Friday, June 3, 2011

"Leave That World Behind"

Leave That World Behind

1:  The Tutor Of Achilles                                               26:02
2:  Greenland                                                                59:28
3:  The Reasonably Well-Tempered Assembly Line       68:28
4:  Eye Ten                                                                   65:57
5:  Cicadas Lullaby                                                       77:51
6:  Leave That World Behind                                        15:10
Total Time  5:13:03
All selections composed, arranged, performed, recorded, manipulated, treated and produced by Oenyaw.  Recorded July -November, 2005.  Equipment and software used: Epiphone Sheraton, DanElectro Black Licorace Distortion, Morley Volume Pedal, Line 6 Modulation Modeler, Line 6 Delay Modeler, Lexicon Omega Desktop Recording Studio, E Machines T2542 Computer (RAM upgrade 768), Cubase LE, Polderbits Sound Editor, All Audio Converter V1.50, Windows XP.
The cover photograph was taken by Carol Higgins.  The location is White Sands, New Mexico.  In the center of the picture is my son and I, relaxing in the desert.
This was the first Oenyaw project.  I had originally recorded this and "A Whole Day Off as one long 10 hour MP3 disc, but found that the quality of MP3 formatted files was not as good at 1286 KBS as 256 KBS.  I had to return to remaster everything, which was quite a chore, but necessary.  The theme I was going for as an introduction to the music was to simply leave the world of standard product formats in music behind.  A bit astintatious I'll admit.  But hey, I can't help the way I feel.  As Kurt Vonnegut wrote in Slaughterhouse Five, "let him write his own damn book!"
 So, I am.

The Tutor Of Achilles
The title is taken from a line in the film "2010: The Year We Make Contact."  As the programmer tells the
computer he is opening a new file named phoenix, he asks the computer if it knows what the term phoenix means. The computer replies that it has 23 references to that word.  The programmer asks which reference the computer believes is the correct reference. The computer replies "The tutor of Achilles?"; a reference the programmer is not aware of. The composition is a construction piece, playing a specific note at different octaves within a loop and filtering the loop while recording. Each loop is recorded onto a separate track and then each track is filtered and treated. The tracks are ultimately mixed together, making up the composition.
Incidently, this piece was featured on a compliation entitled "Frozen Light" released in Romainia, and was used for a dance recital.

Greenland
Hoping to call attention to the environmental catastrophe which is taking place in Greenland. As close to a live piece as possible: recorded in one afternoon, one take, no overdubs. Thanks to Cleo and Munchkin for attending.

The Reasonably Well-Tempered Assembly Line
Another construction piece. Each note was recorded in a 2 minute loop, with the loops arranged into place according to a written composition. Each track is assigned a step filter and a position in space between the right and left channels. The intention is an industrial fantasy of an assembly line which plays music after the humans have vacated the premises.

Eye Ten
A heavy-metal/industrial ambient piece. The camshafts view of a trip down the highway.

Cicadas Lullaby 
An insect bolero. Living in a forest as I do, I am heavily influenced by the sounds of the night, primarily that of insects, frogs, and wild turkeys. This one is dedicated to the cicadas.

Leave That World Behind 
A short construction piece which took up way too much memory to be forgotten.
All selections copyright 2005 David Wayne Higgins.

http://www.melliflua.com/leave-world-behind.html  review

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