I've completed Mater Machina and added it to NyghtowllMusic.com. The melody was written when I was a little girl, but last month I had the idea to combine it with a project that I was working on involving machine sounds.

When I play this song, I see a sloping valley with a mountain in the distance. You can hear a quiet hum and within the mountain lives a woman who builds clockwork machines. She is ageless and surrounded by a rhythm of sound. Hoping to create the mother of all machines and be the architect of a clockwork universe.

Download Nyghtowll - Mater Machina

Special Credits go to: Jovica who sampled the Mechanical Steampipe, Multiplied Feedback by Anton, l0calh05t for recording Anvil Strike and Heartbeat by Grey Seraphim.

I also created a photo gallery and uploaded a video to YouTube with our recent trip to Burning Man. I used Bifrost for the background music and footage is courtesy of Elim who used his mad skillz with our Canon Digital Camera.

Friday, September 5, 2008 at 11:24PM

Experience, like a pale musician, holds
A dulcimer of patience in his hand,
Whence harmonies, we cannot understand,
Of God; will in his worlds, the strain unfolds
In sad-perplexed minors: deathly colds
Fall on us while we hear, and countermand
Our sanguine heart back from the fancyland
With nightingales in visionary wolds.
We murmur ' Where is any certain tune
Or measured music in such notes as these ? '
But angels, leaning from the golden seat,
Are not so minded their fine ear hath won
The issue of completed cadences,
And, smiling down the stars, they whisper--
SWEET.

- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Love yourself and be awake-
Today, tomorrow, always.

First establish yourself in the way,
Then teach others,
And so defeat sorrow.

To straighten the crooked
You must first do a harder thing-
Straighten yourself.

You are your only master.
Who else?
Subdue yourself,
And discover your master.

-The Dhammapada

This was a reflective piece to put together. I began writing the melody in early June and then started working on the project again after Sarasvati. This gave me a lot of time meditate and determine what I wanted to do with the song.

As with a lot of my music, I feel like the theme revolves around a journey. When I first began developing the piece, I had the idea of a wanderer in a forest following faint chimes and walking into a ghost festival. Singers and dancers would be ephemeral or translucent, almost like the festival is projected on a silk screen. Singing in languages never spoken or too indistinct to follow. The smells of roasting food and spices would waft in and out, just quick enough to form a memory. Fire dancers move to the steady beat of tribal drums, but only their shadows would reflect on the trees.

Part of the song has a single drum beat which breaks into a light melodic layer that makes me think of an owl swooping in from overhead to watch the action. Meanwhile, a storm rolls in from above bringing a new mood. But in the end, the listener wakes up and the festival is gone. The only thing that remains is the distant chimes and a feather from the visit while he slept.

As for the project, the sound effects were courtesy of Freesound which uses a Creative Commons Sampling License. I converted the WAVs into Rex Files (loops) using Recycle and then imported them into my song within Reason. From there, I added the melodic/drum layers finishing out the piece. It was a fun project to work on, because the sound effects established a setting and mood to the piece.

Listen to Nyghtowll - August Moon

Special credits go to:
Batchku who sampled the rolling India Santoor, Thunderstrike by Kaffein, Rain Patter from Koops, Wind Howl recorded by Dynamicell and Chimes from Dan Oberbauer (DJ Chronos).

September's song is already in progress and I'll also be doing some updates in the next week or two to NyghtowllMusic(dot) com. If anyone wants to help with updating my theme on the site, I'd love the creative feedback! Other than keeping with an owl theme, I'm open to suggestions.

Just want to send out a big THANK YOU to all that made it to our show!

Elim captured some video that you can view in the following links. Just keep in mind that it was recorded with a personal digital camera, so the audio is a little scratchy.

Lelu Laserlight - I wish we could of captured more of her set, because she was fantastic! She sings, plays guitar, and mixes with her 8 track machine. If you'd like to learn more about the artist, click here.

Muke doing a cover of Foo Fighters and another song from their set. Really talented people! If you'd like to learn more about the artist, click here.

Brand new! Nyghtowll - Everything is Connected '08 (You can listen to the original MP3 here)

Nyghtowll - Spider's Tapestry (You can listen to the original MP3 here)

Nyghtowll - Dangerous Curves (You can listen to the original MP3 here)

We were also going to capture some video of DJ Kaatskratch, but about 1 1/2 songs into her set, but a lightning strike took out half the block and we decided to close up shop for the night. She will be playing the rest of her set for Camp Darfur Coalition at the EMU today, so if you're in the area check her out! I'm taking a couple days off from music, but have started a new song which will be ready by the beginning of August. Thank you again for all your support!