[perhaps a bad acid trip]
When we were given the assignment to do something with fear, and it had to be a somewhat "experimental" project, I knew that creating a song for this assignment would be interesting. The last four songs I had created all used mostly standard instruments for me - that is, guitar, bass, piano, and various drums and synthesizer sounds from Garageband. This song, I knew, had to be quite different.
Thus I set forth creating a song in Garageband that would instill "fear" in those who listened to it. Using music to actually create emotions in listeners, especially one as strong as fear, is no small feat. You have to break all the rules of music. So I knew what I wanted was something extremely dissonant, with a distinct rhythm that was just a little off-kilter (I used a 12-bar progression, with tritone intervals moving up at minor second rates. Basically, it was really dissonant). On top of that, I heavily modulated each tone to make the "music" sound non-musical, though it definitely has a rhythm and a progression. This song is definitely a "song," just as definitely as it is "music." I doubt many people would agree with that statement though.
http://www.myspace.com/capgrasx13/music/songs/pharmacophobic-psychosis-82221274
After the spoken parts at the beginning (that are, "So, you've finally awakened, and just in time. It's time for your next injection...This is a new drug we are developing for interrogation. You will soon begin to feel it's full effect...This drug is called Phobioneurolin. It is designed to simulate nightmares..."), the music begins to slowly fade in, in an attempt to recreate the feeling of the creeping-in of a drug's affect. After expanding and becoming more chaotic for some time, the music cuts to a clean guitar arpeggio with a low-bit ocarina floating around the background. During the first section, the voice from the beginning speaks about nightmares being where our true fears present themselves, and that fear can be used to control and enslave. After this, a single, heavily modulated voice sings "You are all I ever wanted, I would do anything for you. But you'll never love me. I can never have you." As soon as the word "you" is muttered, the music from before cuts back in, this time with two driving guitar lines and a heavy-industrial drum line. This music continues for a short time then fades out as the drugs wear off. At the end, the voice says, "You've done well. You taught us quite a lot indeed. Get some rest. Your next trial begins soon..."
Obviously, this song was intended to cause unrest in the listeners. There were some parts put in to attempt to get some "jump factor," but most of the music is simply intended to be disoriented and uneasy.
The reaction I got from the class was somewhat ambiguous, though I saw that the effect I was attempting to create was conveyed, whether it drove itself home or not. If I could change something to better the effect, it would definitely involve a better sound system, so that the deep, minute changes would be obvious and the panning effects would be noticeable - that was one of the most important parts of the song.
Something I think I'm noticing is a tendency among the audience to listen to the "music" more than the "feel" of the song. This is neither here nor there, as I quite enjoy having my compositional skills critiqued and paid attention to. But this song is a song that needs to be listened to in an experiential listening mode. I'm not necessarily implying that that was not the way it was listened to, but it is definitely the better way to listen.
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The part of the day that affected me the most was Sofia's. The reason it had the greatest effect on me was because it was totally unresolved. Knowing your fears is one thing, that makes you capable of avoiding them or approaching them in an attempt to conquer them. But unknown, which we all have, are the most terrifying. As a human, being creatures of habit and control, the unknown in and of itself is frightening. But when that unknown is fear itself, it's hard to imagine anything other than a self-perpetuating cycle. This is a grossly poetic idea, unknown fears being the most frightening. That could show up in a song with no problem at all.
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Since we didn't have an assignment for this week, nor class on Monday, I took it upon myself to compose another song for the album. Though it is not for any particular assignment, I decided that this is my album, and I can add a song to it as I desire. Not that there would be a reason why I couldn't, but I had planned for this album to be just a straight in-order list of songs that I made for each assignment. But Sunday night a song came to be and it seemed to fit perfectly after Pharmacophobic Psychosis. Placed as the sixth song on the album, after five songs that were relatively in-your-face, especially the fifth, I decided it was time for some laid-back, pleasing music. Thus, Ain't It Sad was born.
http://www.myspace.com/capgrasx13/music/songs/ain-39-t-it-sad-82221248
Just a guitar and a harmonica (with a fuzz wah effect on it) fade in playing an Am-CM chord progression followed by a Dm-Am progression. When the vocals start, the first verse is a short verse I had written on my wall in chalk, that goes like this: "Hi there, what is your name? I am Albert the Fish. How is Albert the Fish? I am doing quite well. That is good to hear, goodbye." This was supposed to be a somewhat Carrollian verse, full of nonsense and with the only intention of word flow and rhythm.
The next verse are two lines I had written on the back of a pay stub while I was walking around downtown one day, and they go as follows: "If a baby bird falls from its nest to its death, does its mother cry? Do the stars in the night shed a single tear of light when their best friends die?" This is followed by the chorus of "Ooh, ain't it sad?"
This song is supposed to be just really a reflection song. When I came up with these lines, I was just trying to come up with some cool lines that had an interesting message, some double meanings (perhaps, that's up for the listeners to discern), and good flow.
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