About the songs


	Schisa Productions


Home	Music	Software	Contact	About US


	about "One man band with the dogs"

History

Early in 1988 I fell into creating the music on the CD "One Man Band With The Dogs". The music was mostly completed by early 1989. I am the sole composer, arranger, musician and studio engineer for this music which was originally created using a "mac plus" computer and music keyboard synthesizers utilizing midi (musical instrument digital interface), along with sequencing, sampling and composing software available for the mac at the time, the final mix being recorded on a tape recorder. In 2002 I remixed & augmented the material using contemporary digital techniques.

The name of the CD refers to my faithful companions during the development of the music.

Note: second six songs in the set (not currently on web site) were created with a slightly different "band" set-up, and were nearly completed (sound OK to me for the most part) when I moved to where there was at the time no place for modern technology.

The Songs (created in the order given)

Spring Migration:

Refers to the journey many creatures take soon after the dawning of a new cycle of the sun. Repetitive base line supposed to suggest the rolling gait of a large mammal on the move. Other melodic insertions as other creatures making said journey along their respective paths, often crisscrossing each other .

Flowers to the Top of the Hill:

In many journeys there are hills to climb. As one ascends and the effort becomes difficult, the plants along the way continue to grow, blossom and turn towards the light. This proliferation of vegetation and one's passage through it is supposed to be suggested in the song.

Those Left Behind:

For whatever reason, some are left behind from somewhere and their existence recedes beyond one's experiential horizon. How one feels about this is of particular circumstance, and some particular circumstance is supposed to be suggested by this song.

The Summer Haze:

If one can't escape the heat of summer, one can attempt to join it. In that endeavor, the high, strong sun dominates a body and deeply influences the consciousness attached to it. The summer haze is to suggest a collective space all must cope with.

The Endless Argument:

That there is argument, apart from particulars, is like the wind: there's usually some sort of it before too long. As a constantly recurring theme in life, some sort of endless argument is what this song is supposed to refer to.

To the Light with Abandon:

A lot that is not given through the earth is provided by the light. Light can seem to be a transcendental, transforming medium with rules distinct from those of the earth and the creatures tied to it. And yet creatures can apparently turn and run to the light, abandoning their earthly preoccupations. Such a development is meant to be suggested in this song.

Pick up yourself:

One falls for whatever reason, and one must either get up or not. This song is supposed to suggest some sort of emotional investment required to pick up one's self.

The Housewives:

For most creatures there are those amongst them who maintain their living space against whatever would disrupt it. Such activity is a constant struggle against the tendency of natural and behavioral forces to disorder such arrangements, and it is a busy occupation which the song is meant to suggest.

Circulation (of the blood):

Well, not all entities circulate blood, but they must circulate energies of the world through their interior systems, which energies do move said systems. Perhaps this is the underlying effort any entity partakes of, and this constant motion is the song's suggestion.

Darkness:

This is to imply the darkness that ensues when all that is familiar and supportive in one's consciousness is gone. Such darkness confounds habits, and is analogous to being lost from the light. It is referred to in the song title.

After Darkness:

This and the last song were never really completed and they trail off at the end rather abruptly. I was moving on to other pursuits, not to return to this stuff except to polish it up a bit.

These Busy Bugs Never Quit:

As with the song above. The song somewhat reminds me of the insects, flying and crawling, which are so plentiful and relentlessly busy, especially in tropical regions such as I now inhabit.