Dinosaur Museum

Mystified

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Description

So today, as I was taking my usual Saturday canyon walk, I had this idea for a song using marimba and xylophones to 'paint a portrait' of dinosaur bones.
(yes...i occasionally get odd ideas as I'm out walking...)

Though, the idea of using xylophone and percussion for 'bones' is not new. Saint-Saens used them very effectively to portray 'Fossils' in his popular "Carnival of the Animals".

This is not a completely polished piece--I recorded and mixed it in one evening's time.
I may go back in one day and fix the timing issues, but for now, it's imperfect and whimsical! Enjoy!

Oh..and see if you can pick out the 'borrowed' motifs from other classical works!

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Song Stats

Hits: 1548
Comments: 25
Fans: 11
Plays: 253
Downloads: 57
Votes:
Uploaded: Jan 14, 2007 - 03:25:17 AM
Last Updated: Jan 14, 2007 - 03:37:08 AM Last Played: Nov 16, 2009 - 02:05:16 AM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Song Actions

Keywords:

Mystified (163), dinosaurs (2), museum (2), bones (8), whimsical (5), imagination (27)

Hardware:

macbook, MAudio 61es Keystation

Software:

GB3--mixed down in LE7
JamPack 4: Symphony
Soundfonth Synth

Comments

jiguma	jiguma said 1047 days ago (January 14th, 2007)
	: ) A lot of fun Mysti. I'm the wrong person to ask to name themes from classical works I'm afraid. Neil Check out my latest song called Lost In Translation (w Mike Watkins)

Mystified	Mystified said 1046 days ago (January 15th, 2007)
	Fun :) Well, no worries about the classical motifs--that you had fun listening was the point. Thanks for taking time to comment! :) Check out my latest song called For the Beauty of the Earth

	said 1047 days ago (January 14th, 2007)
	Curiously Atwoodesque :) Thanks for starting my day off with a smile. I esecially like the comic tubas.

Mystified	Mystified said 1046 days ago (January 15th, 2007)
	Atwood? where?? I guess it does have that Atwood influence, yes! He continues to haunt the halls here at MJs, doesn't he? (...and that's a high compliment, by the way) Thanks for listening and I'm glad it made you smile. I had a lot of fun creating it, too. Check out my latest song called For the Beauty of the Earth

RickW	RickW said 1047 days ago (January 14th, 2007)
	Running from things that go 'bump' Cat, I loved the footsteps! Great job of panning left to right then back to the right as they run away from things unseen. :-) Great job! Great portrait! God bless, Rick Check out my latest song called Picture of Perfection (MJRF)

Mystified	Mystified said 1046 days ago (January 15th, 2007)
	:) Thanks, Rick. It's always nice to get your comments here--I'm glad you enjoyed this! :) Check out my latest song called For the Beauty of the Earth

Mcboy	Mcboy said 1047 days ago (January 14th, 2007)
	odd but funny.... would be kool for some cartoon background music.....i could imagine fossils doing a funny dance..(when the marimba/xylo's come in) to this music....hehhehhe Check out my latest song called Heros( aclarke/mcboy)

Mystified	Mystified said 1046 days ago (January 15th, 2007)
	Hehehe thanks for your comments, Mcboy :) It's always nice to know that you're listening and enjoying the music I'm doing. Check out my latest song called For the Beauty of the Earth

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 1047 days ago (January 14th, 2007)
	lose timing = lose bones this is cool! the mood is playful, even though it's about dinosaurs. i really like the "timing issues" - it makes me think of skeletons kind of jangling around. you'd lose that effect if you tightened up the timing. thanks Check out my latest song called One For Me

Mystified	Mystified said 1046 days ago (January 15th, 2007)
	rickety bones.... I did have that thought, actually. That the 'timing issues' might create a sense of unsteadiness and gangly motion, so I appreciate your comments on that. Thanks for listening! :) Check out my latest song called For the Beauty of the Earth

MissChaos

MissChaos said 1047 days ago (January 14th, 2007)

Peer Gynt
I hear Hall of the Mountain King. I used to have this little Halloween trinket; it was a coffin with a skull inside that, when you twisted the thingy on the bottom like a music box, it would pop open the coffin top and show it's ugly but appropriate little head. It was actually really cute and it played Hall of the Mountain King. I've always loved that tune by Grieg and I played it in a symphony once. Lots of fun. That's how I hear this tune as well. Sounds like you just had a blast recording this impromptu and creative little song. Me likey. :-)

Check out my latest song called Mama Cries - Album Version (MJRF)

Mystified

Mystified said 1046 days ago (January 15th, 2007)

Peer Gynt it is!
Yes!

I always loved listening to the Peer Gynt Suite and imagining the story behind the music.
That, as well as Pictures At An Exhibition by Mussorgsky.

Some themes/motifs always stay with you, and Hall of the Mountain King is definitely one of them. As I was improvising the various parts of this song and overlapping them, I could hear that motif and it just seemed to fit as a layer, and so I used it.

Thanks for listening and for your comments :)

Check out my latest song called For the Beauty of the Earth

Reinholt56	Reinholt56 said 1047 days ago (January 14th, 2007)
	Very evocative piece.... I really enjoyed listening to this piece. It does the job admirably. The timing issues lend a hand to the piece, from one point of view. I don't think they detract from the overall effect of the piece at all. R. Check out my latest song called Ambient Soundscape #1

Mystified	Mystified said 1046 days ago (January 15th, 2007)
	thank you! Thanks for these comments, R. :) Again, it's nice to know that the loose timing perhaps adds to the piece, rather than takes away. Check out my latest song called For the Beauty of the Earth

Ed Hannifin

Ed Hannifin said 1047 days ago (January 14th, 2007)

Much fun.
Reminds me of Seth Blair's 'Skeleton Dance'.

Funny, the things that pop into a person's mind as inspirations in a quiet moment...

Leave the timing issues in, and go out and get yourself famous. Years from now, some poor musical archaeology student will have to accurately transcribe it, capturing "all the subtle nuances"...

Ed

Check out my latest song called Next Time Around (w/jiguma)

Mystified

Mystified said 1046 days ago (January 15th, 2007)

dancing bones..
I don't think I have heard "Skeleton Dance"... I will have to look that one up.

And I can confirm--there's no way I'd be writing any of this down in musical notation. I barely survived Music Theory in college!

Thank goodness for MIDI and being able to improvise from keystation to computer!

None of this would exist otherwise!

Thanks for listening and for your comments, Ed :)

Check out my latest song called For the Beauty of the Earth

Vic Holman	Vic Holman said 1047 days ago (January 14th, 2007)
	a little haunting a little funny, and very much a boney sound. the slightly off timing actually adds something to it. since dinosaurs wern't know for there ballet skills. Check out my latest song called November

Cameron	Cameron said 1046 days ago (January 15th, 2007)
	worth developing! Mysti, I do hope you develop this piece further; it'd make a great children's piece for orchestra kiddie concerts! Maybe we should collaborate someday on this idea....I haven't done anything further with my children's series which started with "Baby Roosters". Tuba and xylophone is a great combination! Check out my latest song called EPONYM

	said 1046 days ago (January 15th, 2007)
	Dem bones! Nice one Cat. Good fun. A Jurassic time was had by all! LOL! Be well! http://www.macjams.com/song/27908

VicDiesel	VicDiesel said 1045 days ago (January 16th, 2007)
	Dem bones dem bones, dem dry bones.... What a fun little piece. With that title it's absolutely clear what you're doing and you nailed it. Check out my latest song called Desert Stars

perceptualvortex	perceptualvortex said 1045 days ago (January 16th, 2007)
	I agree With those above about the 'timing issues'... the looseness just adds to it. This is really cool, Cat. Besides the mallets and tuba, the footsteps and strings totally go together... it sounds like there's a little story going on--I can picture it many ways. Check out my latest song called Machine Man (w Beastie Boys)

thetiler	thetiler said 1045 days ago (January 16th, 2007)
	Like the . . . walking and sounds of what seems like snapshots of a persons mind as one would walk along seeing the various displays. Nice myst, using the instrumentations you do! Nice to get back to macjams and hear such a prized macjams - icomp personality. Hope you have loads of luck and great things in the New Year Myst! Check out my latest song called Little Drummer Boy Variations

mvh9591	mvh9591 said 1042 days ago (January 19th, 2007)
	Very Good ----- I could actually watch this song (in my head) as I listened. Nicely done. I really couldn't hear any timing problems. Real music isn't perfect anyway is it? Thanks for sharing Cat, mvh : ) Check out my latest song called Ease My Troubled Mind

Einarus	Einarus said 1037 days ago (January 24th, 2007)
	Now let me think... ...I'm thinking maybe Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" (might just be the 'footsteps in a hall' bit)? And those pizzicato strings in the beginning are giving me a bit of a "Mountain King" vibe? Aaanyway - this is quite entertaining! Totally worth going back to and polishing! Very nicely done! -Einar S. Check out my latest song called Running Scared (w/ Ziti)

NorthPoint	NorthPoint said 601 days ago (April 5th, 2008)
	A Night At the Museum and a journey to the age where dinosaurs ruled the earth. What a nice trip Cat - enjoyed every step of the way. Check out my latest song called Still Waters