The burst of creativity began to move into increasingly unusual avenues toward the end (Songs 164-168). The music was becoming far more experimental and often less-satisfying - though more educational. I began to consider this a time for developing the tools and skills necessary to a new phase in the evolution of my musical works. In April, the real world gave me a reality check, as the power supply on my computer failed spectacularly. A major hardware upgrade, followed by another a few months later, involved the installation of a new hard disk, a new UPS, a new printer, a new graphics tablet, and the reinstallation of those thousands of pieces of software that I've mentioned before. (In fact, some of the software still hasn't been reinstalled). There was little time left for creating music. It was only in June that I was able to return to composing, finishing 3 pieces in a matter of days - admittedly, a couple of them had been in progress for a while. And then, abrubptly, the well ran dry. Either I couldn't think of anything new to try, or when I could, it sounded horrible, or worse - lame. The results were never even saved to disk, they were so appalling. I needed a new source of inspiration. # Name (Length) Size Download Links Comments       164 War Drums (3:39) 74K This song doesn't work at all on the SB-Live. It was an exploration of the alternative rythm isntruments in the standard Midi sound bank, and inspired by a vision of the African Jungle of the 18th and 19th centuries. It was also an attempt to tap the same vein of accidental melody that made "Pulsebinder" (2001 page7) so appealing. 165 Embers (3:52) 44K There is a tune there, you just have to wait for it to get started! This piece was all about exploring some rythmic arrangements which derived from the unintended combination of two leftover snippets from other pieces. This piece flirts with being straightforward pop, and also with some of the less-commonly used instrumentation choices. Unfortunately, the melody is almost inadible on the SB-Live, leaving only the meerest hint of what's really there.. 166 Inner Chord (5:32) 84K The title of this piece stems from the melody line, which was a deliberate experiment in musical structure. The tune body consists of strong chords, which pass from instrument to instrument. The melody, which is played on whichever instrument or instruments is NOT currently playing the chords, consists exclusively of the same notes that make up the chords, but played one at a time and more prominantly. The purpose was to explore the limits of melodic definition - would it be drowned out, or would it be reinforced? Unsurprisingly, the answer depended on the instruments in question. Retaining those that gave strong melodies produced this peice. Once again, it doesn't quite work as it should on the SB-Live, though a remix might salvage the tune. 167 Heartbeats (a courtship) (4:05) 44K Initially, this was inspired by the opening of "The Heart Of Rock & Roll" by Huey Lewis & The News, which gave me the idea of using drums and percussion to simulate heartbeats. I wanted to tell the story of a courtship based around the heartbeat of one of the participants - by turns slow, nervous & jumpy, and excited. The tone and of the piece would also vary with these emotional elements, helping to give the listener the correct interpretation of what they were hearing. This tune comes close to working on the SB-Live; but the key ingredient that defined the piece, the "heartbeats" fail miserably, and without them, this cannot be properly salvaged. A remix is possible, but it would cost the piece it's uniqueness. 168 War Drums (Remix) (3:39) 74K Every piece of music is a compromise between the objective and the possible, and bringing these two conditions as close to one another as possible is where the art lies in midi composition. Although I deemed it good enough to be released to the public, some of what I learned while working on "Heartbeats" (above) suggested some alternate instrumentation combinations that would actually bring the piece closer to what I had intended it to be in the first place. This version survives the transition to the SB-Live better than the original, but some instrumentation problems remain. 169 Inexorability (2:45) 26K By the time it was finished, no other title was possible for this tune. At every stage, I found that I had no creative choice at all, the next note was defined by the rythm, overall melodic structure, and the note that had preceeded it. Surprisingly complex for such a small file size, there is a lot of depth in this piece, wihch ALMOST works on the SB-Live. It's at least listenable! 170 Phase Shift (6:24) 57K This was the result of more experimentation in unusual instrument choices. The name comes from the fact that part-way through the track, it was necessary to insert a quarter-bar to get the snare drums to work. The piece loses much of it's colour and melodic vibrancy through the SB-Live, but if you persist beyond the first minute-and-a-half or so, it begins to move into territory where the strengths of the newer sound card can begin to play a part. So this piece is probably salvageable, but does need a remix. Interestingly, while everyone thinks they know where the quarter bar was inserted, everyone gets it wrong.... so just where did it happen? That would be telling..... 171 Tapestry Of Fire (3:12) 57K Although it's listed as the last of the three tunes, this was actually the first one finished. The delay came from difficulty in choosing an appropriate name. This is very heavy metal, at least on the Awe-32. The overall structure of the piece is a deliberate attempt to achieve "Blow Your Hair Back" power levels. If you don't jump when the tune gets into full gear, you've got stronger nerves than I do.... This doesn't quite work as well on the SB-Live as on the Awe-32, but at least you can listen to it.