Cover art by Michelle Howard. |
deep fathom light where may silently pounds |
Cover art by Michelle Howard. |
The Winter Sun Flux Adorable Saturn Gifted & Bright Let it Breathe A Threat in a Room The Thought of Water Circling Thoughts Revision Collapsing Trajique Baluni The Fertile Decay Querida Alma The Sun's Winter |
All music written and performed by Brian Hutton and Tony Pucci. Vocals by Tony Pucci. Lyrics written by Heloísa Mourão, Leïlah Accioly & Tony Pucci. Recorded late 2002 & early 2003 at the McKinnon Centre, Dundee, Scotland & Pollyanna Cowgirl Studios, Rochester, MN, USA. Produced and Copyrighted 2003 by Pollyanna Cowgirl Inc. |
...these are notes I wrote for the benefit of Brian, Heloísa & Leïlah. I thought others might enjoy them also... DEEP FATHOM LIGHT "Where May Silently Pounds" --notes by Tony Pucci Let me explain a bit how this CD came together. As for the music, Brian sent me 51 synth loops. I had requested he do so, in the hope that the chord progressions in his ideas would force to me play some rhythm guitar. In effect, I was being lazy, and asking him to write songs for me. I would piece together the loopsthe different sections of songslater. As I soon realized when working his ideas into my music software, I often wasn't sure what to add to his ideas. Certainly not much rhythm guitar! Bass tracks and little guitar ideas came more easily. And the lyrics were born of my always-fantastic online chats with Heloísa and Leïlah. Sometimes when we chat, the conversation takes on a very artistic flavor, and it's almost as if we are speaking song lyrics verbatim. But they are new, and they are ours to use. It has been a wonderful gift from the Lua Muse. I approached the initial organization of this CD, the various loops and lyrics, somewhat clinically. I could have taken a hit-or-miss approach to matching up the lyrics with the different musical ideas, but something inside of me did not want to do that. What I did do what this. I burned an audio CD of Brian's loop ideas, 51 tracks in all, and listened to it several times. I took a sheet of paper and numbered down the side of it 1-51. For each loop, I tried to find some emotion, some word, some phrase, which matched how the loop made me feel inside. Then, I did a similar thing with the lyrics. I read and reread the lyrics. And then I wrote down my impressions of the lyrics. Not words from the lyrics themselves, but just my emotional impressions. Then I started going through my two lists of emotional statements, and tried to match up similar emotional concepts. I had 12 lyrics and 51 loops. Since most songs have 3 or 4 musical sections in them, I thought I'd have just about the right amount of lyrics and music. Ultimately, in the end, I ended up not using all of the musical loops. Some songs only have one synth loop in them. Others have several. I do have a few loops left over for future musical projects! But this is all beside the point. After I had gone through and matched up the emotions of the music and the lyrics, I started to notice that there were three main emotional concepts at work in the themes of the music and lyrics. I don't have my initial notes in front of me at the moment, but the 3 concepts were something like "happiness/contentment, "questioning/sadness" & "acceptance". If you'd like I could type up my exact notes at a later date. Anyway, at this point I started to realize I was working on a "concept" album, of sorts. I did have enough loops, and I really liked the titles "The Winter Sun" and "The Sun's Winter", that I wanted to bookend the main musical/lyrical portion of the CD with two instrumentals, and so I did so. I can honestly say that working on this CD was an absolute thrill to me. It is unlike anything I have ever worked on before. I love the sound of this CD. The four of us have created a unique thing here, and we all should be proud. I could not have done it without any one of you. I really hope we can do it again. I know that Brian has mentioned sending me another CD of loop ideas (and hey, make them Synth, guitar, whatever!). And Heloísa, Leïlah and I are always emailing lyrical ideas back and forth, and I have some notes from a few old chats I've yet to organize. I will forward those onto them when I have a grasp on them. I know Leïlah would liked to have had a chance to revise a few things.but the lyrics are brilliant! I love them, and it is a blessing to share in your gift, Heloísa and Leïlah! Anyway, THANKS! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. It is ours. #1 "The Winter Sun" First of all, this song is all Brian. I added nothing to this song, performance wise. All of the loops were played and recorded by Brian. I didn't even do much editing when pasting them into the audio software. So, whatever cool vibe and feel this song might have is all Altres! I personally get a kick out of the sound that comes in around the :25 second mark; it sounds very much like the intro the "The Faith Healer" as done by The Church on "Box of Birds". #2 "Flux" This song has that "blue-eyed soul" feeling to it. Laid back and slightly funky. I originally tried playing a fast rhythm guitar part to Brain's keyboards, but it just wasn't working. So I finally realized that I needed to strip down the arrangement, and the song worked much better. I can be such a guitar player sometimes! And by that I mean I'm so busy playing the guitar that I fail to realize that the lyrics need to be placed up front, not one hundred busy little guitar parts. On a "song", a traditional song, it's the lyrics and melody that need to be placed on a pedestal. I think this song accomplishes that. But for cool guitar parts, I really like the middle section, which starts around 2:10. Very shimmery and bright! #3 "Adorable Saturn" I really like the segue between "Flux" and this song. It's so abrupt, and "Adorable Saturn" has such a mellow strident quality to it, it catches you up in its charms before you can lament that the previous song is over. I don't know why, but the music for this song makes me thing of some guy with a cheesy moustache, strolling and bouncing along a sidewalk, saying "HI" and waving and tipping his hat and twirling his cane at the passers by! Like it was some bad music video in my head every time I hear this song. Of course, those images have nothing to do with the content of the lyrics. I guess this song is so bouncy, it makes me feel goofy! #4 "Gifted & Bright" One of the "singles" on this CD. If singles were to be released off of it. I love this song. I love the guitar riff that works throughout this song. It came about a bit by mistake, as I was searching for something to play, and it just happened. Happy accidentsthe best kind. I like the drum programming on this song. I love the keyboard progressions. THIS is what I was looking for Brian! I love how a lot of these DFL songs took on a bit of a mellow funkiness to them. Maybe it's the bass guitar. And the chorus.is this one of the coolest choruses you've heard in a while? "I will have to immerse myself in cheap perfumeand the Persian carpets keep drinking wine". Man, that's awesome! I like the gently delivery of the vocal delivery. I feel like I'm in a room with Heloísa and Leïlah, talking to them. Can you tell I like this song?!?!? It is very tender and loving. #5 "Let it Breathe" For reasons explained in the intro, the beginning of this CD is more poppy than the end of it. I think the strength of this song is the chorus. I really like the descending little guitar melody, and also the way the bass moves up the fret board in the second-half of the chorus. I only had a simple keyboard loop to work with from Brian on this one, so there is a bit of pitch shifting going on here and there to create chord progressions. I sometimes found, working on the songs, that I really liked a particular sound versus the overall loopsorry! No, they weren't bad. Each loop, each song is its own entity, and must be treated differently. #6 "A Threat in a Room" In many ways, this is the centerpiece of the CD. I think it's where the story arc of the lyrics starts to change. It's also where the musical theme of the CD starts to turn as well. And I know that Leïlah considered this lyric to be a good effort on her part, and I agree. I'm glad it's showcased in the middle like this. I really really like the vibe of this song. It's amazing to me how I could take a loop from Brian, and just by adding drums and a simple bass part, create this very unique and haunting vibe. It's a fantastic experience to be a part of! And one of the great joys in songwriting/recordingthe point where you realize that a song is coming together and is going to work. I really can't say enough about this song. It thrills me. It scares me. It makes me sad. It has a timeless quality to it. I can also add, in the chorus's, where the little drum fills come in, that your loops Brian did not fit the standard "one chord per measure" way of song structuring. I left your loops intact, and just let the song breathe, and added the little drum fills. This song really seems to have a heartbeat. It really does breath like a living being. And I really like that Indian whistle motif that appears throughout the song. I got the tone of that from one of the loops I ended up not using, and then chopped it really small, copied it, and pitch shifted various sections of it to create a melody. #7 "The Thought of Water" The story of Narcissus, did you all realize? I went through a period last year when I was a bit obsessed and dismayed about how narcissistic I seemed to be. I researched the word and eventually the story of Narcissus online, and much of that boiled down into this song. A bit freeform, the music to this song is. I think it is one long loop from Brian, repeated 4 times. Instead of trying to force this loop into a typical song structure, I again thought I'd just let it exist the way it apparently wanted to. I didn't really know what to add to this song, musically, so I opted not to add anything but the little guitar riff. Instead, I took the four verses I had "spoken" and layered them on top of each other, staggering them just enough from each other so that there was always a spoken sound going on, and then added a lot of reverb and mixed it all low in the mix. To me, it seems to add a misty feeling to the song, like a lake at dawn, the fog still dancing on the water. #8 "Circling Thoughts" As Brian noted to me, "I can't believe you made something work out of that farting bass track I sent to you"! I agree. This song was one of the last ones finished for the CD, as I knew I wanted to use the bass track, but had no idea exactly what I was going to do with it. On a trip to see my grandmother in early January, I finally purchased a 6-string acoustic/electric guitarsomething I've been wanting for quite some time now. I plugged it in and wanted to see how it sounded through my recording set-up, and the guitar parts for this song just fell into place. I did put some effects on the acoustic/electric, but the inherent acoustic qualities of the sound really added some space to this track, I believe. I like how at the end, I add more traditional instrumentationbass guitar and electric guitarand the climax of the song takes on more depth. At this point as well, the "farting bass" ceases to be the bass track of the song, and instead becomes a melody on top of the additional instrumentation. #9 "Revision" I don't even think this keyboard loop from Brian matched up with any sort of tempo or drumbeat I could manage! The keyboards and the drums on this song actually exist in their own little worlds. Which is kind of a cool idea, if it works. Pacing-wise on the CD, I think this song is a bit of a breather. I don't know if this is one of the better, or more important, songs on the CD, but it does fit into the overall picture. I don't have the "emotion notes" I mentioned at the beginning with me at the moment, but I seem to recall this is another turning point in the story arc of the lyrics. #10 "Collapsing" I seem to recall thinking this song was going nowhere. I thought the keyboards were too similar to "Revision". And then, much later after I had let this song sit around a while, I added the drums and bass, and suddenly this song became very ominous! I was thrilled. I didn't want the end of these CD to be too "light" in its musical impact. This song sounds good turned up loud on the stereo! I also like how, overall, the vocals on this CD have almost a dying/pleading quality to them. Like someone has lived a very long life and is now weary. But they still are trying to tell their story. I'm glad I did drop the drums and bass from the last verse, though. One, it adds a nice dynamic to the song. Also, it frames and lyrically sets up the two bookending instrumental pieces of the cd. "The Winter Sun" and "The Sun's Winter". #11 "Trajique Baluni" The bass I programmed from the Fruity Loops software adds a nice thematic quality to the overall impact of this CD, I think. It is used once again on this song. I like the dynamics of this song also. How the verses are just synth and bass, and then it becomes more layered in the chorus and other sections. Proof that simple guitar parts (simple in general) can sometimes say so much. A peaceful yet sad song. #12 "The Fertile Decay" Anybody recognize the Led Zeppelin "When the Levee Breaks" drums used for this song? One of the little joys of browsing the Internet for drum loops. And I'm glad too. I didn't know what to add to this keyboard loop, and the LedZep drums more than hold their own against Brian's synth loop. I came across the wild guitar effect used for the solo, again, while searching for something to play over the top of this song.demoing ideas to myself. I think it works; something more straightforward might not have been as effective here. It sort of adds to the whole weary, decaying feeling of the song. #13 "Querida Alma" And after it all, a more peaceful and accepting song finishes off the CD proper. Again, keeping it simple. Partially because it works musically. Partially because I occasionally was at a loss as to what to do over Brian's loops! That's not Brian's fault, by the way. But maybe it wasn't so much a fault of mine, as I (hopefully) recognized that I needed to step back, and that the song was already complete. #14 "The Sun's Winter" I originally thought I needed to use Brian's odd "drumbeat" loop, which is about 3 minutes long, on one of the songs. But I think it's quite effective here. It really adds to the overall impression of the dying sun, lashing out on its deathbed, refusing to give up the fight. I wanted this instrumental to be a lot less melodic than the one that started the whole CD. I like the whole "coldness of space" aspect this song has. Sort of like when you are stuck out in the woods, it's dark and scary, you're cold, you're a bit frightened, and you just want to be homethis is the last sort of music you'd want to hear in that situation! Yeah, I like it for that reason! |
