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The Upandunder Overture for synthesiser Opus: 1 Length: 4 minutes approx Instruments: 1979 - Korg micro-preset synthesiser, 1983 - Crumar Stratus synthesiser, 2003 - MIDI Composed: 1979 Re-recorded: 1983 & again in 2003 |
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In 1979 I saw the first synthesiser that was just about within my financial reach - a Korg Micro-Preset. Although it cost me the equivalent of 3 month's wages (£300 when I was only earning about £20 a week!) I saved up and bought it, then proceeded to experiment with it. Up till then I had written guitar pieces but I was itching to do something more "symphonic", so this is the very first piece of music I created on it. The tune just came to me instantly, that was the easiest part - even now I refer to it occasionally in other works. The title is of course a reference to Eddie Waring of "It's a Knockout" fame (Jeux Sans Frontieres) which was very popular in the 70's, and whose catchphrase was "Up and under!" All five mp3 versions can be downloaded in a handy zip file from MegaUpload, or if you prefer you can download the whole Early Works album. | |||
| Original Korg version 6 track multi-track cassette recording (1979 recording cleaned up using 2002 software) |
Since the Korg was monophonic I had to devise my own method of multi-tracking if I wanted to make decent music from it. First I recorded the drum part, which was basically a matter of selecting a dull "thump" sound, then repeatedly hitting the lowest key for 4 minutes in a crude rhythm. (No sequencers in 1979!) Then the bass was added (I had already figured out that it was best to start with low frequency voices since they would not be lost in the resultant tape hiss. I didn't even have any sophisticated recording equipment, just a couple of cheap cassette recorders! The odd duff note was allowed to stay in as I couldn't afford to be too perfectionist back then.) Then I added the main melody, then a couple more supporting tones to flesh it out. The opening fanfare was recorded separately, then spliced onto the main piece afterwards (yes, I used to splice cassette tapes!) I remember being extremely proud of this piece, playing it to all my friends whether they wanted to hear it or not. There is still a lot of hiss at the start, but the sound quality improves towards the end, and you've just got to admire the orchestration! After this personal success I was motivated to write other pieces, and the momentum continued until the mid 80's when I started to get a bit fed up of having my musical genius go unnoticed. Such is life. | ||
| 1983 Crumar version | This is a remake I attempted in 1983 using the Crumar Stratus and a cheap rhythm machine. Not as good as the original though, despite the Crumar being polyphonic. The old Korg makes an appearance here too, but only as support. | ||
| 2003 MIDI version |  |
This is a MIDI version made in 2003. This was how I wanted it to sound all those years ago, but the Korg simply couldn't have done this even with multi-tracking. It shows how much music technology has advanced since the 70's. | |
| 2003 final mix | And this is the final version, converted from the MIDI to a wave file, then reverb added and so on. The tune crops up in some of my other works too - notably the Herringbone Concerto and Aslan's Theme (which itself is used in November Odyssey, so it becomes a quote within a quote!) | ||
| 2007 Elwood's Xmas song 2007 Elwood & Kant Predict |
I simply can't leave this tune alone - back in 2004 I suddenly had the urge to write down some christmassy lyrics to it, and then promptly forgot about them for two years. I finally got around to recording my awful singing and made this Christmas version. And then my friend Patrick (a.k.a. Kant Predict) recorded his version too. I think the vocals still need to be re-recorded at some point, but that is definitely every version of Upandunder for now! |
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