HERESY: A Concept.



This is the now official title of the e.p. I am due to start working on. It's conceptual (sorry) and it tells the story of a priest who has come to question his faith, becoming disillusioned with the world at large and deciding to take refuge in the middle of the Empty Quarter or Rub al Khali desert, bringing only a supply of water, food, a small tent, a bottle of whiskey (his eventual undoing when the water runs out) and a long wave radio so he has some degree of company.

His isolation starts to consume him, his mind begins to trick him and he starts to see God, Lucifer, Angels, Demons and various ghosts in the desert to which he converses and argues with and preaches sermons to. After a while his only link to his sanity is "Selena". A beautiful burlesque dancer from "The Siren's Scales" gentlemen's club, he once shared a stolen moment with.

The record itself is a mixture of rock and ethnic sounds from the Middle East and Andalusia. I officially stop the demos and start the real work next week. Each song will have a semblance of the story and I will explain them as they happen.

1. Empty Quarter Pt. I (Rub al Khali): An instrumental which signals the priests arrival in the desert. He's taking some much needed time to "find" himself after a meltdown in his church which we witness in:

2. Hand Of God: The straw that breaks the camel's back. Yet another scandal rocks the church, near meltdown in The Holy Land. He erupts, openly questioning why after all this, people still blindly follow a being they've never met nor have proof of his existence.

3. Empty Quarter Pt. II (Pray For Rain): The desert comes alive, akin to a Hellish dream taunting the priest who is severely dehydrated and begins to see visions.

4. At The End Of The World: The priest's visions become more powerful, he sees God arguing with Lucifer about his so called betrayal, a ghostly congregation watch them, too in awe and terror to speak out, but the priest openly calls them both out and gives them a piece of his mind.

5. Selena's Theme: Comatose now, the priest fades away in the darkness, tormented by the memories of Selena, the dancer who stole his heart, like so many before him, believing it is punishment for daring to question God.

I am Icarus.

Yep, I am an icon for failed ambition, I flew too close to the sun and am now drowning in my over ambition. My computer hard drive refused to meld with the software and has been over the process of week and a half, in the hands of a technician friend of mine. Suffice to say, my technophobia is back with a bang. I spent a couple of coffee fuelled days and nights trying to solve the problem myself, driving my better half practically insane with my bullish "work, you bastard!" attitude.

It appears that there may be no solution to the problem and it has massively hindered my progress on my e.p. with so many possibilities wiped out in one fell swoop. Last night I was still lamenting it, when I said out to myself "I would've saved a fortune if I'd just bought a duduk....."

  Facepalm. So why didn't I? I've already taught myself how to play any other instrument I wanted to. Naturally in varying degrees of success, but the point being that I can play a tune or compose on each of the instruments I've taught myself and I've always enjoyed learning something new.

In primary school in Ireland (known as Junior High in other worldly places) it's generally accepted that you will receive lessons on how to play the tin whistle (penny whistle) or the recorder. Both wind instruments which are relatively easy to learn. I imagine the scale notes are different but the style of play is similar and I may work on a better lung capacity which though improved is nowhere near before when I just started smoking, of which, FYI, I am currently smoke free for over two years now. Have studied some videos and done a bit of research on prices, which seem very reasonable. Watch this space.

TECHNOPHOBIA PT II

So, I've changed my mind again. I AM going the computer software route after all. I have ordered two important pieces of my musical puzzle to make this e.p. as professional sounding as possible, provided my ailing laptop can withstand it! I purchased my first ever MIDI interface master keyboard:

And the software to go with it:

It's getting pretty exciting now! The Quantum Leap "Silk" software is dedicated to the instruments of Persia, India and The Far East. They are actual recordings of the instruments by some of the finest instrumentalists in their field and contains variations on all single notes for maximum effect. Probably the closest I'll come to working with the actual musicians themselves. Her ladyship, The Magpie, will have one hell of a headache. I guess I should lock the music room door! Don't believe me, take a look HERE. After the Persian String Section, which I am crazy about, skip ahead to 5.54 to hear the Armenian Duduk - phenomenal. I covered it in my last blog. This is exactly where I'm at musically right now. Thanks for reading!