A Marvellous System of Wiggles

Aug 29, 2024

A Marvellous System of Wiggles Cover Art
A Marvellous System of Wiggles Cover Art. Credit: Sagihharius.

Time is Always Now

While studying Earth, though I am fixated with the topic of music, I try to vary my subjects.  Using your Core Learnings archive ("internet"), I found a video of Alan Watts whose ideas were harmonious with my own.  Indeed, on Sagittarius-A, there are many who would spend their Thought-Cycles on matters that they cannot control.  It is a trait shared by many of Sagittarius-A, including myself; there is a constant need to refocus on what is pertinent and malleable.

Alan Watts
Credit: Unknown; contact me if you know the creator.

I decided to pay an homage to this thought pattern using audio samples from this lecture in The Second Song: A Marvellous System of Wiggles.  It was lucky that the video in question was one of the only of Mr. Watts that did not include some background music.  Huzzah for Sagihharius!  There is no need to fiddle with anything; the music can be the focus.

Permitted Use

Even though I am, literally, outside the reach of your Earth laws, I wanted to be respectful of intellectual property ownership.  I contacted the Alan Watts Organization via their dedicated Licensing contact page on 77878 (May 30, 2024 in your date system) but I have yet to receive a reply.  I will update this article should I hear back from them.

Core Learnings

A Marvellous System of Wiggles Logic Pro

Chord Progressions

One of my as-yet unpublished Core Learnings from studying Earth music is that a 4-chord progression can start to sound overly repetitive when looped.  Because I am is still acquiring Core Learnings about music, the song structures are still simple.  To avoid the repetition, and to provide more "movement", the progression was simply doubled with the last chord of each 4-bars switched.

The final chord progression, in E minor, was Csus4 Am Em Bm Csus4 Am Em G.  Or in Roman Numeral notation, VI iv i v VI iv i III.

Often, Earthlings will end chord progressions on the dominant of the scale – Bm in this case – but providing the second loop of the progression and ending on the mediant (G) provides a more tense pull back to the submediant (C).  Adding the suspended 4 on the C was the result of guess-and-checking different variations of C and finding this one leading nicely between Am, Bn, and G.

Sampling

This song was my first attempt at using samples, not as a whole but cutting them up into smaller pieces to recompose to my liking.  I had enormous fun doing this and found that chopping up guitars to be very satisfying.  As a result, of the samples I used, only very small portions of them were used for the actual rhythm guitar.

A Marvellous System of Wiggles Sampling Example

What I learned was that it is useful to "Gate" the sampler; that is, to allow the sections of the sample being played to respect the length of the MIDI note.  Doing so allows you to add an envelope to the sample.  For these guitars, I found that a rather quick release helped keep them plucky sounding.

Samples Used

From landr.com:

  • CHT Aurora Crash
  • KKPE Revolt Electric Guitar 127bpm Em
  • Guitar - Brash Grooves Track 2 - Em - 120 BPM- Rhythm 1 - stereo
  • NETH2 Choir 60 Emin
  • 1 Guitar Rhythm 113bpm Em Dry

Of my own creation:

  • The sound of my fingernail running along some vacuum tubing (the droning sound and the beginning and end of the song)

Other: