Archive for April 2010

Jutze 52 #17 – Einkaufszettel

This is a song in German about a shopping list. It deals with the everyday encounters at the supermarket. Thankfully, I had to stop at the 52-second mark. Otherwise the song would have ended with red cabbage being the last item on the shopping list.

#17 Einkaufszettel

Ich sah noch aus dem Augenwinkel, wie sie im Aufzug verschwand.
Ich nahm mir ihren Wagen, der vorne in der Schlange stand.
Für einen Euro Pfand gehörte er vorübergehend mir.
Da entdeckte ich ein kleines Stück Papier.
Es war ihr Einkaufszettel.
Sie brauchte ihn jetzt nicht mehr.
Es war ihr Einkaufszettel.
Und ich vermisse sie so sehr.

Dabei kenne ich sie gar nicht, weiß nicht mal ihren Namen.
Doch was sie einkaufen wollte, lässt Großes erahnen:
Buchstabensuppe und Möhrensalat, Cornflakes und Bio-Käse,
Eine Packung Taschentücher und zwei gezeichnete Küchengefäße.
Es war ihr Einkaufszettel.
Tomatensauce im Doppelpack.
Es war ihr Einkaufszettel.
Sie hatte ganz klar Geschmack.

(words and music by Johannes Schult)

Jutze 52 #16 – Statistics

This is a little homage to WatchTower, written in anticipation of their show next Friday.

Eleven years ago I wrote a song called “Golden Future” for From Thy Ashes (my band back then). It was an attempt to combine a whole bunch of complicated parts. The result wasn’t very impressive. But I figured back then that the ideal unit for writing such material wasn’t a couple of bars; much rather does it boil down to chunks of maybe three or for notes. If you have a big simple thing and start adding details, the music just gets weary. So this time I didn’t really bother with the big picture and concentrated on making every single note count.

I started out with the drum track, programming some wild, odd bars of hectic noise with only very vague ideas of guitar riffs in my head. I have little (meaning no) advanced harmony knowledge, so I just played what I’d never play in an ordinary e minor setting. Half-step runs? Yes, please. I wrote pretty much every single note by trial-and-error as I went along, recording the tiniest bits separately, one by one. I was baffled how flawless it all sounded once I stuck everything together. I played the bass on keyboard, as usual. At that point I was close to keeping the song an instrumental. Most of you probably wish I had. But then I figured I could mirror the title of WatchTower’s third album, Mathematics, by singing about my profession: statistics. I dare to say that it all made sense in the end. At least to me. I know, I sound somewhat ridiculous when I try to channel Alan Tecchio’s vocal style. Still, I’m very happy with the overall outcome!

#16 Statistics

When I say what I do for a living
The response is silence
Statistics: misunderstood and ignored
Statistics: valuable and powerful

I love data
I love Stata
Statistics: misunderstood and ignored
Statistics: powerful and valuable

(words and music by Johannes Schult)

Jutze 52 #15 – Targorian March

This is just a quick experiment with distorted keyboard sounds. I have no idea how Targorian beings are marching, but I imagine them having enough legs to warrant the 5/4 beat of this track.

#15 Targorian March

Don’t Try This at Home

Jutze 52 #14 – Feed Me

This is probably the most annoying song I’ve ever made. I could pretend that there is a deeper meaning behind the lyrics. But it’s really just a trip on memory lane back to when school children had electronic pets that were as annoying as my falsetto vocals. If you want to translate the situation to today’s portable devices with their apps and cameras, do so at your own risk. The main reason for even publishing this is it lowers the bar even more. At least it was a good exercise to play all the synthesizer parts. I corrected almost no notes and I wouldn’t even know how to digitize the tracks to the beat.

#14 Feed Me

Feed me, need me, keep me closer
Love me, touch me now
Please me, tease me, take me with you
Tell me all your secrets
Take good care of me in the morning
Keep me in your sight
Dream of me while you are sleeping
Hold me close at night

(words and music by Johannes Schult)