Let me start out by saying that I had no intention of doing anything even vaguely political when I started this track, or even when I started this blog.  In fact, the music here was mostly finished before I added the President's voice to it...  I often have this desire to incorporate spoken voices into my music.   I started working on this last week, around the time of the election, so I suppose that's how this idea got into my head, and took over the music I was working on.  I was thinking how incredibly cool it would be if Bush were to look at the election results and listen to the news, and realize how terribly wrong he'd been about the war.   I thought it would be fun to take clips from him speaking and rearrange them so that it sounded like he was having this pacifist revelation.   In searching the Internet for the clips I can tell you that a whole lot of people have done a whole lot of creative things with all of Dubya's various spoken blunders.   I decided I didn't want him to sound like an idiot (he does that well on his own), just a regretful pacifist.  So, I acknowledge that the idea in and of itself isn't entirely unique, but I think this piece is original in its own way.

Click here to download Coexist Peacefully



I used a whole roomful of percussion to make this track: thumb piano, xylophone, slit drum, drum kit, as well as a Cuisinart stock pot (played like a conga), and my washing machine (slammed on its side with a fist).    I tried recording the sound of turning the crank on a flour sifter as well, but it didn't work out well.  I recorded the drum part when I was feeling especially inspired to play drums the day after going to see Adrian Belew here in Phoenix.  I know that doesn't seem to make sense, but I was thinking of this insistent mid-tempo jam he has called "Madness."  Belew's current drummer is this amazing kid named Eric Slick.  I knew full well that the drum recording wouldn't turn into anything like that, but I was really feeling that groove in my brain.  The drums were miked very close, and they came out very punchy.  The snare mike was about two inches away from the head.  I added a little compression overall but almost no reverb, just a little on the snare track. 

With no other intended purpose for the drum track, I started layering up all of the percussion, and I searched around the house for various sounds to include.  Some other sounds I didn't use involved throwing an empty milk jug at different objects, a paper bag, and some of our other pots and pans.   The thumb piano is a challenge to tune to anything useful; basically you have to pull the keys in and out until you get the pitch you want.  That's why there were only about four notes total that I used, and then I sequenced the other part using a sample that I've had for a while.  

 People that know me may already know my particular obsession with using the washing machine as an instrument.  It actually makes a huge variety of sounds.   I think I may revisit some of those sounds soon, but the only sound I used here was that deep banging sound.    Fortunately, you don't have to hit it hard to get a cool sound, so no harm is done (this sentence was added exclusively for my wife's benefit).  : ) 

The guitar and bass were added very quickly and easily.  I liked the contrast of the distorted guitar riff to the percussion.  Since I already had the thumb piano notes, the main guitar riff was created to be in tune with that.   I originally thought the solo part in the middle was a cop out, but when I listened back the next day, I liked it.  It has that Hendrix-y flavor that goes well with the whole plea for peace. 

That's all I have to say about this one.  Please, oh, please leave comments and tell me what you think, even if you hate it!