"Better late than never..."

I almost left off the posts for the last two tracks!  Yikes!!!  Here they are:

Collaborator: Jamie Taylor

Book:          Hinds’ Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard

29 February, 2012      

               

Jamie had told me about this book before.  I was interested, yet had not looked it up.  His quotes from the text brought some strong emotions with them…

One of the main characters, Much-Afraid, considers “…the possibility of following Shepherd no longer, of turning back.”  The passage goes on to speak of the sense of fear, of “looking into an abyss of horror” she felt in the absence of Shepherd.  She cries out for Him and He comes, in love, to get her.  Through tears she begs, “…don’t let me leave You.  Don’t let anything turn me back.”

This track is more “compositional,” in a sense, than the others on the album.  I gathered inspiration from Steve Reich’s piece “Clapping Music,” in which two people clap rhythms: one remains the same the whole time, the other shifts throughout the piece until it returns to its beginning position.

The kick drum in this piece is constant (Shepherd); the deep snare moves back a sixteenth note every hit, thus giving the piece an irregular rhythm.

The textures shift from harmonic with birds chirping to angular and glitch-filled, with a pounding bass.

Much-Afraid wrestles her way through until once again she is safe in the arms of Shepherd…

Collaborator: Lisa Salasin

Books:       Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin

                Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

                       

29 February, 2012

One day remained in this project.  One day.  Lisa gave me her book ideas that afternoon.  After an interesting evening of severe weather, I sat down at my netbook to work on her track…

Pride and Prejudice and Eat, Pray, Love…how do these equate?  Good question…

                       

Both books (one non-fiction, the other a memoir) have elements of frustration and the desire to “come through on the other side in a better place,” yet there exists in both a sense of gratitude for having experienced the journey.  In spite of “hasty choices and chaotic passions,” the protagonists in both tales experience a level of growth and maturity that would not have been in their lives had they not engaged their respective paths.

As for the track itself it is straight-up dance floor!  Lisa and I share an affinity for dance/club/house music.  Matter of fact, Lisa organized and co-sponsored the first rave I DJ’ed.  I wanted to communicate a sense of celebration and freedom. 

To quote St. Paul, “…let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance and that sin which so readily clings to and entangles us…” (Hebrews 12:1, AMP)

To quote Kool & the Gang, “Let’s all celebrate and have a good time!”

Blessings,

R+

The Whole Heart

It was a full weekend, it was a full day!  Yet, at 10p last night, I sat down with coffee at the ready and put mouse to computer as I dug into Gregory’s suggestions...

I was drawn especially to two parts of his email.  First, was a quote from the great hymn writer Isaac Watts.  It reads as follows:

“The Great God values not the service of men, if the heart be not in it: The Lord sees and judges the heart; he has no regard to outward forms of worship, if there be no inward adoration, if no devout affection be employed therein.  It is therefore a matter of infinite importance, to have the whole heart engaged steadfastly for God.”

The second part that caught my attention was a synopsis of a series of emails he had been receiving from his Grandma Judy describing her work in the apartment complex in which she lives.

The track begins with a heartbeat pattern, which continues through the whole track until is again the only sound.  Glitches and noise swirl up and try to take our attention away from the heartbeat.  I utilized a favorite loop of a two-chord change, along with bass and drum elements.  All these elements come in, play for a bit and leave, but the heartbeat remains.

The main idea was this: no matter what comes, the sacred heart of Christ continues to beat for His people.

May our hearts ever beat for Him…

R+

3 days...

It seems like we just started this musical journey and here comes the end of it...

As of this writing I have 7 tracks and 37 minutes.  Officially I have satisfied the requirements of the RPM Challenge.  However, I have three collaborators and three days.  This will be cool!

Say a prayer!  Here I go!

Blessings,
R+

Sit, Walk, Stand

God is always correct…

A no-brainer, right?

When I read Philip Hinman’s suggestions the first time, I had the idea to do a three-part work based on the three words of the title.  I tried to go a different route.  The track wasn’t a failure, however it didn’t turn out quite “right.”  I came back to Watchman Nee and gave each word “mini” composition.

“Sit” – I wanted a peaceful, strong atmosphere as we sit in awareness of the presence of Christ.

“Walk” – A world percussion section and vocalists give us a steady pace to tread the earth.

“Stand” – This is a dubstep/house track.  I wanted to give a musical interpretation of Paul’s admonitions in Galatians 5:1 and Ephesians 6:13.

They wade...

It is a cold, damp day in Kansas.  I didn't have a staff meeting or evening class, so into Studio A I went...

Today's track came from the C.S. Lewis classic Prince Caspian, and was suggested by my student worker, Amanda Thomason.

The quote which caught my attention is as follows:

"You couldn't see whether he had feet or roots, of course, because when trees move they don't walk on the surface of the earth; they wade in it as we do in water."

The track begins with the sound of a river and some very low rumbles imitating the "walking" of the trees (think the T-Rex from Jurassic Park).  I had been listening to a decent amount of electronica (particularly dubstep) in the hours before sitting at the computer, thus the electro sound.  However, I felt this track needed the "acoustic" touch with strings and winds to convey the ideology of Narnia.

The tempo is set at 75 bpm, resulting in a steady plod for the trees.  This is juxtaposed with a cut-time drum and bass bridge section featuring a synth lead.

Listening to the track as I type this I am amazed: 1) the various elements come together rather securely to form a unique blend, and 2) this track is nearly 9 MINUTES LONG!!!  This goes on record as one of the longest non-hyperstretched tracks I have composed; maybe even the longest.

I seem to be leaning more toward orchestral sounds for this year's project.  I have one submission remaining in hand and two more on the way.  I would like to add a solo track or two, perhaps from the Kaoss pads...

The trees finish their trek, and I finish my blog post...

From Silence...

I'm in the studio today (FINALLY!!!) and I'm working on the track suggested by friend and worship leader Tiffany Hill.


She gave the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan.  Here is the quote that caught my attention:


"What if I told you to stop talking at God for a while, but instead to take a long, hard look at Him before you speak another word?  Solomon warned us not to rush into God's presence with words.  That's what fools do."


Tiffany and I worshipped together for a handful of years at The Father's House-Hutchinson before she and her husband, Pastor Brett Hill, moved to pastor a congregation in North Carolina.  I began thinking about this quote, and the fact that we shared these epic worship experiences which were full of words.  An ironic starting point...


I've wondered what it would be like to have a congregation used to a loud, high-energy song service (a.k.a. "praise & worship") to come to a point where words fall short and the music is felt unnecessary.


Silence.


We are told it is golden.


Do we truly take that thought to heart?


Is it only true for our "lives" outside the four walls of our local congregation, or does the need for silence encompass all areas of life?


The track begins with some deep breaths...respirations of the Presence of God.


From there synths slowly emerge from the silence, cautiously tiptoeing their way into audibility.  They are smooth and edgy, major and minor - the Presence of God burns away the dross and refreshes the weary soul.


Gently the percussion resounds; a voice echoes, "From silence..."  A normally intrusive sound is rendered to pieces in this atmosphere; a harp sprinkles its praises into the mix.  From there, mouth and hands wordlessly worship God...

A weekend, no work (in the studio)...

So, I was out of the studio all weekend...


Photo of me by Lisa Salasin.



Doesn't say much for attempting to write and record an album in a month...

This afternoon I will be back in there, working on finishing Jesse's track and starting on Jacob Kaufman's track.

Jacob is an avid reader, a brilliant musician and theologian, and purveyor of wisdom.  It has been a blessing to call him a brother in Christ, mentor, and, above all, friend.

A few months ago he began to tell me about a book called Hip-Hop Redemption.  In his synopsis of the book, Jacob said, "[Author Ralph Basui] Watkins encourages the Christian community to consider the genre, learn what it is about, and then realize that God can use it for wonderful purposes."

As a Christian priest who DJ's, composes/performs electronica, and beatboxes, I find the last part of Jacob's statement to be prophetically comforting.

When I began to compose house music back in 1998 (the days of step MIDI programming), I knew it to be the land of club music, except for techno-pop covers of Christian music which seemed to be one-offs by record companies trying to find a foothold in the rave community.  Thus my journey as a Christian electronica artist was, like much of the electronica scene as a whole until recently, underground until about six years ago...

I had made EPs of electronica stuff for my dad.  He has been one of my most ardent fans through this all.  It wasn't until I went back to school the first time to begin my studies for ordination that I decided to make public my electronic leanings.  Mass Communications was born of that time.  Since that time I have put out several EPs and a couple albums, with more to come in 2012.  My hope, like that of Watkins' and Jacob's, is that the Christian community will see and hear God working through electronica music and "...realize that God can use it for wonderful purposes."

Thanks, Jake!