[Instrumental Punk] Come Get Your Medicine(mp3)

[Harbinger]

Shhhhhhhhhh......

This'll be our little secret!

My drummer doesn't know i composed this, and she might be somewhat upset (i don't know how much) if she found out i would upload a song about one of her life events that in many ways had a major impact on our friendship. She is VERY guarded about her life and seems to be paranoid about what people think when they learn details of her. (Not that she's had a life of crime or is up to no good -- that's just how she's become as she's matured...)

For those who don't know, my drummer Yjana is a sweet little foreign girl from Bosnia ("foreign"?! she's been here almost 15 years!) who i've been friends with just about that long. She's in no way unattractive, and any of you would be glad to have her as a little sister. She's a prudish, petite, black-eyed girl who always acts like she's on her way to church. She doesn't smoke or drink or curse, has a soft touch and an easy disposition, and is loyal to the end -- if she's your friend.

But locked away underneath the surface, for all the bad people she crosses, is a violent, irrational, demoniacal flayer who is a merciless equalizer of justice and a vessel of God's wrath (okay, so i'm being a bit dramatic). This song is about an incident that we both call "that time." I will try to keep the story brief...

Shortly after we met, we were late one afternoon walking several blocks to one of our favorite hangouts in downtown Minneapolis. Back then this city was not known for its crime, but they did have a few street-thugs called skinheads, which are like watered-down versions of European neo-Nazis. A few of these boys were standing in the sidewalk on our way, and stopped us as we approached. One of them (the leader i guess) asked for a light for his cigarette, as the others nonchalantly surrounded us, which Yjana and i both noticed right away.
We said we didn't smoke, and from here the situation deteriorated. We seem to remember the leader demanding "something else instead" and altho she doesn't recall it this way, the guy looked at me and said, "And we'll take your girlfriend..." snickering in an overly evil way, like a line from a bad Hollywood cop movie. I tried to placate the situation while Yjana kept her eyes to the ground and remained silent.
This thug looked at her and said something like, "Is that okay, little girl; are you coming with us?" She didn't say anything. And so he said with a smile, almost if he was trying to be a persuasive salesman, "C'mon, baby, you got what i need."
I will never forget this as long as i live: she looked up at him with a cute bashful smile, with the orange sun in her face, and said, "Oh, i have what you need. Come get your medicine." And she and this guy just started laughing, then the others joined in. I was frozen.

In an instant she jumped on him and started flailing at his head, scratching and screaming like a banshee. It happened so fast all of us were caught off-guard. With her little fists she was landing mallet-punches on his eyes, and when he put up his arms in defense she'd bite or claw them. It seemed like she was kicking at the same time, even while she had him on the ground. We each tried to jump in to STOP the one-sided fight (why i don't know), but her arms were flailing so fast and furious that either we couldn't get hold of her or didn't want to for fear of secondary fire. (I saw the biggest fellow get blood splattered in his eye.)
But what none of us knew was that Yjana kept her nails sharp, not like pointed talons, but like flat razor blades. And when she started grabbing and tearing bits of skin off hs face and head, i knew i had to jump in --- she was going to kill him. I screamed her name, grabbed her by the waist, and picked her up like a paper grocery bag. I guess i started running with her in my grasp still wailing and flailing and begging me to put her down so she could "finish him". I ran down a nearby residential street, and set her down in somebody's yard. She was sobbing and covered in blood (well, not COVERED, but like splashed in it), PLUS she was wearing a lacy white dress.
I gave her my jacket so we could walk home without attracting attention, and i guess the guy didn't press charges or call the cops. But we never saw any of those guys again after the incident. And i never thought of Yjana the same way again.

She had always come off as angry, spiteful, and full of animosity. But i always thought that was either a front, a spoken defense, or just feigned melodrama (as young folks are prone to have). But it was real. Some very bad things happened in her life, most of which she's probably never told me, and it all was equalized that one night. She's been much calmer since (but she's still paranoid and spiteful!).

ANYWAY, that long recounting is the backstory for the event that is depicted in this song. You will hear it immediately. The problem is, i wrote it without Yjana's usual help -- or consent, and i suppose if she found out, she MIGHT feel betrayed (altho that's not my intention).
But this is a perfect example of an inspiration that bore itself. When i started playing the first bars on a VSTi i was experimenting with, the little bell arpeggiation reminded me of "that time."

This is the first song composed entirely with my new computer, and i can tell you all i would not have been able to do this on the old system. I used 4 VSTi's, only a few samples, and 2 VST FX (for distortion and delay).

---

As usual, mind the license and feel free to include on your iPod if it's your thing. I also request that you don't trade it with friends; make them come to the website so they can agree to the terms of my sharing. And feel free to critique or comment in this thread, if so moved...

[Saga Musix]

can't really express what's wrong here, but something's not optimal for sure. maybe not enough bass but too much treble in the very mechanic-sounding hi-hat. Also, mind the fade-out at the end next time. apart from that, yes, it fits to the story quite well.

[Harbinger]

Thanks, jojo, i'll look at it again. I was having a problem with leftover notes and such, but i put more effort into composing it than engineering it...
However, it is true there is no bass guitar in this one.

Thanks for the heads up.

[Sam_Zen]

Agree with Jojo - balance between elements is not quite right.

[uncloned]

I myself am all for guitar/drums no bass. (yay white stripes!)

I think the mix is not bad - at least on my Bose headphones. It gives room for the bass drum to punch out.

I particularly love the harmonics/feedback details in the guitar work. I enjoy this one a lot.

[psishock]

This could be a splendid song, but i'm picking up the source of the trouble: the samples, especially the drums what you've used are very very low quality imo. Find some great/quality sounding drums and they will straight away enhance the mood and will add some fire to it.
A bass-guitar could come handy as you've stated, but first, fixing the present instruments .
02:03-02:12 joy for my ears :welldone:

Indeed uncloned, guitar feedback FTW ^^, i love that one too.

[Harbinger]

Listened to it again for problems (the .mp3 not the .wav), and no, except for the very end (where it becomes apparent that there's a leftover note or VST sound), this is how i meant it to sound.
I wanted the snare to sound like fists (i set the resonance to an odd level and applied some randomness in the Resonance setting). Believe me, i tried several drum samples, and settled with this one, because of the way the Resonance shifts came off...
I wanted the song to not have any bass because Bass causes the ear to infer musicality (chords and their progressions). But this song is about energy, violence, rage, put into raw brushstrokes.
I wanted the song to sound "garage" (like the records of most late 70s punk bands), which implies much less stereo than what you kids are used to listening to. I even took out a Stereo VST for the purpose of degrading the sound and trashing the distortion. The only stereo i left in was for the synth, which gives the song i little more color for transitions.

When i first started assembling the song, i actually started like i usually do, building up layers by adding sounds over measures. But that of course isnt how the event happened. So i started off instantly with the energy and fury, and "de-layered" the song. After the beginning the rest becomes anticlimactic. But i'm sure you all can attest, when you hear the opening melody again at the end, it doesn't quite sound the same as at the beginning...

So the only thing i intend to change is to find that stuck note, and fix that. This i will do for an upcoming CD. OTOH, it does give it a "badly-produced" flavor, which may be perfect for this song. :wink:

[Harbinger]

Yjana, the subject of this song and its inspiration, found out about our "little secret" while doodling around my computer (i've warned her about that!)

Much to my surprise, she was cool with it, and even liked the song. I told her that i uploaded to this site, which she knows about and has even visited as a guest (altho it's been a while). And altho she was a bit hesitant about who "you people" are, i seemed to set her worries at ease. She said she'll visit the site, but don't count on her to register or anything like that...

Thanks for all those who had the stomach to listen to it and offer your criticisms....

[uncloned]

Its a good tune and it sounds like she's great inspiration!

[Harbinger]

No, not normally!

Yes, we're good friends, but we're co-artists mostly. If i were the painter, she'd be the brushmaker, get my drift? She's never been the model that sits for me....

I can do some things on drums (or actually, drum programming), but she's the riff-wizard. She sees the drum track as musical bullets -- the harder the song the higher the caliber. And she rarely is in the mood for BB's !!

I'm glad you liked it uncloned; you're one of a few!!