Steve Ball

Song Sketches: First Cover

Recap: early morning (baby) sitting with Sofie and Nella Mae, returning a favor for Tim and Jenn who enabled us to see our first movie in over a year, The Dark Knight last weekend at Cinerama.  Payback.

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Evening: final decisions on song order and CD3 cover art, also now nearing completion:  

   

The hard part about completing a process is the decisions that reduce potential.  The pool of 45 songs that will make up the Sketch Box are being drawn from about 75 contenders.   And even within these, what needs enhancement or editing is interesting, but at this point, what to cut is the more interesting question. 

Now: running order and draft Collage Covers are complete for all three CDs, and all that remains is transitions, final listening, mastering, and the rest of the artwork.  All.  That is a lot of All.  

This is the fun part: spent some time this evening mixing a Fripp Soundscape and a subtle JGB quote into the beginning of Undertone. 

In the process, I re-listened to both JGB Future Communities tapes.  Some serious gems in there, and this content is still 100% relevant almost exactly 35 years later. 

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Piano Sketches: First Cover

Recap: calisthenics and sitting for four this morning.  Calisthenics began with slow single note Chord Circulations where there is little time to think or plot your next note.  

Chord Circulation: each player plays a single note forming a four note chord, and each takes a turn changing their note, in sequence, one a time so that there is always a four note chord, changing slowing and played within a known pulse.  This is a reliable means of improvising un-plannable chord sequences and a way of practicing intentional harmonic movement within a simple structure.   

Then: Nine Lives in nine minutes, some whole tone exhilaration, followed by four Group Loops.  

Then, after sitting, coffee and conversation at Stumptown where we ran into Zune work-pal Thamer who had not yet seen this NY Times article calling the Zune "the Antipod."   Fun conversation comparing and contrasting design at Microsoft vs. Apple (where David LaVallee, now in Live Labs, once had some influence.)

Then, a spirited and satisfying rehearsal outside on the Creative Space deck testing out stunning new PA options. 

Evening: next steps for CD2.

 

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Guitar Sketches: First Cover

Recap: moving closer to completion which also means the Songtile Collage cover is also close:

Like my previous box set, this one will also have two covers per CD: one representing the collage, and one representing the signature song for the set.

I also have some excellent pencil sketches from Duncan which will help fill out the inner sleeve and connect the three CDs in the set.  

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