ELWOOD HERRING'S MUSIC CATALOGUE

ELWOOD HERRING'S MUSIC CATALOGUE
All music and noises © Copyright Paul A. Williams aka Elwood Herring - Please read these notes before downloading
EXPLORING NEW DIRECTIONS AND NEW POSSIBILITIES IN MUSIC COMPOSITION.
LOTS OF DIFFERENT STYLES AND APPROACHES, EVERY PIECE A MUSICAL EXPLORATION. GIVE YOUR EARS A TREAT!

Rhapsody for synthesiser & electronic sounds

Opus: 4
Length: 19 minutes
Instruments: Korg micro-preset synthesiser, various sound effects
Composed: 1979

A wierd experimental work, in which I attempted integrating synths and sound effects for the first time. The mood gradually gets darker, like a black cloud looming in a clear blue sky. I never planned it, it just turned out like that. The piece is in six short sections but meant to be played in one continuous piece. The only keyboards I used were the Korg micro and a cheap Woolworths reed organ, but I attempted to extend their rather limited sounds by means of lots of experimentation with tape manipulation and recorded sound effects.

Free download available on MegaUpload, or you can download the whole Early Works album from MegaUpload.

Yellow Lots of warbling whistling sounds start the piece off. I was intrigued to hear the interference "beats" that create a phantom third note between two others, especially in high pitched sounds such as this. Unfortunately the effect isn't really noticeable here due to the low quality of the cassettes I was using. The section ends with some low bonging noises; a foretaste of what's to come.

Orange This is the longest of the six sections, and adds some more voices from the Korg. It sounds a bit like the children's TV characters The Clangers having an argument, with the Soup Dragon in there somewhere too. I was basically just having fun with the Korg sounds, and not too bothered about where it was all leading.

Blue This section adds some bubbly sound effects, courtesy of a BBC Sound Effects record! Then after a bit more larking about, there are more external sounds such as marbles being rolled around a bath-tub and a radio being tuned (This starts to sound a bit like The Beatles' "Revolution 9" in places.) One spoken word can be just made out - "Destruction". See if you can spot it. The section ends with a dramatic glass smash, again courtesy of the BBC.

Brown Back to the opening whistles, which fade away to leave just one playing the tune from my guitar piece "Charmaine". (My prediliction for self-plagiarism runs deep.)

Deep red More whistles, but now rising in steps instead of swooping in curves. The peace is suddenly shattered by the sound of a thunderbolt mixed in with phased white noise. The mood is now definitely darker. A sinister sounding tune is played on a cheap Woolworth's toy organ overlaid with the Korg, recorded with a live microphone instead of directly into the recorder.

Black Footsteps? No, just the Korg again sounding an unaccompanied beat. Then a pre-recorded ten second tape loop of a piano solo is heard repeating over and over while the Korg keeps up the relentless beat. The loop sticks; the footsteps speed up to become a barrage, then slow to a stop. Finally we hear a kind of shoot-out with white noise, and the piece ends with the Korg hammering out a solo monophonic coda. I remember I wanted to continue with this, but I had reached the end of the tape so the piece ends with a bit of an anticlimax. Still, it's all very strange. John Cage would have approved.

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View my complete music catalog here

	Rhapsody for synthesiser & electronic sounds Opus: 4 Length: 19 minutes Instruments: Korg micro-preset synthesiser, various sound effects Composed: 1979
	A wierd experimental work, in which I attempted integrating synths and sound effects for the first time. The mood gradually gets darker, like a black cloud looming in a clear blue sky. I never planned it, it just turned out like that. The piece is in six short sections but meant to be played in one continuous piece. The only keyboards I used were the Korg micro and a cheap Woolworths reed organ, but I attempted to extend their rather limited sounds by means of lots of experimentation with tape manipulation and recorded sound effects. Free download available on MegaUpload, or you can download the whole Early Works album from MegaUpload.
Yellow	Lots of warbling whistling sounds start the piece off. I was intrigued to hear the interference "beats" that create a phantom third note between two others, especially in high pitched sounds such as this. Unfortunately the effect isn't really noticeable here due to the low quality of the cassettes I was using. The section ends with some low bonging noises; a foretaste of what's to come.
Orange	This is the longest of the six sections, and adds some more voices from the Korg. It sounds a bit like the children's TV characters The Clangers having an argument, with the Soup Dragon in there somewhere too. I was basically just having fun with the Korg sounds, and not too bothered about where it was all leading.
Blue	This section adds some bubbly sound effects, courtesy of a BBC Sound Effects record! Then after a bit more larking about, there are more external sounds such as marbles being rolled around a bath-tub and a radio being tuned (This starts to sound a bit like The Beatles' "Revolution 9" in places.) One spoken word can be just made out - "Destruction". See if you can spot it. The section ends with a dramatic glass smash, again courtesy of the BBC.
Brown	Back to the opening whistles, which fade away to leave just one playing the tune from my guitar piece "Charmaine". (My prediliction for self-plagiarism runs deep.)
Deep red	More whistles, but now rising in steps instead of swooping in curves. The peace is suddenly shattered by the sound of a thunderbolt mixed in with phased white noise. The mood is now definitely darker. A sinister sounding tune is played on a cheap Woolworth's toy organ overlaid with the Korg, recorded with a live microphone instead of directly into the recorder.
Black	Footsteps? No, just the Korg again sounding an unaccompanied beat. Then a pre-recorded ten second tape loop of a piano solo is heard repeating over and over while the Korg keeps up the relentless beat. The loop sticks; the footsteps speed up to become a barrage, then slow to a stop. Finally we hear a kind of shoot-out with white noise, and the piece ends with the Korg hammering out a solo monophonic coda. I remember I wanted to continue with this, but I had reached the end of the tape so the piece ends with a bit of an anticlimax. Still, it's all very strange. John Cage would have approved.