196kbps MP3

Notes

This song is made up of three themes that seemed to want to be in the same piece together. Walter and I collaborated on the music and lyrics. As I recall, Walter had an alternative set of lyrics and melody for the the bridge section, but alas, we don't have a recorded version of that.

Instruments

• Guitar (Fender Telecaster + Line6 POD 2.0)
• Bass (Carvin BK5 + Guitar Rig 4)
• Drums (XLN Addictive Drums VST + SPD-20 controller)
• Clavinet (PianoTeq Play 3 VST)
• Brass section (Roland Fantom, Korg TR-Rack)
• String section (Cakewalk Dimension Pro VST)
• Hammond Organ (Roland VK-8)
• Taurus Bass Pedals (Taurus VST by Antti @ smartelectronics)
• Roland D-550 (lead synth)
• Hand claps, shaker, tambourine

From the archives: Early Stages

Diving back into the cassette archives turns up some interesting fragments. I try to do this research before finalizing anything in the project, in case there is something worth recapturing - an odd note, a turn of phrase, or something, that was present in the early versions and deserves to be retained.

However, in the case of this song, I think we got everything we were looking for. These (edited) historical archives are for true fans and paleontologists only:

Themes 1 (1988)

Themes 2 (1988):

Themes 3 (1990):

Instrumental demo from 1990:

Lyrics

I watch them run and jump and play outside my window
I want to go out and join in the fun
Mother tells me no, she says that I'm just too young
They play too rough, and I'll get hurt in the end

      She stops me playing with the big boys
      Playing with the big boys
      Playing with the big boys, is where I want to be

Watch them throw and catch the ball, down in the park
I want to go down, and join in the game
Sometimes is rough, being the smallest kid
When they choose the sides, I'm always left at the end

      I want to play with the big boys
      play with the big boys
      playing with the big boys, is where I want to be

And one day, when I am big and strong
I'll walk through the gate, and feel I belong
And when I get there, will it have to be so hard?
the big boys are playing in another back yard

      Playing with the big boys
      Playing with the big boys

At night, when Mother tucks me into bed
I always dream, of staying up late, instead
In the morning, though I have grown by one day
I'll always be too young, to be a part of their play

music & lyrics © 1990 Colin Nicholls & Walter Nicholls

196kbps MP3

Notes:

I remember this coming together musically very quickly out of a jam session shortly after we bought the Korg M1, but although we had the lyrics shortly afterwards, I never tried putting them together until a couple of years ago.

Instruments:

• Fender Telecaster + Line6 POD 2.0 (guitars)
• Chapman Stick + Guitar Rig 4 (bass)
• XLN Addictive Drums VST + Roland SPD-20 controller (percussion)
• Arturia CS80v VST (trumpet synth)
• Cakewalk Dimension Pro (strings)
• TickyClav VST (clavinet)
• Native Instruments Pro-53 VST (lead synth)
• Roland VK-8 (hammond organ)

Lyrics:

You're going for the high score in your artificial landscape
Conflict with the secret code of honor of machines
Accumulating hit points with a ruthless manic fervor
Slipping past the traps and pitfalls pictured on the screen

Don't you realize, there isn't an escape key
You can’t expect to exit without feeling any pain
Activating laser beams to edit out your problem
Gain an extra life and stay ahead in the game

Gambling on your past performance, dicing up your chances
proposing winning gambits but your deck is always stacked
Dealing false alternatives, and aceing their decisions
You know the turning card will be the Joker in the pack

Don't you realize, that there isn't an escape key
You can't expect to exit without feeling any pain
The dealer hits you with a card to edit out your problem 
Counting on the river puts your head in the game

     All I did was get a replay
     All I did was play the game
     Thought I'd figured out the answers
     But somehow all the rules had changed

You're Rolling up your characters and challenging the circle
Hiding from your conscience in a world of mystic themes
passing off as casual friends subverted to your service
escaping intact from the danger vivid in your dreams

Don't you realize, that there isn't an escape key
You can't expect to exit without feeling any pain
Casting double sixes to edit out your problem
Multiply the bounty on your head in the game

Don't you realize there isn't any future
Hiding in your habit where no-one can point the blame
Rocket jumps and bunny hops will beat the low-ping bastard
Real life re-targets on your head in the game

music & lyrics © 1989 Colin Nicholls & Walter Nicholls

196kbps MP3

Instrumental introduction to the album, heavy on the strings and reverb.

The MP3 conversion seems to have squashed the dynamics a bit. There's supposed to be quite a crescendo at the end there...

Featuring:

• Roland Fantom FA-76 (strings, lead synth)
• Cakewalk Dimension Pro (strings)
• Korg TR-Rack (strings)
• Roland VK-8 (hammond organ)

196kbps MP3

Notes - December 2005:

Cloud Chamber is the first completed track of a suite of instrumentals, a side-project which I have tentatively dubbed "Maxwell Tangent's Divergent Thinking". Musically it's ambient, techno, loop-based instrumental music with plenty of guitars and processed natural sounds. But it's early days, it could end up going in a different direction. I hope to have each track segue seamlessly into the next one in order to make one long piece of music. So far the tracks are being written in reverse order, because Cloud Chamber is the final movement.

I was working on this track on the later half of 2001, and therefore I've dedicated it to the victims of the World Trade Center attack in September 2001.

Equipment:

• Carvin TL60 (electric guitars)
• Godin Multiac Nylon (classical guitar)
• Chapman Stick (bass)
• Korg TR-Rack (synth pad "Dragon's World"; source of some drum hits for the loops)
• Alesis D4 (source of drum hits for loops)
• Korg M1 (Bells; Piano; Strings; odd percussion hits)