Lee Barry Composition (And Photo) Diary

Added vocal sample treatments, which adds an extra layer of tension to the mix. Interesting that even with the rhythmic density of the music, each part remains distinct, an you can access any part at any moment. The three bass parts lock, but are still loose and not suffering from a case of MIDI-lock or slaving to a click. It will be interesting to see where this thing goes, as I am always tempted to remove or add something. With music like this you can continuously pile parts on for a complete assault of rhythmic intricacy. The only thing that might get lost is the simplicity. Inside Joke 2.5

The next iteration getting ever funkier, now with three interlocking bass parts and a phased Rhodes. Inside Joke 2.1

Try number 2. 2 funky bass parts played against a canned groove on an E7(#9). The clav part is strangely polyrythmic and creates an interesting feel as it drifts in and out of phase with the other parts.. Inside Joke 2.0

A quick bass improv on a polyrhythmic clav loop .

Bass removed--only guitar and keyboard parts, with added ambient padding. Sometimes randomly placing a found voice against existing music brings out the hidden musical aspects of the spoken word. Saturnine Alt 1

Final Mix with all instruments Tempo=126, D Dorian Chords: ||: Dm - F - Gsus - D :||: C - G/B - F - Dm || Bb - C - F -G | Bb - C - F - Dm ||

Started with a bass line on a fretless in D dorian (with borrowed chords from natural minor). I added a 'circular' loop of a hammer dulcimer sound for a Saturn-like treatment. (Sounds like Sting circa 1995) Saturnine

Bass line idea in 2 parts.

This started with a noodling around with the tetrachord G-Ab-B-C on a fretless bass, with the bass gravitating finally to C, defining a C minor tonality. I tuned a 4-string to C-G-C-G and did a loping contra bass part, then did another quasi-ostinato part employing lots of open strings. Finally I added a Floyd-ish guitar part to drive the music even further. There is an 'egyptian orchestra' part that I left out, but if included and more well-composed would make this tune sound more Arabic. The tetrachord used as a cell for melodies is decidedly Arabic-sounding, but is merely part of a C harmonic minor scale--not exotic at all. But that is the interesting thing about tetrachordal playing: it is a fragment of scale that can be used to make something sound ethnic.

Sometimes the best thing is to remove all the overdubs and strip it down to its African roots. Most African music is built up from a rhythmic mesh of polyrhythmic layers. usually in 12/8. This is a variation of that in 16/8. Sussed (Mix 8)