Foot Fist Cowbell

Foot Fist Cowbell may only exist because of a Will Farrel sketch on SNL years ago that made "more cowbell" the new "Free Bird!" It's one thing to say something needs more cowbell and an entirely other thing to actually make that happen. Not so much a dare but an extended mostly not serious exchange of such jokes that prompted me to put this together. After I committed to the project and put up a demo, I took a suggestion from my friend and added a shit-ton of side stick for the hell of it...

And then a week later I added the guiro.  

New Track - Sunrise

Been working on a lot of new music but haven't had a lot of direction... it's easy to get lost in your pseudo-work sometimes.  In the last month I've probably doubled the number of unfinished tracks in my projects folder.  No big loss I suppose.

Sunrise is the product of another insomnia fueled Saturday morning creative purge coming on the heels of a gray winter rain...

As of two hours ago, no part of this song existed.  It came together pretty fast, the only thing I don't like is the progression of the bass line, way too generic.  I'm going to let that stir in the brain pan today and see if that doesn't change some.  I created all the loops myself using Sytrus in FL Studio, which seems to be my favorite toy these days. 

   Sunrise by Remedial M-Theory

Overkill for Overkill

I have a tendency to overdo it when I'm working on a project and the intro I made for TESD:Overkill was no exception. For what was originally expected to be a twenty to thirty second intro clip I ended up creating over 20 minutes worth of music in various stages of production. A fair amount would consist of unrealized thoughts and ideas but nearly all of it is something I'll end up using eventually. Here is a sample from that 20 minutes of a near-completed intro that was created as a contingency just in case. File this away under the heading of "could have been."

Unused Overkill Sample Intro by Remedial M-Theory

Thursday Morning

A little something new I'm working on, still trying to nail down all the sounds, but I imagine it won't deviate too far from the instruments you hear in this version (two pianos and a cello) but this one has at least a little more in it before it's done. I'm thinking it will double or triple in length before all is said and done... not everything I do is under a minute. Apologies for the weak-ass stinger on the end, I found that it was slightly better then having nothing in it's place, but that particular bit is indeed temporary.

Thursday Morning by Remedial M-Theory

The Blur

It might have been that I was sleep deprived or that I'd skipped breakfast. Maybe it was that the gas was cranked up too high or an odd combination of any or all of those things but yesterday at the dentist I was flat out blazed on the nitrous.

I remember thinking that the ceiling was boring. This was disappointing. Later I could vividly make out little imperfections and discolorations in the ceiling tiles. Then it was fascinating. Later still I decided that of all the rooms at this dentist office where I have stared at the ceiling this was my least favorite and I should ask not to be put in this room again.

I had a vision of myself as a rocking horse. I remember thinking that there was a lot of gray in the arm hairs of the dentist. There were also a few moments where I could empathize with those big cats on nature shows that have been anesthetized and have those big glassy eyes, mouth hanging open, drooling while the vets poke and prod...

The rest of the time was split between complete blur and what I can only describe as hyper clarity. I did have one thought that was music related... my dentist needs entrance music. I started crafting in my brain on the drive, went right to work when I got home. I might make a few changes in the next day or two as I tend to do.

Beat DT-005 ver 5 by Remedial M-Theory

Gone Kaput

Today I have another short subject that first saw the light of day as a full length track back in September of 2009. Yes, more old crap. That's how it is. I really am working on some new music and I'll try to get some of it up as soon as it isn't completely offensive to the eardrums. It will also help if it ever stops raining. I can't even believe there's any rain left... It's as if it's all part of some sort of continuous cycle...

Gone Kaput by Remedial M-Theory

This was originally from a remix I did for a contest a while back, a mix I was ultimately very unsatisfied with. I was fighting with all sorts of issues with distortion... some that I was purposely adding to vocals and guitars vs some compression, EQ, and software issues that made the whole thing sound much shittier than I would have liked.

I've cleaned this up a little bit, slowed it down some, switched out the guitar cabs and adjusted all of the levels. The reason I don't post the full track is that without the lyrics (which I don't really care for) it gets a little repetitive... yeah sorry, it doesn't get any better than this.

One thing I tried to do when I made this originally was fuse my rock influences with some of the musical styles and techniques I've been introduced to in the last few years. On that level I'm happy with how this one turned out.

I'd like to say thanks to all the folks who've checked out my site thanks to Tell Em Steve Dave. I appreciate you taking the time to look and listen. Feel free to stop by and give me shit any time.

Winter Theme

Short subject music has been on my mind enough that I thought I should post my very first short subject track. This one goes back about a year and half, I was going through one of my many cello phases and was trying to put together something really low key.

Winter Theme by Remedial M-Theory

MMA Grocery Bagger

Over the course of last year more and more of the music I've been working on seems to be of the short subject variety, rounding out in about a minute if that. Part of this is due to the formats I've been working in. Also, I've recently started making personalized ringtones for friends and family and a minute is too long for ring tone so now I'm already starting to make even shorter subject music... if this trend continues in less than a year I could be making silence...

The benefit of short tracks is that I only have to be on my game for about a minute. I can dispense with intros and bridges and outros and whatever else feels like blah filler in so much of what I write. I've found I can go through most of my material no matter how long it is and get at least one solid minute out of it.

The other good thing about it is that if it does suck, the suffering will be over before you know it. And that makes us all winners.

MMA Grocery Bagger is a song I had been meaning to put together for a long time, inspired by a shopping experience many years ago where the cashier called in a guy to bag my groceries that looked like he spent most of his free time tearing people in half. It occurred to me that even when he's bagging this guy needs entrance music with smoke, lights and pyros. He was clearly that big of a bad ass.

It has since occurred to me that everyone needs their own entrance music. How could life not be better if every time you entered a any room for any reason you could hear your music blasting as the announcer calls your name and the crowd roars... even showing up for your remedial physics class would kick ass.

MMA Grocery Bagger by Remedial M-Theory