and percussion parts, and am convinced this was in the spring due to memories of the spring sun hitting the bowls. the april 25th date may be a little late, but i have every reason to believe that this was not finished until after exams that year.
the percussion sections in the track are notable. the metallic sounds were created by smashing cutlery into a metal bowl, whereas the woody sounds were created by "playing" a pen on a desk. the track also includes hand claps.
these percussion parts were not notated until 2015. this was a careful, lengthy process that required a lot of careful listening, and a bit of napkin math. notating the percussion allowed for a more comprehensive exploration of the track over midi.
this is sequenced for indefinite looping.
i've included the midi files of the original composition, if you'd like to mess with it on your own.
written and recorded in early 2003. transcribed, slightly rearranged, remixed repeatedly and re-rendered repeatedly over may, 2015. all renders finalized on may 16, 2015. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitars, effects, bass, synth, voice, bowls, claps, tables, ebow, orchestral sequencing, drum & other programming, loops, digital wave editing, composition, production.
the various rendered electronic orchestras include synth pad, synth bass, synthesizer, mellotron, fingered bass guitar, picked electric guitar, bowed electric guitar, guitar noises (fret noises, knocks, pick scrapes), violin, viola, contrabass, cello, string section, piano, celesta, xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, tubular bells, woodblock, mallet, electronic drum kit, jazz drum kit, orchestral drum kit and choir.
released april 25, 2003
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/refractions
the just uploaded ambient mix is track 11. you might want to sit down for this, it's something else.
--
some time in late 2002, sean sent me a message over msn or icq requesting that we begin a song based on looped birds chirping. i thought his idea was kind of cliched, but i took to working around his suggestions by converting them into something more musically expressive. i didn't want to write a song that literally climaxes around birds chirping, but i was willing to write something tonal that evoked the feeling of birds chirping.
at the time, i had my sister's electronic piano downstairs. she had a miniature grand upstairs. it was initially written on the keyboard with a very strange timing, which the scorewriter had difficulties capturing - partly because i was inconsistent in performing it. the piece was greatly simplified as it was arranged.
however, i believe the piece sat for a long time before the second section was added to it.
sean and i didn't talk much over the next few months, and the truth is that i just never brought this piece up to him. by the time it was finished, i had firmly placed it in my successor project, the trivial group. it was initially dedicated to sean as a part of the going away disc, but that's really as close as this ever got to being a rabit tune.
i don't have clear memories around composing it, although circumstantial evidence makes it very likely that this happened in the late winter and early spring of 2003. i vaguely recall playing it on the grand upstairs, which could have only happened after sarah moved home to the outer suburbs to get ready for the trip. this was around march. i do remember recording the guitar parts and percussion parts, and am convinced this was in the spring due to memories of the spring sun hitting the bowls. the april 25th date may be a little late, but i have every reason to believe that this was not finished until after exams that year.
the percussion sections in the track are notable. the metallic sounds were created by smashing cutlery into a metal bowl, whereas the woody sounds were created by "playing" a pen on a desk. the track also includes hand claps.
these percussion parts were not notated until 2015. this was a careful, lengthy process that required a lot of careful listening, and a bit of napkin math. notating the percussion allowed for a more comprehensive exploration of the track over midi.
this is sequenced for indefinite looping.
i've included the midi files of the original composition, if you'd like to mess with it on your own.
written and recorded in early 2003. transcribed, slightly rearranged, remixed repeatedly and re-rendered repeatedly over may, 2015. all renders finalized on may 16, 2015. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitars, effects, bass, synth, voice, bowls, claps, tables, ebow, orchestral sequencing, drum & other programming, loops, digital wave editing, composition, production.
the various rendered electronic orchestras include synth pad, synth bass, synthesizer, mellotron, fingered bass guitar, picked electric guitar, bowed electric guitar, guitar noises (fret noises, knocks, pick scrapes), violin, viola, contrabass, cello, string section, piano, celesta, xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, tubular bells, woodblock, mallet, electronic drum kit, jazz drum kit, orchestral drum kit and choir.
released april 25, 2003
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/refractions
Thursday, May 14, 2015
publishing thru (inri070)
i've also finished inri047 today, which is a 2xcd compilation of scored electronic music written between 2001-2003 and completed from 2013-2015. this falls outside of my record list enumeration, but it's a substantial release. influences range across the electronic music spectrum from varese to rdj and everything in between - and also to early forms of classical music - but these are all scored pieces, and very much connected to ideas of written music with the notes and the time signatures and the aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh.....
there's plenty of weird electronic music in my discography, but this is a reprieve from that.
it's arranged in two discs that mirror each other. the first is soundblaster mixes. these mixes sound sort of 8-bit, but they're actually 16-bit; it's next gen 8-bit technology, before the game changed from wavetables to larger sample databases and software synthesizers. disc two rearranges disc one for vst software synths, which gives it a huge facelift in terms of sound quality.
this is pretty much comprehensive in terms of this style, for me. i left to hitch across the country in the spring of 2003; there's very little scored soundcard music in my discography after i came back.
so, this is a musical statement. it's a little weird, but there's a niche audience waiting for it.
===
back in 2001, and bleeding into about 2003, i wrote a number of tracks into a scorewriter with the explicit intent of eventually having them performed by live ensembles. at the beginning of 2014, i decided that this wasn't likely to ever actually happen and went about completing the tracks in finalized forms - which happened over 2014 and 2015.
my initial plan for this compilation was to produce a record of midi compositions mapped to modern vst instruments as a "chiptune" (not literally) project, and have it double a record of fully realized versions of the tracks. as i went about completing the project, i began to realize that these vst versions were not sufficiently different enough from the finalized versions to justify a separate album and consequently aborted the project.
however, something that's happened since 2001 is that a more mature market has developed for midi-generated music, largely on the back of the success of the gaming industry. people have nostalgia for the sounds that their childhood gaming consoles made and an interest in listening to original music in the style of the soundtracks to those games.
i need to be clear that these are not gaming soundtracks - they're a mix of various types of classical and jazz, taking in influences from across the musical spectrum but essentially none from gaming. gaming isn't a thing i've ever really done, and the little bit i've done has tended to act as an excuse for listening to music (i had a mild civ2 obsession in early high school).
however, i feel that compiling a record of soundblaster mixes is something that could appeal to a specialized, niche audience and am going to put this record together for those people. i also feel it captures the headspace that i was in at the time. i've decided to mirror this soundblaster disc with the vst disc i was initially contemplating, to demonstrate where the technology has arrived at.
all of these tracks also appear on a set of cross-listed singles, and most of them are sequenced into a record at some point. there's more info on the track pages.
i've included the raw midi files in the download for further listening and modification.
these tracks were written from 2001 until 2003 and in some cases rearranged over the course of 2014 and 2015. all disc 1 tracks rendered through a soundblaster live! wave device that was manufactured c.1999. all disc 2 tracks created in cubase with vst software synthesizer technology. the compilation date is may 14, 2015. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - controller inputs, programming, composition, digital wave editing, effects processing, production
the various rendered electronic orchestras include acoustic bass, synth bass, electric bass, flute, clarinet, brass, trumpet, trombone, tuba, soprano saxophone, orchestra hit, violin, cello, string section (tremolo), drum machine, electronic drum kit, hand drums, finger snaps, nylon guitar, electric guitar (distorted, clean), steel string acoustic guitar, fret noise, sitar, banjo, pc card clavinet, music box, piano, organ, bells, synthesizers, mellotron and choir.
released april 27, 2003
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/thru
there's plenty of weird electronic music in my discography, but this is a reprieve from that.
it's arranged in two discs that mirror each other. the first is soundblaster mixes. these mixes sound sort of 8-bit, but they're actually 16-bit; it's next gen 8-bit technology, before the game changed from wavetables to larger sample databases and software synthesizers. disc two rearranges disc one for vst software synths, which gives it a huge facelift in terms of sound quality.
this is pretty much comprehensive in terms of this style, for me. i left to hitch across the country in the spring of 2003; there's very little scored soundcard music in my discography after i came back.
so, this is a musical statement. it's a little weird, but there's a niche audience waiting for it.
===
back in 2001, and bleeding into about 2003, i wrote a number of tracks into a scorewriter with the explicit intent of eventually having them performed by live ensembles. at the beginning of 2014, i decided that this wasn't likely to ever actually happen and went about completing the tracks in finalized forms - which happened over 2014 and 2015.
my initial plan for this compilation was to produce a record of midi compositions mapped to modern vst instruments as a "chiptune" (not literally) project, and have it double a record of fully realized versions of the tracks. as i went about completing the project, i began to realize that these vst versions were not sufficiently different enough from the finalized versions to justify a separate album and consequently aborted the project.
however, something that's happened since 2001 is that a more mature market has developed for midi-generated music, largely on the back of the success of the gaming industry. people have nostalgia for the sounds that their childhood gaming consoles made and an interest in listening to original music in the style of the soundtracks to those games.
i need to be clear that these are not gaming soundtracks - they're a mix of various types of classical and jazz, taking in influences from across the musical spectrum but essentially none from gaming. gaming isn't a thing i've ever really done, and the little bit i've done has tended to act as an excuse for listening to music (i had a mild civ2 obsession in early high school).
however, i feel that compiling a record of soundblaster mixes is something that could appeal to a specialized, niche audience and am going to put this record together for those people. i also feel it captures the headspace that i was in at the time. i've decided to mirror this soundblaster disc with the vst disc i was initially contemplating, to demonstrate where the technology has arrived at.
all of these tracks also appear on a set of cross-listed singles, and most of them are sequenced into a record at some point. there's more info on the track pages.
i've included the raw midi files in the download for further listening and modification.
these tracks were written from 2001 until 2003 and in some cases rearranged over the course of 2014 and 2015. all disc 1 tracks rendered through a soundblaster live! wave device that was manufactured c.1999. all disc 2 tracks created in cubase with vst software synthesizer technology. the compilation date is may 14, 2015. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - controller inputs, programming, composition, digital wave editing, effects processing, production
the various rendered electronic orchestras include acoustic bass, synth bass, electric bass, flute, clarinet, brass, trumpet, trombone, tuba, soprano saxophone, orchestra hit, violin, cello, string section (tremolo), drum machine, electronic drum kit, hand drums, finger snaps, nylon guitar, electric guitar (distorted, clean), steel string acoustic guitar, fret noise, sitar, banjo, pc card clavinet, music box, piano, organ, bells, synthesizers, mellotron and choir.
released april 27, 2003
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/thru
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
25,000 views & 300 subscribers
google is of course mostly interested in finding ways to show you ads. and, they've consequently erected this ridiculous theoretical idea of subs as the best way to get ads across, under the idea that it ensures a level of regular brainwashing. they've then managed to enforce this theory from the top down through their company, with the expectation that people will just do what they expect.
of course, the reality is rather different. youtube feeds are not like facebook feeds, because videos take time to watch. you can scroll through a feed of pictures. you can't scroll through a feed of videos. the result is that almost nobody really uses their youtube feed, rendering subscribers almost entirely pointless.
i don't expect google to ever understand this. it's too engrained in their corporate culture; it's an article of faith that building subscribers is the way to success. it's a good example of why any entity should base their theories on observations, rather than projected realities. really, it's sort of depressing that it's 2015 and influential organizations are still confused on this point. and it could very well be their unraveling. if some other company is able to use research tools to find out ways that people want to interact - rather than decide how we should interact based on the perceived ideal advertising arrangement - it could very well leave youtube a ghost town.
in the meantime? yeah. people will sub to you without having any interest in your channel, and without watching any of your videos. then they'll miss your uploads because they don't read their feed, and not care because they weren't interested in the first place. it's still a mystery to me why they subscribe, but i think it is generally seen as an act of solidarity.
yesterday was weird. i meant to put aside a few hours to fill in track details at bandcamp, and ended up sidetracked at youtube. i got about halfway done the intended purpose and then crashed. that needs to be the focus, today. it's hopefully done by lunch time.
i think i've worked out a plan to overnight in pontiac. there's an all night mcdonalds a short walk south down woodward. there's also an all night diner in the area, but it's only open weekends. this is 120 stops up woodward - an almost two hour bus ride. it would be hours and hours walking back. i think i'm going to go. should be a nice tour into the rotting suburbs of michigan, at least. once i do it the first time, it won't be scary any more.
if the show runs close to two, i could conceivably only have to wait two hours....
i think i've worked out a plan to overnight in pontiac. there's an all night mcdonalds a short walk south down woodward. there's also an all night diner in the area, but it's only open weekends. this is 120 stops up woodward - an almost two hour bus ride. it would be hours and hours walking back. i think i'm going to go. should be a nice tour into the rotting suburbs of michigan, at least. once i do it the first time, it won't be scary any more.
if the show runs close to two, i could conceivably only have to wait two hours....
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
social critics are unpopular, by definition. they seek to hold up a mirror, not to win popularity contests. they reject admiration and revel in pariah status. they're often killed by angry mobs, die penniless and dejected or even take their own lives.
i know exactly what i'm doing. you just can't see beyond the flaws in the human model of homo economicus.
i know exactly what i'm doing. you just can't see beyond the flaws in the human model of homo economicus.
Monday, May 11, 2015
publishing la la la la (inri062)
inri043 completed.
--
this was meant to be the last rabit is wolf track, but instead morphed into the first trivial group song. this single explores the track from various angles.
sean wanted a song that just went "lalalala". i think his intent was to try and simplify my thought process, because what i'd been doing sounded more like FTIeikdTY7isdD7E5dk!. he was just kind of like "how about.....lalalala.".
it got a bit of an eye roll from me, as you could imagine, but i played with it. he wasn't really that excited about what i did, and it just didn't move forward. there were no further sessions, as he became interested in working with a more conventional early 00s "emotional hardcore" (think at the drive in) style guitarist and i got very involved in a relationship.
despite his initial suggestion, i'd consider the result to clearly be of my own doing. so, i took the core of what i did and warped it into the first track on the reflections symphony. this track has lain dormant since, comfortably completed.
it's now 2015, and i'm completing my discography. that puts this track in a blurry space: it was completed, but not as initially intended. while there may have been a vocal part recorded, i don't have it any more. yet, the intention is clear enough - and the manipulation would have been thick enough - that i do not consider it to be invasive to complete it on my own.
i'm releasing it as rabit because it's collaborative in the abstract, despite sean not actually existing in the track. this track was written in late 2002 and completed over april and may, 2015. final completion date is may 11, 2015. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitar, effects, bass, drum programming, soundscaping, sound design, sampling, vocals, vocoders, digital wave editing
sean - lyrical concept
released november 15, 2002
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/la-la-la-la
--
this was meant to be the last rabit is wolf track, but instead morphed into the first trivial group song. this single explores the track from various angles.
sean wanted a song that just went "lalalala". i think his intent was to try and simplify my thought process, because what i'd been doing sounded more like FTIeikdTY7isdD7E5dk!. he was just kind of like "how about.....lalalala.".
it got a bit of an eye roll from me, as you could imagine, but i played with it. he wasn't really that excited about what i did, and it just didn't move forward. there were no further sessions, as he became interested in working with a more conventional early 00s "emotional hardcore" (think at the drive in) style guitarist and i got very involved in a relationship.
despite his initial suggestion, i'd consider the result to clearly be of my own doing. so, i took the core of what i did and warped it into the first track on the reflections symphony. this track has lain dormant since, comfortably completed.
it's now 2015, and i'm completing my discography. that puts this track in a blurry space: it was completed, but not as initially intended. while there may have been a vocal part recorded, i don't have it any more. yet, the intention is clear enough - and the manipulation would have been thick enough - that i do not consider it to be invasive to complete it on my own.
i'm releasing it as rabit because it's collaborative in the abstract, despite sean not actually existing in the track. this track was written in late 2002 and completed over april and may, 2015. final completion date is may 11, 2015. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitar, effects, bass, drum programming, soundscaping, sound design, sampling, vocals, vocoders, digital wave editing
sean - lyrical concept
released november 15, 2002
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/la-la-la-la
crashed early yesterday and slept for over ten hours. at least i'm completely alert, now...
i'm playing with different mix combinations. i've already ruled out an orchestra mix, and i'm both nearing completion and rejection of a "chamber mix", although it's a bit too big of a string section for that. i'm just not convinced this is worthwhile. i'll be deciding soon.
i'm also thinking about an all guitar mix, and may do it live if it sounds good digitally. that's on top of the literal vst mix and an ambient/synth mix.
so, it's going to be between 3 and 5 mixes - and will hopefully be done today.
melt banana is thursday, and i'd like to go, but i'm concerned about the weather overnight and not having anywhere to stay in pontiac. i'll need to look at a number of things. but it's 50/50 right now.
i'm playing with different mix combinations. i've already ruled out an orchestra mix, and i'm both nearing completion and rejection of a "chamber mix", although it's a bit too big of a string section for that. i'm just not convinced this is worthwhile. i'll be deciding soon.
i'm also thinking about an all guitar mix, and may do it live if it sounds good digitally. that's on top of the literal vst mix and an ambient/synth mix.
so, it's going to be between 3 and 5 mixes - and will hopefully be done today.
melt banana is thursday, and i'd like to go, but i'm concerned about the weather overnight and not having anywhere to stay in pontiac. i'll need to look at a number of things. but it's 50/50 right now.
Thursday, May 7, 2015
also, i don't know how or why i have 300 subscribers, but it seems as though i do. the only benefit of this that i can comprehend is that it might rank my comments higher, thereby increasing traffic.
otherwise? sorry, google. subscribers are useless...
i mean, i uploaded a video the other day, and i've got 8 hits on it. hooray for 300 subscribers....
don't get me wrong: i like the idea of having 300 interested people. it's just that, strangely, subscribing to a music channel doesn't seem to indicate any interest in the music uploaded to it.
i think most of them liked something i had to say, or thought i was cyute or something.
in fact, i'm not even posting it to the main profile! i scoff at the general direction of your subscrrrribers! i'll wait until i get to 25K...
[i'm actually well over 25K. but i deleted around 5000 hits since i posted 20K. unnecessary uploads...]
otherwise? sorry, google. subscribers are useless...
i mean, i uploaded a video the other day, and i've got 8 hits on it. hooray for 300 subscribers....
don't get me wrong: i like the idea of having 300 interested people. it's just that, strangely, subscribing to a music channel doesn't seem to indicate any interest in the music uploaded to it.
i think most of them liked something i had to say, or thought i was cyute or something.
in fact, i'm not even posting it to the main profile! i scoff at the general direction of your subscrrrribers! i'll wait until i get to 25K...
[i'm actually well over 25K. but i deleted around 5000 hits since i posted 20K. unnecessary uploads...]
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
13/116 = 11%.
that's how many front page views have officially counted over the last two days. the other 89% did not meet some kind of youtube condition. i'm able to get more reliable stats on this video, because the count is under 300 - so it increments immediately, and then the scripts "confirm" the hits after.
i'm not here to argue about conditions. it's quite obvious that these hits "should count". i'm here to point out how grossly inaccurate the view counts really are.
i've been through this in this space before: i don't care about hit counts. youtube is not a marketplace, it's an advertising area. i seek to maximize sales, not to correctly enumerate advertising reach.
it's just that it would help if i could correctly enumerate advertising reach.
89% is not a minor error to be written off or otherwise ignored. the stats are completely useless.
and, i still don't know why ~60,000 views on this page disappear and reappear - although i do expect them to come back any day, now. before i get to 300,000, anyways, so i can get the snapshot. thanks.
i'm not the one going on about the sanctity of the metrics. i'm just pointing out that they're basically worthless.
that's how many front page views have officially counted over the last two days. the other 89% did not meet some kind of youtube condition. i'm able to get more reliable stats on this video, because the count is under 300 - so it increments immediately, and then the scripts "confirm" the hits after.
i'm not here to argue about conditions. it's quite obvious that these hits "should count". i'm here to point out how grossly inaccurate the view counts really are.
i've been through this in this space before: i don't care about hit counts. youtube is not a marketplace, it's an advertising area. i seek to maximize sales, not to correctly enumerate advertising reach.
it's just that it would help if i could correctly enumerate advertising reach.
89% is not a minor error to be written off or otherwise ignored. the stats are completely useless.
and, i still don't know why ~60,000 views on this page disappear and reappear - although i do expect them to come back any day, now. before i get to 300,000, anyways, so i can get the snapshot. thanks.
i'm not the one going on about the sanctity of the metrics. i'm just pointing out that they're basically worthless.
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
obligatory "influential on lead track post"...
i'm trying to remember what i was driven by at the time, and the truth is that i was just mostly playing with the gear. all i'm really coming up with is some early 90s industrial music. it's about the time i was starting to get big into coil and skinny puppy. but, in the sense that it was an influence it was more in the horizons-expanding sense. listening to records like this one legitimized the idea of splicing samples together in weird ways.
(relevant tracks: skinny puppy have been a dominant influence on material i recorded after 1997.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_VmkLKkRgw
i'm trying to remember what i was driven by at the time, and the truth is that i was just mostly playing with the gear. all i'm really coming up with is some early 90s industrial music. it's about the time i was starting to get big into coil and skinny puppy. but, in the sense that it was an influence it was more in the horizons-expanding sense. listening to records like this one legitimized the idea of splicing samples together in weird ways.
(relevant tracks: skinny puppy have been a dominant influence on material i recorded after 1997.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_VmkLKkRgw
obligatory "influential on lead track post"...
when i started playing with samples in late 97, i was told by some older music fans that negativland is worth checking out. i spent quite a bit of time sorting through mp3s downloaded via ftp and didn't really find anything i could seriously relate to. it was very influential on me in an aesthetic sense though - it legitimized the idea i had of splicing samples together in weird ways.
(relevant tracks: inrisampled, eat my fuck, most of the connecting sections in the 1997/1998 material)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6gPSSYxex0
when i started playing with samples in late 97, i was told by some older music fans that negativland is worth checking out. i spent quite a bit of time sorting through mp3s downloaded via ftp and didn't really find anything i could seriously relate to. it was very influential on me in an aesthetic sense though - it legitimized the idea i had of splicing samples together in weird ways.
(relevant tracks: inrisampled, eat my fuck, most of the connecting sections in the 1997/1998 material)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6gPSSYxex0
obligatory "influential on lead track post"...
i'm trying to remember what i was driven by at the time, and the truth is that i was just mostly playing with the gear. all i'm really coming up with is some early 90s industrial music. it's about the time i was starting to get big into coil and skinny puppy. but, in the sense that it was an influence it was more in the horizons-expanding sense. listening to records like this one legitimized the idea of splicing samples together in weird ways.
(relevant tracks: inrisampled, eat my fuck, most of the connecting sections in the 1997/1998 material)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzqsVbFs5fc
i'm trying to remember what i was driven by at the time, and the truth is that i was just mostly playing with the gear. all i'm really coming up with is some early 90s industrial music. it's about the time i was starting to get big into coil and skinny puppy. but, in the sense that it was an influence it was more in the horizons-expanding sense. listening to records like this one legitimized the idea of splicing samples together in weird ways.
(relevant tracks: inrisampled, eat my fuck, most of the connecting sections in the 1997/1998 material)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzqsVbFs5fc
Sunday, May 3, 2015
publishing reflections (inri074)
i've also uploaded an ep from 2003, untouched, as inri049. tracks 1-5 are what i consider to be my fifth symphony.
===
around october, 2002 i met a friend. i was sort of in need of a friend, and i mean that in the friend sense. but, the mental condition i was in was the explanation of why i needed a friend, if you see what i mean; i was completely unstable in this period and did all kinds of absurd things, which isolated me - and i wasn't getting any better.
i dropped out of school under the realization that i was walking down a path that wasn't getting me anywhere close to what i wanted out of life. i ended up working three jobs to raise money for gender reassignment, and it crossed me paths with somebody that was also trying to think of ways to get out of the box in terms of ways to exist.
she was trying to save up money to go to british columbia. it was some kind of warped take on the grapes of wrath, where everything works out perfectly. but, the rent was eating into her savings, which was making the goal seem impossible. well, unless we stopped having fun.
so, i suggested she should just stay at my parents place. part of it was a hope that she would move her drum kit in, although that didn't happen. and, i might add that this was done with all of the reckless abandon that could be contemplated - we were moving stuff in without even asking, it was really remarkable.
and, it seemed to me that we were getting pretty close over that period.
so, when the time came that she had all that money put aside to go to bc, it was kind of a downer to let her go. and, she initially wanted to go with a friend who dropped out. so, i ended up going across the country with her.
now, i need to be clear: we weren't planning on coming back. we were going to pick fruit or something - we didn't know, exactly, we'd figure it out when we got there.
so, this was meant as a sort of farewell to certain people i hadn't talked to in months and didn't care if i was leaving, anyways. i think it let me work some things out on weird subconscious levels, but the truth is that these songs really aren't about anybody except me, and there's no use in pretending they are - i just liked the idea of a farewell disc.
this disc was initially passed around with a cut up version of the pretentious untitled mix at the end, but this was almost immediately ejected from future burns and is not present on this ep due to the poor quality of the mix. the remaining five tracks became combined into what i now call my fifth symphony. a slightly remixed version will appear on the trivial group double lp.
written and recorded in late 2002 and early 2003. this was uploaded unmodified from a cd-r rip in may, 2015. symphony 5. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitar, effects, bass, synth, voice, piano, drum programming, generative programming (sounder), granular synthesis, sound design, soundscaping, loops, bowls, claps, tables, ebow, orchestral sequencing, digital wave editing, sampling, production, composition
the various rendered electronic orchestras include piano, synth pad, choir and string section.
released may 1, 2003
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/reflections
===
around october, 2002 i met a friend. i was sort of in need of a friend, and i mean that in the friend sense. but, the mental condition i was in was the explanation of why i needed a friend, if you see what i mean; i was completely unstable in this period and did all kinds of absurd things, which isolated me - and i wasn't getting any better.
i dropped out of school under the realization that i was walking down a path that wasn't getting me anywhere close to what i wanted out of life. i ended up working three jobs to raise money for gender reassignment, and it crossed me paths with somebody that was also trying to think of ways to get out of the box in terms of ways to exist.
she was trying to save up money to go to british columbia. it was some kind of warped take on the grapes of wrath, where everything works out perfectly. but, the rent was eating into her savings, which was making the goal seem impossible. well, unless we stopped having fun.
so, i suggested she should just stay at my parents place. part of it was a hope that she would move her drum kit in, although that didn't happen. and, i might add that this was done with all of the reckless abandon that could be contemplated - we were moving stuff in without even asking, it was really remarkable.
and, it seemed to me that we were getting pretty close over that period.
so, when the time came that she had all that money put aside to go to bc, it was kind of a downer to let her go. and, she initially wanted to go with a friend who dropped out. so, i ended up going across the country with her.
now, i need to be clear: we weren't planning on coming back. we were going to pick fruit or something - we didn't know, exactly, we'd figure it out when we got there.
so, this was meant as a sort of farewell to certain people i hadn't talked to in months and didn't care if i was leaving, anyways. i think it let me work some things out on weird subconscious levels, but the truth is that these songs really aren't about anybody except me, and there's no use in pretending they are - i just liked the idea of a farewell disc.
this disc was initially passed around with a cut up version of the pretentious untitled mix at the end, but this was almost immediately ejected from future burns and is not present on this ep due to the poor quality of the mix. the remaining five tracks became combined into what i now call my fifth symphony. a slightly remixed version will appear on the trivial group double lp.
written and recorded in late 2002 and early 2003. this was uploaded unmodified from a cd-r rip in may, 2015. symphony 5. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitar, effects, bass, synth, voice, piano, drum programming, generative programming (sounder), granular synthesis, sound design, soundscaping, loops, bowls, claps, tables, ebow, orchestral sequencing, digital wave editing, sampling, production, composition
the various rendered electronic orchestras include piano, synth pad, choir and string section.
released may 1, 2003
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/reflections
Saturday, May 2, 2015
publishing flying (inri064)
this was constructed as a christmas present for my partner, while in a rather absurd state of entirely preposterous euphoria. only a musician can be so absurdly invested in something so thoroughly delusional - or manage to create something so entirely self-reflective out of a theme surrounding somebody else.
the first part of this was shelved before it was ever released. i was over-exaggerating a sense of self-consciousness, but it still strikes me as unworkable. however, i think it's conceptually important in the idea of this as a christmas present and has consequently been uploaded here without modification. the second part was actually presented to sarah as a present, albeit it a little after christmas - hence the jan 1 release date. it eventually found it's way to the center of my fifth symphony, reflections: jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/reflections
these tracks were written and recorded over november and december of 2002 and uploaded, unmodified, in may of 2015. this will be a download only release. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitar, effects, bass, synth, piano, drum programming, light-sound synthesis (coagula), generative programming (sounder), granular synthesis, sound design, digital wave editing, production, composition
released january 1, 2003
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/flying
the first part of this was shelved before it was ever released. i was over-exaggerating a sense of self-consciousness, but it still strikes me as unworkable. however, i think it's conceptually important in the idea of this as a christmas present and has consequently been uploaded here without modification. the second part was actually presented to sarah as a present, albeit it a little after christmas - hence the jan 1 release date. it eventually found it's way to the center of my fifth symphony, reflections: jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/reflections
these tracks were written and recorded over november and december of 2002 and uploaded, unmodified, in may of 2015. this will be a download only release. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitar, effects, bass, synth, piano, drum programming, light-sound synthesis (coagula), generative programming (sounder), granular synthesis, sound design, digital wave editing, production, composition
released january 1, 2003
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/flying
publishing jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj^2 (inri063)
i've just finished my sixth lp.
--
the idea of a second jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj record was not something that remotely crossed my mind until i started seriously analysing my work from 2002. that was a separate idea; rabit is wolf separated it from the trivial group. however, remixed instrumental tracks over the rabit is wolf period slowly collected to the point that there was enough to justify a whole record. that wasn't a conscious choice at the outset, but it seems to be the conceptual framework collected on the record. i toyed with the idea of releasing it as a rabit remix record, but my influence over it is far too lopsided.
the thematic linkage with the first jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj record is a tendency to lean towards more "serious" ideas. there are strong influences from a few different types of classical music, including jazz, as well as some more modern electronic and noise influences. however, these songs lean more towards more palatable rock or techno based song structures and are less dependent on existing scores.
the stories for these songs are diverse and explained in more detail on the track pages.
these tracks are all based on existing demos from 2001-2002 that were initially intended to be completed with vocal parts and were remixed from july, 2014 to may, 2015 as purely instrumental recordings. final completion date is may 2, 2015. as always, please use headphones.
credits
j - electric & acoustic guitars, electric bass guitar, effects, synths, electric air reed organ, digital piano, flute, voice, electronic drum kit, drum programming, drum manipulations, drum sampling, orchestral sequencing, sampling, loops, equalization, digital wave editing, sound design, production, composition.
the various rendered electronic orchestras include tuba, french horn, trombone, trumpet, english horn, saxophone, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, flute, orchestra hit, melodic toms, timpani, orchestral drum set, piano, agogo, tubular bells, glockenspiel, koto, violin, viola, cello, contrabass and various full string sections. it also includes choir.
other musicians:
sean - harmonica (2), melody (6)
greg - drum performance sample source (4)
released december 1, 2002
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj-2
--
the idea of a second jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj record was not something that remotely crossed my mind until i started seriously analysing my work from 2002. that was a separate idea; rabit is wolf separated it from the trivial group. however, remixed instrumental tracks over the rabit is wolf period slowly collected to the point that there was enough to justify a whole record. that wasn't a conscious choice at the outset, but it seems to be the conceptual framework collected on the record. i toyed with the idea of releasing it as a rabit remix record, but my influence over it is far too lopsided.
the thematic linkage with the first jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj record is a tendency to lean towards more "serious" ideas. there are strong influences from a few different types of classical music, including jazz, as well as some more modern electronic and noise influences. however, these songs lean more towards more palatable rock or techno based song structures and are less dependent on existing scores.
the stories for these songs are diverse and explained in more detail on the track pages.
these tracks are all based on existing demos from 2001-2002 that were initially intended to be completed with vocal parts and were remixed from july, 2014 to may, 2015 as purely instrumental recordings. final completion date is may 2, 2015. as always, please use headphones.
credits
j - electric & acoustic guitars, electric bass guitar, effects, synths, electric air reed organ, digital piano, flute, voice, electronic drum kit, drum programming, drum manipulations, drum sampling, orchestral sequencing, sampling, loops, equalization, digital wave editing, sound design, production, composition.
the various rendered electronic orchestras include tuba, french horn, trombone, trumpet, english horn, saxophone, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, flute, orchestra hit, melodic toms, timpani, orchestral drum set, piano, agogo, tubular bells, glockenspiel, koto, violin, viola, cello, contrabass and various full string sections. it also includes choir.
other musicians:
sean - harmonica (2), melody (6)
greg - drum performance sample source (4)
released december 1, 2002
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj-2
Friday, May 1, 2015
it's going to be nice this weekend, which you'd think might get me out. but, rather, i need to stay home and make sure the windows stay open. the fellow above me carries roughly thrice the weight of the average individual and will turn the basement into a meat locker should he be allowed to, in order that the temperature upstairs stay below 20. that's what happens when you're grossly obese.
it's summer. you want the temperature above 20. so, fuck that guy. maybe he should move to baffin island. or hit a treadmill. i learned last year that i need to get out in front of this if i don't want to be shivering in june - i've had the heat cranked the last two days, and will have the windows wide open so long as it's over 20 (and cranked over night, when it's below 20). that may actually take the temperature in here down a degree or two until the humidity picks up, but the key is to break the seal on the air conditioner upstairs. he's either going to freeze me out or i'm going to fry him out. i need the space in the short term, but i might not in the long term. i can handle everything else about this place in exchange for cheap rent, but i hate the idea of being cold all summer.
i mean, he can't win. not unless we skip summer this year. 35 degree humidity pouring in from the basement 12 hours a day will break his air. too bad. so sad....
what i'm missing is the "blowout" in detroit, but i'd argue i'm not missing much. this magazine is focusing on an aspect of detroit that is too mainstream for my tastes. as for touring bands, i'll check out perfect pussy at some point - although i'm more excited about white lung next month. tonight, they're playing in a mall. it's going to feel awkward and sound terrible. i'll hold out for a small bar with a lower ceiling. if it were a different band, i might feel different about the venue, but this is a bad combo. tomorrow is fucked up, but i've seen them enough to know they do short sets, which is going to end the show at 11:40 and get me stuck in ferndale until 7:00 again. not excited about that for a $20 entry fee. i'll wait until they play somewhere i can walk back to the tunnel with...and they will....
the likely next show is may 6th, but i'm iffy about it. it seems like an early show. we'll see where my head is.
the only feasible way for this guy to exist in the temperature he wants is to not live above anybody. nobody is going to want to live in a 15 degree basement over the summer so the obese guy in the upstairs apartment doesn't break a sweat. he could/should have moved into the empty unit on the other side over the winter - there's nobody under him, there. i hinted at it, but he didn't listen. *shrug*.
it's summer. you want the temperature above 20. so, fuck that guy. maybe he should move to baffin island. or hit a treadmill. i learned last year that i need to get out in front of this if i don't want to be shivering in june - i've had the heat cranked the last two days, and will have the windows wide open so long as it's over 20 (and cranked over night, when it's below 20). that may actually take the temperature in here down a degree or two until the humidity picks up, but the key is to break the seal on the air conditioner upstairs. he's either going to freeze me out or i'm going to fry him out. i need the space in the short term, but i might not in the long term. i can handle everything else about this place in exchange for cheap rent, but i hate the idea of being cold all summer.
i mean, he can't win. not unless we skip summer this year. 35 degree humidity pouring in from the basement 12 hours a day will break his air. too bad. so sad....
what i'm missing is the "blowout" in detroit, but i'd argue i'm not missing much. this magazine is focusing on an aspect of detroit that is too mainstream for my tastes. as for touring bands, i'll check out perfect pussy at some point - although i'm more excited about white lung next month. tonight, they're playing in a mall. it's going to feel awkward and sound terrible. i'll hold out for a small bar with a lower ceiling. if it were a different band, i might feel different about the venue, but this is a bad combo. tomorrow is fucked up, but i've seen them enough to know they do short sets, which is going to end the show at 11:40 and get me stuck in ferndale until 7:00 again. not excited about that for a $20 entry fee. i'll wait until they play somewhere i can walk back to the tunnel with...and they will....
the likely next show is may 6th, but i'm iffy about it. it seems like an early show. we'll see where my head is.
the only feasible way for this guy to exist in the temperature he wants is to not live above anybody. nobody is going to want to live in a 15 degree basement over the summer so the obese guy in the upstairs apartment doesn't break a sweat. he could/should have moved into the empty unit on the other side over the winter - there's nobody under him, there. i hinted at it, but he didn't listen. *shrug*.
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