T A R K A ' S A N T H E M
original (c) Harry Williamson and Anthony Phillips
arranged, tracked and sequenced in Impulse Tracker
by Liam the lemming
[Process Five, Kosmic Free Music Foundation, Twain]
I discovered this track at my sister's place, where I heard it on her
stereo. I fell in love with the piece from the first moment and set my
heart on tracking it. I borrowed the tape and took it home. The inlay was
missing, and Tarka was the name of the whole tape so I went on an epic
struggle to track down the track's true name. More about that later tho.
I played the song a few times and found myself moved to tears... not just
by the equal share of joy and sadness within the simple yet enchanting
chord progression, but by the knowledge that I had neither the samples nor
the skill to accomplish the task I had set myself.
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That was in November 1996.
More recently (early February 1997), after acquiring many more samples, I
rediscovered the tape and played the melody to myself. A few notes caught
my attention.
"Hmm. I know just the sample for that string."
And so I began the task. First the strings, then the percussion, the oboe
and the piccolo. Before long, I'd completed the first five patterns, but
something was missing.
"Hang on, I picked up some guitar samples from Ballistique and Argh the
other day..."
And so I reached pattern 9. Then the original became a little more
elaborate. In an infuriating subtle manner.
*click, whirrr, click*
"Bugger, what IS that thing?!"
*click, whirr, click* <ad nauseam>
Eventually, I made a guess. The SoundWave Sndtrk3.snd sample was ideal. I
could get started again.
I found myself continually referencing to the tape... "Hmm, how does that
bit go again?" ...until I reached a point where I figured...
"Sod it. I'll improvise."
So everything from order 17 onward became a blend of faithful conversion
and improvisation. And it sounded wonderful.
Then I decided to break off from the original entirely at order 26 and
pushed it up a tone and a half. It suited it better than I could have
hoped, and it spurred me on to finish the last few patterns.
I'd say it was better than Painting Rainbows... but that's my opinion, and
probably because I love the chord progression so much and feel so proud
that it's even a little BETTER than the original. (IMHO.)
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The history, tho. Well, I was determined to find the true name of the
piece, and scoured the web for ANY information on it. I ended up learning
a huge amount about the origins of the song...
The album it originated from was inspired by a novel called "Tarka The
Otter", by -Henry- Williamson, the father of Harry, who co-wrote the
album with Anthony Phillips. The intention was for it to be the soundtrack
to an animated film based on the book.
Sadly, it was never to be. :( But the album was released, and won much
critical acclaim. Then fate dealt a cruel blow.
The record company that owned the rights went bust.
The album all but vanished... until some years later, when another record
company managed to get their hands on it and release it once again.
And now I've heard it. And this is the result. Don'cha just love happy
endings? =)
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Greets to all my friends on #trax, the Kosmic multitudes, the Other Two of
Three Brits :) and my sister Trish, because it was ultimately her tape
that was responsible for this track ever being written.
Greets also to Welti, since his samples helped me to realise this
ambition. =)
Damn, I nearly forgot. =) MASSIVE greets to Harry and Anthony, the
original authors, for making such a beautiful piece of music. It was truly
a joy to track. =)
Lie back and enjoy it, everyone. It's beautiful. =)
Lemm
