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"Minimal (Coz It's Optimal)"
Written: 2008 May 6 / Produced: 2008 Oct 30
I first wrote this one in May 2008, sort of in a rush so it's ready for a gig. And since I had a major PC update lately which now enables me to record music in better quality, I decided to re-produce it.I was listening to a good amount of Minimal music when I wrote it - Steve Reich and Philip Glass on the classical side, and Jeff Mills and Ritchie Hawtin on the electronic side.
On this tune I have none of so-called chord progression, instead I have several monophonic parts played by synthesizers which interact with each other in contrapuntal way.
By eliminating the "harmonic" movement completely, I could focus on interval relationship among each note of those parts. Thus, paradoxically, I could obtain a new sort of harmonic texture through the several individual parts moving in favor of themselves rather than chordal dictation.
I added a distortion guitar part on the reproduction. This sound is kind of what I'm after these days when it comes to guitar. Much less jazz guitar and much more Jimi Hendrix. I recorded the raw signal from my guitar through a DI box onto the PC, and then processed the plain sound with Native Instruments Guitar Rig. Using Guitar Rig is another benefit of my PC renewal. The application was so heavy that I couldn't load it into Cubase with my old machine. It has a lot of great sounds.
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(Verse 1)
Here it is, this is what makes me go
The seamless loops, the endless flow
I'll see u in my crazy show
U'll be shakin' from head to toe
I don't believe in the third eye
But I do feel the need to comply
With the demand of my new allies
Gonna get the new style standing by
It makes my tigers roar
Makes me almost ready to soar
Keeps me wanting to hear some more
I'm feeling big like a dinosaur
Sure, the music may sound fey
Not exactly what everyone plays
U kinda have to make a foray
To get on the sonic freeway
(Chorus)
I'll go minimal coz it's optimal
Can't afford to be skeptical
Messing around with intervals
I don't care if it's too technical
(Verse 2)
Don't know if it makes any dough
But I'm loving to watch it grow
When they hear it, they'll go "bravo!"
The brand-new sound from Tokyo
One day out of a clear blue sky
I came to know the reason why
The minimal style is such a cry
Expectations very high
In fact, I never tried it before
It's not all easy, u know the score
Nonetheless, it's what I'm looking for
Think I'll get to the solid core
A couple more things I need to say
If u wanna dance, yeah, it's okay
Can u feel the craze I portray?
Well, whatever, hey..
Here it is, this is what makes me go
The seamless loops, the endless flow
I'll see u in my crazy show
U'll be shakin' from head to toe
I don't believe in the third eye
But I do feel the need to comply
With the demand of my new allies
Gonna get the new style standing by
It makes my tigers roar
Makes me almost ready to soar
Keeps me wanting to hear some more
I'm feeling big like a dinosaur
Sure, the music may sound fey
Not exactly what everyone plays
U kinda have to make a foray
To get on the sonic freeway
(Chorus)
I'll go minimal coz it's optimal
Can't afford to be skeptical
Messing around with intervals
I don't care if it's too technical
(Verse 2)
Don't know if it makes any dough
But I'm loving to watch it grow
When they hear it, they'll go "bravo!"
The brand-new sound from Tokyo
One day out of a clear blue sky
I came to know the reason why
The minimal style is such a cry
Expectations very high
In fact, I never tried it before
It's not all easy, u know the score
Nonetheless, it's what I'm looking for
Think I'll get to the solid core
A couple more things I need to say
If u wanna dance, yeah, it's okay
Can u feel the craze I portray?
Well, whatever, hey..