patton m.

I could be a broken man, but here I am.

i have various ways of making music.

1) sometimes when i play guitar a phrase or progression comes, and i will quickly record it on garageband or on facebook, then i will play with it for a few days, see if i can fit it into a basic song structure, add to it or alter it. then i'll record it into gb with my guitar in my livingroom to a shaker beat,

then, depending on the tune, i work out a very basic rhythm track...usually with an acoustic bass loop and simple drum pattern.

at that point i'll rerecord the guitar paying attention to levels and timbre etc,

when there's a satisfactory guitar take i experiment with different harmonicas to explore melodic/harmonic lines. an example of this is found on"sunday all right", in which one can hear both A and D diatonic harps.

at that point i'll look for loops, or play those lines with a midi controller starting with the rhythm section on up...

sometimes i take loops and chop them up and re-edit them to get the lines i want.

sometimes i listen to a loop, figure out how to play it, and bang out variations on the midi controller or guitar, recording as many different ideas as i can think of.

then i take these ideas, try them out with software instruments that work in that song style, and add them to the tune.

i will let things sit for long periods and do different edits.

when that's done, it's time for lyrics...which used to come easy but now take so long.

2) if i'm not starting from a guitar, i start with an unfamiliar tempo, then shaker pattern to build a rhythm figure. do that a few more times to get complementary rhythm figures that can be arranged into a structure,

then work from bass loops or midi controller to develop melodic and harmonic ideas like above.

finally, look at guitar, harmonica or software instruments for other timbres that work in that song style.

add lyrics and stir.

3) I wake up and say " I %#$%@ hate techno." so write an "ubertechno" piece and am hailed as "herr ubertechnogruppenmeister". Of course, despite mein sturm und drang meisterpiece, techno continues to suck.

4) assorted oblique strategies

25 years of auto-didactic self-delusion.

cort acoustic guitar with fishman pickup. selection of hohner and lee oskar harmonicas. macbook with garageband 3 and logic express 8, apex large diaphragm condenser mic. m-audio digital interface. m-audio 49e midi keyboard. household objects. telepathy. mojo.