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A.N.A.

The recent invitation to the Process Series came at a time when I was interested in getting outside of what I saw as obstacles inherent in the way I had been trying to use my computer to create music. Too often I would set up a rhythm and a sample, get lazy and lock them into an infinitely repeating loop. Dynamics, time changes and general variation in feeling were absent and the music subsequently felt lifeless. Of course I could've probably overcome this I knew how to use the software better but my instinct for the Process piece was to start in the most uncomputer-like fashion I could think of, by playing live, real musical instruments.

As luck had it, my friend Aaron (of the group Off the International Radar) had invited me to do some jamming at a rehearsal space his band had been renting. I explained the Process mandate and my intention to create something loose and unpolished; no rhythm quantization and no use of loops.

I started on bass guitar and Aaron on xylophone and eventually we drew a repeating melodic line out of our meandering. This formed the basis for layering on some more instruments (harmonica, sleighbells, etc.) and variations. When the beercans were empty and the creative juice sapped, we called it a night.

Using the material we recorded at the rehearsal space, I subsequently added more keyboard and percussions parts using my computer, making sure to record each line live and not loop anything. I also threw in a field recording to fill out the texture. In the end, the song is loose up to the point of falling apart at times, optimistically stradling the line between a human and a machine creation and pessimistically just sounding bad.

a.n.a. - process part 038 (precious meta) by modyfier