Cast of Characters:

David Marconi — @david-marconi-917184705 — electric guitar, bass, foundation synth plus midi percussion and assorted traditional voices, production, mix, and composition
Elpiverse — @elpiverse — Elpi -- vocals, vocal composition and production
Ron Lewis — @ron-lewis-779503933 — synth 
TexMex Shaman --  @texmex-shaman –Stephen– sitar and mastering
Mistermark – @user-432503709 – Mark – talking drum
Llanpsych-- @llanpsych -- Tez – electric guitar
J.J. Terrell-- @j-j-terrell—JJ-- synth flute and ambient synth
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums and percussion
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – 5-string fretless bass
AliasZen (Elpi's husband) — artwork (created with the help of AI)


This song began with David, who wrote it on the guitar, synth, and bass over a programmed beat he created. He and Josh met more than two months ago and decided to do a collaboration, based on mutual enjoyment of and respect for each other's music. Dave had this song pretty much fleshed out, although it was still a skeleton when he offered it to Josh, who, of course, got the rest of the Eclectic Collective involved. 

  Dave asked us all to compose our own parts for the song, so we all got to work right away doing that. We all realized that the first order of business would be to get a real beat on this, so Ken accomplished that task with some dynamic, Eastern inspired drums and percussion, which he plays throughout the song. JJ then stepped in and added his best eastern flute magic. Stephen was next with the perfect-vibe sitar you hear in the first two sections. 

  Josh came next to add his five-string fretless bass to the mix, augmenting David's high, staccato bass with his deep, low tone bass. Then, for the third section, where David's Gilmore-esque guitar solo resides, Josh drops out, allowing for Dave's awesome bass playing in that section. However, Josh does come in again towards the end, in the final section, too. Also, in that section, Tez dropped an augmented, harmonic, electric fire, complementary guitar part. Then, David's frequent collaborator and friend Ron added some well blended, ethereal synth to the first section, too.

  Once we had the instrumental parts pretty much laid down, we began to discuss getting a woman to sing on this, as David was inspired by The Great Gig in the Sky, by Pink Floyd, and we all agreed. Who we found to do it actually blew all of our minds. JJ, being familiar with her music, contacted Elpi first, and we were all lucky enough that she agreed to do it. Having heard Mediterranean music all her life in Greece, she tapped into what her husband said were her "ancient Greek roots," for her spectacular vocal performance. She finds all the modal notes and places them perfectly throughout her sections. 

  But before we were done, Mark came through with some really striking talking drum parts in the first two sections, too. Once we had everything in the can, David took over, both with some masterful editing and production, and with the balanced, dynamic mix. The mix was a formidable task, but he did it with considerable skill, also taking everyone's opinions into account, which is a talent in and of itself. When he was done with the mix, he turned it over to Stephen for the mastering, which the latter did to everyone's satisfaction, as always.

  This is the first song the Eclectic Collective has done with David, Elpi, and Ron, and we all hope it's the first of many, as we welcome them into the EC family. They all have some wonderful music on their pages, too, so do yourself a favor and check out all of them, as well. We hope you enjoy listening to this song as much as we enjoyed creating it.

New tracks tagged #eastern drums