The Lonely One is a song cycle – or sorry, a tone poem cycle. We follow, very loosely, a person who is not like everyone else – a Neurodivergent Individual, if you will. I am, however, refusing to fall into the oh woe, they need to change for me or I’ll lie here in a heap thing so prevalent in the not-like-everyone-else space*. Our person simply moves through spaces and events with hope in their heart.
if you enjoy my music please purchase
as that is the only return (and income) I get from my work
Tracks
- Intro
- The Lonely One – introduces our protagonist. The tone is mostly cheerful. He just is. There may be a sense of slogging away underneath the rich, cheery ‘orchestrated’ sound.
- A Different Cast – I considered spelling that with an “e”, but that may bring a weight of judgment I don’t want. A cast being a mold to make things in, not everyone is the product of the same mold. He was made from a different pattern.
- The Other Path – He may have chosen a different pathway deliberately, but the path probably chose him based on his differences. He tries to see that without judgment.
- Out Past The Fences – Taking a different path, he finds himself “outside the wire”. He’s in a no-man’s land where some things are similar but many unsettling as they don’t make sense (or make sense to others but not him).
- Procession Of Three – is a reference to the cover art for “1st Campaign” where three blurry people walk a road alone. These three people are a group that he is not part of. They pass by on their own mission. He must follow his personal mission alone.
- Voices In The Silent Night – Being alone often brings the sense of voices out-there offering meaning, or criticism. The space here is empty like a meditative space or a place in nature.
- Being Found – is just that. We all want to be found and valued for who and what we are. I wanted to have a happy ending, and here it is in all its melodic, synthesized glory that this lets the nature of our Lonely One shine through.
- Outro
Stuff
Musically, I wanted more melody and cheeriness overall. Life is grim, Art should be an antidote. I love melody and detail in music. I’d always choose Kenny G over Trap. I guess this shows in using a synthesized alto sax in the lead track 😉
As always, everything is fully synthesized. I knew I wanted a sax sound for the first lead, but samples, while they can sound box-tickingly right at first, soon become very rigid and unwilling to deliver what I want. Ok, so maybe a more dedicated lieberry and fiddling with trigger notes might help there. The thing is, I don’t want to pretend to be Kenny G, but give my impressions. Synthesis allows for that far better. You feel my album theme here, perhaps.
Dynamics – volume differences – have also been used across the record, so don’t expect everything to be fully LOUD all the time. Contrast is part of the way the story is being told. I really wanted to be same-but-different. The boxes are ticked, but not in the same formula ways – close but no cigar. You have to accept it as it is and go along. I hope you will find the pattern or shape created here and choose to follow where it goes.
if you enjoy my music please purchase
as that is the only return (and income) I get from my work
Techo Stuff
For synth spotters: Everything from sound design (making & mixing sounds) to composing (notes) was handled in Reason 13. This is still my happy place when things need to get done. Most of the sounds are made in stock devices with very little VST usage. I know many lie about using analog gear, but I do not. It is about the results. I like my results; they are mine. I am not here as some kind of nostalgia machine.
Speaking of nostalgia. After listening to an older album of mine, I went back to using the NN-XT sampler as I used to do in my earliest days of EMU Emaxes I & II. Nothing but simple OSC waveforms. Some pads and leads were created this way, and most of the drum sounds. The made-in-the-mix drum sounds have a great “rustic” feel as a result.
If you wonder why such an unromantic (brutal, ugly) cover for a record verging on New Age at times – and why I didn’t use AI to make something perfectly pretty – well, that is what came. I trust my muse. It represents the content in a certain way. I admit it is not vapidly pretty, but I am also taking a firm (and perhaps bold) stand against AI, and I think this helps make that very clear. For the video, I tried adding hearts & flowers, but they just exploded! (oh the irony).
*This is not meant to be aimed at anyone, so being offended is your thing. Similarly, I am not using thee, thou, zee predicates as the English language already had that covered. I am likely ASD, so am not having a go at being non-NT, merely expressing an idea, a feeling, or a series of them – as an Artist.
Benedict Roff-Marsh 