Jennie Haniver, part 2

Yesterday’s post was the story behind the song. Today’s is the story of the song itself.

The 2nd track on evolution did a bit of evolution itself. I recorded the final version on July 12, 2005. It is essentially a modal jazz composition, written in 3 parts:

Part A is in 11/8 time, divided into beat units of 4-4-3. The chord is Dm7b5 (scale = F melodic minor).

Part B is in normal 4/4 time, but the chord has changed to C melodic minor (CmMaj7 or Cm69).

Part C is back in 11/8, except now the key is Ab melodic minor, and the chord is G7alt.

There are a number of unifying themes, but the most prominent is probably my “humpback whale” song. I used an e-bow, a hollowbody jazz guitar, and a lot of delay and flanging, trying to duplicate the feel of the whalesong sound–sort of, anyway. See, The Bermuda Depths had this giant turtle, and when it “talked” to Jennie Haniver, that’s the actual sound used in the movie–humpback whale songs. So I wanted a spookier version for this song, which is about dreams, and loss, and longing.