It’s finished. I completed the final mixes of 737, 727, and 747. I uploaded them to Bandcamp. Sales from that initial album release put me into a higher category of Bandcamp artists, where now I can include up to 300 MB of bonus material with every album. This will allow me to create nice pdf liner notes for the albums I have already created. I also submitted the album to DistroKid, which distributes the album to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, as well as others. The album went live on Spotify and Apple Music within 24 hours while Amazon Music took an additional day.
The work for the album is not entirely finished, as I have some promotion to do. I also plan on making a nice set of pdf liner notes. Finally, I have to setup a couple of events for Spring 2024 to share my work during the sabbatical, and to promote the album. However, I have accomplished everything I set off to do in my sabbatical proposal. Accordingly, this will serve as the final entry in my sabbatical reports. For the sake of convenience, I will also be linking all of my sabbatical updates below so that they can all be accessed from a single page. Thank you for coming on this journey with me, and I hope you enjoy the album.
I got a respectable amount of work done this week. I completed the final mixes for five movements: A300, DC-8, 707, DC-10, and DC-9. I also revised the final mix I created for TriStar based upon feedback from Ben (Slash Gordon). While this may not numerically seem like much work in comparison to previous weeks, the mix process has been taking quite a while. Thirty-two tracks are a lot to balance! Ultimately I am well on schedule to complete the project by the end of week 16.
I haven’t given an update on my progress on my next album project since week 12. I have completed the first draft of the algorithms that will generate the accompaniment (synths and drum machine) for a third of the album. I am currently working on a prototype of the algorithm that will generate accompaniment for another third of the album. I am guessing I have about one more week of work on this algorithm.
Since I’ve shared the final mix of 707, I figured I’d re-share the string quartet arrangement for those who want to follow along. The B section uses notes from the D harmonic minor scale, while the final section uses only the dominant (A). I’m pleased with the unique rhythmic solution to the end. I wanted each instrument to slowly arpeggiate through every octave of the note A that they can reasonably play. Given where each instrument starts, you come up with a different number of notes. Rather than have every instrument move at the same time, I spread them out, moving most of them from note to note at staggered times. This spreads out the motion a bit.
It has been a notable week in the production project. I recorded 13 phrases for Taishogoto, and these recordings marked the end of the recording process for the album. I’m now moving into the final mixdown process. You may notice that I’ve only recorded 14 Taishogoto phrases as opposed to the normal 27 phrases (three phrases for each of the nine movements). I’ve really intended the Taishogoto phrases to balance out the movements. Not every movement includes piano, and not every movement features three xylophone or three timpani phrases. The Taishogoto phrases sort of balance things out a bit, and let a bit of variety in terms of instrumentation. I recorded two phrases each for 737 & DC-9, and three phrases each for DC-8, 707, and 747.
I feel like I should give a bit more of a note about playing the Taishogoto. In case it wasn’t clear from last week’s entry, the Taishogoto is a monophonic instrument (you can only play one note at a time. The typewriter style keys on the instrument press down the strings to produce a higher pitch. One outcome of this is that the lower notes of the instrument are physically spread out quite a bit, while the high pitches can be pretty close together. That means the large leaps in the low range are trickier, and sometimes impossible to perform smoothly. The other thing that is happens due to the way the instrument works is that if you press two keys at the same time, the higher note will override the lower note. Thus, as you practice the instrument you learn that if you want smooth motion between notes, it works well to preset your left hand pinky on the lowest note in a figure, to use the other fingers of the left hand to play the higher pitches in the figure.
I was able to get a head start on mixdown process, creating what I expect to be a final mixdown of TriStar. I had naively thought that I’d be able to do the mixdown in an hour or so. I’m guessing the my mixdown process was more like three or four hours. I’ve been doing rough mixes all along, so I guess it could have been a much longer processes. I find creating final mixdowns a somewhat frustrating experience. There’s a lot of comparisons with very subtle differences. It’s kind of like when you go to the optometrist, and there’s a lot of “which is better, A or B? B or C? B or D?”
For each of the three sections (beginning, middle, and end), I first made sure that the panning was what I wanted it to be. Then I’d listen to that section over and over, and made notes about what I thought was too loud, and what was too quiet. I’d then bring down the volume on the material that was too loud, and kept repeating that process until I didn’t feel there was anything that was too loud. This often left me with quite a bit more headroom than I had before. I then went through each phrase, and turned up material that I felt was still too quiet, and made sure that the most important material was really out in front and prominent. Then I’d listen to the whole section again. Once I did this with all three sections, then I’d listen to the movement as a whole. I imagine the final mixdown process may take a couple of weeks.
Since I shared the audio for DC-9, I figured I’d share the score for the string quartet part for the movement. This movement features some exotic scales. While movement is nominally in G, the B section uses the scale G, Ab (G#), Bb (A#), B, D, and F#. This scale has few possibilities in terms of traditional major and minor triads, including only G minor, G major, and B minor. The scale for the A section is even more limiting, featuring G, G#, A, B, and F#. In all honesty, using this scale feels more like it is in B, (B, F#, G, G#, and A), as you get a fifth between B and F#. From this scale you get no triads at all, but you do get a G major seventh chord missing the fifth, and a B minor seventh chord that misses the third. I feel that this yields some really cool harmonies when you start to use four notes at a time.
I am pretty much where I hoped I’d be at this point for the past couple of weeks. I recorded seven phrases this week. While this may not sound like much, it is pretty good given that it has been a three day work week due to Thanksgiving. These six of the phrases were on the electric cello for middle sections of TriStar, 737, A300, 727, DC-10, and DC-9. This allowed me to complete my electric cello recordings. The one additional phrase was a middle section phrase for DC-10 on an alto Taishogoto.
The Taishogoto, also called the Nagoya Harp, was invented by musician Goro Morita in 1912. The instrument uses a typewriter like mechanism to change the pitch of a series of identically tuned strings, which are typically strummed with a plectrum. Some instruments also feature one or more drone strings, often tuned an octave lower. The instrument I have, manufactured by Suzuki, is an Alto Taishogoto with no drone. This instrument does have four strings, one of which is pitched an octave lower than the rest. Modern Taishogotos, such as the one I have, are usually setup as an electric instrument, featuring a volume and tone knob, as well as a standard 1/4″ audio out. Having the instrument electrified makes it an excellent option for pairing with guitar effects pedals. I however, recorded the instrument dry so I may choose my pick of effects in LogicPro during the mix process.
I do not plan on recording Taishogoto on every movement. After recording some phrases for a variety of movements next week, I plan on moving over to putting together the final mixes starting during the end of next week. Since I shared the new mix of A300, I will reshare the score for the string quartet for those who want to follow along. This movement is in B minor / dorian, with the notes B, C#, D, F# and G# used during the middle section and B, C#, F#, and A# used in the beginning and end sections. I particularly like the end of this excerpt, with the first violin moving down to the dominant (F#), while the second violin settles on the tonic (B), ending on an open fifth.
It has been a productive week, with 13 phrases recorded on electric cello. I recorded phrases for the beginning and end sections for TriStar, A300, 727, DC-10, and DC-9. I also recorded phrases for the center sections of DC-8, 707, and 747. This leaves only six electric cello phrases to record next week, although it is a short work week due to Thanksgiving. Last week I mentioned that I was thinning out the orchestra samples in some of the movements. This week I continued that process, thinning out A300, DC-8, 727, 707, and DC-10. In fact, I only have two more movements to thin out.
On the next album front, I now have three working algorithms from the first batch of six movements from the album. Between ME7ROPOL17AN 7RANSPOR7A71ON AU74OR17Y and Rotate, I’ve been having a lot of fun creating and releasing albums. Given that the next major album will not be ready for three or four years, my plan is to sneak in some lower stakes albums in the meanwhile. One of them may be an album of live performances of Rotate. On Tuesday I will be performing with the New London Drone Orchestra. Since I’ve been playing electric cello for the last couple of weeks, I figure I’ll play that instrument while I’m good and warmed up. I’ll be running the instrument through a bunch of effects, and I hope to record the audio of my contribution to the performance. Assuming all goes well, I may continue to perform with the group a couple of times every year. I may be able to take my recordings from those performances to put together an ambient album.
Since I’m sharing the audio for 727 this week, I figured I’d include the score to the string quartet part for those who want to follow along. At rehearsal H, only the notes A, C, D, and E are used. These notes work out really well for bowed strings, as they’re all open strings on one or more of the instruments. This allows me to use harmonics, a favorite musical sound of mine, for the last four measures.
This week I managed to mix and incorporate the Jetliner String Quartet recording for 737. I also was able to record eight phrases on my electric cello. All in all, I recorded two phrases for each of the following: 737, DC-8, 707, & 747. While I haven’t played cello regularly in nearly 40 years, I find that I am slightly better at it than playing the trombone. I’m still not particularly good at playing the instrument, but if you slap a bunch of effects on it, it does sound nice and spacey.
I’ve also been re-editing the string orchestra samples. One of the first things I did for the Rotate project was to add samples of Musiversal’s Budapest String Orchestra that I had recorded for my previous album. These samples were added right after the backing tracks were recorded. Accordingly, I added a lot of them, and now that the recordings are getting kind of thick, I want to thin out the string orchestra samples so they do not compete as much with the string quartet recordings. I managed to thin out TriStar and 737 in this manner. All in all, it was a decent amount of work accomplished for a week in which I was driving to tech rehearsals in Andover, MA for more than half of the week. It puts me a bit ahead of the game in terms of what I hope to accomplish next week.
Since I’ve been posting teasers related to the next album project over the last couple of updates, I’ll share a bit more. I’m pleased to announce that I have working algorithms for two of the six movements that I plan on recording the backing tracks for this coming summer. At the rate I’m crafting these algorithms, I could be ready to record those backing tracks sometime in early 2024. Regardless, I will start sharing examples from these algorithms in early in the new year.
As I posted a link to the new mix of DC-8 featuring the Jetliner String Quartet record, I’ll repost the string score for the movement. This is the only movement that uses quarter note arpeggiations. I’m also fond of the D# diminished chord over an E pedal at rehearsal C. I think it’s a particularly tasty harmony.
I had hoped to post this on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, but it has been a busy time. The good news is that I got more work done than I had expected to. I mixed and incorporated the string quartet recordings for eight of the nine movements. Some of the movements had multiple usable takes, so in some instances I chose to double (or even in 1 instance, triple) track the string quartet recordings to thicken things up a bit. Ultimately, I was able to add string quartet recordings to TriStar, A300, DC-8, 727, 707, DC-10, DC-9, and 747.
This will be a busy week for me as I am in tech week for a production of A Wrinkle in Time up in Andover. That being said, I expect to be able to complete the final string quartet mix, and to be able to get started recording some electric cello, which will put me a bit ahead of schedule. Since I have little to share this week, I’ll share a bit more about my next album project that I unveiled last week.
My plan is to have the album consist of 18 tracks, which should make a good middle ground between ME7ROPOL17AN 7RANSPOR7A71ON AU74R17Y‘s lots of short tracks approach, and Rotate‘s a few long tracks approach. As is the case with Rotate, the drum machine and synth parts will be generated by algorithms written in PureData. However, there will be three different broad models for these algorithms, so that this forthcoming album will feature more variety. The plan is to record the backing tracks to 6 of the movements during the summer of 2024, another 6 (using different algorithms) during the following summer, and a final 6 movements (using a third set of algorithms) during the summer of 2026.
Since I’ve released the recording of TriStar featuring the string quartet recording, I’ll re-share the score for the quartet for those who want to follow along . . .
Well, it looks like I’m a Trombone Champ! I managed to record 7 trombone phrases this week, which is not a lot of work, but it is just enough for me to have finished all of the trombone recording I had wanted to do. Thus, I can put the trombone back up in the attic until my next major recording project. My embouchure probably only improved marginally over the two and a half weeks of recording. I think if I plan on recording much again with the instrument, I should take it out a few weeks before I plan on starting the project, and get my lip in better shape.
Three of the phrases I recorded were for 727. The remaining four phrases were trombone recordings for the center sections of A300, DC-10, DC-9, and 747. While I’m ahead of where I thought I’d be last week, it doesn’t really change the schedule much. Tomorrow I will be recording a string quartet in Providence. These recordings will span the transition from the center section to the final section of each movement. I will likely be editing and mixing these recordings over the next couple of weeks. I’m expecting that time frame as the next couple of weeks will be busy for me. I’ll be taking Thursday and Friday off next week to go to an event in Boston. The following week I will be going into tech week for a production of A Wrinkle in Time in Andover. This means that much of next week will be spent finalizing my sound design work for the production, so I may get little to no work on Rotate done next week. Accordingly, the new schedule for the rest of the semester is . . .
I had mentioned last week that I may have some information to share regarding progress on a closely related project I have been working on. Since the next couple of weeks may also be light weeks I won’t share everything all at once, so I have things to share for first half of November. That being said, I’ve made significant progress on the plan for my next studio album as Darth Presley. I plan on taking three to four years to complete the next one.
While I’m proud of my work on both ME7ROPOL17AN 7RANSPOR7A71ON AU74OR17Y and Rotate, I feel like both albums are a bit too consistent. Every movement of each of the two projects is very similar, and vary mainly in tempo, pitch collection, and sometimes instrumentation. This is why I want to spend more time on the next studio album. I have some other material I can likely release in the next few years on the side: songs with lyrics, live recordings from Rotate,and other material. While I have more work to share about the next project, I’ll save it for the next couple of weeks.
Well, my sabbatical is about half over. I got a respectable amount of work done this week, all things considered. I got nine trombone phrases recorded. This included two A phrases each for A300, DC-10, and 747. I also recorded one B phrase each for 737, DC-8, & 707. Ultimately this isn’t much work for the week, but there has been a family emergency that has been keeping me busy since Tuesday. Thus, as I said it’s a respectable amount of work, all things considered.
It isn’t clear when this family emergency will be resolved. Furthermore next week my work load as a sound designer for an upcoming production of A Wrinkle in Time will be ramping up. Next weekend will be the recording session for the string parts, which means the following week will likely be focused on editing and mixing those recordings. All of this is a long winded way of saying that realistically speaking, I may not complete the trombone recordings for two to three weeks. Thus, my revised recording schedule for the remainder of the semester will likely be . . .
I’m still satisfied with this schedule, as cutting out many of the synth oriented tracks is fine since the backing tracks already have a significant amount of synthesizers. Even if I don’t complete much work next week, I’ll still be able to report next week, as I’ve been working on a related side project, and have been making enough progress on it that I may be ready to start releasing information on it next week.
In the interest of having some visual material, please find below the score for the string arrangement of 707. The B section of this movement is nominally in D minor, featuring the notes: D, E, F, F#, G, A, Bb, and C#. The A section in contrast only uses a single note, A.
It has been a productive week for me resulting in 15 finished phrases. I finished my pedal steel work, recording one phrase each for Rotate A300, 727, DC-10, DC-9, & 747. This allowed me to get a head start on trombone recordings. Ultimately I recorded two phrases each for TriStar, 737, DC-8, 707, & DC-9.
Recording trombone is quite a challenge for me, although it is a different challenge than playing the pedal steel. The latter instrument is very complicated, and not particularly intuitive. The last time I played trombone on a regular basis was over thirty years ago. I still have a very mental knowledge of how to play the instrument correctly. That being said, my embouchure just isn’t up to the job. It is very challenging for me to play even moderately high notes. I have equivalent problems playing pedal tones (extremely low notes) on the instrument as well.
It will be interested to see if after a couple of weeks of recording on the instrument if my embouchure shows any sign of improvement. For the time being though, I will simply write the trombone passages (mainly brass hits) in a range that fits my meager abilities. Furthermore, a lot of editing, a generous portion of pitch correction, and helping of plate reverb can do wonders to hide three decades of neglect.
It has been a couple of weeks since I presented one of my string arrangements. My arrangement for A300, featured below, features the second smallest pitch collection of the nine movements of Rotate. The B section of A300 features only five notes (B, C#, D, F#, G#), while the A section features four pitches (B, C#, F#, A#). These limited pitch groups yield some unique harmonies for the arrangement.
