'Silly String' - Individual Song Breakdowns ____________________________________________________________ "Lollygag (Clown Nose)" (154 BPM)        This wacky tune begins with a pattern that I stumbled upon whilst improvising on my kit when in Texas for Sky Eats Airplane rehearsals (it was after band practice, so I was alone doin' mah thang). Said pattern became the 'engine' for the A sections. As for the B sections, I was listening to a lot of Spastic Ink at the time so I feel as if the Jarzombek bros--along with good ol' FZ, of course--could've been a wellspring of inspiration. The tail end of the B sections contains a riff phrased in 8th-note quintuplets but with a melody of 7 within the quintuplets. This segues into the more 'open' C sections that serve to provide contrast to the chaos lying within most of the tune, heh. Then it's back to the A section, only with one repeat of the first riff and some different snare placement in the second. The second B section contains more madness, then the beginning of the next C section features a very brief 3-8 metric modulation on the drum set while still hitting all of the chordal stabs. The very last drum fill-in is phrased in 8th-note triplets to provide somewhat of a segue into the solo section. My concept for this section was to re-format the A section riff into 8th-note triplets, but to still have it fit within the 4-5/5-4 compound time signature. It begins with the drums propelling a half time feel amidst the time signatures, then switches to a 'metric-modulated' half time feel within the 8th-note triplets--while maintaining the appropriate cymbal accents--to announce the beginning of the trade-off solo section. Speaking of, another concept I had in place for this section was to take two very disparate-sounding instruments (also disparate in origin/culture) and pair them together; thus, the koto/organ combination. After the drum break, the final C section contains an open hi-hat superimposing 5-16 over the chordal stabs--along with some tricky fill-ins complementing the koto--to prepare the listeners' ears for more 5-16 drum set chaos. The syncopations simmer down and a melodic theme that was introduced in the A sections ends the piece. As for the title, the "Lollygag" portion is because that's what I felt I was doing during that period of my life (passing time whilst searching for a vocalist for SEA, although one could argue that I was being constructive, haha) and the subtitle alludes to the fact that I wedged a very brief 'honking clown noise' sound somewhere in the song. Can you find the clown nose? ____________________________________________________________ "From Riches to Rags" (92 BPM)        The A sections of this tune are based around 16th-note displacements. The brief segue bars contain melodic phrasings of 7 within 8th-note triplets. After the first, the guitar switches from a 'clean' sound to a wah-driven sound, a very cool recommendation by Gabriel Riccio (he re-amped the guitar for this track along with "Lollygag"). I love how the VST kicks in here as well; it was fun composing a heavy-sounding tune supplemented with something off-the-wall like a celesta. Moreover, slap bass enters this section of the tune (as well as the latter reprise), something that I originally composed and was then revamped entirely by Conner Green. The second segue bar contains a 16th-note unison quintuplet at the end, followed by a drum fill-in. This leads into a rapid-fire groove with synth brass, which drops into the same groove phrased at half of the initial phrasings: 32nds+16ths to 16ths+8ths, etc. This serves as the foundation for the solo section. I really appreciate pairing a synth sound with bells, and this was the first time I ever tried something like that; it was actually the first 'solo' I ever composed. When the solo ceases, the foundational rhythm is mangled a little then it segues into a frenetic, wacky section in 7-8 with more synth brass accompaniment. An absurdly fast 32nd-note 12th tuplet unison drum fill-in (I love whatever the hell Evan did with the guitar there!) into a 8th and 16th-note septuplet fill-in segues back into a reprise of the A section. The segue bars are different now, with 16th triplets instead of 8ths. Also, the unison fill-in after the first segue bar contains a triplet within the second triplet partial. The final segue bar closes the tune, with the original 16th-note unison quintuplet now doubled to 32nds and lastly accompanied with synth brass. As for the title, I simply felt that switching the two nouns in the popular adage/archetypical saying sounded amusing. ____________________________________________________________ "Hold On" (107 BPM)        This short song begins with a drum intro that serves to provide no pulse. This notion blends well into the first A section, which--although a pulse is established--features a purported feel, as the true pulse is eventually revealed. The B sections are a bit more groovy and less cluttered with notes, and the first one contains a segue bar with the very brief "Hold On" theme (imagine saying "hold on" in an annoyed manner--thus, the title) before immediately dropping back into a second A section. After two bars, the true pulse of the groove is revealed (16th-note quintuplets) and after a unison triplet, it segues back into the B section. If memory serves, the first variation of the C section drum pattern was based on another pattern I stumbled upon when improvising after SEA rehearsals. After a few repetitions, the pattern 'straightens' out a bit and transitions to a third A section; this time, it begins with the true pulse accompanied note-for-note with the synth. When the synth line changes to a 5-note pattern, the rhythm lowers in value by one numeral with every 10 notes: two groupings of 16th-note quintuplets, ten 16th notes. Then, two groupings of 8th-note triplets and an 8th ride bell+quarter-note kick close out the section (I wanted it to 'hang' a little) just before a quick floor tom flam. After a third B section with some drum variation, a strange drum fill-in occurs that sounds as if it's partially falling downstairs and slowing down; it seems to 'fall' into the "Hold On" theme, although phrased longer with 8th notes. A second/final C section occurs, with the second drum variation featuring a proper 2+4 snare placement on top of the 5-4 time signature. The snare becomes more insistent and the tune closes with a few more stabs than the first C section. ____________________________________________________________ "Big Dogs" (82 BPM)        The A sections of this piece are based around 16th-note quintuplets; the crash cymbals on the downbeats complement the chord progression. The B sections contain the "Ellis Alley" groove (I elucidate upon this concept in the corresponding song description here, although permutated, yet still within the bounds of 4-4. The C sections are aggressive and syncopated. An 8th-note unison quintuplet serves as a segue into the D sections, which are also syncopated--but 'chunkier'--and in 7-4. After the second A section, the second B section is a half step higher, entirely. This concept continues on throughout the second C section, until the bar with the unison quintuplet; this time the bar is elongated by an 8th note--making it 11-8--and the melody drops down one more half step (on the added 8th note) to segue back into the D section with the same melodies as before, although with even more syncopation. There's one last A section featuring the same 3-note rhythm as before, although phrased in 16th-note sextuplets to cap off the excitement and heaviness of the piece. As for the title, I simply love doggies--grew up with both dogs and cats as a kid, so I'm an animal lover--and it felt right to slip in a little tribute, both title-wise and with a cacophonous froth of an intro. ____________________________________________________________ "Desensitization" (110 BPM)        "Desensitization" bears the distinction of being my latest composition that has seen a release, as I wrote it last for 'Silly String'; that is, until 'Projects II' is released, hehe. Anyway, this piece was composed pretty linearly/stream-of-consciousness style. I set out to write something fast and aggressive (the title alludes to the process of 'desensitizing' myself to playing at very fast tempii) and it turned into what you now hear. A small chunk of the B section opens the tune, along with a unison guitar/drum fill-in. The A sections are based around 16th-note displacements. The segue bars between the A and B sections are based around quintuplets. The B sections contain quick 'bomb blasts' on the drum set with some other fill-ins. Particularly, in the second bar there's a brief 16th-note sextuplet pattern with a ride bell superimposing every 4 beats on top; the guitar locks in with the 16th-note triplets and the bass guitar locks in with the ride bell. In the last bar of the B section, there's another fill-in comprised of two groupings of 16th-note sextuplets with three 'stabs' phrased within 4-note clusters; the cymbal orchestration complements the notes. The second A section contains four repetitions rather than three, with the third seeing the snare doubled as 32nd notes. Also, on the fourth repeat the melodies rise by a half step. The second B section is similar to the first, only with a few variations. The dramatic setup of the C section introduces a rhythm in 23-16, which--when translated into a groove--carries over into 5 bars of 4-4 and a bar of 3-4. The drums first state this groove in a heavier aesthetic, with the kicks and tom-toms cycling the 23-16 stabs and the crash cymbals trading off for a stereo effect. Then, after a drum fill-in, it switches to a funkier aesthetic with some ride/bell/hi-hat syncopations. The final segue bar is actually two bars--with the second switching to 16th sextuplets rather than quintuplets--with a 32nd-note snare fill-in at the tail end to ramp up the intensity again. The last B section is the same as the first, only with the chinese cymbal mute omitted. There's a very brief quarter note rest then we're off to the races with the final tune on 'Silly String'. ____________________________________________________________ "Watchpork" (84 BPM)        (This is the original song description from when I released it as a single.) "Watchpork" was originally composed in mid-2009 while auditioning new vocalists for Sky Eats Airplane. It is one of three tunes that I wrote during this time. Longtime followers may remember me mentioning this after my solo in my TRX Cymbals Demo video. The title is the word 'patchwork' with the 'p' and 'w' flipped around, an allusion to the B section, which sounds like various parts of songs sewn together. "Watchpork" also sounds quirkier and more Zappa-esque than "Patchwork", haha.        Oddly, I formulated the piano part that comprises the A sections first and then wrote the drums. I wanted to try to make 4-4 sound utterly indistinguishable. There are some fairly dense polyrhythms here; at one point, the drums are playing 16th-note quintuplets (the kick drum is locked with the piano) split between the kick drum and pedal hat, while the hands (accompanying the harpsichord) orchestrate 8th-note triplets (full-on and broken), 16th-notes and 16th-note septuplets on top. The constantly-changing time signatures in the B section were inspired by Marco Minnemann's "Isn't It 01?", although I went in a different direction, melodically, with the 'patchwork' concept.        Being a drummer, I was probably predisposed to write a tune with a 'drum feature' in it eventually, hah. The C section is such, with no real motifs explored or repeated, but an assemblage of crazy licks and tuplets, etc. Thus, the inclusion of accompaniment by the bass and harpsichord serve to ground it; I play off of these instruments on occasion with some proper grooves and some 'metric-modulated' grooves, but they're pretty quickly abandoned. A piano melody peeks in every five bars and the drums complement it in varied ways.        The bridge starts off slow, with groupings of 2, 3, 4, and 5, then immediately jumps to 10, followed by two groups of 12. It slows down at a comparable rate, but explores two other tuplets in the process: 9, 7, 5, 3, 1. An abbreviated reprise of the A section closes the tune, but with the drums now keeping a common backbeat, [hopefully] conveying that said section is indeed in 4-4. There is a longer delay (by a quarter note) before the 11-tuplet and then my silly song is over! Thanks for reading.

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