065 – Star Wars Praxeum of the Pathfinders Chapters 9 & 10 Force Lore & Principles
Our dear friend, World of Swap Shop, has recently completed Chapter 10 of Praxeum of the Pathfinders, his Star Wars fan fiction saga that is being released chapter by chapter as an audio drama on YouTube. Please do check out the link below! In these chapters, he has done an excellent job with exploring the lore of The Force and establishing some great expansion on the core principles originally set forth by George Lucas. Ray’s journey in the cave where she needs to confront herself has echoes of Luke’s similar journey when training with Yoda. Still, it stands as a unique journey with a great deal of depth. Likewise, we get to explore the force further when Luke trains Ray on the use of The Force. We will be exploring the lore form this book, the oriinal Lucas material, and what has been established more recently. Additionally, we will talk about how some of this writing that is in Praxeum of the Pathfinders draws parallels with an expanded consciousness view of our world today.
064 – Tron 1982 and the Score by Wendy Carlos Plus a Metaphysical Discussion Part 1
The movie Tron, 1982, was a groundbreaking achievement for its time in CGI as well as music. While many do think of the film as a legendary milestone in CGI, many are not aware of the score by Wendy Carlos, which employed some advanced synthesis techniques as well as a lot of work in integrating electronically realized music with orchestra. Overall, the score was an adventure to make as well as an adventure to listen. Wendy Carlos is a legendary electronic music composer and artist, and her score for Tron is an excellent example of her fine work. Carlos utilized her classic Moog Modular Synthesizer as well as a Crumar GDS in this score. We will talk about these synths, some of her other work, and look at this film in detail. This episode took on a metaphysical discussion that was quite intriguing!
063 – Mike Gourley, Cigar Box Sitar, the Dombra, and the Dutar
We’re checking in with our co-host, Mike “Mountain Hawk” Gourley on his instrument builds. He recently built a cigar box sitar, which we’re really looking forward to seeing and hearing. Mike is also a player of the dutar and dombra, two really intriguing instruments from Asia and the Middle East respectively. He has some nice cigar box guitar builds as well. Mike also has an extensive collection of other hand-made musical instruments form other builders that will be fun to listen to, such as some flute from The Flute Wizard. Mike has been releasing some rather intriguing music videos lately, so we’ll also watch some of those!
062 – Let’s Play with Synth Drums in VCV Rack Virtual Eurorack Modeling Software
In this episode of Ear Worms, we’re going to have some fun with the software synthesizer environment, VCV Rack. In its Rack2 era, VCV Rack has become a very powerful Eurorack modeling software synthesizer environment where one can patch togehter a seemingly endless array of modules for customizing their own instrument designs. The environment is only limited by the user’s imagination. We will be specifically working with some synth drum modules from the community library to put together some classic sounding synth drum kits and sequences. This episode will combine a little bit of learning with a lot of fun. VCV Rack is a free download and is a great way to learn synthesis with no cost barrier.
061 – Kevin M. Kraft Cigar Box Guitarist, Crafter, and Author of Dobro the Bottlenecker
This week we are featuring the author, cigar box guitar player, and instrument maker, Kevin M Craft. Kevin is the author of the Dobro the Bottlenecker series of novels as well as Riverhorse. Kevin is a cigar box guitar player himself and crafts his own instruments. Kevin’s artistic creativity is inspired by his Christian faith and he has a great deal of heart and soul to share with the world.
060 – The History and Fun Facts About the ARP 2500 & 2600
The ARP 2500 & 2600 are two of the most legendary synthesizers in electronic music history.They were invented by Alan R. Pearlman, David Friend, and Dennis Colin. In this episode, we will talk about how the instruments fit into electronic music history, the innovations that they brought, and we’ll listen to some of the artists that used it. This instrument is right up there with peers such as Moog, Buchla, and others. We shall also listen to some of its vintage sounds.
059 – Jesus Christ Superstar, The Album by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
In this episode, we aim to discuss Jesus Christ Superstar, composition and lyrics by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice respectively. We will be focusing on the music and the album, although some talk about the musical tours and the movie from 1973 will inevitably come up. This album and then musical is legendary as well as controversial when they debuted. While we avoid controversy as best as we can, we find the music and lyrics to be worthy of discussion as a significant artistic achievement. We will discuss the characters, and this take on the story of Judas Iscariot, Mary Magdaelene, and Jesus Christ. The original album featured Ian Gillan as Jesus, Murray Head as Judas, and Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene.
058 – Hans Zimmer & Highlights from The Da vinci Code
Hans Zimmer is one of the most successful film composers of our time. He composed a fantastic theme and a suitably minimal score for The Da Vinci Code, the film based on the Dan Brown novel by the same name. In this episode of Ear Worms, we’re going to have a little fun talking about some of the great scores of Hans Zimmer as well as some highlights, both musical and otherwise from the film, The Da Vinci Code. We will explore some of the mysterious subject matter that the film approaches and whether or not some of these subjects have some truth to them.
057 – Kraftwerk – From Kraturock to Autobahn and the Impact on Electronic Music
In this episode, we will be talking about the German electronic music group, Kraftwerk, their Krautrock origins and the impact they had on electronic music with the Autohagn album from 1974. The shift from the experimental Krautrock style to pop electronic was a significant one. Today, much of Kraftwerk’s electronic music is considered to be too artsy to be considered just pop. In any case, we will discuss all sorts of things related to this legendary band, but the main focus will be on Autobahn and the Krautrock that came before. Kraftwork has had a big impact on popular music both inside and outside the electronic music medium.
Ear Worms 056 – Talking About Sound Healing with The Flute Wizard
We are going to touch base with our good friend, Kyle Neidig, also known as The Flute Wizard. Lawrence W. Moore, the host of Ear Worms has recently purchased a custom walking stick flute for the purpose of adding another element to his Sound Experiments for Relaxation, Meditation, and Sleep. We’ll talk instrument building, musical modes, and how different element sof flute building are considerations in sound healing. We will also talk about sound healing in a number of forms and how the sound of the flute lends itself to healing.
055 – Star Wars Retold: Praxeum of the Pathfinders Discussion on Chapters 6, 7, and 8
It is always a great pleasure to have World of Swap Shop on Ear Worms to talk about his great work on the Star Wars Retold channel where he is releasing audio dramas based on his book, Praxeum of the Pathfinders. This is more than just Star Wars fan fiction folks. This is a great story that begins rgiht after The Froce Awakens film and replaces the rest of the Disney trilogy. The sound design is excellent and the passion is there for great Star Wars writing. In these chapters, we will especially be looking at some new lore elemnts that have been created and the rivoting relationship between supreme Leader Snoke and Kylo Ren. These characters have truly come to life in this story and the backstory of both is much better than what Disney had given us. We will also check in with Ray and Luke as they are met be some suprise force ghosts.
054 – The Beatles Yellow Submarine – Do We All Live in a Yellow Submarine?
This week, we will be looking at a slide presentation of imagery from Yellow Submarine (1968), the animated fantasy, adventure, and comedy film based on a story by Lee Minoff and directed by George dunning featuring the music of The Beatles. We shall talk about the music, the animation, and the story. We will see what excerpts we are permitted to on YouTube and engage in some delightful conversation about his landmark musical animation. The story is wild and fun. We shall endeavor to enjoy ourselves in a psychedelic fashion. The Beatles were a legendary band and the animation in this film was a great inspiration to many an animator. The work also leaves us with many pop culture references that echo throughout other works.
053 – The History of the Mellotron & The Chamberlain Plus Some Artists Who Used It
The Mellotron is certainly one of the most legendary electronic musical instruments in popular music. It was based on The Chamberlain, invented by Harry Chamberlain in the US. In the UK, Streetly Electronics released The Mellotron. They were the first electro-mechanical analog samplers. They employed analog tape as the method of storage. The Mellotron was used by pop rock artists such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Moody Blues as well as progressive rock bands like Genesis, King Crimson, and Yes. In this episode, we will look at the history of the instrument during its heyday of the 1960s and 1970s as well as how a similar sound can be achieved now. We will also talk about the artists who used the instrument and some legendary songs and albums where the Mellotron made an impact on our ears. The Chamberlain did not rise to the same level of popularity, but it was the inspiration behind the home entertainment innovations in Hammond and Lowrey organs in the 1950s and was loved by Elvis Presley and Bobby Darren.
