Unsung Zero

Originally, Unsung Zero was intended to be far more electronic, almost sound design based.

I prefer the energy on this version and therefore chose this performance over the electro version.

Its a simple arrangement with a simple message. Its fun to play live, the challenge is to give it more and more energy as the song builds up, all the way to the last bar. This is a very basic principle, but always a fun challenge. Instead of seasoning the energy, we tend to give it 100% at the first hit and be creative and physical to see how far we can go.

It was showcased in China in 2008.  People went truly nuts! Almost violent, people pushed each other around! Fortunately they all did seem to enjoy themselves. 

It was included on the Ninth "Whiteside Ep" released on October Party Records in 2007 (only in China)

On the session with me:

Drums: Bjørn Tore Tarranger 

Hardcore guys on US tour.

From left: Per Helge Lande, Geir Satre, Audun Havåg and Bjørn Tore Kronen Taranger

(Obviously the tour was a dog)

Night

"Night" was composed around 2003 along with songs like "Steal The Day Back" 

Originally, it had several sequences and parts that were taken out of the arrangement at a later stage. 

I made four string arrangements for the song. I even recorded it with live strings, but after months (ok, years) of adjustments, I ended up abandoning the live strings for a pretty small string arrangement played on a relatively small sample library. It is only augmented by real strings, here and there. 

The arrangement has a somewhat special structure. The verses are built on a descending chromatic chord structure. At the same time, each sequence challenges this by ascending one half step through the song. 

This made the song quite good for practicing "fingering and intonation techniques" on fretless instruments like strings. (Something I painfully experienced when proofing the arrangement, and while recording the string sections)

It is also excellent at making a "string-racket" at the end of the song.

The song is a 5 minute crescendo. Building up from the first bar until the last, without accelerating in tempo (which was also experimented with extensively).

But it started out, and still is, an electronic production at heart (besides the violins, cellos, upright basses and two electric guitars, that is :0 )

Show me your best smiling cellist picture in the comment field.

My Name Is Life

This is one of many songs I made in Tarzana, Los Angeles in 2008.

I tried to work on a new song every day for three months. 

I  worked out the arrangement on an acoustic bass and guitar. And recorded it that way, and started to layer parts. Adding a string section.  Then we I tried to alternate between a rock arrangement and acoustic backing between every stop in the song. 

Making the stops work was challenging by itself.  

I ended up recording "My Name Is Life" live in the studio with Bjørn Tore Tarranger.  I remember recording the vocals on Christmas eve and mixing it on my birthday. Not purposely. 

The lyrics are about the power of perspective, how you look at things can have a self-fulfilling effect, or what you see is often what you'll get. 

It was meant to be released with "The Creature With One Trillion Eyes" album; the first real album with my "Desert Son" project. The album was originally supposed to be named "Tarzania Album" an internal joke that came from a wrong-spelling on the region we were staying in.

Tarzana: the home of writer Edgar Rice Burroughs.

On The Wave Of Hope And Doubts

This song was actually inspired by a particular guitar, a Martin D45 Koa to be exact.

When I decide to buy a guitar, it’s usually because it has a voicing that is very different from my other guitars. The guitar must speak to me in a way that I don't expect from a guitar. 

Typically you'll find such an instrument on the rarest occasions and places. 

We were staying in LA, and our living rooom measured 13 ft in height. Along with the guitar it made a beautiful vibe. Many songs were made instantly with the guitar. 

The song to me is about being in a state of wonder, excitement and uncertainty. With the descending sequence expressing doubts and the ascending passage being hope. 

At a later stage I experimented with different instruments on the recording. Some are still present at the end of the song. Among these instruments are a Sitar, Banjo and a Portuguese guitar, if I remember correctly.

Come This Way

"Come This Way" was written and recorded around 2004. 

I love the atmosphere of the song. And it was one of my kitchen recordings. 

They say people love singing in the shower. Well, they should try recording acoustic instruments in the kitchen. Kitchens often have many reflective and hard surfaces and also has a great work bench for equipment.  You can even stand while working there.

As opposed to the recording rooms I use now, which are meticulously measured to have the right "room ratio".

A funny thing with artificial recording spaces like a recording room is that, once you start soundproofing it (preventing the sound from escaping the room),  the sound is captured in the room and you need to use a lot of time and money on treating the room acoustically. Or it won't sound any good. Which means that your living room might sound much better than a recording room if you don't do it absolutely right. 

So, you can make a beautiful recording in a typical domestic space. And may find more character in a normal room, however if you want a "Swiss army" kind of room that works pretty well on most types of instruments and music, you'd want a neutral room, and that is a typical recording room. (Very easily explained) 

Personnel:  

Me and the coffee machine

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This is not my kitchen

This however... is our "reverb chamber" with lots of vibe.

TV Song

This is another song with a long background

Originally composed in 93-94

The chord and riff structure for most of the song was used in a  song called "The Other Side"

It was an "all acoustic" piece with three guitars, bass and some percussion.

It was a standard on our repertoire back then. 

I rediscovered parts of it on tapes while researching for the Ninth "Evolver" album in 01-02 and made a totally different arrangement out of it, with different lyrics, melodies and chorus. 

There are four different arrangements and recordings of this song.

On the session with me:

Drums:  Bjørn Tore Kronen Taranger and Geir Arne Ose

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The Ninth Evolver crew, backstage at the release party/concert for "Evolver EP". (at Garage, Bergen)

Hans Petter Lie-Nielsen, Audun Havåg, Geir Arne Ose, Geir Satre, Per Helge Lande, Andrew Scheps and Stein Hevrøy

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Original article here

March Of The Moors

Originally composed for strings and marching drum, with a high emphasis on cellos.The goal was to make a cinematic score more than anything else.

We discussed how the story should outplay and the goal of the composition was to reflect that story.

The song was composed by me around 1996 in collaboration with Rune Bjørneset: a classically trained piano prodigy. He was the perfect candidate to throw ball with and we made some absolutely insane stuff together. 

We allowed ourselves to go way over the top with everything. First and foremost this included talking and making huge plots around the songs, we discussed the best scene for certain compositions, the best scene and state of mind for improvising and practicing etc.

I remember one time we were allowed to use one of the local venues for recording on a Sunday night when it was closed, we found out that we could get access to the live mixer and other equipment if we climbed through the roof and over a wall into the equipment room. And so we did. 

We borrowed the 40-60 channel mixer, along with microphones and recording equipment, climbing through the roof, recorded all night and climbed back with the gear the next morning.

We recorded the first version of “March Of The Moors” at Audiofarm studios around 1996. With a secondhand Korg Wavestation purchased partly for the occasion.

Since the sample libraries at the time was not all that much, the guitar had to do the job as the leading cellos and violins, resulting in a guitar orchestra more than anything.

We got drummer Geir Arne Ose to play for us in the studio, and I was so impressed by what he came up with that I decided then and there that he would be my drummer in the future, if he liked it or not.

The song was played frequently through Woo's later reformation and usually made the crowd go crazy. 

The release is based on a live show from 2001. Recorded by Erik Valderhaug at Lydkjeller'n AS. Some overdubs have been made on the recording, as I wanted some of the original instrumentation present. There are no other releases of this song  but several versions exist.

There is also a recording with real strings that may be released in the future.

I still love the vibe of this song and its always fun to play it, even after all these years.

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Live in Ørsta, 2001 where the released version of "March Of The Moors" was recorded.

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The show lasted 2 hours, "March" was played in the second set (shown here)