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Tom Zunk
Music from GODZILLA
in eight movements / total time: 21 minutes

The basic tracks of a piece are always played and composed or improvised by the member signing. In the above flashplayer and (partly) in the default player on the top of this profile you find my first entry which at the same time is the first voices (or Level One) of the very first piece of the SPACECOMPOSERSORCHESTRA!

Beware before turning up the volume that Part One starts very silently... as if coming slowly from very far.

Music from GODZILLA is an "epic" suite of eight movements composed and recorded using a ROLAND S-50 sampling keyboard and a KORG SQD-1 midi recorder (a sequencer with floppy discs).

Times are as follows:

GODZILLA Pt One 4:18
GODZILLA Pt Two 1:39
GODZILLA Pt Three 1:34
GODZILLA Pt Four 1:12
GODZILLA Pt Five 2:03
GODZILLA Pt Six 5:18
GODZILLA Pt Seven 1:35
GODZILLA Pt Eight 3:45

This music is heavily influenced by the soundtracks for (the first series) of the Japanese "Gojira" (Godzilla) monster movies between 1954 and 1975 composed by the great Akira Ifukube.

Like in those soundtracks the parts or movements here are relatively short. Most of them display beautiful melodies, some of them odd metres. The harmonic layout is based on those tones on the keyboard that - in the broadest sense - correspond with the tones of my Waterphone prototype. In GODZILLA in fact I used the same scale as I did in 1998 when I composed and recorded my second version of "The Music of Erich Zann" for the same instrument, the ROLAND S-50, whose 1970..s 30KHz sampling range, it..s sound storage on floppy discs and my intentional use of a slightly damaged - with occasional cracklings like on an old LP - string sample in most of the movements - therefore sounding quite "vintage - very much resemble Ifukube..s now fifty year old orchestral arrangements.

Music from GODZILLA is NOT denoised!

The movements are arranged in a diversity of one to up to four voices.
Parts One to Seven are sporting Strings only and throughout. The final part Eight uses the sounds of Organ, Cembalo and, finally, Church Bells.

Very strange to deliver a composition that is NOT finished.
Obviously I stuck to one sound colour - with exception of the final part - due to the fact that eight other musicians shall finish this piece...The basic track(s) as heard above may be followed, doubled, used as background for their voices, contradicted, ignored, cut up, looped or even drowned...

This composition will next be overdubbed, overworked and treated by other members of The SCO. They are free to add whatever kind of voice, concept or instrumental treatment they feel like. The piece may be decomposed, the parts puzzled around or prolonged even be repeated or cut up. The scale and harmonic structure is NOT to be seen as a law. My music is outspokenly ATONAL. Every! possible! combination! of sounds, scales, tunings, detunings is POSSIBLE. What sounds only too familiar now turn into something absolutely strange the next instant. Contrast may follow unisono passages, metres may be followed or not. The other voices even may have a different tempo. It is open!...
Only one thing: The very ending of the final part Eight with the silent Church Bells shall not be overdubbed but end the piece as heard here.

I appreciate any comment on this and sincerely do hope you enjoy it!

notes by Tom






to be continued!

last updated Dec 10 2007
responsible for this profile: Tom Zunk