#6. SKYGLIDER 4000 was the music I wrote while thinking about flying in a glider over New Zealand’s incredible and varied countryside with a video camera. Perhaps I wrote the music because I wasn’t in New Zealand. And I didn’t have a glider or a video camera. But I did have a piano, and a big pile of percussion instruments to bang on.
Of the 10 pieces in TUNE, this one has the highest altitude and point of view. The music comes from just below the clouds. The first week’s track, CRUISE CONTROL was pretty squarely at street level. RENDERED SKINNY’s perspective was from the rooftop. CHOPPERS IN LOW was above any houses but well below the clouds. And SKYGLIDER now looks down from about 3000 feet.
Originally, I called this TIGHTROPE, but I got stuck. I try to pay attention to the stories and titles that belong to the music and until I imagine the story right, the music often doesn’t develop. From the beginning, I knew this one was not taking place on the ground, but up in the air. I liked the title, TIGHTROPE and I very much liked the musical implications of balance and wobble and showmanship. But I only had a few lines written when I came up with that title. The problem was it was the Right Title for the Wrong Story.
I was disappointed because I really did want to write that TIGHTROPE music, but I also wanted to use my theme. I had been looking at it from 20-30 feet in the air, when it really needed to be higher. Usually, by the time I figure these things out, the music comes fairly quickly. But I had one last false start. I thought my high-flying vehicle might be a magical one, like Harry Potter’s broom. But that didn’t work either, since that also wanted a different style of music, one that was lighter and twistier. What was needed was to be much higher. 3000 feet. Soaring on thermals. The title, SKYGLIDER 4000 came moments after this realization. And I wrote, recorded, and mixed the music in three days.
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SKYGLIDER 4000 is the sixth of ten tracks released on YouTube and Tumblr for the album, TUNE, by composer Myles Marlow. TUNE is the first album to be released completely, and solely by means of Social Media only, with no physical, digital, or buyable product. Every Monday for ten weeks, a subsequent track, including a new Scot Howard illustration, will be released here and on http://MylesMarlow.com
There’s nothing to buy here, so if you enjoy it, please share it with your friends and link to it on your web pages. We appreciate the support. Here’s a link to cut and paste for the YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX4MIh1aI2Y The seventh track will be released here next Monday, March 7, 2011
Illustration by Scot Howard, The Digital Butterfly Project, http://DigitalButterfly.com
(c) 2011, Myles Marlow, All Rights Reserved
