- the story -
this piece was
inspired when Every Man (PressTheButton)
related to me that, when i mixed in "Last Night"
by Psychic TV during my sun-up set at RR2.0,
it had invaded his dreams. i was also inspired by Robert
Rich's "Somnium"
(Music To Sleep To), but the scheduling confines of RR3.0
would certainly not allow me 7 hours all to myself to do a
full out "sleeping bag concert" and i hardly have
the gear at present to even attempt such a feat, so i decided
that something more of a "napping" nature might
be accomplished in the 45-50 minute time allowance - a cat
nap.
- enter phase two
- RR3.0 was scheduled for father's day weekend, and with my
father being a cat lover and me wanting to design a cat nap
soundscape, i decided that it could also work into a nice
father's day present. originally i was aiming for birds,
dogs, water, vehicles, weather, a Cesna or two (dad &
cat are wing-nuts) and whatever else might happen in front
of my microphone. i caught a good number of trains both
in the distance and as close as the other side of the cross-bucks.
the icing came at 6a30 one morning when i was out perched
on the trunk of my car with my recorder, and not 15' from
me a male cardinal landed on a power line. he sang for
all he was worth for several minutes, and indeed he is ensconced
as the most distinct avian voice in the final segment.
- enter phase three - when i did play my set at RR3.0,
i had changed my plan to playing a short set in the 30min. range, as i had
played my violin earlier with Chris Richards (guitar). after RR3.0,
i was asked by a number of people who could not be there if i had planned
on ever playing the work again. i did finally decide later that week
that perhaps i would do so - re-perform the set once more and only once more.
this recording is the result.
- of an odd note
on this piece -- it took me well over a week to edit the final cut, as every
time I got more than about 10 minutes into listening to any segment, I was
lost asleep in my own cat nap, waking up only in time to hear silence and
start listening all over again.
- well into the
track, one might wonder what the heck sounds like something
is mussing with the mike, but that would simply be my cat
adding in his own 25cycles to the project.
- so to the question as to why there
are so many train bits and pieces in the dreamscape of a cat. this is
quite elementary actually - my dad used to work for C&O.
- post script:
at RR5.0, I was honored beyond words when everyone [who was still awake after
the last set] insisted that we put Cat Dreams on for "going to
sleep music".