Six and Seven

polysomnography is a diagnostic test during which a number of physiologic variables are measured and recorded during sleep.

circadian - Relating to biological variations or rhythms with a cycle of about 24 hours.

DONE! YAY!

They are decent ambient excursions into space. I think they could all be better with a bit of mixing and editing, but as a demo album. works for me!

Fünf

parasomnias are disorders characterized by undesirable motor, verbal, or experiential phenomenon occurring in association with sleep, specific stages of sleep, or sleep-awake transition phases.

Quatro

hypersomnia is an excessively deep or prolonged major sleep period.

Tois

narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder caused by the brain's inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles normally.

Numba Two

dyssomnias are disorders that produce either excessive sleepiness or difficulty in initiating or maintain sleep.

One down...

I've finished apnea
I'm reasonably happy with it. Got an interesting vibe to it.
1 bed track and 2 overdubs.

On to the next.

A thought has occured to me.

I have had a thought. I thought maybe I would add one more track using a drum machine as the bed track. So, I pulled out the SR16, plugged it into the rack-o-fx and it turned into this

circadia

First to bed

I've got bed tracks for everything now. it's out around 45 minutes, but it'll get trimmed here and there. These are really rough first run through tracks, but we'll see how they progress over the next 2 weeks.

apnea
dyssomnias
hypersomnia
narcolepsy
parasomnias
polysomnography
somnambula

anybody see a theme here?

Lay it down

I think I've got the 'bed' tracks mostly all laid out for all the pieces-parts of the soundscapes. I have to count up the time, and if I'm under 30, I'll do another one or two. Some didn't make it to the 10 min mark, so I'll either cut them together, or just have a few shorties.

They'll need a little editing, but there are some excellent parts in there. Now to cut up, overlay, overdub, mix, match, and tweak.

1 for the money

The new Cycle bed track 1. It's not bad. Got some good bits, but it can use a little editing.

I'm much happier with this process. I enjoyed laying out the whole thing but when it came down to realizing the piece, it didn't fly. When I just write stuff out, it's really stiff and it sucks. I need to improvize. Part of me feels like I should be able to 'write' music, and technically I can, but it's bad. I'd get better if I did it more, but I've realized that it's not the way I need to make music. Not at this point anyway.

Screw it.

Ok. I'm sitting here and this NanoCycle thing is feeling a bit overwhelming. I'm stuck no more than 1/2 way through recording Part 1 and I'm SO losing interest. It was fun to write out the layout, but 16 more days ain't gonna cut it. So, I'm changing directions and doing what I've been doing best. NOISE! Improv NOISE! YES! Wheeeeee. So, I'm taking Cycle in a whole new direction. I'm definitely keeping the other stuff for future use, and maybe I'll just mutate some of the chord changes through some looping-noise-scapes.

cool.

Cycle:
4 - 10 minute (or so) looping pieces based on some of the chord changes from the original Cycle.

I like it!

Weekend work

I got a few things done this weekend. It doesn't seem like much, and at this rate I'll never even get close to finishing. I've been in a funk for a few days and this 'album' is getting to be a source of stress. Because, you know, I need more stress in my life.

I did manage to figure out a few things in Sonar. I figured out how to loop record, and how to set the record points, so I can 'punch in' parts. I recorded all the bass synth 4 measures at a time. So, that's pretty cool. But last night and Saturday I had a really hard time getting anything decent recorded for guitar. It sounds so... bleah. I listen to stuff like Tool and Porcupine Tree and it sounds so... simple, yet so good. And the stuff I'm writing just has no... uh... no oompf to it. no hook, no catch. just bleah. I guess this is a good exercise, but it's frustrating.

Nov 10, 12:46am

I recorded a few of the first bits of Part 1. It's going to be a challenge. I'm still learning how to do stuff in Sonar, so... should be interesting. I also had to check the MIDI cabling to the synths. I wasn't getting any MIDI to the rack from the Akai. So, there was a good 1/2 an hour of rolling around under the desk and trying to figure out which cable when where... Got it working. Mostly. I think I need another MIDI Merge box. Or, I just have to be willing to move cables.

Nov 8, 11:49pm

Got the last part filled out. I went with really simple for these changes. Almost loop-like, yeah...hmm...


Part 4

Part IV
Key- C
12 minutes long
- 75 bpm - 300 measure

Time Sig – 5/8, 7/8, 6/8, 5/8

8 chords – C, Dm, Em, G, F, Am, Bm
4 phrases
- C, Dm, G, F, Am, C
- G, Am, C, Am, G
- Dm, Am, Bm, C, Dm
- Em, Bm, Dm, Em, C, F, Em

Progression	Measures	Total
1	20	20
2	25	45
1	15	60
2	25	85
3	30	115
4	15	130
1	40	170
4	30	200
3	20	220
2	10	230
3	10	240
1	10	250
4	10	260
1	10	270
4	10	280
1	20	300

1 – 20
- C, Dm, G, F, Am, C

/ C / Dm / G / F / Am /C / C / Dm / G / F
/ Am /C / C / Dm / G / F / Am /C / C / Dm

2 - 25
- G, Am, C, Am, G

/ G / Am / C / Am / G
/ G / Am / C / Am / G
/ G / Am / C / Am / G
/ G / Am / C / Am / G
/ G / Am / C / Am / G

3 – 30
- Dm, Am, Bm, C, Dm

/Dm / Am / Bm / C / Dm
/Dm / Am / Bm / C / Dm
/Dm / Am / Bm / C / Dm
/Dm / Am / Bm / C / Dm
/Dm / Am / Bm / C / Dm
/Dm / Am / Bm / C / Dm

4 – 15

- Em, Bm, Dm, Em, C, F, Em

/Em / Bm / Dm / Em / C
/ F / Em /Em / Bm / Dm
/ Em / C / F / Em /Em

Nov 8, 12:54am

Part 3

Part III
Key- E
3 minutes long

- 100 bpm - 60 measure

Time Sig – 5/4

3 chords - A, E, C#m
3 phrases
- E, A, C#m
- A, A, C#m, C#m, E, E
- C#m, C#m, E, E

Progression	Measures	Total
1	5	5
2	10	15
3	15	30
2	10	40
1	5	45
2	10	55
3	5	60

1 – 5
- E, A, C#m

/ E / A / C#m / A / E

2 – 10
- A, A, C#m, C#m, E, E

/ A / A / C#m / C#, / E
/ E / C#m / C#m / A / A

3 – 5
- C#m, C#m, E, E

/ C#m / C#m / E / E / E

3 – 15
- C#m, C#m, E, E

/ C#m / C#m / E / E C#m
/ E / E / C#m / E / E
/ C#m / E / C#m / E / E

Nov 8, 12:34am

More bits added to Part 2.

I'm not quite sure where I'm going with all this. But, it's a good exercise in just writing a bunch of songs without really thinking a whole lot about it. I'll be happy to have some good bits here and there.

=-=-=-=-=

Part 2

Part II

Key - A

9 minutes long

- 120 bpm

- 270 measure

Time Sig – 3/4, 4/4, 5/4

5 Chords – A, E, C#m, D, F

7 Phrases

1 - A, E, C#m

2 - E, D, F, C#m

3 - D, E, D, A, D

4 - D, E, A, D

5 - C#m, D, F, E

6 - A, D, E, D, D

7 - E, A, C#m

Progression	Measures	Total
1	8	8
2	8	16
3	16	32
2	8	40
1	8	48
7	24	72
6	16	88
5	8	96
6	16	112
7	24	136
1	8	144
3	8	152
5	8	160
7	24	184
5	8	192
3	8	200
4	5	205
1	10	215
7	5	220
2	10	230
6	5	235
3	10	245
5	5	250
4	20	270

1 – 8

- A, E, C#m

/ A / A / E / C#m

/ E / E / C#m /A

1 – 10

- A, E, C#m

/ A / E / C#m / E / A

/ C#m / E / A / E / C#m

2 – 8

- E, D, F, C#m

/ E / D F / D F / C#m

/ F / D / C#m / E

2 - 10

- E, D, F, C#m

/ E / D F / D F / C#m / E

/ F / D / C#m / E / C#

3 – 8

- D, E, D, A, D

/ A / D / D / A

/ E D / D A / E D / D A

3 - 16

- D, E, D, A, D

/ D / E / E / D

/ D / A / A / D

/ D E / A D / D E / A D

/ D / E / D / A D

4 – 5

- D, E, A, D

/ D / E / A / D / D

/ E A / D / A E / D E / A D

4 – 10

- D, E, A, D

/ D / D / E A / D / D

/ E A / D E / A E / D E / A D

/ D E / E A / A D / D E / A D

/ E A / D / E A / D E / A D

5 – 5

- C#m, D, F, E

/ C#m / D / F / E / D

5 – 8

- C#m, D, F, E

/ C#m / D / F / E

/ E / F / C#m / D

6 – 5

- A, D, E, D, D

/ A / D / E D / D / A

6 - 16

- A, D, E, D, D

/ A / D / E D / D

/ D / A / D E / A

/ A / D / E D / D

/ D / A / D E / A

7 – 5

- E, A, C#m

/ E A / C#m E / A / C# / E

7 – 24

- E, A, C#m

/ E A / C#m E / A / C#m / E / A

/ C#m / C#m / A / E / A / E

/ E A / C#m E / A / C#m / E / A

/ C#m / C#m / A / E / A / E

Nov 6, 11:46pm

Wrote out progressions for Part 2

1 - A, E, C#m
2 - E, D, F, C#m
3 - D, E, D, A, D
4 - D, E, A, D
5 - C#m, D, F, E
6 - A, D, E, D, D
7 - E, A, C#m

Progression	Measures	Total
1	8	8
2	8	16
3	16	32
2	8	40
1	8	48
7	24	72
6	16	88
5	8	96
6	16	112
7	24	136
1	8	144
3	8	152
5	8	160
7	24	184
5	8	192
3	8	200
4	5	205
1	10	215
7	5	220
2	10	230
6	5	235
3	10	245
5	5	250
4	20	270

Nov 6. 1:12 am

Up listening to the loopfest stuff I did with Matt, Mark, and Mike. M-M-M-T heh.

Also fleshing out Part 1. I look at this as a framework. I'm not sure how steadfast my timing will be, but I'll probably stay with this layout.

1 – 8

/ D / A / F#m / D

/ F#m / A /F#m / D

2 – 12

/ A / E / G / Bm

/ A E / E G / G Bm / Bm A

/ Bm / G / E / A

3 – 24

- E, C#dim, Bm, D, A

/ E C#dim / Bm D / A / A

/ E C#dim / Bm D / A / A

/ Bm / D / A / D

/ Bm / C#dim/ E / E

/ E Bm / A D / Bm / E

/ A D / Bm / E / D

4 – 12

- F#m, A, D, E, Bm, D

/ F#m A / D E / Bm D / A D

/ D E / Bm D / F# A / D E

/ F#m E / D B / A F#m / E D

5 - 24

- G, F#m, E, D, C#dim, Bm, A

/ G / G / F#m / F#m

/ E / D / D / D

/ C#m / Bm / A / A

/ D / D / E / E

/ A / A / E / E

/ A / F#m / Bm / D

Day 4

Saturday evening...

Filled out a few more details on Part 1. Laid out the chord progression breakdown.

1 - D, A, F#m
2 - A, E, G, Bm
3 - E, C#dim, Bm, D, A
4 - F#m, A, D, E, Bm, D
5 - G, F#m, E, D, C#dim, Bm, A

Progression	Measures	Total
1	8	8
2	12	20
1	8	28
3	24	52
1	8	60
4	12	72
1	8	80
5	24	104
4	6	110
3	12	122
2	4	126
1	9	135

Cycle


Cycle is a series of 7 pieces of music.

The pieces are written with a very simple cyclic pattern.

The 1st and 7th are similar, 2nd and 6th, 3rd and 5th, and the 4th a midpoint.

Similar but not a copy. Certain things will be similar between them. Key, time signature, length, chord progression. They will be related in some way.

Each neighboring piece will have a small amount of similarity between them. Maybe a series of chords, or an inverted time sig.

The entire piece will be 48 minutes long. The songs are broken into 3 minute multiples. So there are 16 ‘sections’ of 3 minute time to divide among the pieces.

I - D - 2 - 6 min 4/4 - 90 bpm - 135 measures
II - A - 3 - 9 min 3/4. 4/4, 5/4 - 120 bpm - 270 measures
III - E - 1 - 3 min 5/4 - 100 bpm - 60 measures
IV - C - 4 - 12 min 5/8, 7/8, 6/8 5/8 - 75 bpm - 300 measures
III - E - 1 - 3 min 5/4 - 100 bpm - 60 measures
II - A - 3 - 9 min 5/4, 4/4, 3/4 - 120 bpm - 270 measures
I - D - 2 - 6 min 4/4 - 90 bpm - 135 measures



Part 1

Part I
Key - D
6 minutes long.

Simple time sig... 4/4

7 chords - D, A, E, G, F#m, Bm, C#dim
5 chord phrases
- D, A, F#m
- A, E, G, Bm
- E, C#dim, Bm, D, A
- F#m, A, D, E, Bm, D
- G, F#m, E, D, C#dim, Bm, A


Part 2

Part II
Key - A
9 minutes long

Time Sig – 3/4, 4/4, 5/4

5 Chords – A, E, C#m, D, F
7 Phrases
- A, E, C#m
- E, D, F, C#m
- D, E, D, A, D
- D, E, A, D
- C#m, D, F, E
- A, D, E, D, D
- E, A, C#m



Part 3

Part III
Key- E
3 minutes long

Time Sig – 5/4

3 chords - A, E, C#m
3 phrases
- E, A, C#m
- A, A, C#m, C#m, E, E
- C#m, C#m, E, E





Part 4

Part IV
Key- C
12 minutes long

Time Sig – 5/8, 7/8, 6/8, 5/8

8 chords – C, Dm, Em, G, F, Am, Bm
4 phrases
- C, Dm, G, F, Am, C
- G, Am, C, Am, G
- Dm, Am, Bm, C, Dm
- Em, Bm, Dm, Em, C, F, Em

Part 5

Part III - revisited
Key- E
3 minutes long

Time Sig – 5/4

3 chords - E, C#m, B
3 phrases
- E, B, C#m
- B, B, C#m, C#m, E, E
- C#m, C#m, E, E


Part 6

Part II - revisited
Key - A
9 minutes long

Time Sig – 5/4, 4/4, ¾

5 Chords – A, C#m, Bm, D, F
7 Phrases
- A, C#m, Bm
- C#m, D, F, Bm
- D, C#m, D, A, D
- D, C#m, A, D
- Bm, D, F, C#m
- A, D, C#m, D, D
- C#m, A, Bm


Part 7
Part I - revisited
Key - D
6 minutes long.

Simple time sig... 4/4

7 chords - D, A, E, G, F#m, Bm, C#m
5 chord phrases
- G, F#m, E, D, C#m, Bm, A
- F#m, A, D, E, Bm, D
- E, C#m, Bm, D, A
- A, E, G, Bm
- D, A, F#m

Part 1

Part I
Key - D
6 minutes long.

Simple time sig... 4/4

7 chords - D, A, E, G, F#m, Bm, C#dim
5 chord phrases
- D, A, F#m
- A, E, G, Bm
- E, C#dim, Bm, D, A
- F#m, A, D, E, Bm, D
- G, F#m, E, D, C#dim, Bm, A

Nano Cycle

The following blog is a diary of the creation of my NaSoAlMo project, or National Solo Album Month. or, write and record a whole cd in 30 days.

I'm going with a sort of mathematical/relationship/pattern theme.

here's my notes so far...

-=-=-=-=-=-

Cycle


Cycle is a series of 7 pieces of music.

The pieces are written with a very simple cyclic pattern.

The 1st and 7th are similar, 2nd and 6th, 3rd and 5th, and the 4th a midpoint.

Similar but not a copy. Certain things will be similar between them. Key, time signature, length, chord progression. They will be related in some way.

Each neighboring piece will have a small amount of similarity between them. Maybe a series of chords, or an inverted time sig.

The entire piece will be 48 minutes long. The songs are broken into 3 minute multiples. So there are 16 ‘sections’ of 3 minute time to divide among the pieces.

I - D - 2 time sect. - 6 min
II - A - 3 - 9 min
III - E - 1 - 3 min
IV - C - 4 - 12 min
III - E - 1 - 3 min
II - A - 3 - 9 min
I - D - 2 - 6 min