Hitch-hikers Rocked My World

I have to say, even though it is Disney and I feared the worse, Hitch-hikers was a surprisingly cool movie! I was even pleased to see the original BBC mini-series version of Marvin make a cameo in the queue on Vogsphere. Some of the humor was cleaned up for families but overall it wasn't dumbed down too much, which is way cool. There was some older lady sitting behind us that was super annoying. She kept commenting the whole time how she didn't get it and it was stupid and it was the worst thing she's ever seen in her life. Okay, fine. You don't get it I can understand that. But keep your mouth shut so the rest of us that do get it can enjoy it! I apologize if I seem too blunt but really. It's just common courtesy.

And now... the answers because I think most of you, or all that care to guess, have guessed on the lyrics posted.

( artists and songs revealed! )

Musical Tidbits

It's amazing what one finds when one roots around in piles of stuff. I was sorting through my old tape collection when I found a couple singles (Ratt and Winger) that Shannon gave to me years ago as a gift for (I believe) my birthday, the old anti-Jeff tape Steve and I made and some old demo tapes. I found a couple little gems I thought I'd share.

This first one is a song I started writing in DADGAD tuning. As usual I played the intro far longer than it really sounds like it wanted to be, as well as the first iteration of the "verse" riff. Oh yeah, and I played the "verse" riff too fast. Check it out:

the DADGAD song idea

Then there was this little guitar texture I had taped so I wouldn't forget it (or at least find it years later as the case is). It's just three guitars playing layered arpeggios/melodies on top of each other. Neat little thing, really, though the recording is really crummy. Check it out:

guitar texture clip

I also rooted around some old papers sitting in with my music texts and found some interesting little gems there, too. Since they were both sheet music I've used a MIDI writer program to actually make them into something to which you can listen. The first isn't so bad since it almost sounds as it was intended (minus dynamics), but the second is awful. Just deal with it, please.

The first is the Opening Theme for Arkanoid 2K. I composed this for my friend Tom's senior project, which was an updated version of the arcade classic Arkanoid 2K. He asked me for something upbeat that sounded very much akin to the original game's theme. Of course this meant a walking tuba bassline and some jumpy little string bits and a synth lead that was possibly doubled up an octave higher. Also lots of perfect intervals a la John Williams. This is the result. Unfortunately my little program didn't afford me a good tympani sound for the ending, so just imagine the little bum-bum of the kettle drums, much like the end of the thinking music for Jeopardy. Check it out:

Arkanoid 2K Opening Theme

And lastly this is a little four-voice chorale piece I composed for one of my upper level Musicianship courses in college. It includes a couple key changes (from g minor to E-flat Major back to g minor then to B-flat Major back to g minor then again E-flat Major and ending in g minor), heavy use of both the ii and vii diminished chords, a couple instances of the French and German augmented sixth chords, the picardi third and my personal favorite: the pedal tone! It's a neat little piece, and the lyrics were selected lines chosen from the poems "A Grace For A Child," "Upon Prue, His Maid" and "To His Book's End" in satire of Robert Herrick. For those not in the know, Robert Herrick was a 17th century English poet and contemporary of John Donne. Check it out:

Satire on Robert Herrick

The words for this four-voice chorale were:

Here a child I stand,
heaving up my either hand;
cold as paddocks though they be,
here I lift them up to thee
for a benison to fall
on our meat and on us all.
In this little urn is laid
Prudence Baldwin, once my maid,
from whose happy spark here let
spring the purple violet.
To his book's end this last line he'd have placed.
Jocund his muse was but his life was chaste.
Here a child I stand,
heaving up my either hand;
cold as paddocks though they be,
here I lift them up to thee
for a benison to fall
on our meat and on us all.