the recording on this one is exceptionally good. I think you may have perfected the perc mic up over this last year. is there a hint of reverb? Nice one, really warm malaria-like sound

@ Kirk& Kamachi: excellent observation, and you are correct. As most of my patterns are built around clave, and as clave is structured upon so many off-beats, to get my metronome to "click" on some key clave beats, I set my metronome at double time- so my bpm notation reflects what my metronome setting was dialed to. Here is a clave link that graphically shows how many times clave percussion scores are transcribed in 2/2 (cut time) to make it easier to read... but if one is counting 8th notes instead of quarter notes, the bpm will be doubled. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clave_(rhythm)?wasRedirected=true

Excellent playing. But +1 here for the 110 BPM perception :-)

Excellent! I find it interesting that in almost every one of these that you list the BPM I feel them in half time, so I would think of this as 110 BPM

glad to be back. good stuff here.

@ Richard: many thanks- recording accoustical percussion is sometimes tricky and I'm still learning the skill sets required for that. I mount my own skins from bulk rawhide (so not actually tanned) but I don't actually make the rawhide from animal skins... that's a lot of work on a non-industrial level and there are some health concerns when it comes to working with (especially imported) fresh animal skins. Many of the (nonterrorist) cases of anthrax reported involve folks making their own drum heads, so I just use commercially cured cow skin from the USA for the latin drums and buy pre-made drum heads for the African drums, which are usually water buffalo, goat or some sort of deer.

the sound quality is great,,, i can almost see/feel the bending/vibrating of the skin,, do you make,, tan etc your own skins?,,, this has a wonderful warm quality,, great piece

I heard the style somewhere but you perfected it. Thanks for uploading.

Phenomenal - almost, pheromonal!!

i played this in college. fun.

@ Dave: thanks for listening! This recording is 8 tracks, consisting of 2 (stereo) bass drum, cowbell, clave, chinese blocks, and 3 tracks of various sized conga drums playing their parts. Traditionally it is performed by a group of percussionists, which I would *love* to assemble- but that rarely is possible for me to do where I live. Perhaps I should move to Africa.

Thanks Norm, I posted the lyrics. Now then on to this great groove, Yeah baby thats really moving isn't it. Is this one track or a few tracks overdubbed together? I am moving every part of my body to this groove.

Absolutely brilliant.

Great brilliant top job mate.

@ Jarvis: Ha! I'm vocally challenged, but to hear the lyrics, go here: http://alonetone.com/vaisvil/tracks/walk-with-sorrow-norm-rick-chris-emily

Cool job ...but hey lyrics and no vox ?

Yet another good one. I love how you always post the style and a bit of history with each track. It always helps me understand the song better.

excellent! I like the way the congas answer each other.

Great stuff Norm! I must make some time to jam with some of your tracks

Beatiful!

The video is essential to even approach comprehension of this. Wild stuff!

Very tight! More jaw harp! Love the guitar riff and bass. Sorry about your fall, but at least your only chair broke the impact a bit. Can't wait to see the video.

Excellent. The outro IS incredible.

Fight club is a perfect description of this! Excellent.

Delicious!

Very clever!

This is really fun!

Well, I'm not Greek, but I think "Heptadecaphilia" means "to love 17". Quite an impressive collection of "17 equal tones per octave" songs (20!). If one wants to immerse themselves in an environment of tonality that is in stark contrast to the conventional "12 tones per octave" standard that has dominated human ears since the 17th century, this a great collection to explore. It takes a bit of courage to give microtonal music a shot - at times it sounds blasphemous and dizzyingly disorientating to me. Stretching the definition of the established custom probably always feels like that. The surprise is how quickly my ear adapts to it but it takes a bit of immersion for me to get to that point. Strong work, Chris. I philia it.

Well done. I love the synth work.

Great fun!

Wild stuff.

Reg is right.

I've never seen a guitar like that. Cool!

Rick! I am thrilled to hear something from you again! I've missed the shimmering guitar work from the island. I figured that no news is good news - the surf must be good. That or you are hanging out with Jack Johnson... Love it.

Beautiful! (You must have slipped this one by me during one of your particularly productive times)

Ha! Well, you have a point. In Reg's world, there is a woman named "Ilesa". But I have not been in the pantry with her. Most of the women in Reg's world scare me to death!

"Ilesa" is a percussion pattern, not a woman! Otherwise I would have not taken the risk of being caught with her in the pantry!!

but I have to admit that my hot-chili tomato oatmeal-with-pickles pasta I made after this was pretty good. (The bottle of cabernet probably helped too).

2SS: Domestic? Yes. Barely. Goddess? Uh, no.

Great graphic for this one! Ha!