‘Dotty Ditties, Volume 4: These Are New Songs’ Individual Song Breakdowns ____________________________________________________________ Individual Song Breakdowns "Haulin’ Ass" (drum transcription) The lyrics in this song are based on my own travel misfortunes, although both ‘Haulin’’ hooks came to me on a separate trip, coincidentally while also at an airport. I had transcribed the notes I was singing with a tuning app, a process I’d utilized before, and made note of them for later use. Fast-forward to 01JUL22: I was in the sprinter van, on tour with Darkest Hour. We had played San Francisco the previous day and were headed to San Diego (I know this only from looking up the tour routing online). I came up with the intro partially using those very notes, and grew the song from there. The original vocal take for the verse was a bit different. The attitude wasn’t present and it was all tracked in the same style as the lines, “wish I was at the terminal”, “and there goes…”, etc. I thought it sounded a tad off, but as usual I’m slightly more worried about intonation than delivery, since I’m still very much a novice. My pal Gabriel Riccio mentioned that part, confirming my suspicions, so I dug into the bratty-punk approach and did two more takes, yielding a much better flow of energy. Relative to other Ditties and my other releases, I really practiced my ass off to play the bass parts for this EP. Some of the material was based on cataloged riffs, but much of it was inadvertently written to be highly difficult. In search of better bass tone, I invested in a Warwick Thumb (a five-string, as my ESP B-1004MS was fulfilling the role of a badass four quite well) and did not want to dishearten the Bass Gods, especially after such a significant upgrade. I would jokingly refer to it as my ‘midlife crisis’ purchase. The synth lead and theremin in the second pre-chorus were tracked on the same day that I tracked the outro theremin solo in “Desideratum” (more later). The theremin is sorta locked in with the drum pattern. And I cannot overstate how much fun it is to configure one of my synth apps (Animoog, in this instance) to have a set scale and just go crazy, since there are no ‘wrong’ notes. It took me very little time to land on what I ended up tracking. It feels like I’m playing a video game with cheat codes. Lyrics: I got to the airport late Traffic staved my lane Wish I was at the terminal Just a bored shit Rushin’ through security Left my fuckin’ bag behind me And there goes the shuttle I need Now I’m so fucked (chorus) Haulin’ ass, haulin’ ass Haulin’ ass, haulin’ ass Haulin’, haulin’, haulin’ ass Haulin’, haulin’, haulin’ ass I don’t think I will make it Please hold the horde, don’t board (chorus) “During the Night” (percussion chart) Until now, every Ditties release has been sequenced per date that I begin to compose the tunes. For some strange reason, the song-to-song flow has seemed to work best in that manner. This is the first deviation, as I had begun to work on it after I had returned home from tour, whereas “I Smile, Prima” was (along with ‘Haulin’’) birthed in the midst of tour. I could also not resist the absurdity of the dynamic contrast between the end of this tune and the beginning of ‘Smile’. This was another instance of having a vocal hook and a few lyrics as preliminary material, and coupled with the desire to pen a piece a cappella. I ended up re-tracking both choruses once I came to the realization that I still had a Shure Green Bullet - what a fantastic lo-fi mic! Although I wanted to keep it entirely a cappella, I felt that the percussion smoothly moved things along as the tune progressed. The finger-snaps in the second verse are purposefully flammed, hehe. Lyrics: During the night, above the tree line Siphon the mind, teardrops from a pine Fractious kitty cat, contrasting heaven’s matte Ain’t it grand, in the hinterland Enshrouded by the, the unseen depths I’m waiting for the moon, and my own death During the night, fantasy takes flight Inconnus stir, nature confers Refulgent moonlight, my head is swimming in fright Tempest blooms, asphodels entomb Is the world an abstraction, created in my head Is life a distraction, funded by the dead Enshrouded by the, the unseen depths I’m waiting for the moon, and my own death "I Smile, Prima" (drum transcription) As with ‘Haulin’’, I had the chorus ‘hook’ in my head for some time before I began composition. It was a little difficult ascertaining the notes I was reaching for since they were to be screamed, but the tuning app that I frequently use can also—eventually, with repeated tries—accurately deliver the notes if it can get past the harmonic overtones. Anyway, work started on this one in a hotel room in Denver on a day off, on 04JUL22. I remember writing the bass riff that follows the intro/chorus ruthlessly, as I had every intention of sampling/programming it, heh. The title of this is an anagram of ‘imperialism’. The bed of distortion that wafts in around 0:47 is comprised of several superpower national anthems, randomly cut up and heavily processed. I sampled my own voice saying, “creation, to achieve annihilation!” (I’m fairly certain it’s a quote from a book that I was reading; perhaps it was Thomas Wolfe’s Of Time and the River) and looped it in time with the superpower loop, which also repeats (listen for the melodic lift in the left channel). The C section is heavily saturated with sound design elements. For the clang-y, industrial sounds, I used a passing train that I sampled in Munich, as well as some brass practice sticks, yanked from the session for the ‘Redux’ version of “Hold On”. The other repeated sound is something else that I captured with the handy voice-app on my phone: a rubber band being doffed from a plastic container of food. I was pleasantly surprised at how textured of a sound it produced and immediately captured it. It was thoroughly difficult mixing this one, particularly the choruses. Balancing the guitars, synths, tapped bass riff, vocals, drums - sheesh. The audio effect at the very end was randomized and thusly different every time because of the way the plug-ins that I was using on the master channel interacted with and processed the audio information. If I went back in and re-bounced the mix today, it wouldn’t be the same. I really like the version that ended up being final. Lyrics: (chorus) On I plow, here I seethe Raging with decadence and greed On I plow, on I sow The bombs of pestilence, forever they’ll glow Turn it off, SHUT It down, make it STOP The machine won’t grow if we stop feeding it The machine won’t flow if we stop cleaning it The machine won’t grow if we stop feeding it The machine won’t flow if we stop cleaning it This contraption brought our death With my final breath Curse the rulers of eld Prophecy fulfilled (chorus) "Errant, Cagy" (drum transcription, percussion overdub transcription) If memory serves, I think that my main impetus for this one was to write something that would challenge Mary (pianist), and provide me with a reason to record/play my mandolin, hah. It’s primarily based on alternating D/D# bebop scales. I ended up re-tracking the clean guitar parts with an Ibanez Artcore AF-55 that I later purchased, it has such a great sound. The B section was based around an aforementioned-cataloged bass riff that I modified to lock in with the kick/snare pattern (which also informed this section, as I wanted to write a deceiving groove that sorta reveals itself via polyrhythmic interplay). The transitional sections at 0:58 and 2:08 are based around 11-tuplets. This one is all over the place, vocally: lower and higher chest voice, lots of head voice, and even a brutal scream. I’m really proud of the head-voice stuff that I executed. The song takes a turn around 2:38, although it still adheres to the alternating bebop scale formula. This entire second half is wholly yanked from a demo that I co-wrote with a former guitarist from Darkest Hour, although I (obviously) did not use anything that he contributed. The section with the synth solos was originally written for two intertwining guitars, and I thought Mary would’ve condemned me, haha, but she pulled it off with aplomb! I also wrote a solo for her in the second chorus. Speaking of the section with synth solos, I didn’t write that part with soloing in mind, but one night I was again having fun with the Animoog on a set scale and let loose. The second synth is Jordan Rudess’s GeoShred. Oh, and the little effect transitioning into the second chorus is a combination of feedback and an Ebow. The song title is another anagram. Lyrics: What you say goes, what you say goes What you say goes, what you say goes, right? Cavil on, cavil on Cavil on, cavil on Please transfigure out your doubt Again it’s the last time I promise we have long passed by our prime Take the chance one last time You knew better Why should I fucking care Leave here now I can’t blame you I deserved it, I deserved it On and on Horologe turns dextral 'Round and, 'round and, 'round and, 'round and On and on Is comity not far off Maybe it is, maybe it is On and on Engaging reflection, retrospection I wasn’t ready for you Engaging reflection, retrospection Once rife with bile, but I’ll Cherish whatever we had "Desideratum" (drum transcription) The last piece, initiated on 28JUL22. I simply wanted to write a song in a key to induce some limitations, this being in E minor. This concept was married with a groove that I voice-recorded some time ago. I even tuned my snare to E and didn’t play any rimshots - had never done that before! The intro was rendered way cooler with a preset effect in Echoboy that I stumbled onto one day while mixing. Also added some breaths (regular and reversed-audio) and some Stylophone and another synth (I think something from the Waldorf Nave) cooking and bubbling beneath the surface. Ah yes, I also wanted to write something to make use of the Arturia B-3 organ VST that I have, thus the organ in this piece. You can tell that I’m actively listening through the tune as I’m writing this breakdown, hah. Strangely, I practiced the hell out of the two bass lines prior, but upon tracking, my fingers just sorta naturally began positioning themselves in a way that muted the strings quickly and more efficiently than before, and it ended up yielding a much cooler tone, almost fretless-esque. I love singing low notes, and this song is a reflection of that. If I could be magically endowed with an extra octave, I’d go lower. The disparity displayed back and forth in the verses (mid/high chest voice+head voice, then bass) is something that I enjoy. There’s an F#1 layered at 1:06 (“time”) that I, admittedly, made in Pro Tools by annunciating the consonant, sliding down to the F#, then editing it together. I think the effect is pretty chilling though, so I kept it. I did not compose this with a theremin solo in mind. I had purchased a fantastic, inexpensive one—Burn’s Great Sounding Theremin at a Great Price; yes, that’s the actual model, haha—along with the mandolin and a shehnai flute earlier that year. I decided to give it a shot on a whim, and holy hell was it difficult. It took me 30-60 min to not only come up with a cadence but also get the intonation right. Next time I take a theremin solo, it won’t be in so stringent of a key, hah! Lyrics: On this lone strand I await you Gloaming obsequies ensue Lambent gossamer of blue Through the simoon I will find you Within the folds of time I watch with a plentiful eye Cognoscenti will not fend me I'll press on, searching blind Gloaming obsequies ensue Lambent gossamer of blue Here, still I lie Frore valedictory; my goodbye

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