In battle, partial coverage, low on stamina, but ever ready to confront the baby half dragon.
I am so pleased with this EP and stoked by the reactions I've been hearing. I knew when I started writing that I wanted to sit at my full sized keyboard. Much of the last two EPs was created with my lil 2 octave novation midi keyboard, which is effective, but not as expansive as the full sized keyboard. The other essential element is that I joined a DnD group and initially intended each of five songs to be named after somebody's character. And so, this is how the journey of baby half dragon unfolds.
Sally Port is the first beat I've released with a strong triple feel. I've created a few others but they never quite hit right and I never released them. So Sally Port takes the prize for first beat in triple time. It has a strong latin influence The beat pattern is best represented by a rhumba or bachata. Maybe it's a polonaise. The "clap clap" that cues new sections is a nod to a modern dance teacher currently i work with.
Speaking of dance, let's talk about "Insight Veggie Roll". The sample here is a phone recording I grabbed from a ballet class I was playing at the Joffrey Ballet, I think it was the morning after the super bowl. Any piano sound on this track comes from that phone sample. I really love the way this came together and how many different textures it moves through in less than two minutes. The name is nod to the insight rolls one has to make in DnD.
Cat Trip might have been the first track I created. It is definitely the least sample heavy, being led primarily by original recorded sounds. Live instruments on this include electric guitar, flute, voice, shaker, and my Yamaha PSR-6 electric keyboard. I tried to find a good link to explain what that keyboard is but it's not a keyboard anybody cares about and I just found a bunch of $40 ebay listings. So instead I linked someone creating a groovy lil beat with that keyboard. I luv luv luv sound 68, the sine wave. It has made several appearances in my work.
Lost Bard was definitely the last track I created and it sort of summarizes all the elements at play within this EP. In my humble opinion, the synth solo is the most DnD sounding section of the whole EP.
During the course of our DnD campaign my cat Brownie earned herself the nickname “Baby Half Dragon” which became the name of this EP. I really love the way this came out. I think it is the most unique sounding group of music yet and marks the start of a particular musical direction for this project. And if you loved this EP you’re gonna go nuts for the next one, "Death Drop" dropping May 23rd.
Full Moon April 23, 2024
Dr Scott Nix