Archive for February, 2009

I Knew the Bride When She Used to Rock’n'Roll (cover)

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

Another cover-by-request.

Finally, after years of trying, I got a Marxophone off of eBay last week. A Marxophone is a gadget zither manufactured in the early-to-early-mid 20th century, and was often sold door-to-door. It has fifteen sets of doubled strings and fifteen spring-loaded hammers; pressing down on a hammer causes it to bounce off the string, creating a mandolin-like trill. More information about Marxophones can be found on the internet.

(You may have already heard a Marxophone if you are a fan of The Doors or The Magnetic Fields.)

So, like I said, I finally got one last week and it felt like it might fit in with what I had been vaguely considering for my requested cover version of Nick Lowe’s song. I tried it out and thought “yeah alright” and banged it out that day, autoharp and vocals and all.

Here it is.

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Half Empty Waltz

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

Half Empty Waltz

MetaFilter’s own es_de_bah takes over vocal duties on this one — I didn’t feel like I was the right person to sing it, and so I spent some time going through the “Music Collaborator” Mefi Wiki page until I found someone who would be. (It was his excellent song “a perfect preservative” which made me consider him in the first place.)

In addition, my dad plays trumpet; I play Magnus chord organ, flute, and interesting percussion. It’s a waltz.

Technical notes: The chord organ is this one. Emily found it out in an alley with someone’s garbage; it just needed a new power chord, is all. You can hear the fan whirring up to speed just before it comes in.

There are two trumpet tracks — one played with a mute, one without — and I think three flute tracks (they sort of mush together). There’s also a piano in there but it may be a little difficult to pick out unless you know what it’s playing already.

The percussion: there’s a cymbal hit while sitting on the floor and then slowed way down, a triangle pitch-shifted and distorted, and a stalk of celery being twisted in half. It’s fun to make your own noises.

Thanks again to Rob (es_de_bah) for agreeing to work with me on this one. Enjoy!

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