Monday, May 5, 2008

Two New Things

Two things today.

Objects of Desire / Skin

I've taken to heart something Andy Warhol said - do something once or do it every day. And so I've been putting more work into recording and editing.

The first, boldly named piece, is based an idea that I shall definitely be revisiting at some point. Aside from a few brief diversions, it's based on just two chords, but I was able to get a lot of interesting emotional effects. The tonalities have just enough in common that they feel related, but each makes a distinct impression.

Unfortunately, there is some background noise that crept into this one, but I excised the worst of it and was too happy with the performance to throw it out.

The second piece is more of an experiment. I played lead pan with my fingers, with the microphone placed right up under the drum. It's an interesting sound, I think. The finger taps remind me of the pluck of a harp, and the muffled harmonics are remniscent of gamelan.

It's a bit difficult to play pan this way. It's hard to get a good tone from any but the lowest notes. Playing full chords as I do at the end is tough, which is why there isn't more of it. The breathless pace was also a challenge and exposed the relative lack of coordination in the fingers of my left hand.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I love those little reminders that for all we think we've gotten SOOOOO much better as musicians (and we have!), our left hands are still functionally retarded. =)

Adam said...

I liked Skin, it felt more melodic than some of your other stuff but what do I know?

david hollowell said...

Thanks guys.

I wonder what it would sound like to have a whole pan orchestra play with their fingers? Other than really quiet.