So about two weeks ago I was in the studio working on a remix, looking for a suitable sound for one of the tracks. I came across a sound that was really cool, but not for what I was working on.
I fiddled with it for a bit, started playing different things, and ended up with something I thought was pretty cool. So I recorded it, named it E8xE8, and uploaded it to SoundCloud.
I had so much fun doing that one that I decided I would try an experiment: could I do a track every other week; write, record, mix, and master all in a couple of hours?
So then last Friday I took a song I had just learned, Ivan Sings by Aram Khatchaturian, re-imagined it in a couple of hours, renamed it The 11th Dimension, and uploaded it.
I found this approach to songwriting and recording extremely challenging, refreshing and quite fun.
The tracks from this experiment will all be downloadable from Soundcloud; I hope you enjoy them, and I certainly welcome any feedback.
The Time Lord was one of the first tracks I wrote for the M-Theory project. Well, the second one; the first was actually for the next EP, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (more about that in another post).
Ever since I started watching Doctor Who (mostly the 4th Doctor episodes that our local PBS station played on Sunday nights about 15 years ago), I casually wondered what it would be like to be the last living member of the human race, like Doctor Who was the last member of the Time Lord race.
Watching the 9th, 10th, and 11th Doctors, the writing throughout these seasons (to me, anyway) seemed to emphasize this point. In most episodes there always seemed to be a hint of the loneliness that the Doctor felt.
So for track The Time Lord, I wanted to try and capture that melancholy and loneliness, but also reinforce the strength and resolve that The Doctor always exhibits.
The third track on the M-Theory: Doctor Who EP is one called Doctor and Master.
While doing research for this EP (read: watching Doctor Who episodes...well, and reading up on the history of the series), I ran across the mention Doctor's nemesis, the Master. I wasn't aware that the Doctor had a nemesis, although it's obvious he has enemies too numerous to count.
It was after watching the last three episodes of Series 3 (the David Tennant Series 3), Utopia, The Drums of War, and The Last of the Time Lords that I realized this "rivalry" between the last two Time Lords would make for a very interesting musical exploration.
If you remember in The Drums of War, this rhythmic figure
plays a central role in the trilogy. A homeless man taps it out on his tin cup; the Master taps it out on the desk after he gasses the cabinet members.
When the Doctor and Master talk on the phone, the Master describes the drumming that is constantly in his head (and that has driven him crazy). And, the Master uses this rhythm in the Archangel Network as a means to control Earth's population. I decided to use this figure throughout.
Further, in The End of Time, Rassilon, the Lord President of Gallifrey reveals that the rhythm is a signal that was planted in The Master's head as a beacon, and also that the rhythm is the beat of a Time Lord's hearts.
And now, here's the fun part of this one. I'm a trombonist in the American Fork Symphony. For our Winter Concert one of the pieces we played was Mars, The Bringer of War from Gustav Holst's The Planets.
(Editorial Note: this is one of my favorite symphonic pieces; if you have never listened to it, you should. Listen to it here; you can get my favorite recording of it here.)
Anyway, we started rehearsing Mars at the same time I was working on the breakdown/middle section of Doctor and Master. And, it dawned on me that the predominant rhythmic figure in Mars is in fact exactly the same as the above figure.
As you can see the first part of the figure is exactly the same. And then, it hit me; I could respray Mars for the breakdown section; change the time signature from 5/4 to 4/4, rewrite the main melody and supporting parts to fit the different time signature, and add my own embellishments to the melody and supporting parts.
Here's a bit of the breakdown section.
The thought also occurred that every time the Master appears, he brings violence and war. There's not a much more fitting way to represent the Master than by using a bit of Mars, The Bringer of War.
Been busy since I posted last. Finally got the first installment in the M-Theory series released; you can get it here.
So...you're wondering what the M-Theory series is? Well maybe you're not, but I'm going to tell you anyway.
M-Theory is an album series that's a tribute to great science fiction television and film. Being a huge science/science fiction junkie (as you may be able to tell by my artist name, M31), I thought it would be really fun and interesting to do three to four tracks inspired by my favorite science fiction television and film.
One night over a year ago, I was reading about a scientific theory called "m-theory, " while I was watching an episode of a British science fiction comedy called Red Dwarf. As I was trying to absorb the explanations of m-theory (which I was rather unsuccessful at, it should be said), it occurred to me that it would be fun to write some tracks that were inspired by movies and television series.
Immediately, Red Dwarf (of course), Doctor Who, and Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy came to mind, as well as Star Wars, Star Trek, and Stargate (the film, not the television series). And there are so many more, I realized. that this would make for a very interesting and challenging project. I decided I'd do three or four tracks for each series, and the first release in the series ended up being M-Theory: Doctor Who.
Why Doctor Who as the first one? Well, as it turns out, strangely enough, my oldest daughter became obsessed with the series over this last summer. She started watching the reboot of the series (starting with Christopher Eccleston as the 9th Doctor). It reminded me of the many Doctor Who episodes I watched on our local PBS station, mainly with Tom Baker as the 4th Doctor. I decided it was a perfect place to start the M-Theory series.
The M-Theory: Doctor Who EP consists of three tracks: Doctor Who (M-Theory Original Mix), The Time Lord, and Doctor and Master.
The next few posts will contain behind-the-scenes info on the production of each of these tracks.
Yeah, I'm a bit late in making this "official" announcement, but....
I'm excited to announce that M31's debut album The Mighty Have Fallen is out now! It's been a 14- year journey, from when I first wrote Avaritia and O Ye Fair Ones to completing the final mastering in October of this year.
Many thanks go to my family for being supportive, and to Randy Graves at NoiseFloor9 Studios in Mapleton, Utah for all his hard work mixing and mastering of the album.
You can find the "official" press release here, and the album is available from CDBaby, iTunes, and Amazon.
