--Tracks 1-5 are collected here as if they are “Side A” of a record or tape. I feel they fit together nicely and are complete by themselves. Track 6 acts as “Side B” and can be experienced as a long concluding movement to follow the previous five tracks, or as its own self contained piece.--

This album is a collection of some of my first experiments in electronic music. My first time having to use cables that I can recall. Up until a few years ago I was exclusively an acoustic musician and composer. Around the time I quit my job as a band director to focus full time on composing, I bought my first legit electronic keyboard. Soon after that I started experimenting with the synthesizer functions built into the keyboard and it all snowballed from there. I was purchasing effect pedals left and right, buying vintage keyboards, modular synthesizers, multitrack cassette recorders, toying with DAWs, and of course; cables, cables, and more cables.

The music contained in this volume is predominantly peaceful in nature. It seems like most of my electronic music lately is more ambient in nature. I suspect it’s my way of trying to remember the peace I used to feel when I lived on 10 acres surrounded by trees on the top of a mountain, whereas now I live in a noisy subdivision with a neighbor who drives a car that seems as loud as a spaceship. I found myself listening to a handful of these pieces on repeat in hopes of drowning out the noise of the city around me. Maybe it can do the same for you.


Side A Suite
Prologue: Plug in - Originally intended to be the opening of an “electronic suite”. This is some of the first music I created using GarageBand, utilizing a combination of live recorded sounds and computer synthesized sounds. Also features Amos Cochran on piano.

Music for a Slowly Filling Venue 3 - Originally written to be played as the audience is drifting into the venue over the p.a. system before concerts of my yet-to-be-created chamber ensemble. Written/recorded exclusively using Audacity.

Chase - Recorded and overdubbed one evening in three single takes exploring the different layers that “delay” could add to my improvising.

a2 - One of my first pieces to be created as a recording first and later transcribed to written music. Created with a click track and many layers of overdubbing in Audacity.

Epilogue: Unplug - Meant to be the closing movement of the “electronic suite” that began with “Prologue: Plug in”. After assembling the other tracks of the album I felt that the “electronic suite” actually served better as opening and closing material for the first half of the album.

Side B
Intonation Study - This piece is a long meditation on slightly different tuning constants. This piece came about when I was experimenting with a semi-modular synthesizer and couldn’t quite get the later tracks I was recording to match the tuning of the previous layers. But as I listened to how they beat against each other, I decided to lean into it and create a long piece that is constantly drifting in and out of tune. It was initially inspired by the work of Craig Colorusso’s “Sun Boxes.”

released March 3, 2021

Music composed, performed, and recorded by Drew Morris
Additional guest performer - Track 1 - Amos Cochran, piano
Mastered by Andrew Rodriguez
Released through Odd Pop Records

If you like these electronic sounds, check out the first “Synth Table Sessions” video on my Youtube channel.

Subscribe to the channel so you won’t miss upcoming synth videos I’m working on.

There are also a good deal of electronic compositions on my YouTube channel from my “Compose 31 Pieces of Music in 31 Days Challenge” that I invite you to check out!

Electronic Gear Currently in Rotation

Instruments:

Roland Juno DS Synthesizer (Keyboard)

Yamaha DX 21 Synthesizer (Keyboard)

Casio SK-1 Sampling Keyboard (x2)

Casio PT-80 Synthesizer (Keyboard)

Casio PT-87 Synthesizer (Keyboard)

Behringer Neutron Semi-Modular Synthesizer

Moog Werkstatt-01

Arturia Keystep Midi Controller

Korg SQ1-1 Step Sequencer

iRig Keys Mini - Midi Controller (Keyboard)

Effect Pedals:

L.R. Baggs - Reverb Pedal

T.C. Electronics Ditto - Loop pedal

Aural Dreams Breath Delay - Delay Pedal

Recording:

Presonus StudioLive AR8 USB (Mixer/Interface)

Presonus StudioLive AR12 USB (Mixer/Interface for travel)

Presonus Audiobox 96 Interface (x2)

Tascam Ministudio Porta 02 (4 track cassette recorder)

Yamaha CMX 100 - Multitrack Cassette Recorder

JVC TC-W309 Double Cassette Deck

Macbook Pro

iPad

Presonus Eris 4.5 BT Studio Monitors

Sennheiser HD 280 Pro Headphones

Other gear not currently in rotation:

AKAI Stereo Tape Recorder 1722 II (Reel to Reel)

Various Cables and Mics

Pedal splitter and Preamp

An electric guitar and amp that I rarely remember that I own.

Gear I’m trying to justify buying:

Teenage Engineering OP-1

Some sort of midi controller for live performances

Bliss Habit Effect Pedal