One of the best features of DMusic is that the artists there often collaborate on musical projects.  Well, I’ve entered the ring with a conga drum track of my own.  On my music page there, I have posted a track called “Nvfketvn Hayecis.”

The name is in Mvskoke (the Creek tribal language), and means “I am playing drums.”  In English, it would be pronounced, roughly, like “nuff-kitt-un ha-yee-chays.”

Since I have licensed it through Creative Commons, my intent is that musicians be able to download it and build upon it freely, as long as they give me proper credit.  I have written more about this subject in response to a thread on Jamendo’s community forum.

After a mammoth recording session lasting three days, I’ve finally got 14 tracks ready for my next album, handmade.  I want to get that number to 20 or beyond, so that I can pick and choose the ones that go on the album carefully.

When I put evolution together, the challenge was to pick 12 songs that made a coherent whole.  I chose them for their different textures, styles, tempos, sounds, and meanings.  For apocrypha, on the other hand, I relaxed a bit: I’m thinking of the album as a compilation, an anthology, and adding tracks regardless of the previous or next song.  I’m merely choosing my favorites, and hoping the mix comes out alright.

We’ll see which approach is better.

This is the sixth in a series of articles I’m writing about the songs in apocrypha, a compilation album I am publishing on DMusic. It is meant to complement my Jamendo album, evolution.

“La Sequía” translates to “The Drought” in Spanish. You know, a lot of the music I write has lyrics; problem is, some of it is profoundly depressing and I’d really like people to be able to interpret the music for themselves. But, since you’ve bothered to come to this page and read about my work, I’m going to let you into the inner circle, at least for the first part of the song.

The rest? Use your imagination.

The (phantom) lyrics:

Surface of the sun
Land cracked and desolate
Fires beginning
And smoke stings your eyes

Never comes the rain
Ever the dust and dying fields
Lost is our land,
The place we called home.

Bound–
Taken from our land
To a place which they said
would always be ours.

Now there’s not even half a chance
Of eating our pride
Starving in a prison without walls
And perish the child . . .

I’ve made it a policy to write at least an entry a day on my blog.  Today, however, I spent most of the day recording.  I expect to release my next Jamendo album, handmade, in early 2007; I want to have at least 20 tracks ready so I can pick the 12 that go together the best.  As I said two days ago, I have 8 recorded, and five still in development.  I finally nailed the organ part on one of the five today (practice makes perfect) and will mix it down tomorrow with “fresh ears.”

Upcoming articles [this is as much to remind me as inform you ;-)  ]

• Reviews of DMusic artists DeadraveN and Henri Roger.
• Reviews of Jamendo artists Maya de Luna and Bruno Stimart.
• French translation of the article I wrote for “Jennie Haniver” (track #2 on evolution).
• New article about “La Sequía” (track #6 on apocrypha).

I’m doing all that?  Good thing I’m still on vacation.

This is the fifth in a series of articles I’m writing about the songs in apocrypha, a compilation album I am publishing on DMusic. It is meant to complement my Jamendo album, evolution.

Music is my own Avalon; like Arthur, I go there to heal. The fifth track on apocrypha is “My Own Avalon.”

This song was recorded April 11, 2006. In a way, its a turning point. I was getting bored of drum tracks and drum machines, so was trying to find innovative ways to program. I came up with the idea for the conga drum pattern you hear while taking a shower, actually. The problem was remembering it until I got out.

Musicians who study the classical music of India, I’m told, learn to chant the rhythms before they even touch a drum or other instrument. I have adapted this procedure myself. The whole time I was getting dry, I was chanting “tawi tooah teh tawa ti too teh”. When I got to my desk, I then transcribed the tones and rhythm onto a standard percussion staff.

And I remember thinking: there’s got to be a better way to do this. I frequently improvised chord and melody patterns–rhythm patterns as well, but not pure rhythm as with drums. In programming this track, I reached a decision: the age of the machine was over. I was going to learn to play drums.

Well, as I mentioned in a previous article (about the song “Magic”, from evolution), for some reason, I can’t move my legs when I play music. That sort of limits one’s options as a trap drummer. On the other hand, I’ve got lots of rhythm in my hands. The solution? Hand drums.

This song, therefore, was the one that decided me on conga drums. I’d already been a fan of Poncho Sanchez, but, you know, when you hear a master like that play, you think playing like that is something as unattainable as the Moon.

And yet here I am, eight months later, recording an entire album using nothing but hand drums.

There’s something to be said for persistence.

OK, it’s finally done.  Here’s the cover art for my DMusic compilation album apocrypha:

For a few days, my recording studio had been converted back into a bedroom. It was a strange sensation, like missing an entire room of the house–it was a severed place.

But now it’s returning.

So far, this is the status of my past, present, and future albums:

1. evolution (on Jamendo) has been downloaded 174 times.
2. apocrypha (on DMusic) is being assembled track-by-track, with new tracks being loaded each day. Cover art is forthcoming.
3. The new album, handmade, which should be released on Jamendo in early 2007, already has at least 8 tracks completed. On this album, I am performing all the rhythms using hand drums.

Jamendo was recently indexed on other BitTorrent sites.  Because of this, as of today, my album evolution has been downloaded 153 times.

My wife, Hannah, made this incredible quilt for me–by hand. It has everything about me on it–musical staves, guitars, mad scientist cats, stars and planets, and of course chili peppers.

[Click on image to see the gigantic full-scale image (812K).]

C’est ma traduction française de cette page.

La première chanson sur mon album evolution est “Tattered and Torn.”

J’ai composé cette musique le jour que ma première bande de jazz, “Rhythm Method”, s’était dispersé. Ce n’est pas un chanson triste; il était temps pour nous de trouver une meilleure situation. Je ne critique pas les autres: ils étaient magnifiques. Pourtant j’avais changé. L’émulation était fini; la repetition était fini; l’innovation était en train de commencer.

Aux Etats-Unis, je regrette que le jazz devenait la reconstitution historique. C’est-à-dire les sociétés de jazz veux que les musiciens copient le son de jazz il y a 50 ans. Les musiciens de camarade decrie l’innovation et les instruments moderne. Afin d’obtenir le son qui ressemble assez à Wes Montgomery ou Django Reinhardt, ils achète le même équipement et les mêmes amplificateurs–comme si les 50 dernières années n’ont pas existé.

Oui, mais je veux que ma musique soit plus que les restes de la gloire passée. Est-ce que tout le monde ont écouté assez de “All of Me”, “Blue Bossa”, et “Les Feuilles Mortes”? Ne pouvons-nous pas dire “fini” et le laisser?

Le jazz était au sujet d’innovation et de création. Maintenant, avec le culte du jazz antique, nous ne pouvons pas apprécier un modèle de la musique qui était par le passé prévisible en étant imprévisible.

C’est l’historie derrière les chansons. Quant à la musique elle-même, la mesure est 7/4, retournant à 4/4 sur le refrain; c’est une forme de tension et de dégagement que je joue et jouais. La partie principale est en A mineur; le refrain alterne entre Am7 et Dm7.

La troisième partie est une histoire différente. J’ai ramolli la musique un peu et joué les quatre accords suivantes:

• DmMaj7 or Dm69
• Eb diminué
• E phrygien (G7/E)
• Fmaj7#11

La mélodie a évolué au-dessus de beaucoup de mois. J’ai enregistré beaucoup de versions de la chanson; mais en conclusion, un jour, elle me parlait, et j’ai su qu’elle était prêt.

Je fais bon accueil à vos corrections à mon français.