Toulouse Street Blues starts with a spoken word poem about living, drinking and dreaming in London, listening to Jazz music. We then segue into a bass and organ Southern, sultry rhythm, interspersed by bursts of Blues guitar.
Over archives photos documenting the people and places of New Orleans, some local musicians share their memories and express their feelings about the magic and power of Jazz.
Niall and I wish to extend our warmest thanks to the following people who responded immediately and graciously to our requests for help.
Jennifer Navarre, Senior Research Associate at The Historic New Orleans Collection
Track 6 (‘We are the Cyborgs but that’s OK’) was inspired by Asian Sci-fi; Track 7 is another genre piece, this time the gangster film.
‘Ice-Cold Angels’ is the soundtrack to an imaginary crime-action movie, incorporating sounds of explosions, gunfire, speeding cars, police sirens, and gangsters shouting.
Lee Byung-hun … a Korean Alain Delon ? Still from ‘A Bittersweet Life’.
Musically, I chose the key of F and used the Korean Nando – Kyemyonjo scale, limiting myself to the five notes of that pentatonic scale: F G G# A# C.
Again, I was experimenting with the synth effects and sounds on the iPhone Garageband app, and some new guitar tones that were recently added. The ‘Digital Rainfall’ hopefully evokes the constant rain that seems to permeate crime and cyberpunk movies.
Kim Ok-bin in ‘The Villainess’ – fans of ‘John Wick’ will appreciate this film.
The music is non-profit, and I hope to introduce more audiences to Korean cinema and culture. All films are credited in the video. As such, I hope I may claim ‘Fair Use’, the video being for non-commercial artistic and educational purposes.
The next section is just for my own records and will be of no interest to anyone except maybe low-fi recording geeks.
The track is in the Key of F
Tempo 229 4/4 Time
Garageband sequence
Track 1 Classic Drum Machine
Track 2 Audio – Voice – Extreme Tuning
Dialogue from ‘The Villainess’ & ‘Shiri’
Track 3 Liverpool Bass
Track 4 Alchemy Synth – Mallets – Woodblock Space
Track 5 Alchemy Synth – Sound Effects – Digital Rainfall
The most experimental piece on the EP, ‘Cyborg’ uses various synth settings and effects to recreate a robotic, electronic soundscape, mixed with some traditional-sounding patriotic marching songs.
The dichotomy of traditional and futuristic sounds is continued by the use of a Chinese pipa set against a heavy bass drum machine.
The music is non-profit, and I hope to introduce more audiences to Korean cinema and culture. All films are credited in the video. As such, I hope I may claim ‘Fair Use’, the video being for non-commercial artistic and educational purposes.
The next section is just for my own records and will be of no interest to anyone except maybe low-fi recording geeks.
A two-chord song that builds to add synths, guzheng and a glockenspiel, evoking the melancholy of this love story that never was.
The inspiration for the track, ‘Christmas in August’ (1998), was one of the first films of New Korean Cinema to combine romance with heart-breaking drama. In later years, two young lovers one with a terminal illness, became something of a cliché, but this film remains one of the best; simple, delicate and very moving
The music is non-profit, and I hope to introduce more audiences to Korean cinema and culture. All films are credited in the video. As such, I hope I may claim ‘Fair Use’, the video being for non-commercial artistic and educational purposes.
The next section is just for my own records and will be of no interest to anyone except maybe low-fi recording geeks.
The track is in the Key of G
Tempo at drum section 133 6/8 Time
Garageband sequence
Track 1 Drum machine: Vintage Kit
Track 2 Clean Stack Guitar amp
Riff: Gm7 (root on the 10th fret, A string) / Cm7 (root on the 3rd fret, A string)
Track 3 Grand Piano
G F# G C / G F# G
Track 4 Alchemy synth – Voices – Girl’s Choir
Chorus selection (Chorus 11 o’clock / Reverb 11)
Track 5 Guzheng
G Am C Em chords
Tracks 6 Film Clips. Audio: Voice, Extreme Tuning
Track 7 Alchemy Synth – Glockenspiel
D G A – E D C
Tracks 8 & 9 Guitar Tones
Track 8: Palace of Mirrors PROCESSED
Track 9: Auditorium CLEAN
Riff: E 15 14 15 B 15 E 14 G 12
E string {C B A} G F# G D F# G {E} [20th – 12th frets)
The track is built around a Jazzy chord progression, with audio clips from several of my favourite Korean films.
I tried out some new guitar tones on the Garageband app for some lead notes, and added some synth effects for extra colour and atmosphere.
Many audio clips start mid sentence, as if we are walking past people and catching snippets of conversation.
Astute readers may recognise the YouTube thumbnail as being from ‘Moonlit Winter’ which was mostly filmed in Japan. However the actress, Kim So-hye, is Korean.
The music is non-profit, and I hope to introduce more audiences to Korean cinema and culture. All films are credited in the video. As such, I hope I may claim ‘Fair Use’, the video being for non-commercial artistic and educational purposes.
The next section is just for my own records and will be of no interest to anyone except maybe low-fi recording geeks.
The track is in the Key of G
Tempo at drum section 133
Garageband sequence
Track 1 Drum machine: Vintage Kit
Track 2 Sparkling Clean Guitar amp
Riff: Gmaj 7 / Cm7 / Bm7 and some lead fills on the B & G strings
Track 3 Film Clips. Audio: Voice, Extreme Tuning
Track 4 Synth Pads – Chill Pad.
G D – A D improvisation based on ‘Für Elise’
Track 5 Bass – Liverpool Bass
Follow Chords G – G / C – F# / F# – E
Tracks 6 Film Clips. Audio: Voice, Extreme Tuning
Man at station from ‘Il Mare’ slowed down to extreme
The track is based around a simple guitar riff, augmented by two chords (Am & Gmaj7). An upright bass (synth) plays a variation of the main riff. The song develops into a conflict between grand piano and fuzz guitar, representing the two conflicting characters in the film.
I added some dreamy synth mallet sounds for atmosphere and colour, as well as including some dialogue between the two girls.
The music is non-profit, and I hope to introduce more audiences to Korean cinema and culture. All films are credited in the video. As such, I hope I may claim ‘Fair Use’, the video being for non-commercial artistic and educational purposes.
The next section is just for my own records and will be of no interest to anyone except maybe low-fi recording geeks.
Viewers of ‘The Crown’ will know the story of Princess Margaret falling in love with war hero Peter Townsend, and how the establishment forbade the marriage.
Niall wrote this song based on a doomed love affair, two people from different worlds who can never be together.
As the band Butterfly Decal, Niall and I try to do something a little different, often using spoken word and sound effects as opposed to conventional singing.
The first demo has the narrative too low in the mix, so we will be re-recording the song. Additionally, we decided to add a female voice in some sections. Here are the lyrics:
When In Rome
Well, it was never likely to work, was it?
He was a famous musician, a guitarist of some renown,
American, he had settled over here to escape the petty prejudices of his own country.
As if we have none.
Still, better here at least; some acceptance.
He was loaded, money meaningless with so many noughts in his account,
Far richer than she, despite her royal blood.
A princess, only a short hop, skip and abdication from the throne.
She’d always been the flighty one,
A little rebellious,
Safe in the security of her family, her position, her fame, her history.
They met at a charity gala,
The classic ‘eyes across a crowded room’ deal.
They knew of each other, naturally,
And had each secretly fantasised and fetishised the other.
Unbeknownst; hidden; covert.
They had made a big play of outbidding each other in their bizarre mating ritual.
The charity being the clear winner in this elaborate and ostentatious courtship.
A secret rendezvous was arranged that night,
When their imaginations gave way to wonderful reality.
Love – real and deep love – followed.
The fires burned brightly until an indiscrete confession to an ambitious maid
Forced a decision.
Well, it was never likely to work, was it?
A scene from ‘La Dolce Vita’ (1960) by Federico Fellini. The film, which shows the decadence of the rich and famous in Rome, was a forerunner of the ‘Swinging Sixties.’
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
So far we have our Jazz-inspired EP ‘Red Ribbon in Long Hair.’ The EP has four tracks, two spoken word with Jazz background, and two instrumental pieces.
The tracks are:
1) Red Ribbon – A Short Story
2) Red Ribbon Suite
3) Swing, Princess, Swing
4) Miles et Juliette
The final track tells the story of the doomed love affair between Jazz legend Miles Davis and French singer Juliette Greco, while the opening cut is a narrative about a man down on his luck who falls for a mysterious lady who wears a red ribbon in her hair …
The EP is for sale at 3 GBP, or you can buy individual tracks for 1 GBP each.
Videos for all four tracks are available on YouTube, and here is a link to ‘Miles et Juliette’:
Yesterday, before work, I finally opened a Bandcamp account for my solo project Jingo Harleyman.
I am really not tech-minded, so completing anything online is a minor victory for me. I still need to add a photo and a bio but at least I have uploaded six tracks, and hope to add more today.
Meanwhile, I need to learn more about Bandcamp and make the dashboard more appealing. Any help, tips or advice will be gratefully appreciated.
Furthermore my band Butterfly Decal also need a Bandcamp page, as we have a number of tracks already completed.
I’m working with my old friend Niall Keohane in this band, and Niall’s technical expertise elevates the low-fi music; he makes it sound professional and epic !
Niall’s also a multi-instrumentalist, and regularly plays gigs and makes recordings.
In case you haven’t heard anything from Butterfly Decal (there are several videos on YouTube), here’s one from Niall, about the love affair between Jazz legend Miles Davis and French singer Juliette Greco:
Thay Paul's Notes 