The principal reason I started Mixed Meters was to have a place to share the tiny musical compositions I was regularly creating on my laptop during visits to Starbucks. I called these things "30 Second Spots" in spite of the fact that they are never exactly thirty seconds long. You can read more about the whimsical rules of 30-second-spot writing here.
There must be a couple hundred spots so far. No one is counting. Some of them are embarrassingly bad. I tried to combine the better ones into a surrealistic CD album. What I discovered is that longer pieces were essential to balance a torrent of short pieces. Now, 18 months later, I find the album mildly embarrassing and way too long.
Lately I haven't posted much music on Mixed Meters because I haven't been able to prioritize composing time. I do have one 5 minute piece ready to post. It was to have been my holiday offering ... for last Christmas. Wait for it.
On Monday night I decided to make time for composing. I ignored several unfinished pieces and created a new 30 Second Spot instead. This spot has video.
I shot the clip last month at the Los Angeles County Arboretum. There are birds in it. Many of the videos to which I've composed music have birds in them. What's that about?
Here's a landscape picture taken at the Arboretum that same day. Click to enlarge.
The music begins with a small melodic fragment. This was sung to me by some wind chimes as I took my daily walk on Monday. I worked it around in my head as I walked and it transformed into an infamous melody from the Dark Musical Ages. Opera queens and music theory nerds will recognize it immediately. Leslie, when she listened, had no clue that anything was quoted. However, she did accuse me of sexism in the treatment of the female duck. Everyone's a critic. Please leave your comment in the space provided.
I suggest you watch in High Definition.
Water With Ducks - © 2010 by David Ocker - 77 seconds
Here are links to other videos with my music. Some of them qualify as 30 Second Spots I suppose.
BLOBS
FLAP!
Rain Random
Squawk (This video was also taken at the LA County Arboretum)
Birds Who Don't Know the Words
The Chowder Jump (One video with three different sound tracks. The third is a combination of the first two)
You Can Pet Dinosaurs (This doesn't have any music, but it's the most popular item I've ever posted on the Internet.)
Duck Tags: 30 Second Spots. . . David Ocker. . . LA County Arboretum. . . ducks. . . water
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