The Sleepy Hacienda
This page presents recordings made at home between 1985 and 1995, mostly at night while the family was asleep.
I used synthesizers and a 4-track cassette recorder with headphones.
The tracks here are mix downs to stereo cassette I made in the 80’s and 90’s. I digitized the mixed cassettes in 2017, just before the tapes fell apart.
The 4-track cassette masters are gone, so I’m unable to go back to fix parts or remix.
CONTAINS SOME FOUL LANGUAGE
Be aware of your surroundings before listening
Drummer Buddy Rich was notorious for losing his temper and chewing out his players on the band bus or in the dressing room after their show. Some of his rants were recorded and circulated among musicians on cassette tape copies. Recording engineer Randy Rood gave me a one of those tapes. It also included a recording of trumpeter Freddie Hubbard cussing out an audience.
I found a business seminar tape at work, then made this mash up imagining Freddie Hubbard as the ‘problem employee’ and Buddy Rich as the manager.
I’ve also thrown in bits from my children's story cassettes and ‘Family Ham’ taped off the radio (‘Pork Banner’ KFJC Cart Archives #16)
I created the background music.
After finding a ‘History of the 1960’s’ cassette tape at the public library, I created cheesy music using the Mirage’s cheesy sitar and tabla samples, topped it with smarmy word-play and snippets from the audio history.
One Night Stands
ONE NIGHT STANDS
These are tracks I made in one night.
Set up a loop on one track and then add tracks of improvisation (noodling).
Mostly textural, not intending form or development. Some of these are quite long, so listening for a minute may be sufficient.
INSTRUMENTAL SONGS: MINE
These are tracks without lyrics, mostly song form.
I intended to write lyrics inspired by Oscar Hijuelos' book 'The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love' (not the movie) but all that remains is the title.
Insistent and Lonely are piano only
Fido and Real Thing are from 1986, the first things I completed with the Mirage and Portastudio.
Verticals and Ceremony/Celebration are realizations of pieces composed mid-1970's for my college music theory classes.