"A Party of One at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe"

A Party of One at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe
01-Ganesha       3:10
02-3am Cab Ride From The Airport to the Hotel   30:45
03-Belvedere       7:43
04-Lysergic Martini      22:43
05-The Pumpkin Girl      6:15
06-On A Distant Shore      10:47
07-Idyll Idol Idle Ideal     29:49
08-Land Of The Elephants     18:40
09-Deadalus       34:45
10-Initiation of Mithras     8:55
11-Underneath The Overpass     11:33
12-The Dreams Of The Innocent     49:11
13-Left For Dead On The Subway Tracks    19:43
14-Vanilla Shake      20:41
15-112807 (Live From The Lighthouse Keepers Convention)  61:25
16-Mei Fu Flies a Phoenix To Feihong    5:27
Total Time  5:41:38
I don't think about life in 3:15 segments, like pop songs or movie scenes.  So, when I do an album that last 5-6 hours, it's based on an event. Therefore, the representation of that event will be more involved than a drug commercial.  I can't think of anything that would take longer than waiting for your table at the restaurant at the end of the universe.  So long that you sit at the bar, get to know beings from all parts of the galaxy, get really drunk, pass out, and then woken up by the hostess to be shown to your table.
Flip side.  This is an album about art.  Not an artsy album, but a series of descriptions.  "Ganesha" is a Hindu God that represents change, the elephant with multiple arms.  I intentionally started this one in the middle of the chord, spliced off the first few seconds of the begining.  I was thinking of a photo of a statue of Ganesha, but not just the photo.  I imagined Ganesha to be moving, clay mation like in a Harryhausen movie.  Ironically, this one is actually a 3:10 segment.  "Belevedere" is a litho by M.C. Escher.  "Idyll Idol Idle Ideal" is a painting by Joni Mitchell.  "Land of the Elephants" is a tapestry from indochina.  "Mei Fu Flies a Phoenix to Feihong" is a japanese painting.  "Deadalus" is a painting by Albert Masson.
"3am Cab Ride From The Airport to the Hotel" was too real, and extremely painful.  The worst flight I had ever been on.  From Tallahassee to San Antonio.  The first leg was to Atlanta, was more like a roller coaster.  A flight attendent was injured, slammed into the ceiling of the plane.  Then lightening struck the walkway that was supposed to come out to the plane.  We were stuck on the plane for over an hour.  Then the connecting flight was delayed for 4 hours.  Then all of the cabs were taken by each member of the flight crew, leaving all of the passangers stranded at the airport.  A riot nearly ensued.  I was dealing with a swollen disc in my neck at the time.  The music represents two things simulaneously:  the hell of traveling; along with the security that the cab ride is taking me to a place where I can get some rest.
"Left For Dead On The Subway Tracks" started as a joke with a co-worker.  I mentioned that insted of doing songs about happy falling in love, or unhappy falling out of love, I did this one.  This is one of those you've been mugged, had the shit beat out of you, lying on wet pavement, can't move, total pain, brusies, cuts, black eye and toothless songs.  I'm sure someone will relate.
"The Dreams Of The Innocent".  Not children, but dogs.  I was watching my dog sleeping and he was having a dream.  I always wonder...
"112807 (Live From The Lighthouse Keepers Convention)"  A one take, studio performance.  I chose the lighthouse keepers reference as a reflection to three memories.  Klatuu's "So Said the Lighthouse Keeper", Van Der Graff Generator's "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" and Erika Eigen's "I Want to Marry a Lighthouse Keeper".  I was wondering just how exciting would a convention of lighthouse keepers be?
"The Pumpkin Girl" and "Initiation of Mithras" are stories borrowed from mythology.  The Pumpkin Girl from China, and the Mithras from Rome.
"Lysergic Martini" and  "Vanilla Shake" get back to the restaurant.  Somewhat connected, in a trip across the universe kind of way.
And "On A Distant Shore" takes us back to Douglas Adams and "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy."  I was thinking about waking up on the shore where the sky is purple, the ocean is still and the shore moves back and forwards.  I guess I had one too many pan galactic gargle blasters.  Or Lysergic Martini's.

"A Line From A Pale Blue Dot"

A Line From A Pale Blue Dot
Total Time:  6:00:00

In the book "2001:  A Space Odessy",  Arthur C. Clarke discusses the solitude of space travel.  I had been pondering the idea for an obsenely long piece of music for quite some time.  I had recorded approximately 18 hours of music and was in the process of editing.  I had the idea of taking the parts the fit and combine them.  Having the parts drift into each other.  The overall theme of the piece was that of taking a long journey and looking out the window.  I am scared to death of airplanes, but it's the quickest was to get to Italy.  One time on the return trip, I was drugged with seditaves and dramamine and spent the day looking out the window at the Atlantic Ocean.  It was so beautiful.  40,000 feet and it looked like textured glass.  The question was, if this was going to be about a long journey, then what would the journey be?  What could happen, where could one go in 6 hours.  A drive to Atlanta, a walk to the Auscilla River, or a flight to Vancover?

I began to think in terms of "where would the music go?"  Knowing radio waves travel the speed of light, I calculated that over a 6 hour period, the radio waves in a continous broadcast would travel roughly 4 billion miles.  The next question was "What is 4 billion miles from earth.  So I do a Google search for 4 billion miles from earth and discoverd the wole Pale Blue Dot thing.  The probe Voyager took a photograph from 4 billion miles out, which is the furthest photo ever taked of earth.  So, basically, if I can ever get a radio statio to play this on some late night show, it will theoretically form a continous line from earth to the edge of the solar system.  I think it is a great description of how far does light travel listen to this, and travel at light speed, and you'll be out past Neptune.  Will we ever break the light barrier.  Hell, yeah.

Sample calculation:
speed of light = 299792458 m/s = 6.475517093 * 10 exp 12, 6,475,571,093 km (6 hours) or 4,023,669,776 miles (6 hours)
4 billion miles at the speed of light
186000 miles per second
11160000 miles per minute
669600000 miles per hour
4017600000 miles in 6 hours.
If you think I'm crazy, absurb, ignorant, look at it this way.  Read what was said "before" we broke the speed of sound.
The logical reasons why it couldn't be done.  Einstien figured e = mc2.  When an object reaches the speed of light squared,
it's mass converts to energy. It doesn't mean that it can't be done, It just means that you wont be able to travel the speed of
light squared.   That's 34,596,000,000 miles per second.  Now, that's a bit fast.

"Songs of Praise and Torture"

Songs of Praise and Torture

1:  Invocation                                                            12:53
2:  Basillica Neptuni                                                   43:36
3:  An Ever Bubbling Fountain of Resplendence          49:44
4:  John's Cage                                                          19:19
5:  Indian Summer                                                      14:55
6:  The Big Blue Dream                                              51:30
7:  Mid-evil Mantra                                                    21:59
8:  It was a dark and stormy night...                            14:10
9: An Evening In The Lion's Den                                70:46
10:  Sunrise On North Field                                       33:09
Total Time  5:31:09

All selections composed, arranged, performed, recorded, manipulated, treated and produced by Oenyaw. 
Recorded July -November, 2005.  Equipment and software used: Epiphone Sheraton, Fender Stratocaster,
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 near the Grand Canyon in Arizona.  The
reason behind this being used as a cover for "Songs of Praise and Torture" can be seen in the movie "Once
Upon A Time In The West."  It is a scene of torture, death, and a harmonica passage which resonates throughout the movie.  I was going to write a long explanation about it, but I'd rather anyone who cares who
reads this to watch the movie.  Carol had taken the photo during our honeymoon, years before we ever saw
the film.  While watching the extra features on the DVD, we noticed the scene and realized we had been
there and had photographed the same location, just at a slightly different angle.

Subtitle:  "An Apology to Phillip Glass"
I hope Phillip Glass will forgive me.  A few years ago, I wrote a review bit on an Amazon page about the CD "Music With Changing Parts."  I wrote that it was a great CD for clearing the house when you wanted every one to leave, and that if someone did stay, that you should open a bottle of wine and have a discussion on the subject of using music as a method of torture.  I actually happen to love that particular piece of music.  I was going to add to the short review saying how much I personally admired the piece, but hit the send button by accident, got cut off, and then could never edit the review.  I have seen this short review pop up all over the internet, and I hope Mr. Glass has not taken offense to the remark.  I consider him as one of my favorite composers, I think what he did for music in the 20th and 21st centuries will be remembered for centuries to come.  I also think he is a very nice man, having met him and got his autograph on my copy of "Einstein on the Beach."

On the subject of "music to clear the house out."  My best friend, Chris, and I were roommates for years.  We would have people over to where ever we lived, partying in our youth.  But there was always a time when we wanted everyone to leave.  We had certain albums we would put on specifically in mind to weed out the guests.  For example, if there were a bunch of metal heads over,  Side 2 of The Talking Heads "Fear Of Music" would do the trick.  We found that hardly anyone could handle Scorpions "Lonesome Crow", which was an album we loved.  We found this out accidentally one evening when we put it on early on a Saturday and the apartment was cleared by the third song.  I can still hear Chris saying "we gotta remember that one!"

As far as music as a form of torture, this was a concept introduced to me through a news story.  In the 1980's, an officer in the American Army had been kidnapped by the what I think was the Italian Red
Brigade.  He was kept for a long time, and eventually released.  He was not harmed, but when asked about
torture, he remarked that the men who held him captive would play loud, heavy metal music constantly.  He
did not like heavy metal, he considered the act of forcing him to listen to be torture, and said he would never
be able to listen to heavy metal music again. Torture and religion have existed together for centuries.  Every culture in our history has a period when a religious group became powerful and decided to persecute those who did not accept that which the group was forcing on the people.  The title "Songs of Praise and Torture" was picked over the title "What is Art For?".  I felt that the pieces on this album of music each had an air of worship with somewhat of a rough edge.  Growing up in a happy yet weird, religious family, I was exposed to many, many different ideas.  My father was a computer programmer who became a Baptist Minister.  My mother was a wonderful, stereotypical minister's wife who loved movies, including horror and science fiction.  My father was not your normal preacher, he was politically liberal and always into conspiracy theories.  It was the kind of family that would read the bible, sing a hymn, offer a prayer of thanks for the evening meal, and then watch an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

Invocation
Recorded during the same session as "Basillica Neptuni", I wanted it to be an introduction to the piece.  As
I decided to drop the title of the album from "What Is Art For?" to "Songs of Praise and Torture", this
became a beginning the entire album.

Basillca Neptuni
I've been experimenting, and achieving music that sounds like it was created underwater.  The Basillica
Neptuni is an actual location in the forum ruins of Rome, but I thought it would be a good theme.  A temple
erected for the God Neptune should be underwater, no?

An Ever Bubbling Fountain Of Resplendence
This one has been bounced around so many times, and reworked and redone and remastered and recut, that
I have no idea of the original idea.  My son is good at helping me with titles, he came up with the ever bubbling fountain bit.

John's Cage
A homage to John Cage, of course.  The notes imprisoned the loop were created with a "tuned" ring
modulator.

Indian Summer
Another song of nature from Oenyaw.  I thought this depicted the stillness of the short season which comes
after the first burst of cold in the winter, followed by warmth before the winter actually sets in.  I don't know
why we call it "Indian Summer", but I have always considered it a romantic time.

The Big Blue Dream
In a roundabout way, I was asked to do some rock and roll or blues.  I did a few different smaller things,
standard 12-bar  blues riffs and progressions.  I decided to put them all together in a dream sequence, sort
of like the second side of Mountain's "Flowers of Evil" album.  Honestly, the choir at the end of the last
part just “appeared.”  Freaked me out!  One of those recording sessions when you hear something
happening and you place yourself under an enormous amount of pressure to “not make one single
mistake.”  Torture. 

Mid-evil Mantra
As the title suggests, this one is a repetitive piece in a Gregorian tone, a chant, a  music for making a
tapestry depicting some mid-evil adventure.  Like the torturing of people who do not accept the ideas of a
minority of religious nuts who happen to be in power.

It was a dark and stormy night...
The original title was to be "It's Raining, The Monster Is Approaching, And My Body Weighs Heavily In A
Vertical Position Against The Stone Wall As I Reach For The Huge Obsidian Door Knocker", but I opted
for the famous opening line of Snoopy's novel.

An Evening in the Lion's Den
This is a personal favorite, and center piece of the entire project.  I was thinking of a painting of Daniel in
the Lion's Den that I saw as a child.  Daniel was in the middle of the lion's den, standing in a light coming in
from the ceiling (or maybe some holy energy).  All the lions were around him, quietly content, and not
bothering him at all.  The piece is in three movements.  The first movement is "being shown the door", the
part were Daniel is taken into the den.  The second movement is a song of praise, Daniel thanking God for
everything he can possibly think of, as well a song of faith, the knowledge that God will keep him safe.  The
third movement explores the reality of the situation.  "Oh shit, I'm in a den of lions!" The book of Daniel is
really good, but it seems to be not written by Daniel himself.  

Sunrise on North Field
There is a sod farm near by the place I live.  The fields are named according to location.  I have seen the
sun rise, and set, on the farm and it can be absolutely beautiful.  Deer walking around, squirrels playing,
birds getting what ever insects they can find.  This piece is about the beauty of nature itself.  I was riding
home the other night through the country and was passed by an SUV with the kids in the back seat watching
television.  I went on a rant,  “Don’t look out the window, and do not talk to mommy and daddy!  Just watch
your show and be quiet.”  Pitiful.

All selections copyright 2007 David Wayne Higgins

http://www.melliflua.com/wakulla-sketchbook.html review

"Wakulla Sketchbook"

Wakulla Sketchbook
1: Water Surface No. 1    7:19
2: Glass Bottom Boat     50:44
3: Water Surface No. 2   12:55
4: The Black Lagoon      55:20
5: Water Surface No. 3   20:20
6: A Safer Place              56:44
7: Water Surface No. 4    7:11
8: 19,000 Feet                 73:27
9: Water Surface No. 5    9:30
Total Time  4:53:34
All selections composed, arranged, performed, recorded, manipulated, treated and produced by Oenyaw.  Recorded October/November, 2006.  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.  It is from a boat ride at Wakulla Springs.

I really can't remember the first time I came to Wakulla Springs.  There have been picnics, boat rides, viewings of "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" on a big TV, special occasions spending the night and a wonderful breakfast.  I presided a friends wedding here.  I have spent many quiet weekends at the park.  It's almost like the natural elements absorb everything undesirable and leave you with a feeling of wellness you which is so difficult to find and impossible to buy.  The best description was given by a cousin from Italy who said "This is the real Florida."  Before one visit, my wife remarked that she wished she could see a Manatee in the wild.  The next time we went out on the boat, a Manatee poked her head from the water and looked at her.  The whole place is an absolute miracle.   The springs are going through a difficult time due to a constant population increase which persist in the area surrounding the park.  The glass bottom boat rides are becoming rare, due to the decrease in visibility of the water in the spring which is being caused by development which is happening miles away.  A large area of Central North Florida contains an underground, underwater network of caves which lead to sink holes, springs and lakes.  Such a natural network is sensitive to any type of development, and when the work goes unabated, problems will persist.  The benefactors are few, whereas the victims are numerous.

Water Surface Nos. 1 through 5
A series of sketches of water surfaces.  Anyone who has ever taken an art class as probably had to turn in a drawing of a water surface as an art project.  This is a collection of water surfaces.  I was attempting to do one long piece, but instead, the individual works stood up well enough on their own.

Glass Bottom Boat
A favorite attraction of the park which is now a rarity.  Due to development in Tallahassee, the run off into the spring has made the ride impossible.  The piece is a narrative, musical memory, complete with birds and other wildlife, and boat motor sounds.

The Black Lagoon
Dedicated to my favorite movie, and all who worked on it.  The great thing about Wakulla Springs is that when you watch that movie and visit the park, the natural surroundings haven't changed, as well as the sound of the birds in the background.  Suggested listening is at night in the dark.

A Safer Place
The original version was scrapped.  Too much noise and not enough happening.  Just didn't do it for me.  So I completely redid it with the same theme in mind.  One for the animals, who are always part of someone's food chain.  The idea is that they are always searching for a safer place.

19000 Feet
Not a fetish or a head count, but a record.  The longest dive in the under ground/underwater network of caverns is 19,000 feet.  I'm not a diver or a spelunker, but I admire all those who venture into the unknown.  It is said that the caverns will take many years to completely explore and map.  It is not a task for newbies.   Some very skilled and good people have descended into the depths, never to return.

Copyright 2007 David Wayne Higgins

http://www.melliflua.com/wakulla-sketchbook.html review

"Why Would Heaven Have A Gate?"

Why Would Heaven Have A Gate?

1: Abaddon's Key Ring        49:13
2: Stairway To Hell              60:36
3:  Mammon Spake             46:29
4: The Knees Of Ananke  142:06
Total Time  4:58:24
All selections composed, arranged, performed, recorded, manipulated, treated and produced by Oenyaw.  Recorded January - July, 2006.  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 picture was taken by Carol Higgins at a place near Naples, Italy.  It's actually an entrance to an ancient sauna used by the Romans.  The area is a place of volcanic activity, where mud boils and sulfur rises from the ground.  I picked this for the cover due to the story that Catholic priests used to tell people that it was the entrance into hell.

It's simple.  I was driving by one of those gated communities.  You know, the ones encased within a big wall or fence with a guard or an electronic gate at the entrance.  I was thinking about how glad I have never lived in such a neighborhood, and going over the reasons why a place would exist.  Mainly, these places are conceived to keep the undesireables out.  The people who don't belong.  As usual, while driving around, my mind wonders and I began to think of the afterlife, and how heaven itself is described as having pearly gates.  I started to compare the two and wondered further, why would heaven be a gated community.  I mean, it's infinite, it's owned and operated by the superior being, it has powerful angels that have been around throughout eternity.  Why would there be a gate?  If it is to keep out those that don't belong, then maybe this superior being isn't so superior after all.  If it is to keep those that have entered from escaping, then maybe it isn't such a wonderful place.  Now, I could understand Hell having a gate.

Abaddon's Key Ring  preview
Abaddon, as the keeper of the gate to Hell, the Angel of the bottomless pit who binds Satan for a thousand years.   Also identified as the angel of death and destruction, demon of the abyss, and chief of demons of the underworld hierarchy.  So the idea for this theme was based on the personification of Abaddon.  Everyone has a job to do, and his is to guard the entrance to Hell.  Quite a job, unrewarding, don't ever answer the phone, no boss, everyone complains but to who.  So does Abaddon get a 10 minute break, a lunch hour, a day off?  If so, where would he go?  My original title was  "Abaddon, Sysyphus And Pericleese Take The Afternoon Off", but I opted for the present title   to comprise the overall theme.

Stairway to Hell
I had come up with the second movement by accident one day and proceeded to spend the following four months trying to recreate it.  The long standing problem with electronic music is that when you come up with a desirable patch, it's not easy, or sometimes impossible to replicate.  Personally, this is what makes it so much fun.  Writing down a series of notes in standard western notation is easy.  Even though the computer will save the recordings, mixings and settings, there are still some things you just have to "tune in."  The second movement was the focal point.  After many months of failed attempts, I decided to turn everything off, and it worked!  I was trying to figure out a complicated patch which wasn't complicated at all, just a combination of a 8 beat playing on a 13 beat loop.  The first and third movements where written around the second.  The sound of the second movement was that of descending down a long dark stairway. The first movement, which is previewed, became the passage to the stairway, an aviary containing evil birds.  Thoughts of Salmon Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses" section "Mahound" where Lat Uzza and
Manat torment Gibreel through eternity prevailed.  The third movement became the inevitable gate into the darkness, the fall into a bottomless pit. Oddly enough, the overall inspiration wasn't a Led Zeppelin song  or a parody thereof, but more so inspired by the stairway to the roof of the Duomo in Florence, Italy.  I feel like eternal damnation would be close to complete insanity, therefore, the overall emotion of the piece is total madness.

Mammon Spake
"Paradise Lost" John Milton.  Book II, Lines 229 through 283.  My favorite section of the poem, so far (I will not stop reading and studying this masterpiece of literature, nor will I cease to be amazed).  The section is Mammon's opinion of the thought of returning to battle with the angels of heaven, a fight to be accepted back into the fold.  Mammon is against returning to heaven to forever worship a God that they hate. The thought is that eternity in hell without oppression of the soul would be better than eternity in heaven in disgust.  Hell and Heaven are states of being, and depend on what you make out of it.  At the time of the writing, Brittan was going through intense political turmoil. Mammon's speech was a political statement of what was going on at the time.  I'm sure there are plenty of studies and dissertations which describe this section far better than I could, and I have read quite a few other references on the subject of Mammon.  Musically, the piece represents his speech, the arguments that ensued, and the emotions that followed.

The Knees Of Ananke
In Greek mythology, Ananke  was the personification of destiny, unalterable necessity and fate.  In Roman
mythology, she was called Necessitas ("necessity").  I was looking for a theme which would involve large swelling chords, as well as a glimpse into eternity.  I read this bit out of an encyclopedia of mythology describing the return of Er from his death in battle, a story from Plato's "Republic", book 10.  Er's vision of the afterlife consisted of souls travelling towards a pillar of light, which were connected to an enormous spindle that rested on the knees of Ananke, causing the eight spheres of heaven to revolve.  Upon each sphere stood a siren singing a single note, and the eight notes together made a complete scale. 
All selections copyright 2006 David Wayne Higgins

http://www.melliflua.com/why-would-heaven.html  review

"It's Just A Matter Of Time"

It's Just A Matter Of Time

1: Hoping Tomorrow Never Arrives    67:04
2: The Sun, The Moon, And Talia       50:52
3:  Strength Through Joy                     65:36
4: The Mystique Of The Event            67:17
5: 70 Years                                        60:55
Total Time  5:12:22
All selections composed, arranged, performed, recorded, manipulated, treated and produced by Oenyaw.  Recorded January - July, 2006.  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.  It's me, standing at an abandoned gasoline station in Greenville, FL.  I picked it to go with the title.  It's just a matter of time before these stations, this industry, and this way of life become history.
The title of this album carries a dual meaning for me.  My view of the difference in my own music is that it is just a matter of time.  I do long pieces.  Oenyaw is about letting go, and allowing the music itself to take control of the situation.  I have, for a very long time, been discontent with the 3 minute 30 second, verse-chorus-verse-chorus-diddle-in-the-middle-verse-chorus-repeat-chorus-and-fade song.  The idea of cutting the music short to fit within the time constraints of commercially produced media is a travesty.  While in Italy, I saw a painting in a museum which, at some time, a buyer of the painting had cut a section of the painting out so that the  painting could fit in a particular room in his house, as in next to a door frame.  I was horrified, and I feel that so much music is treated this way.   Some of my music takes a long time to develop, and sometimes I allow the pieces to fade out on their own.  The second meaning is a bit more personal and egotistical.  I feel that it is just a matter of time before my ideas catch on.  I really don't believe that I will ever be the mainstream, that kids will ever be "on the lookout for that new Oenyaw album, but I am very slowly receiving compliments as well as advice on how to keep this thing going.  I'm just glad I have a reasonably good day job.


Hoping Tomorrow Never Arrives
An improv piece recorded New Years Day, 2006.  Due to the holidays, I had just spent two wonderful extended weekends with my wife at home.  The next day was the day to return back to the normal dirge of everyday life at work.  I didn't want the day to end.

The Sun, The Moon and Talia 
I was looking for the right title for weeks.  A title to encompass a dream, wonderland, fairy tales and fantasy.  I had the composition and theme down to the finish with the sound of an alarm clock awakening the dreamer.  I picked up an old book from the shelf that I bought at an antique book store a few years ago.  "The Uses of Enchantment" by Bruno Betelheim.  I read the section on The Sleeping Beauty and found the story of Sun, Moon and Talia. 

Strength Through Joy
A construction piece.  The piece is composed of 112 chords played in 1792 measures.  The original progression is 28 triads, which become sevenths, which become ninths, and then become all the notes of the key signature.  The idea for the basis of the composition is a demonstration of the Nazi Propaganda tool "Strength Through Joy", developed to keep the workers happier by providing group vacations.  The idea was that the workers would be more productive if they were alloted group vacations paid for by the  state.  It turned into a large bureaucracy that spend more money on itself than on the mission.  The musical illustration of the idea is that one is listening to a happy tune which is based on a systematic progression.  As time progresses, the chords, signifying the stress to the listener, become a greater weight until the listener is eventually listening to every note, or performing every task.  The happy melody becomes an over bloated, unbearable, cacophonic chore.  To date, this piece is the longest I've worked on.  A year after I had completed it, I found software that enabled me to accomplish the original intention.  This version 8C.

The Mystique of the Event 
The original idea was a sarcastic one.  The disgruntled musician, unhappy with the role taken in an ensemble
situation.  As with all of my work, I like to write (or not), perform, record, mix, produce and then leave alone for a time before listening.  This piece was very difficult to accomplish.  The primary theme in the music became a struggle of a single note to be recognized by the whole of the composition, the piece itself became an illustration of the situation.  The single note is forced to be part of the composition, but is unhappy with it's role.  That note not only wishes to be heard, but heard alone in its own idiom.  The suppression of the note breeds discontent within itself to the point of making the composition uncomfortable.  At the end the challenge is made, and the note is heard.  After the note is allowed, the composition returns to its original, but more relaxed state.  A piece that symbolizes turning uncomfortable emotions into emotions that bring total contentment with one's self.

70 Years
In memory of my father.  I was watching a video of the Alice Cooper Billion Dollar Babies Tour and remembered my parents taking me to my first two concerts.  They didn't attend, they just dropped me off, went to see a movie, and then waited for me after the show.  The first concert was The Guess Who, the second was Alice Cooper.  Watching the movie brought back thoughts of my dad.  So I plugged in and did an improv in a minor key.  I called it 70 years, due to the length of time he spent in this worldly existence.  He was a baptist minister who spent most of his life spreading the gospel and taking care of people.  Though I was raised in a religious family, my parents are responsible for my politically liberal views of which I will not alter because of any other forced opinion.  Anyway, my dad was a good one, and I feel fortunate to have had him for a father (even though he didn't let me grow my hair long when I lived at home.)
All selections copyright 2006 David Wayne Higgins.

http://www.melliflua.com/matter-of-time.html  review

"A Whole Day Off"

A Whole Day Off

1:  Vladivostok Girls                        31:24
2:  Palatine                                      79:37
3:  Music with Changing Stuff          72:41
4:  The Tilapia's Dream                   62:01
5:  The Crystallized Delusion           79:02
Total Time  5:25:29
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.  We were in Pompeii the week after Christmas.   The ruins of Pompeii are populated with stray dogs that merely hang out while visitors and locals feed and take care of them, but I actually believe that the dogs couldn't care less about the annoying humans.

Vladivostok Girls
Communist Party was a band that never existed, never got past the planning/writing stage. Songs such as "Serfs Up!", "March Around The Square", "Ivan B. Goode", "Do The Trotsky", and "Vladivostok Girls" were never performed. This is not the original version, but a homage to a humorous idea which never materialized. The vision of a black and white filmed video of a teen dance show, with couples dressed in military uniforms, fatigues and work clothes. As the video come to the end, the camera pans back, showing the entire set and a backdrop of Eisenhower, Kruschev and Mao-tse Tung on a grey wall. The entire idea stems from a scene in the Porgy and Mudhead movie, High School Madness, whereas the rival high school is named Communist Martyrs High.

Palatine
An aural painting of Palatine, one of the seven hills of Rome, a personal favorite place. I find it hard to describe in words, so the attempt is through the music.

Music with Changing Stuff
A tribute to one of my favorite composers, Phillip Glass. Five movements based on minimalist themes. The process of recording and mixing developed into an attempt make the guitars sound like other instruments, and then returning to guitar sounds.

The Tilapia's Dream
Based on a discussion on the subject of fish contemplating their existence in a finite world, or a universe with a ceiling. What is the fish's view the water surface? I have been told that fish aren't capable of such complicated reasoning. My reply is that humans are not capable of time travel, have never come back from death, nor have they ever met their respective superior creators, yet we write about these subjects quite often.

The Crystallized Delusion 
A term in clinical schizophrenia which refers to an elaborate delusion or hallucination which remains consistent over a long period of time. This is also a construction piece. The tracks are made up of loops of note patterns which are the same played backwards and forwards, or musical palindromes. The loops are recorded, reversed, and then mixed together to create the delusions of a mixture of instruments which do not exist.
All selections copyright 2005 David Wayne Higgins.

http://www.melliflua.com/whole-day-off.html  review