Thursday, March 3, 2016

new song and recording: "Pearls to Swine"

The song is called "Pearls to Swine". I wrote and recorded it in March 2016. A recording, tablature, lyrics, and the composition notes are posted below.

Recording


Tablature

Tablature is available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzqNzl6eyl0MT0ZFSlUzQmJWbzQ/view?usp=sharing

Code to produce the tablature PDF is at https://github.com/emw314159/tracks

Composition Notes

My primary "design goal" was to create tension--strategically. For example, consider the last two measures: I end the song assertively but without the expected final downbeat and without the expected harmonic rhythmic resolve. This leaves an uncomfortable finale. I also use a lot of asymmetry in the non-vocal parts and the fill/transition durations to enhance tension, but not so much asymmetry that I lose the audience.

To use tension successfully in a composition you also have to release it. That is what the verse instrumentation does; it also gets out of the way for the vocals. The chorus instrumentation is a little tenser, but not as much as possible due to stable rhythms, symmetry, and chord changes.

The chorus is the only time in the song I intentionally use chord changes. There are probably chord changes elsewhere in the tune, but I haven't analyzed it and it wasn't on my mind while composing. Instead I was thinking chromatically, especially for the introduction.

Regarding the introduction, it took me as long to write and record it as the rest of the song combined.

Unusual for me, and like when I drafted "Talk", I wrote the lyrics in under an hour. Typically I'll spend days on the task. Like "Talk", I didn't use rhymes. There is only one metaphor--"pearls to swine"--and it is not a complicated one. Naturally it is a common reference to the New Testament.

The bass instrumentation is unique for me: I used two electric basses simultaneously in the second verse and all but the first chorus. In these choruses the bass use is separated by an octave. However I also added one and then two simultaneous synth bass arpeggiators in the second and final choruses, respectively. So this tune is bass heavy and a bit "muddied". I like the effect; we’ll see how others do, and more importantly, how well it works through a PA system.

The guitar use is sparse. I designed it so that the guitar player can sing at the same time. This person is most likely going to be me, and most likely how I'll manage a live performance singlehandedly. See here for an explanation of how I've successfully used this setup before.

I used additional arpeggiators in the high register, sometimes simultaneously, in the final chorus to add harmonic layers. I also used synth effects at the beginning. I'm not 100% happy with these effects and want to learn better tools for creating the sounds I envision in my head.

Lyrics

I gave you kindness and respect
You threw it back in my face
I cast you my pearls
You ground them into the floor
Now I just want to stop wasting time on you
Now I just want to stop loving you

But how can I walk away from how I feel?
How can I choose not to care?
How can love go so badly?
How can love go so badly?

This is not who I want to be
Stuck with feelings that go nowhere
Stuck in a tired pattern
Casting my pearls to swine
Now I just want to stop wasting time on you
Now I just want to stop loving you

But how can I walk away from how I feel?
How can I choose not to care?
How can love go so badly?
How can love go so badly?

This is not who I want to be
This is not who I want to be

Live Performances

  • 23 May 2016 at Mr. Peabody's in Encinitas, CA
  • 24 May 2016 at 1st Street Bar in Encinitas, CA
  • 25 May 2016 at O'Sullivan's Irish Pub in Escondido, CA

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