Evil Death Ray Synth Beat
We've Found the Murder Weapon and It Is Occam's Razor
Mark Rushton’s Perseverance in the Arts is a weekly email on Substack where I talk about my ongoing work as a recording artist and visual artist.
This email is brought to you by:
Mark Rushton Gallery - for original paintings, metal prints, and tote bags.
License my music, sound fx, and illustrations at Pond5 for your creative project.
I’m on Bandcamp. And all the usual streaming services. I do all my streaming listening via Qobuz, a service that actually sounds great and pays artists.
This week’s topics:
Evil Death Ray Synth Beat
We’ve Found the Murder Weapon and It Is Occam’s Razor
Boundoff - Robert Dana’s “Elegy for a Home Town” and “The Visit”
Nate Trier - “Dracula’s Spatula”
Evil Death Ray Synth Beat
I make “film music”.
This week I added a lot of “tension beats” to my DISCO site and Pond5 for licensing. And other libraries I’m in.
These are musical vignettes. I call them “components”. They’re components that other creatives can use in their projects.
I’m also editing a lot of non-musical sound effects from my vast library of field recordings. That’s where I am these days.
Evil Death Ray Synth Beat sure has a fun title, and it’s a simple thing. Halloween’s right around the corner. Click through to my DISCO site to listen. From there, the rest of my catalog should be available for you to take a deep dive and freely stream. If you know anybody who is looking for music for their creative project, send them the link.
We’ve Found the Murder Weapon and It Is Occam’s Razor
Does anybody know what town this is? It was a background in some video app I was using. I’m thinking it’s a composite of stock photos. It might be “Aye Eye”, the latest Evil Thing from the billionaires, which has all the wrong answers but displays them with authority.
Did you see the spy camera in the upper corner of the room?
That’s because the terrorists won.
From last week’s Notes:
Friday - Field recording while I was away at lunch. I know I got two rounds of sirens. Returned at 11:56am and repositioned the car in the ramp to collect the noon bells from the cathedral. Was I the only one listening? I saw that bicyclist run the red light. I hope he’s an organ donor.
(ALL THOSE FIELD RECORDINGS WERE COMPROMISED BY BIRDS)
Friday - Tech problems. Brain scrambled. I think I know what the problem is. We’ve found the murder weapon and it is Occam’s Razor. Next week will solve all my problems. For now, I’m headed to the gym to pull my head over a tall bar. Find some jazz on Qobuz. It’s gonna be Bud Powell again. Bud Powell is reliable.
Thursday - I started editing my earliest Substack Posts for a book. My early posts were shambolic. Substack Juvenilia. So I’ll either cut the noise out or “comment” on what changed. It’s all in the editing.
Thursday - IG, a platform I abandoned, started sending me “change your password” emails. Sneaky geeks. Trying to lure me back with a phony excuse. The scammers. It’s bad enough they throttle, bot, and ransom everything (aka “enshittification”). I’m not going back to that Zuckerbot Plantation CIA Operation.
Wednesday - Last night, I was notified that one of my musical works was licensed. The surprise was that I uploaded it less than two weeks ago. Despite being on a platform with millions of other tracks, it got found. The key here to be open to experimenting with markets where work can be discovered. Don’t stick around throttled and botted systems.
Tuesday - Last night: new markets for my music and fx are working. I fed the beast a little more out of my catalog. At the end of the night, I recorded some new music with a slight twist. It was fun for a while, but I needed sleep. Tonight, after the day job, I’ll make some more. For most artists, does it need to be anything more than this?
Monday - During lunch, I swapped out the engine and cabin air filters in my car for new ones. Noticed the 355 CCA battery is OEM from 2018, so I’ll get it replaced at the next oil change. Scrubbed the wipers. I got new tires last week. In the trunk I have a first aid kit, fire extinguisher, tire inflator, jump start device, hand wipes, & other things. I try to be well-organized.
Boundoff - Robert Dana’s “Elegy for a Home Town” and “The Visit”
I don’t think I’ve mentioned that I helped produce the monthly Boundoff short story podcast from 2006 to 2015. They’re all here now on Substack, preserved in digital amber, and ready for your ears. I’ll be posting more of them to promote the archive.
This episode, from 2008, features a prose piece and a poem by Robert Dana. I recorded it in his home in Coralville, Iowa, and I’m the announcer on this one.
Nate Trier - “Dracula’s Spatula”
I thoroughly enjoyed Nate Trier’s new single, Dracula’s Spatula. It’s kind of a low-fi, hip-hop-ish Halloween instrumental tune with a lot of classical winks and nods and fangs.
Listen to Dracula’s Spatula on Qobuz.
The sound quality is excellent (24-bit, 48 KILLER hurts).
Wear good headphones. I like Grados.