7 Jan 2008, #1. Miranda - 7m14s

A month passed between sessions, across the new year, and I listened to the Canada pieces many times, thinking about what I would do differently when it came time to record again. I had a few specific goals. First, I wanted to be more conscious of the length of the pieces. I wanted to try to wrap each one up before it reached the six-minute mark. I didn't plan to use a clock, but I hoped that my internal timers would work. Secondly, I wanted to be more adventurous in style, and commit more to each style. That is to say, I didn't want each piece to meander as much stylistically.

I finally got to record again on January 7, 2007. I don't think I reached all of my goals, but I couldn't be happier with the results.

For this effort, the first of the day, I tried to stay as far away from pop/blues as possible. I picked out a four-note motif, and was off. The cadence at around 3:15 I began regretting before I even played it, knowing I'd have to, but I think I made the best of a bad situation, and immediately searched for a dissonance to counter it.

The swung section at the 5 minute mark I am especially pleased with, even though it means that I failed at keeping it one style, and couldn't keep my hands off of yet another blues progression. Looking back, of course, it didn't help that my four-note motif outlines a E flat dominant nine chord. I guess that's where my head is.


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Recorded on January 7th, 2008, at Peace Church of the Brethren, in Portland, OR, with a Zoom H4 Digital Recorder. Edited with Audacity music software.