Track 2, "Pisces", Nearly-Complete Sample
almost 9 years ago – Wed, Nov 15, 2017 at 09:39:07 AM

"Pisces", the second track of Pieces, is as warm and organic as the first track, "Paces", was cold and distant. It focuses heavily on themes of religion and tradition, and includes the nondeterministically assembled blues track.

 Rough outline:

• Radio tuning session
• Nondeterministically assembled church choir music
• Pastor's Tape
• Pretty synth arpeggios
• Radio session
• Nondeterministic blues vocals and blues solos
• Vocalist gets "trapped" in room
• Room becomes pulsing echo
• "Well Oh Well" tape
• Nondeterministically assembled ominous chants
• Then, I can't share the remainder of the work yet as I am waiting for another tape.

Includes contributions from the following collaborators:

• Hubris's "When The Levee Breaks"
• Hidden Evidence Radio Show
• Bloodies' "Nothing To Lose"
• Country song
• Elisa Melendez on Blues Vocals
• Evan Lamb on Blues Bass & Blues Guitar
• Sarah Kaiser's "Well Oh Well"
• Markus's "Pastor's Tape"

$6,590 to go, one week left! Full Track 2 comes tomorrow.
almost 9 years ago – Tue, Nov 14, 2017 at 03:40:15 PM

Whoo! It's getting close. We're about 60% of the way there, but there's also only just a week left. I believe in this project, and I know you all do too! I see some of you have been helping share the word, and I really do appreciate that, wherever I see it.

I hope everybody enjoyed Friday's preview of a completed track 1, "Paces":

 Coming tomorrow, I'll be posting nearly an entire (can't do the whole track yet because reasons, wink) Track 2, "Pisces". It's just as exciting as "Paces", and features new tapes, new album within an album snippets, the nondeterministic blues track, the nondeterministic church choir, and some really thoughtful ambient passages. Stay tuned! If you like what you hear, remember— unique tiers ($69 and up) will get their own private copy with its own blues song and tape segments. :)

Press

I've been in the press a little recently. Here's a write-up on Pieces from CD Baby: http://diymusician.cdbaby.com/musician-tips/spruke-made-26000-selling-handful-albums-hes-just-getting-started/

See everybody tomorrow with a preview of "Pisces" in all its bluesy, churchy, nondeterministic glory!

A Complete Export Of Track 1, "Paces"
almost 9 years ago – Fri, Nov 10, 2017 at 05:16:16 PM

I realize that thus far in this Kickstarter, I haven't been able to provide as many musical samples as I'd like. For one, I am still busy assembling much of the album, and new pieces are arriving from collaborators daily. For two, I am leery of giving too much piece material away when the whole point is the discovery.

However, it's not fair for you to all take it on faith that the music will be glorious, post-apocalyptic, sound like a blend of a film soundtrack and Godspeed! You Black Emperor and NIN and Ennio Morricone, all just because I say so. It's time for a real sample.

Enjoy an export of track 1 of Pieces, called "Paces", in all of its 10-minute-long glory.

 Rough outline:

• Radio tuning session
• Ambient drones
• Piano passages
• Nondeterministic acid bass
• Nondeterministic post-rock
• Electronic passage
• Utter chaos with random drums, glitches, bass distortions, and piano cycles
• Switch to 3/4
• Radio session
• Nondeterministic hiphop bit
• Radio session

This export contains contributions from the following contributors:

• The Bloodies' "Organ Donor"
• Colony's "Tracer Signals"
• Sarah Kaiser's "Well Oh Well"
• Lauren Orsini's "Couple Tape"
• Spruke's "Investigator's Tape"
• Natasha Lewis Harrington's "Compassion Fatigue Tape"

Samples of Nondeterministic Funk, The Hidden Evidence Radio Show, And An Interview With Natasha Lewis Harrington
almost 9 years ago – Thu, Nov 09, 2017 at 04:44:08 PM

We're in the home stretch! We're well past the halfway point of funding now, but also past the halfway point of the campaign. This means that every bit of hype you can help build will go a long way! I know everybody here wants to see Pieces come to life. It would mean a lot to this campaign if you would consider sharing the Kickstarter for Pieces on your Facebook or Twitter and encourage your friends to participate in this bold mystery/album/ARG/storytelling/strange thing we're building here!

Today we have some real treats. First, I'd like to show off Geoff Boulden's nondeterministic slap bass engine, that generates new funk off of source material he provided. We'll couple that with a new Piece you haven't heard yet: the Hidden Evidence Radio Show, where a pair of conspiracy-theorist hosts discuss possible causes of the apocalypse. Then, we'll talk to this project's most important collaborator, Natasha Lewis Harrington.

Sample of Nondeterministic Slap Bass With "Hidden Evidence Radio Show"

Today, we have two samples, so you can hear how different the slap bass lines that are invented by the algorithm are on any playback. I adjusted nothing manually between these two recordings; every difference is the algorithms. So neat! All the source material that taught the algorithm is provided by Geoff Boulden.

Sample 2:

Here's Geoff setting up his old Ham Radio equipment to help me record some morse code for a few survivor's tapes.

An Interview With Natasha Lewis Harrington

Natasha has been the conscience and sounding board for everything related to this project since Spruke first started working on it at the start of 2017. She's responsible for half the monologue from Music to Die Alone In Space To and it's a pleasure to work with her again. Let's hear how she contributed to Pieces.

Who are you?

I’m Natasha Lewis Harrington, an autistic writer and advocate with a doctorate in clinical psychology.

How did Spruke and you meet?

Bill reached out to me several years ago, when we were both very active in the Magic: The Gathering community. I’m very open on social media about my mental health journey and he wanted to chat about our experiences. We very quickly became BFFs. We have a lot of shared interests, from dungeon crawlers to social justice, and commonalities in our worldviews that make us good sounding boards for each other. I ended up co-writing the astronaut’s monologue for his last project, Music to Die Alone in Space To, bringing in my own personal experience of trauma. Bill and I have an incredible creative chemistry and I always jump at the chance to collaborate with him.

What qualifications do you bring to this project, and what's some cool stuff you've done in the past?

In my work as a psychologist-in-training, I’ve always tried to think about clients in terms of their whole lives rather than just illness. I think it’s important to consider things like strengths, relationships, and interests. I’ve written a number of articles bringing together my interest in psychology and the card game Magic: The Gathering.

Do you have a unique point of view that comes through in your contribution?

I’m very drawn to the idea of helping people flourish in times of extreme hardship. I’ve seen clients at a homeless clinic, a juvenile detention center, and a residential facility for people with psychotic disorders. I also have PTSD myself and a severe physical disability. So I spend a lot of time thinking about what we hold onto when the conventional luxuries are stripped away.

How did you bring your own experiences to life while working on your contribution?

I enjoyed the opportunity to imagine what it would be like to be a mental health worker in an apocalyptic future. I want to give credit to the websites where I found information about coping in crisis settings: The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project, and the American Institute of Stress.

I also set one of my stories in Wyoming, where I lived for a year. The culture is very different from what I’m used to (my other homes have been Los Angeles and Seattle) and I miss my friends there all the time.

Like Music To Die Alone In Space To, I find working on such disturbing material incredibly therapeutic. Making depressing art, for me, doesn't cause me to wallow me in my fears, but helps me deal with it by taking the horror from within and examining it under bright light where it isn't so scary. Did you find contributing to Pieces therapeutic? What other emotions did you feel while working on your Piece?

When Bill asked me to write for this album, I initially said no. One of the big reasons was that I’m already very distressed about the state the world is in. I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend a lot of time imagining the worst-case scenario in depth. But I was drawn in by the project, and I actually found it really rewarding. As I said, I love thinking about how people find growth and meaning in the depths of hardship. So I got a lot out of taking the time to imagine these characters—it made me feel more ready to handle whatever comes next.

Sydette "BlackAmazon" Harry & SMXF Join PIECES
almost 9 years ago – Tue, Nov 07, 2017 at 01:42:45 PM

Welcome back to Pieces, where we are bringing dozens of voices from all over the world to help tell the story of The Great American Apocalypse, distributed across a thousand unique albums. Today, we announce the addition of Sydette Harry and SMXF to the project.

Sydette Harry

Sydette Harry describes herself as "a child at the edge of the ocean who calls herself @Blackamazon because she is tall and black like soil underwater". She's a social justice blogger and editor at Mozilla. On Pieces, she'll be contributing letters between escapees and refugees trying to connect across long distances. We look forward to seeing how your work shows up in the finished, scrambled, pieced-up works, Sydette!

SMXF

SMXF aka Mr. Smif is a Ghanaian rapper, the self-described "shyest rapper in the world", but there's nothing shy in his flow. He's got a hip-hop track with jazz stylings on the Album Within An Album, and we'll be previewing it shortly. For now, get excited by checking out SMXF's amazing talent: you can hear his track Mansa Musa to hear how dope he is.

Onwards and upwards with Pieces! Thanks to those of you who have been re-sharing and posting the project around. We are halfway there, but that means there is still half left to go. If you think your friends would enjoy Pieces please be sure to spread the word!