Last Saturday morning I was about to leave for a rehearsal. Dave McNulty said "I have an idea for a song for my next paramotor video, I think it would sound good with flute. Do you want to make some music together today?" Well you know me... it's hard to refuse any opportunity to play, especially with my best friend! So I return about an hour later. When I walk in the door I hear an up-beat song playing in our workshop. "Who's that?" I call out, then "Wait! Did you write that?"
In that hour Dave has already written the rhythm section and laid the tracks for the piece using his synthesizer and computer. He's also recorded an improvised piano solo. I'm telling you, this guy is incredible! He insists he's not a musician, but the stuff just oozes out of him! That's a real musician. Anyway, he tells me he wants the flute to replace the piano solo, because the piano sound is blending too much with the background chords. I agreed, the color of the flute would give us more distinction between the parts.
We do a sound check, and my microphone isn't working. A wire was loose inside.
So we improvise. I use the headset that Dave uses to play video games with his friends from college. What a nice piece of equipment! For something that didn't require high quality sound it sure sounded like quality! The result was quite intimate. Since the mic was so close, it really sounded just like what I hear myself when I play. So I improvised a little along with the rhythms he recorded, and voila!
In about 1 1/2 hours we created something pretty fun. He called it albatross, because it was written for a video of his less than graceful paramotor landings. (If your unfamiliar with the albatross this bird is known for clumsy take-offs and landings.)
If you'd like to take a look- visit the "Sounds" page of this website. The video and sound clip are both posted there.
Happy Listening!!