The tracks on Drumlin were written in the four year period after I first arrived in Cumbria from Leeds in 1993. The original version was mastered on a 90 minute cassette tape, but in 1997 I recorded virtually the whole album again onto minidisc. This shortened version was then released as a limited edition white label CD in late 1998. These sold out quickly so the following year a CD-R version was released. Some of tracks were re-mixed to remove a few unlicensed samples.
To celebrate the release of the ArcSin CD-R in 2001, and making use of better recording technology, I reworked the album again. This newer version of the CD contained additional tracks and re-mixes that were not on the first or second run of CDs.
I wish I had kept a proper record of how many were actually sold, but it was surely in the low hundreds before I finally decided to go to a 'pay to download' mp3 in 2006.
Update February 2009: The 55 minute long album is now available as a free digital download. The download is a 192kB/s mp3 and is found here.
Track Listing
I have included some sound snippets of some of the songs. Just 'right hand mouse click' on the blue name and 'save as...' to download the mp3 file. All files are around 500KB to 900KB.
Mars Landing Inspired from the Mars Landings taking place about the time I wrote this piece. The lead sound is my homemade Poly-4 alongside a voice from a D-110. The plinky high riff is a TX-7. The block chords are from a D-50. The base line is also a D-110 voice. The main arpeggio is one half of the Orbital mono. The drums are the D-110 and a chopped up loop. The flutey solo that comes in at the end is the other half of the Orbital.
Plough This one was made whilst having an enforced day off work due to our village being cut off by snow. Its mostly Roland D-110 and the D50.
Drive My first attempt at a big themed piece. Lots of big pads and Rachel's vocal work coupled with lots of analogue synths. Oh, and that's me doing the deep husky 'Drive' bit.
RainDance The marimba is a TX-7. The percussion is the D-110 and a severly chopped and played backwards drum loop. The bass line is the Orbital. The lead line is a D-50. The TB303 sound is the Orbital again. The strings and the acidy bit at the end are the D-110.
RainDance-2 Another part to the same track. A bit of a Magnetic Fields influence here according to some listeners. TB303 bass line by the Orbital. D-50 lead line. Percussion; the trusty 909 kit on the D-110. The whoosh you hear is a Am chord from a guitar being played backwards and distorted.
Eden The rich bell like bass line is a mixture of sampled bass guitar and bell sound created by the D-110. It took me ages to get the right sound I wanted. The sax is the two sax presets played together on a D-110 with the delay created by the midi effects module within Cubase. The chords are from the D-50. All the strings are from the D-110. The orchestral blats are sampled from the D-50 and replayed from an S-01. The percusion is a drum loop chopped and played at half speed.
Drumlin - Trippy Loop Mix The title track and one of two tracks that were actually mastered onto tape first. The lush cello is the D-50 as are the main string parts. The analogue lines are all the Orbital. The bass, percussion, organ and strings are the D-110. The drums are a loop off a sample CD. This track was completely remixed for the second batch of CDs to give a more upbeat feel.
StoneTrance Originally written in 1992, this version was re-recorded with Rachel providing the spoken verses. The French poem is a piece by Rimbaud.
Rainstorm One of the oldest pieces on the CD. This was the first track I wrote after arriving from Leeds to Cumbria. It was performed using the D-110 and D-50 only.
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