winter in springtime

Weltraumfalle

Full version is ~7 mins long 😁

You see how we design this plot
Distract me with the things I’m not
Re-line my eyes so I agree
Revert from the taller trees
Build me up so I have strength 
To keep everyone at arm’s length 
I’ll lay out
In my shallow hole
In a low cut dress
With room to grow
I don’t I like what I see

Wonder why I don’t I like what I see

[…]

You see how we design this plot
Distract me with the things I’m not
Again, again,
This human curse
We don’t got it? It’s the worst
You keep me from the taller trees
Grinning while we grit our teeth
Ladies told to keep it in 
Now it’s out, 
Begin! 
Or keep on seeking out our screens
The moment we need company
While winged ones sing our requiem
Welcome authoritarian!
You see how we design this plot?
Who has power? We forgot!
Busy, busy, while they bleed 
Why don’t you like what you see?

Zero (demo pieces)

Here's one that kind of fought me.  Beginning without a real direction, I put a number of drum beats together, thinking I'd go fast (180+ bpm) and abstract (bit-crushing down to 3 bits), and it seemed promising, but I got tired of listening to the harsh high frequencies, even with them rolled off somewhat above 2K. I tried slowing things down (20 bpm and multiples) and it got a bit more interesting, but still didn't really go anywhere. 

Several more passes added voices--several drum machines (brushes kit--bit-reduced to 8--a line of 808, K3M, 606, hand claps, miscellaneous percussion) a grinding Operator line (removed), some electric pianos (promising), an organ (Operator), and finally a couple bass lines at 140 bpm...which didn't invite any other parts or structure until I brought the tempo down to 96.  Then a few more passes on bass--two basslines again, keeping a few of the 140s, just time-stretched and tweaked--and Res-O-Glas guitar (Reuss Repeater + Vox Wah) brought it into focus. 

Even so, a run-through of 7 or 8 minutes wasn't compelling until I really cut away at the structure.  What we have here is the product of severe editing.  Sends: Drum Room reverb, simple delay, filter delay (emphasizing the highs, like an old tape with filter), Beat Repeat (an edited version of the Fill In The Blanks preset), and Buffer Shuffler (kind of feels like time to take a break from it).

The title is from an early name for (of course) Area 51, a place which doesn't tend to give up its secrets, much like this piece. 

Photo: "Groom Lake and Papoose Lake" by Doc Searls from Santa Barbara, USA - 2010_08_06_rno-phx-bos_071 Uploaded by PDTillman. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Groom_Lake_and_Papoose_Lake.jpg#/media/File:Groom_Lake_and_Papoose_Lake.jpg

Site II

one of my latest ones - accordion & electronics, all sounds are more or less processed accordion samples of my live recorded accordion

rise / sink

Nooksack

rough as a badger's bum but with massive potential!

TASCAM DR-07 

Myself (when I am real)(Brixton band rehearsal 05/03/16)

Episode no. 1 of the King Alphonso Radio Hour Podcast with Réamann. An entertaining interview and chat between two old friends - Franz Treichler (from Swiss post-industrial band The Young Gods) and Réamann O'Gormain (Raymond Gorman, ex-That Petrol Emotion and now The Everlasting Yeah). First in a series of podcasts with musicians, writers, journos, poets and actors with an emphasis on the immigrant's story, fun, laughter, collectivity, spirituality, great art and the war on loneliness. All welcome.

King Alphonso Podcast no. 1 - Franz  Treichler / Young Gods

I have a bad habit of starting tracks and not finishing them. The paralysis of having over 30 'In progress' finally took hold.  So what's a "musician" gonna do?  Why, abandon them all and start fresh, of course!  But first, let's have a brief funeral of some of the tracks that could have been something.  Or maybe not.  In any case, it's closure.

7 Years Of Glorious Failure

Part three (at last!) is the opposite of a deep dive – it’s a flight upwards through the night sky exploring the power of drones as medicine. We go into a bit of the reasons why drones have such a physical effect, with excerpts from an article by Robert Lamb (published Nov. 16, 2016; accessed June 25, 2020): https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/ambient-music-calm-psychic-maelstrom.htm#:~:text=%22What%20happens%20with%20ambient%20music,scanning%20the%20environment%20for%20danger.

We then ponder for a moment the power of drones to connect us to the world, and all who inhabit it, through deeply restorative soundscapes. After using some drones created by Tibetan singing bowls in the opening, we move on to the brand new "Celestial Music Box" to consider how the star field above us might "sound" if each star could be played like a music box. Thanks to friend of the podcast Michael Riley for granting us permission to use this excerpt!

As always, thanks to all our Patreons for your support! If you'd like to join them in supporting independent arts and production, you can find us on Patreon at https://www.Patreon.com/TheWillowsNest

You can also support this podcast and the work of our independent productions here at The Willows nest, through a one-time donation at https://www.paypal.me/bansheemedia

Tracks in order of audition:

(Under the voice): Glen Hoban “Singing Bowl Tanpura 1 & 3.” These were published in September of 2018. From the composer’s notes: “The sound of a "G" ('Throat Chakra') Himalayan singing bowl being droned, then having the resulting drone copied, pitch-shifted and multi-tracked to produce a long, subtly evolving drone.”
Found on Freesound.org. Find these tracks and more about Glen Hoban at: https://freesound.org/people/Glen_Hoban/

Sound artist and composer Michael Riley (mikronesia) created the Celestial Music Box to be available through Patreon only under the name “Meditative Soundscapes.” Check out his Patreon over at https://www.patreon.com/meditativesoundscapes. This one-hour excerpt from the music box was recorded in June 18, 2020 of the sky over Berlin, Germany. Find the trailer for the project on Youtube at: https://youtu.be/rcXzER9eEQI
And check out our episode, "Long Time Gone" for more of Michael's amazing work!

If you are looking for some summer reading, may we at the podcast suggest the New York Public LIbrary's massive, and fabulous, Schomburg Center Black Liberation Reading List, published on June 9, 2020. So much good stuff, so much summer reading! 

https://www.nypl.org/blog/2020/06/09/schomburg-center-black-liberation-reading-list

Because until Black Lives Matter, no lives matter. We are all related, beloveds.

Drones, Part 3

Musician, composer, programmer, vertebrate

Site II

onezero