Done on a Roland MC303 in 1998.  While short (just over one minute) I wanted to see what happens when a Tubular Bells type riff meets a JM Jarre style groove.  The MC303 was always good at realising ideas quickly.  

C02 Circa 1998

Quirky and cheesy was the MO for this one.  The ditty (wouldn't call it a song) was assembled on a Roland SP808 around 2002.  The sounds are from a Korg sound module and I think the samples came from a Future Music CD.  Either way the cartoony noises and cheesy hammond sound gives this ditty a satisfyingly humorous tone .

Pom Pom

This was written and recorded around 2003. Having purchased a Roland Fantom FA76 this was the first song I wrote on it and I was mightily impressed by the onboard sequencer. The guitar is from the preset sound bank and as most of my keyboards up to that point had pretty dreadful acoustic instruments and as I was impressed with the Roland’s acoustic presets and I based the main riff around the guitar. The melody is played out on a number of instruments and the scale is oriental in nature. The choice of title is lazy as it was originally penned ‘Country’ as in country music because of the guitar; I have since added ‘My’ as the choice of instruments, scale and overall ambience of the piece is more eclectic than country music.


My Country

Another track written around 1996 and re-recorded 6 or 7 years later on a Roland FA76.  The most difficult part was choosing a suitable instrument to carry the melody, the Oxygene-esque synth brass was chosen as it cuts through the arrangement with ease.  The flowing demi semi quavers which run pretty much throughout the song was originally recorded onto a Korg SQD8 hardware sequencer, at the time I couldn’t afford a computer and incredibly I paid 250gbp for the Korg, unthinkable these days of course.  Amazingly on my Nintendo DS I have a pretty nifty Korg synth and sequencer which just goes to show how far technology has come, not to mention computers and music software.  I still have the Korg but more as a museum piece, moreover it uses ‘quick discs’ which only the most determined would be able to find.  

Revolte

Inspired by Bartok’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste I set about putting together a piece of music that was entirely made up of a reoccurring phrase (a 17 note phrase repeated throughout).  This phrase is repeated backward, spliced up and reinterpreted though a variety of instruments culminating in an extremely ambient ‘Hammer House’ soundtrack.  This is a very simple technique yet the result can be most impressive. The piece is some 8 minutes in length and interest is sustained through the reoccurring melody albeit in different forms.  ‘Musique’ was written back in 1997.  and originally it was recorded onto chrome cassette using a Roland E86 but around 2003 I re-sequenced it and recorded it onto minidisk using a Roland Fantom FA76.  Bartok’s piece is masterful in that he uses symmetry and even the Fibonacci series to create his composition, a true genius and a totally mesmerising piece of music.  Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste can be best appreciated as the background music to Stephen king’s ‘The Shining’ and musical symmetry is very powerful when choosing horror sound tracks.

Musique

Fat George was inspired by a groove notated in a Keyboard magazine towards the end of the 90s.  I took the main groove which is played on electric piano then added the rest of the band so to speak.

Fat George

This was completed using only a MC303 Groove Box.  The bass and rhythm work well together and the glockenspiel motif adds a little sparkle.  The title ‘Groove Tang’ seemed appropriate at the time as I recall a Tango orange drink advert from the 90s which had a similar groove, I cannot recall what the original Tango music sounded like but to my mind the drum arrangements are similar.

Groove Tang

The main melody uses a cheesy analogue sound while the backing music is all sequenced.  The idea was to create a song that was cheesy but underpinned by a catchy chord progression.  I could have easily used a standard arranger keyboard to do the backing but instead I created everything on the Fantom FA76.  I particularly like the analogue sound and the ending – the ending is as if all the musicians just give up.

Theme for Fun

A smoking bar with a lazy quintet of musicians playing a waltz was my brief for this.  Interestingly this is all sequenced on a Korg sound module from the 90s, the name escapes me but it was a module version of their ‘I’ range of home keyboards, it may have been called an i5M.  I have never been able to afford real musicians and studio time so keyboards and modules become my canvas.  Starting from scratch I used the preset brush drums, electric piano, Hammondesque organ and a mellow saxophone.  Along with a lot of reverb and sloppy sequencing I was able to create this short 3 over 4 piece.

Waltz for  Noone

Hmmm, keyboards I have owned, here goes in chronological order.  Bontemp iB6, Casio MT100, Casio MT500, Casio HT3000, Roland E10, Emax I, Roland E86, Roland MC303, Yamaha DX7, Roland PMA5, Roland E14 oriental, Korg i5M, Roland RD100, Roland SP808, Korg 01W/FD, Roland Fantom FA76, Roland SRX07 Ultimate Keys & Roland SRX 12 Classic EPs, Yamaha MM6 Motif, Roland HP102, Roland VK8M, Roland MC909, and an M Audio Axiom 49.  

MC909

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