Two days of steady music work. I filed and finished quite a few tunes yesterday, two for an old project called Dark Hyperborea, a concept album about urban decay, but, recent though it is, it felt old and I didn't like the idea of resurrecting it. Sometimes it takes more time, work, and effort to fix up something old than make something new. I can always revisit it in future.
I also spent more time on the Conan song. This needs more vocals for the chorus, and a guitar solo, but I can't record them yet. I've added a lower Zeitraum effect to the vocals which gives them a gravelly sound, it reminded me of the vocals on the Ormen part of Bowie's Blackstar which are layered in a strange way. Here, it sounds like a barbarian himself is singing, which is perfect.
I spent today working on Away From Her Manger, a rather lovely song which has a different key for each section; E-Major (and minor, it has both), A-minor, and C-minor, all linked by a G chord. The rhythm is a simple regular beat. I thought that steady staccato strings in chords, like Prokofiev's Troika would work. I added a flute too, then a booming piano which grows. It's early days yet. Each part is carefully crafted.
I've also wrote a simple second song with a Christmas theme called Big Donkey, a pun on the Little Donkey song, but the song is no joke. This one is about a gangster confronting a heavy called Big Donkey. This one is very bluesy, but won't match my Christmas album/sonata. I've already worked out the structure of 4 songs which has an narrative arc. I may record Big Donkey anyway because it's not complex and I've already started on the basic backing; it would be a good B-side or other release.
