Desert Music: Volume 1 (2017)

Desert Music: Volume 1 (2017) is a collection of instrumental recordings composed and produced during the fall of 2016 in Trinidad, Colorado. Later, these recordings were imported into a desktop multitrack environment in Braintree, Vermont, where a variety of overdubs were juxtaposed. The result is a cacophony of sound, at times atonal and brash, but always at least attempting to morph into something else. All recordings were performed and produced by Christopher Smith. With the exception of "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" (Dorsey), all songs were composed by Christopher Smith. Each original track is named for a ghost town of Las Animas County, Colorado. 

The Fostex MR-8 digital multitrack recorder was essential to the creative process that birthed these recordings. Saving only a limited number of mono or stereo tracks to a Compact Flash card, the Fostex allows one to record a long performance—say, on a drum machine—and then improvise, however meditatively, along on a new track. I used the Fostex MR-8 on my 2014 project Improviso: Living Stereo, as well as Sunset: Empty Reel (2015). By using a digital multitrack recorder, one loses all ability to ‘see’ waveforms, as so many musicians, including myself, have become accustomed to, through digital audio workstation platforms available for both Mac and PC platforms. Recording straight to a digital file without seeing it challenges the performer: only a number of tracks are available, before the song must be, at least temporarily, considered complete. During my six weeks in Trinidad, Colorado during the fall of 2016, I produced five instrumental tracks in this manner—and one unexpected ‘cover’ song.

One Sunday morning, I was listening to a local church service’s broadcast through a booming stereo system. When the organist struck up “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” I grabbed my Tascam DR-40 portable stereo recorder. Unlike the MR-8, the DR-40 has stereo microphones. I set the recorder in the center of the room, and captured the sound of the congregation singing along to the thunderous organ.

Back in Vermont, I implanted these tracks into Reaper (v5.29), and proceeded to create FX loops for many of the original recordings. Some of the drum beats, created on the Nintendo 3DSXL, were especially caustic and difficult to equalize. For some tracks, I recorded new melodies; for others, I used a Kurzweil K2000 to record counterpoint and harmony. Many tracks received electric guitar (luckily, most of these parts ended up muted). Other instruments recorded in Vermont included the accordion, acoustic guitars, banjo, Hammond organ, piano, drum kit, hand drums, and Steinway. This project was mastered at 48K using a Sony A7 DAT recorder. As this project was destined for online release, very little hardware or software compression was used during the mastering process. 

After a series of overdub sessions, many of the tracks were overwrought and horrific: the jangling of too many instruments repeating the same tired phrase. Perhaps that characterizes this music to your ears: during the editing process, I attempted to eliminate many parts, to create (at the very least) surprising entrances and interesting changes. In my experience, this kind of recording project could become a months-long obsession, forever tinkering with individual beats and riffs, splicing together something that may sound more perfect than what is presented here. At worst, this project will receive little attention; at best, I hope someone listens—intently—to this music, and finds themselves transfixed, swept away by trying to concentrate on sounds that do not persist and will not last, but yet at times seem to drone on, strangely shaky and starkly unwavering, produced in a world that may be running out of time for gentle tinkering. 

Desert Music: Volume 1 (2017) is available on my YouTube page.