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MAXEL TOFT

20 (Garfield)

"Songs"

2021
Zoom R16 and whatever was used by sTeve sMith
Sturgeon Bay, WI
18:10

Here is another collection of matched up pieces. I usually have a bunch of banjo licks and I have a bunch of lyric ideas. Sometimes they match up immediately and other times I have to write new material. Sometimes it is just a one line idea that gets developed. Sometimes it is multiple parts in the same key that I force together. Some pieces go back into the queue. To make things interesting I decided to focus on valve trombone instead of writing electric bass parts. The trombone was difficult to keep on pitch. I am not sure if it was more because I am not good or if the instrument is in bad shape. Everything was recorded in a room above a garage that was too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer so I was motivated to get things done in between. Threshing turned out much better than I hoped. This was the regular pattern of finally using an older lick that was in the queue too long. It is an interesting hammer-on-pull-off lick I but decided it was going nowhere and instead turned it into a reason to come up with a drum part and make noise on trombone. Recovery is a newer lick that inspired new words on a one line idea. The drums and trombone give it a completely different feel. MiddleMan is another newer lick, old one line idea, based on a fretted pull off. It is fun to play. It was in mixing this song that I realized that the floor tom mic must have gone bad at some point. Punk rock. Filming is a banjo lick I really like but maybe the overall concept doesn't work and too obvious clash of different musical themes. But I like this technique on the banjo that creates a full sound. I will probably use it again sometime. Off Track is supposed to sound like a train. The lyric concept is not the best and the banjo parts are sort of throwaways but overall it is passable. This Mess is a combination of threen (maybe four) different lyric ideas. This is a case where I combined the words first and then figured out the music. It is the only song that is not in the clawhammer style. I often don't like to add effects to the banjo but this one wasn't complete until sTeve added his production ideas. Now it works.