How "Tetris" Was Written

 

“tetris” started with a pair of voice memos that came from the initial writing sessions, shortly after getting my new (“new”) Juno-106 synthesizer.

"Kid A Ballad" Idea
Basic Printer
"Creepy Ass Bells" Idea
Basic Printer

Aaron heard some compatibility behind these ideas, so we tried adding them together, initially…

 
 
Idea 1: Combining Those Two Things
Basic Printer

…we didn’t love the results. part of what made ‘creepy ass bells’ so great was the natural warble and ‘errors’ to it. my Juno-106 had actually yet to be serviced and i was hasty to write these original demos on a ‘broken’ 106 - but that aided to the charm of the initial sounds which we couldn’t get back after fixing it.

Idea 2: Those Bells Ain't Workin'. Add Lyrics!
Basic Printer

after discovering that this was likely the direction we wanted to go in, i fleshed it out more on my side. this was what we worked with before Aaron pushed me to make the ending louder and bigger, with more growth.

Idea 3: More Complete, But a Calmer Ending
Basic Printer

what came of ‘creepy ass bells”? well, we did segment it off and try to work it into another song, which became this. it had some legs, but we never picked it back up.

BONUS: "Creepy Ass Bells" Became THIS & Was Left Off the Record...
Basic Printer

See below how peter and i set up for guitar tracking in our house, and check out some of the tracking moments for this song!

 
Previous
Previous

How "Ithaca" Was Written

Next
Next

Chapter 1: A Failed Meditation