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Ode to Joy (Rough Demo)

from Katwalk by The Stray Katz

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about

The riff that would eventually become the “Horseman” (the final track of the “Russia” collection) makes its first appearance here in this roughly recorded take on Beethoven’s immortal “Ode to Joy.” Written as a fledgling attempt to combine classical music and pop, the track was recorded by me and my brother at Midnight Productions.

I used a Korg Lambda synthesizer for all the musical parts and played everything manually. I used a Korg 100 drum machine for the rhythm. The recording levels run too hot and the synth sounds are too sharp but there was one unique aspect to the recording. Instead of trying to use the Korg’s crash-cymbal sounds, I had my brother don safety goggles and gloves and stand in front of a large cardboard box where I had him break glass bottles where the cymbal crashes would normally be. As an experimental approach to sound accentuation, the “shatter-cymbal” sounds worked uniquely and distinctively (although I wouldn’t recommend the approach, given the hazards and risk of injury). Unfortunately, the shatter-cymbal mixdown was lost (since we did a few mixdowns of “Ode to Joy”) and that was lamentable, especially since my brother had risked physical injury in the name of rock experimentation.

Footnote: In the picture, clockwise from top left: the red Midnight Productions logo created by Gord Bell; the studio’s Teac mixing board; the Midnight Productions business card designed and printed by Gord. Centre: The main recording room of Midnight Productions.

credits

from Katwalk, released December 8, 2012
Opening and closing riffs: “Ode to Joy” by Beethoven
All other music: Xristopher Bland
Lost-but-not-forgotten shatter cymbals: Lance Bland
Recorded at Midnight Productions

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Xrisville Guelph, Ontario

The musical archive of writer-composer-visual artist Xristopher Bland.

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