Dark Water

 

About three weeks ago, I sketched out an idea for a piece that is intended to be a composition for an upcoming album project with Sandor Szabo.  It is a piece for 12-string baritone in G tuning.  I sketched out a couple of harmonic structures and some accompanying notes as to what the piece might be.  I don't usually employ working titles, but I gave this one the working title of Dark Water, as that is how it sounded to me.  When I thought of that title, I could hear the entire piece in my head, even though the compositional sketch was only a couple of harmonic structures.

A day or two after I sketched it out, I had an idea for a companion piece for it, so I sketched that out, also giving it a working title.  The working titles in these cases serve as mnemonic devices to help me recall the entire piece, even though the compositional sketch is incredibly abbreviated.

Tonight, I decided to record Dark Water.  I didn't have a bass line written or conceived for it; nor did I have any kind of melodic contour in mind.  I knew that once I rolled tape that it would all fall into place, and the missing compositional components would be there.  Which is exactly what transpired in the studio.  A sketch that was barely even that turned into a 6+ minute piece, complete with bass line, developments, melodic contours, and more.  All captured on the first take.  

I only share this here because several listeners have asked about my process between writing and recording.  It's not always exactly like this, but it's always pretty close to this process.

I'll likely try to track the companion piece for it within the next day or two.

-kk