my music

[eclectica]

I used to play keyboards a lot, mainly from 1992 to 1995. I would play almost every day. After that period I didn't play as regularly. I can't read sheet music or play professionally, but I play by ear instead. I would make a lot of mistakes and had to practice frequently before I actually recorded the songs. I recall getting stressed up from concentrating so much and being on caffeine pills that I was sweating. When I made a mistake I would go into a fit of rage and break something. I enjoy having fits of rage. It has a nice feeling to it.

All the individual songs here except for "martian ocean" were recorded in one continuous recording session because I felt I was cheating to not be able to play the whole song at once. I also followed certain self-imposed rules when it came to the sounds I chose to use. I tried to create a real pipe organ sound by mixing additives with flutes and recorders on the keyboard, which you can hear in the song "fantasia in b minor".

I have two keyboards that were bought around that period: the first was a Yamaha PSR500M bought in 1992 and the second was a Kawai X50D bought in 1995. Here are what I think are some of the best songs I wrote. The ones I recorded in 1994 are from a tape, and the ones from 2000 were recorded directly into the sound card of the computer.



fantasia in b minor (http://www.tatom.org/eclectica/TGWR - fantasia in B Minor.mp3) (20,658,260 bytes)
(february 1994)
I find that this song flows smoothly from one part to the next, and concludes nicely with the same tune that it started with. Of the songs here I find this one to be the most masterful.


the abyss (http://www.tatom.org/eclectica/TGWR - the abyss.mp3) (14,693,564 bytes)
(may 1994)
I created a synthetic scale (neither Major or Minor) that used the notes C, C#, Eb, E, G, Ab; resulting in the chord progression C Minor, C# Minor, Ab Major, C Major. The usage of the synthetic scale makes one react in an emotionally disconnected way to the song.


pitiful slave (http://www.tatom.org/eclectica/TGWR - pitiful slave.mp3) (6,458,096 bytes)
(june 1994)
I was feeling depressed one night and I wrote the lyrics as well as the music to it.

i like to feel the sun upon my face;
it helps me find peace within my mind.
but nothing much can please me anymore;
sadness beckons me forever more.

how i've wondered when i'll pass away;
will i live to see another day?
sadness has become my only friend;
the one that will stay with me to the end.

death is obsessing me;
taking every moment of my time.
the hours are spend trying
a way toward the end.

very soon my time shall come,
and only then will i find peace.
and written upon my grave:
"oh pitiful slave".


crystalysis (http://www.tatom.org/eclectica/TGWR - crystalysis.mp3) (12,125,623 bytes)
(june 1994)
After a night of drinking and partying, this tune came to me in the calm and peace that ensued the next day. I played the notes B, C#, F#, C#, C; and built the song making that the main repetitive theme. The song is pretty calm and positive with no hidden demons to frighten you.


saffronium (http://www.tatom.org/eclectica/TGWR - saffronium.mp3) (12,998,322 bytes)
(may 2000)
I came up with the chords of the opening theme (B – C# - F#) & (A# - C# - G) in 1995 but I never developed the song. Then I revisited it in May 2000 and finished it. I mixed in a bit of Bach's organ Passacaglia in C Minor into it. I find this to be the saddest of the songs here. I used the "warm" setting on the Kawai keyboard with the "warped record" effect on the effects box. I was pretty drunk when recording this one.


martian ocean (http://www.tatom.org/eclectica/TGWR - martian ocean.mp3) (17,815,092 bytes)
(august 2000)
This song has four parts to it that were recorded in separate sessions and then made into one song. The ending of the song was influenced by the ending of King Crimson's song "Sailor's Tale", and I did the same thing as they did using the pitch bender of the keyboard.

[Dollar_Girl]

can u keep these links active for a couple more days? i will d/l tomorrow hopefully.


we currently purchased a keyboard.... i sit there and set it to "church organ" and pretend i am in a dracula movie ay.

[eclectica]

The links will be active for a while because I still have a lot of disc space on the site.

What kind of keyboard did you get?

[slx]

you got any rod stewart or eagles?

[Dollar_Girl]

i have listened to two so far. I really like your pitiful slave song, i recorded a dollar version of it with my acoustic and horendous voice. I might punish u one day and upload it, only if you promise not to sue me for copyrights abuse!

[eclectica]

My music is copylefted. I would like to see some it used or remade. I hope to hear your version some time.

The "pitiful slave" song follows the chord progression of:
Bb Major
F Minor

and then:
Bb Major
F Minor
C Minor
Ab Minor


2:59 into the song you can hear it shifts to a second chord progression, which is:
G Minor
Ab Minor
Bb Major
C Minor

For playing on guitar, perhaps transposing it to another key would be good, along with other factors to consider such as what is comfortable for your vocal range. Perhaps for you Dollar_Girl, it would be better to sing it with the higher E Major and B Minor in the beginning.

A chord is typically the playing of the first, the third, and the fifth notes in a scale. This particular song uses alternatively the fourth note and then the third note when the chords are played. For example, in the ending part of the song G Minor is played as
G - C - D and then G - Bb - D

I purposefully ended the song on G - C - D because I like for many of my songs to end in an unsettled manner. Bach would end a lot of his organ songs which were in the Minor key in the parallel Major key. For example, his organ Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor BWV 582 ends in C Major.

I've always objected to the Major being given more of a reverence than the Minor scale, with them even being called in other languages "dur" and "moll", meaning strong and weak. I find that the Major key is more solemn, and stronger than the Major key.

Generally you could say that the Major scale is for happy songs and the Minor scale is for sad songs. Exceptions to this generalization are the interesting ones to note; for example some of the music of Ismael Lo is in the Major scale but his songs tend to be sad.

[eclectica]

All the music I posted above was done by myself played solo. I also made a lot of music with a guitarist and we called the band "August Tower". I started off playing the saw and we had as a singer a guy with Tourette's Syndrome, who would bark in the middle of the songs. I bought a keyboard and we did more material later without the barking dude.

Most of the stuff we did was amusing or entertaining to ourselves. Here is a song we did called Will shit for Jesus?. The idea was based on a concept I had in which I imagined the second coming of Jesus to occur in the toilet and for people to worship the resurrected Jesus in the toilet. In the song here the vocals are done by the guitarist and I play the keyboards.

Just a few minutes ago I listened to the lyrics and actually typed them out to make an html file that goes with the song. It's a little hard to hear the vocals. The song was cut short with less than a minute to go because we ran out of tape. It was recorded in 1994.

http://www.tatom.org/documents/Will.You.Shit.For.Jesus.htm

[Criminal_Sniper]

thats funny about the barkin dude
i have tourettes and in my time and around others with it ive never seen anyone bark
let alone yelling out or making noises
its possible i guess but these people would have to be fucking stupid and a bit exibitionist perhaps

they say i tap my hands and feet
but i say (bullshit) its only when im listening to or thinking of music
when im thinking of it im usually singing it
we all need a little percusion

and i sing ive never had that kind of problem
i wish i had my bass guitar fixed and a mic and a new amp
id be able to be playing :(
id go crazy if i didnt have music to listen to

[eclectica]

:tune: August Tower - I want to love you.mp3 (http://www.tatom.org/eclectica/August Tower - i want to love you.mp3) (4,418,664 bytes)

In this song you can hear in the beginning the barking, or "hoppem" sound that the singer makes. When he sang he used to pace back and forth as he was singing and slap his thighs or legs, which you can also hear in the song, until the full energy of his singing was released and all of the tics stopped. In this particular song here he didn't fully unleash himself, so the tic of slapping his legs and pacing back and forth while singing continues throughout the song instead.