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

More Remixing

Just posted an early draft of a remix of a song called Yellow by Sarah Fimm. Switched out all the instrumentals, sped it up a little, added some reverb and other mild effects to the vocals... It's a departure from what I normally do, I tend to avoid the down tempo electronic sound but there is something about this song that wouldn't let me ignore the possibilities of going even more sparse and minimal than the original.

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.

Yellowed

Unreleased 2009

No story today, no insight, and almost no blah at all. Just this piece of something or other from a year and a half ago that I'm still trying to decide whether or not it needs something more.

Yellowed by Remedial M-Theory

"You'd Like it if you had robot ears!"

Game for Koko
2007 WormFood Collection

There are two ways I make music. The first is one comes slowly, taking months or even years until I arrive at a point where I let anyone hear it. Less than half of the songs I have available on my various web pages are of this variety but I probably have more than a hundred such tracks still waiting to be finished, collecting dust on one of my numerous back-up drives.

The other kind is where the idea appears in my head from out of the ether and I sit at my computer until it is done. They arrive as a flash of blue lightning in my skull, often inspired by an emotional event, a dream, or even a messed up conversation. On occasion one of these songs is inspired by listening to another track and wondering to myself if I could do an homage or at least something a little better.

That being said. Most of the music I make isn't really about anything. Clearly, some are inspired by events in my life or overwhelming emotional breakdowns or even crappy winter days. Sometimes the name of the track gives it a sense of being related to something but most of those names are just weird things that pop into my head at the moment I am saving the project and it requires a title.

But there are always a few exceptions to the rule. Case in point, Game for Koko, a track I wrote specifically in response to a conversation I had with a complete stranger.

This person was ragging on all the types of music that he hated. Started off with Country. Then he said he hated Rap with a "purple passion," whatever that means. Then he said "but nothing's worse than electronic. Any monkey with a computer can make that shit."

I walked away from the conversation not hurt or discouraged but with this vivid image of Koko the Gorilla sitting at a computer with her kitten in one hand while left clicking away on a computer utilizing the same digital audio workstation I use at home.

When I got home I sat down at the computer and created this entire track. I don't know how long it would have taken a room full of Gorillas clicking away on FL Studio to come up with something that sounded like this. I'm pretty sure there are gorillas out there who could make better music than me but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. I'm not in this to be the best, the king of the world, or even better than Koko the gorilla.

Game for Koko by Remedial M-Theory

A minor postscript - A number of the older songs I've posted have been tweaked and remastered as until fairly recently I cared little about audio production and levels and EQ and all that BS. I know you may have to adjust the living hell out of your EQ for you to listen to this on your sound system but I wanted to post it warts and all. This is Garage Band Electronica. That's how I rolled for a long time and I'm not ashamed of my roots. Hell no.

A not so minor postscript - I honestly never saw this video until today but it is pretty damn close to what I envisioned... sure there is no computer or kitty but geez...

End of the Line (C ResMix)

Indaba Music is running a remix "opportunity" with Daft Punk tracks from Tron Legacy. Remixing opens that door to rework a track in your own image. It can be a blast or it can be soul crushing. Since the track I chose to remix already felt stark and minimal, I had a hard time feeling good about anything that added too much weight if that makes any sense.

What I did was attempt to fashion a track that could exist in the same world as the original, only with a small piece of me in it. The result is my Contextual Resolution Mix of Daft Punk's End of the Line.



This one almost didn't happen. I got confused on what day it was so I thought I had run out of time. When it finally dawned on me that I did have time to finish a mix and submit I immediately threw out everything I had put together so far, which was actually for a completely different selection from the score, and started on something different. Then I went to work, pacing around all night with the synth bass from EOL stuck in my head grinding away before coming back home and deciding all my ideas were crap and I wasn't going to waste my time.

Two hours of sleep later it was clear I was going to take another crack at this bad boy. I have days when my brain won't rest until I exercise the demons of lingering music. Despite being completely exhausted I basically had no choice but spend the next several hours working through this mix,and that is exactly what I did. I dig it. Maybe not what anyone else wants to hear but at least I can finally get some sleep.

Tre Don't Ya (Featuring Dr S)

A while back, I posted a work in progress promising an update in the near future. Tre Don't Ya represents the first and certainly not the last collaboration between me and my dad.

The difference between me and my pop is that he is a real composer who has had music performed all over the world. The best part about working with him is he's more than a mentor, more than a teacher... he's a fan.

Without further blah blah... here you go. Tre Don't Ya - Full Version featuring my Dad, Dr. S

Tre Don't Ya (Featuring Dr S) by Remedial M-Theory

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

Gray Theme no.1

I remember the day I wrote this. I had just arrived home after a 5 mile white knuckle drive down an ice sheet during the morning commute. The hill on State was particularly terrifying but that's winter. I hate it. I hate the gray. I hate the snow. I really hate the ice... All of this was running through my head when I sat down at my computer and discovered the annual Electronoel Contest at Acid Planet was closing and I hadn't submitted an entry.

Electronoel is a December institution at Acid Planet. Every year right before Christmas you get 8,000 yahoos uploading their remix of Carol of the Bells (the Christmas carol equivalent of Barbers Adagio) for fabulous prizes. Of course there are a few people who come up with original Christmas themed music that can be surprisingly good, I remember a couple years ago there was a bit with a Tuba that impressed me...

The rules actually state that the song should be winter-themed. At least this year they did. Nothing about Xmas or the Holidays, most likely political correctness but I took the suggestion literally anyway.

I wasn't planning to enter this contest but since winter is dumb and so are techno mixes of overplayed Christmas crap I sat down and composed a little piece that was as contrary to everything that would be entered in the contest as I could imagine and still manage to contain some of how winter makes me feel.

This was my original composition, not electronic, not Christmas, and certainly not something even I expected. Despite the motivations, I am more proud of this little ditty than anything else I've written.

Also, anyone who knows my Pa will hear his influence all over it. Probably why this is one of the things I've done that he likes the most.