I decided to write in A minor, since that's my favourite for the moment. I wrote the seven chords in A minor in a row. Printed Karin's sketches and picked three of them. I draw a circle around each, and divided the circle in seven pies (one for each chord in A minor). I asked Evalotta (my wife) to randomly say a number from 1 to 7 and in that way I placed the chords on the different pies. I followed the shape of the structure in each sketch and wrote down the progression of chords that resulted from the shape (applies to sketch 1 and 2). With sketch 3, I asked her to say a number from 1 to 7 five times, and I wrote a chord on each corresponding polygon.
Every piece got 8 bars of music.
For piece 1, I asked Evalotta to say a number from 1 to 3 eight times so that the sum was 13. This serie of numbers placed the thirteen chords in sketch 1 over 8 bars. I wrote the chords down and wrote a melody.
For piece 2, I myself decided the distribution of chords. Each polygon got a specific starting note. The rest was improvised.
For piece 3, I chose a progression of chords so that the polygons connected as a cross. The notes within was improvised.
I started with recording piece 2:
I chose the tempo randomly. Earlier, I've experimented with making a pad with
a couple of low whistles, so I thought I would use that now, but with the Susato
whistle instead. I recorded the lowest part, then the middle and finally the
highest. Since the whistle sound is so soft, I wanted something rough, so I
chose the nyckelharpa and improvised the melody. Finally, the bass. I played
a 1/8-note bass on my guitar and pitched it down an octave.
Then, piece 3:
I had decided to improvise on the saxophone on this, and since the saxophone
is kind of "scratching" in its sound, I let the small chimes handle
the chords. I experimented with having a really slow tempo. And the bass? Well,
I really like to pitch down audio, so how about pitching the chimes down 3 or
4 octaves? Said and done. And a nice delay on top of that. Then, I improvised
softly on the saxophone, and put it far back in the picture. OK, now some decoration.
Something that contrasts more with the chimes, I think. Maybe the Johannes Bread.
Nice. I'll place it to the right. Then, I got the idea I could get some atmosphere
from the rain and the birds outside, so I stuck the mic out and recorded through
the open window.
Finally, piece 1:
I knew I wanted a slippery hip-hop-synthsound from the late 90's. First, I recorded
the bass (EQd pianosynth). Then, I came up with the stringrythm and quickly
found the right sound for the melody.
I mixed everything down and sent to Karin. Satisfaction.