Errant Knight Music

I had been experimenting with loop-based music composition for some time when I came up with the idea for this song. As my wife and I were listening to a CD of beatnik poetry, she made the comment that the poets had an almost musical quality. So in the spirit of experimental beatnik poetry, I decided to compose an experimental piece combining spoken word, loops, and improvisational guitar. After all, the beatniks loved poetry and music. Why not try combining them with a more modern context? And as any good guitarist will tell you, any reason to use your wah pedal is a good reason. Here’s the result:

Beatnik

One of my favorite instruments is electric piano. Originally, electric pianos were designed to replace conventional pianos, but the early electro-mechanical instruments ended up creating a sound of their own. Newer software-based keyboard solutions often times merely emulate the sound of the Rhodes and Wurlitzer electric pianos. I thought it’d be fun to write a song around electric piano, so I combined some electric piano phrases with drums, bass, flute, and some modern synth sounds. I ended up with something jazzy and a little groovy. See what you think:

Groovin’