@dogtrax @Maha4Learning @bmurley @cogdog #lesmauxdesmots A jam on this anyone? https://t.co/fB2fn50Phr
— Simon Ensor (@sensor63) May 7, 2016
The other morning, I had my list of tasks to do. You know, writing and other things that I needed to get done. Then, along comes Simon on Twitter, referencing Bob Dylan’s Masters of War, with a call to remix or remediate or something, and there I am, remembering the day I bought Dylan’s vinyl Biograph box set and heard Masters of War for the first time on my headphones. I was 19 years old, just starting out with songwriting, and that box set became a bible of songcraft to me.
And Masters of War .. that one song haunted me for weeks on end. I could hear its words in my head at night when I slept and its phrasing crept into many of my songs that year, when I focused on writing political songs in the era of Reagan. I even wrote a song for a band that I just formed (our name was Behind Bars) that was an echo of Masters of War. Mine, about US intervention policy in Central America, was called Another War. (I am still digging around for a version of it).
So Simon reels me back in to that time period of my life, and I wondered if I could do a version of the Dylan song in Soundtrap and invite others to add to it.
@sensor63 @Maha4Learning @bmurley @cogdog Seeing if I can create something in Soundtrap @ronald_2008 @bmurley
— KevinHodgson (@dogtrax) May 7, 2016
My initial goal (now that my list of tasks for the morning was kaput) was to do something sparse with Dylan’s song and keep open musical space for others. An hour or two later, I realized I had set forth a version with tension and very little space for others but I could not find a way to remove sounds without messing with the urgency of what I was creating. Still, Ron came on board, adding the very interesting voice of emergency (This is NOT a drill) and some guitar riffs, and Bryan arrived later, with even more guitar flourishes.
The invite to others is still open. We’ll see what happens.
Peace (it sounds nothing like War),
Kevin
PS – this version of Masters of War by Ed Sheeran is a new favorite of mine.