This is the chronicle of writing some music for the 2004 Triathlon video. The video is being produced by Kevin Lynch of Pro-motion X5. In the last couple of years he used music from The Trouble Boys CD Blues All Over. Since there won't be any new Trouble Boys music, I sent him a demo of some grooves. He liked what he heard and this is how it came out.
- Latest (Final) Versions
- December 2004
- That's a wrap
- I received a copy of the final DVD entitled "NW Triathlon 2004 - The Twelve"
- He used the intro to "Another Bump In The Road" and all of "Lydia's Run". I guess "Razor's Edge" is on hold for next year. That's a bit of a disappointment but all in all I'm calling it a successful project. There is a lot of very strong music used in this movie and I'm honored to have a small place in it. You can get your very own copy at Pro-motion X5.
- September 14, 2004
- CD's in the mail!
- Sent off what I'm calling the final mixes today.
- A few final tweaks and Lydia is done.
- September 12, 2004
- Bump de Bump de Bump
- Finished up Another Bump In The Road tonight.
- September 11, 2004
- Final Cut
- Got the final (I hope) mix for Razor's Edge tonight.
- September 8, 2004
- From out of nowhere!
- Yesss...I knew there was a horn line somewhere for Bump In The Road. Today I heard it. Now, what to do with it?
- September 6, 2004
- Blogish
- This is turning into a sort of blog on this project. BTW, I don't know technically what constitutes a blog so in case this isn't really one, don't flame me about it. Call it a blag or a bleccchh or whatever you like. It's what it is. NMNL.
- I'll have to back-fill the beginning of the story.
- Razor's Edge
- My original chart for this song is dated 9/13/89 so it's just shy of it's 15th birthday! I seem to remember the motif came from a jam tape. This has been a great opportunity to upgrade it.
- Kevin thought it should have a more moving bass line and I like that a lot. He also imagined space for a "Cherub choir". I made the space (after the whiplash at about 2:40) but he'll have to find his own cherubs! 8)
- September 5, 2004
- Lydia's Run
- All recording is done.
- This one really came together today.
- September 4, 2004
- Music on the web!
- Here are (or will be) the current mixes for the 2004 Triathlon film. You should be able to stream them on dialup. These are MP3's at 64kb sampling rate so quality is not like the real thing but you can hear what I've done.
- For streaming my machine took about 2 minutes to "buffer" the sound before it played. (I'm on dial-up too). If you need Real Audio instead of mp3, I can do that but it doesn't sound as good. I think I can do Quick Time but I've never tried it. If you're interested, let me know what works.
- To download should take about 12-15 minutes each.
- Lydia's Run
- needs work
- You didn't hear it before so I don't know if you want to use it.
- Another Bump In The Road (4:22)
- All recording is done
- This is a preliminary mix from 9/3.
- Mixing now - should be done tonight.
- Wah on melody guitar was a good idea, thanks.
- Razor's Edge
- Starting about 2:40 (the whiplash) until about 3:30 (out chorus) is room for the "cherub choir" to impart their positive messages.
- This is not the final mix but it's close unless you want something way different. I can tweak the mix forever but if you need it now, it's there.
- September 3, 2004
- Bass-ics
- Put new strings on my bass. I can't remember the last time I did that but it wasn't in this Millennium. Forgot how good they sound. Too bad that sound only lasts a couple of days.
- Recorded the bass lines for Another Bump and Razor's Edge.
- A Question of Priorities
- Lydia's Run is sort of a mess so I'm going to finish the other two first and see where I am.
- August 27, 2004
- Down To the Wire
- Monday isn't a hard deadline but I'd like to be further along than I am.
- Last night I recovered the original Q-80 sequence for Razor's Edge. The drum assignments are all scrambled but I can work that out. Guess I'm going to re-record it.
- August 21-22, 2004
- Dreamstate
- Imagining the ideas in my head and letting it all swirl around.
- I tried a slap bass part with Razor's Edge. It sort of works but slapping is not my strong suit on bass.
- I also need to extend the tunes to four minutes each. Razor's Edge is a dilemna because I have the existing recording but it's short.
- August 20, 2004
- What To Do?
- I've been thinking a lot about the suggestions and how they might work. The only one I can't wrap my ears around has to do with Highway Scar. It seems like rather than attempt a total groove transplant, it would be better to chose another tune.
- I have another tune called Lydia's Run. It's an idea I had on 8/18. It's much lighter on its feet, sort of a "train" rhythm. I hope it will work better.
- Toys!
- A fun thing I did today was go out and find some percussion toys. I found a wooden guiro from Nigeria, one of those bracelet rattles with goat toenails and a two foot long bean of some kind that rattles. If you're in Freemont (Seattle, WA) check out John's Music, they have all sorts of percussive goodies. Like spices in food they enrich the flavor if used in moderation.
- August 19, 2004
- Takin' Care of Business
- Kevin sent email with a positive response to the demo.
- He included a list of suggestions/desires about each tune. This was not criticism, but rather communication about what he needed for his film. Briefly:
- Highway Scar - training for Triathlon focuses on speed and efficiency. Musical translation: light, rolling and fast cadence. Possibly a double time bass part?
- Another Bump In The Road - How about a pedal steel or wah-wah on the lead line. Maybe add some shakers.
- Razor's Edge - again, the cadence/bass part. Also needs something like percussion or sound effects.
- This was a crossroads of sorts. I could respond in various negative or positive ways. In the end it was simple. The man is making a film and needs music that works in his vision. He gave me a clear list of ideas to help make that happen. It's like free education.
- August 16, 2004
- Bare Bones Demo
- I sent Kevin the CD with 3 short cuts so he could hear my ideas.
- Highway Scar - reminds me of 'Doctor, Doctor' by UFO. We played 'Highway Star' by Deep Purple in the same band (Metropolis c.1974) so that's what came up.
- Another Bump In The Road - a very simple, layered power pop groove.
- Razor's Edge - a jazz fusionish tune I wrote 15 years ago.
- August 13-15, 2004
- Fish or Cut Bait
- This was three days, one day per tune to get an acceptable demo ready. By Sunday midnight I had a fresh CD with a printed label, a cover letter and a labelled mailer ready to drop in the slot Monday.
- August 8-12, 2004
- Open The Faucet
- This week and last I've had seven documented ideas for grooves. They just keep coming. There isn't time to develop them all for this project but it certainly adds to the backlog.
- August 7, 2004
- Let's Talk
- When I got back I discovered that the other Boys no interest in the project so I volunteered my services.
- Kevin and I traded emails and talked on the phone.
- July 29, 2004
- Looking for Trouble
- Kevin sent the following message via the Trouble Boys web site: "I would like to discuss getting the TB's in the studio to do three tunes for this years triathlon epic. I'm quite sure we could nail it in one block session. Do you think this could be done without me getting a real job to pay for it???"
- I forwarded the message to the T-Boy's.
Submitted for your approval...
J W Hanberry, GuitarSlinger - jwh@BeadGame.net
