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Download Sketch for Chris Length: 1:23 (Right-click or control-click to save)
Thank-you Chris Day
I was deeply saddened yesterday to hear that Chris Al-Aswad had passed away. He created the online art journal Escape Into Life, which he called a tribute to his mother who was an artist. It has quickly developed into an inspired community.
I was working on this musical sketch a couple hours before I heard the news.
Two weeks ago, I messaged Chris a birthday greeting and we had this brief conversation:
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Happy birthday Chris, many thanks for providing a great site
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thanks, love your art btw, reminds me of: David Kramer (click for article)
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Hey thank you, and thanks for the link– I had not come across his stuff. Love it! Just bookmarked his sites.
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I like what he’s doing; and I see a major trend in this type of painting; very modern in the best sense of the word
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I’m drawn to this type of stuff as well– the various levels of communication is overwhelming. A lifetime isn’t long enough to exhaust it.
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yes, our journal will be exploring this trend/movement/whatever you want to call it more and more . . .here’s one of the latest articles we did that does just that: (click for A Humument article)
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Really enjoyed that article. Reminded me of @austinkleon, though I identify more with Tom Phillips than him. Just ordered the Humument. Reminds me of a preacher I met who asked a man sharpie-ing his bible. “I was blackening out the unnecessary bits” the man said.
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wow, so happy to hear it made a big impact on you . . . maybe we’re on the same wavelength
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Now off to read the new Alison Jardine article.
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EIL is a philosophy, an experiment, a dream to fuse the visual and the literary in the most spectacular way possible (for @writeasongtoday)
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A Humument arrived in the mail a few days later, and I wanted to talk with him about it when I finished exploring its pages.
I wish my condolences to his family and friends. Meanwhile, there is quite a remembrance going on today on Twitter as people share their memories of Chris and talk about his writings. Search the tag #TYCHRIS.
The above drawing is inspired by a panel of his Novel of Life Las Vegas graphic novel.
Visit Escape Into Life for a wealth of articles on artists, writers, poets, and more. His friends will be carrying on with its publishing.
Read his writings and poetry at his Blog of Innocence.
Thanks Chris.
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Download Sketch Length: 1:09 (Right-click or control-click to save)
If you write the key signature of a G Major and F Major on top of each other you get the sounds of a Mixolydian b6 scale. It’s actually the 5th mode of the Melodic Minor scale and is known as a Hindu scale.
This sketch is centered around a 4-measure bass melody using that scale.
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Download Sketch Length: 1:49 (Right-click or control-click to save)
This sketch is based on four ideas and then mix-matched. I made a wack piano loop that sounds like it’s falling down a staircase. There’s also a drum sequence and subtle guitars.
It sort of builds like a nightmare. Donaji says it sounds like it belongs in something by Tim Burton.
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Download Tune Length: 1:53 (Right-click or control-click to save)
This is an arrangement I did for a Navy Day Ball in ‘08. On two prior occasions I sang it acappela, but when I was asked for a third time to sing it, I picked up my acoustic and worked this out in a low Bb tuning. From the bottom, the tuning is: Bb-F-D-F-Bb-Bb. (see TABs below for chords and licks used)
My favorite version of The Star-Spangled Banner is the rendition by Jimi Hendrix as it captures the chaos the lyrics speak of.
Patriotic verses set to a drinking tune
It’s well known that Francis Scott Key penned the poem The Defence of Fort McHenry after witnessing the British attack the Baltimore ramparts; he was aboard a British vessel rescuing an American prisoner, but was not allowed to leave because of his knowledge of the attack to come. It’s lesser known that the poem was set to To Anacreon in Heaven, a song of devotion to Greek gods for love and wine, which was written in the 1770’s by John Stafford Smith of Gloucester, England. I visited Gloucester Cathedral in 2000 and there is a memorial stone for Smith that includes:
He will long be remembered as composer of the tune of the National Anthem of the United States of America.
Berlin blesses beautiful America
There was a movement to make the great Irving Berlin’s God Bless America the National Anthem, but opposing brows were raised because Berlin was a Russian emigrant. The movement never really died out, especially after 9/11, and God Bless America remains the “unofficial” anthem.
Now tradition is tradition, and a ball game of any sort wouldn’t start proper without The Star-Spangled Banner sounding– regardless that few understand the opening words about José, and that the only verse typically sung ends on a question mark– “….and the home of the brave?” (Verse 4 ends with the exclamation of ‘brave!’)
This Independence Day, an article was published by a musicologist in SFGate arguing that it’s time for a new anthem. He mentions Woody Guthrie’s answer to God Bless America with This Land is Your Land, but then arrives at America the Beautiful as it asks “God to make us worthy of his blessing.”
I think people should relax about it, but having sung The Star-Spangled Banner, God Bless America, and America the Beautiful for different ceremonies, I do favor America the Beautiful. All three songs have peaks and valleys that make for a nice anthem melody, but there’s a grace about America the Beautiful and Ray Charles repeatedly proved it.
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Download Tune Length: 0:42 (Right-click or control-click to save)
This was an attempt at fugue writing back in 1999, but it turned into something else; it’s pretty, nonetheless. The recording is from 2007 with 3 guitars.
I really enjoy puzzle-like interaction between harmony and melody. Strumming chords while singing melodies will always be, but I’ve grown to love 3 or more independent lines that suggest chords and are free to move about harmonically.
The first 4 measures outline a C#m(9) and B(add9) twice, and then measures 5 and 6 repeat the rhythmic motif starting up a 4th. The end of measure 7 sets up the repeat to C#m with a sort of vii°7 chord. After that, I threw out traces of a fugue in favor of the melody and harmony I was hearing.
I came across Seth Godin’s post “Validation is overrated” this morning. By the way, I like to say that ‘overrated is overstated’.
If you have a book to write, write it. If you want to record an album, record it.
Don’t wait for anyone to give you the nudging go-ahead to start that song or project. The same projects I talked about starting nearly a decade ago remain to be started; I still consider many of them meaningful and do wish to start them.
If it’s meaningful for you, get to it– otherwise, years will go by with nothing but airy aspiration to show for.
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Download Sketch Length: 0:37 (Right-click or control-click to save)
This composition is only 16 measures long using MIDI and audio samples. I started with vibraphones and then added nylon guitar, beats, tambourine, and a single tone from a bass; transposed them along the way in order to get the harmonies I wanted. Quite fun.
The resulting progression in 4/4 reads something like this:
Fm^7 | ” | Ab(add9) | ” | Abm9 | ” | E^7(b13,#11) | Gb6(#5) |
Db^7(#11) | ” | Abm9 | B^7 | A^13 | Ab(add9) | ” | ” | ” |
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Download Tune Length: 1:28 (Right-click or control-click to save)
This is one of my favorite compositions. It was written for piano prior to my first semester of college in ‘98. I’ve always felt it could be developed into a longer piece, but I like it as it is– short and self-contained. It’s hard to forget a tune when you’ve played it hundreds of times for over a decade.
This version was recorded with bass and slide guitars.
