Richard
Arnold
This is my first original
composition using Logic Pro for the MacBook Pro
All instrumental parts by me
Click this link to hear or save the
MP3 file (will play in most music players):
Notes:
This song was built around sound samples from the 1970 Sci-Fi movie Colossus: The Forbin Project,
about a NORAD computer that becomes self-aware and takes over the world. The
voice of Colossus was performed by the great voice actor Paul Frees, and the vocal
distortion was the work of the filmmakers, not me. The movie beat other
high-profile "computer wages war against humankind" SF movies by many
years ("The Terminator" was released in 1984, and "The
Matrix" in 1999.) If you haven't seen it, I recommend renting it if you're
in to those kinds of SF stories - it does the cycle well, and as you can hear
from the samples I included in my song, the "voice" of Colossus is
genuinely creepy. I saw this movie on TV as a kid, and remembered it when
thinking about song projects.
I wanted to experiment with some "found art," whereas sound clips
from non-music sources are sliced and diced, and form the basis for music
themes and chord progression. I specifically aimed for a "future
retro" mood here: some instruments in the mix ape the modern Electronica style, while
others hark back to 80s Technopop,
with a few "bleeps and blorps" reminiscent of 60s/70s computer movie/TV
tropes. I leave it up to you to decide how successful I was in fusing all of
these elements.
I named it "Colossus I" because I not sure I'm finished with this
chord progression yet. In casting about for different arrangements, I found
that the chords I wrote were very adaptable to a lot of styles. At some point
in the future, I may use that chord progression again for a vastly different
type of song; maybe Mr. Frees' voice will make an appearance in that later
work... maybe not.
Anyway, enjoy the song. I enjoyed assembling this "computer."
Richard
3/20/11, updated 5/25/11