https://soundcloud.com/mark_hayes/the-cage

“The Cage” by Charles Ives (1906)

A leopard went around his cage
From one side back to the other side
He stopped only when the keeper came around with meat

A boy who had been there three hours
Began to wonder
“Is life anything like that?”

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MIDI sequence by Turtle Music
https://musescore.com/song/114_songs_no_64_the_cage-2408495

Synthetic vocals by Emvoice
Steinway piano by Logic
Animoog by Moog
RealDrums BossaTerryClarke^3 by BIAB
Duration: 01:30

OK, this one dropped like a stone into the well of time, and perhaps for good reason, but be that as it may I have made two irresistible, if goofy, tweaks and replaced the original. I still like it, especially the Animoog.

https://soundcloud.com/mark_hayes/the-cage-3

NOTES:

1) Demented leopard now pans as he paces.

2) Existentially unsettled boy's voice is now gender appropriate.

You're certainly mining Ives' work.

The drums make it a lot more jazzy than Ives probably imagined it.

Actually, forget the Animoog, I think it's really that drum part that makes this any kind of new and hopefully interesting.

When the voice sings "he stopped" at 0:45, the drummer goes tap-tap-tap and it's just awesome (I wish I could say I put that there on purpose, but I did not.)

Thanks for listen/comment!

Accidents will happen, it's only hit n run, but getting back up again is almost half the fun.
I think, possibly the smooth panning vocal was too smooth.

What? What? I know that song, that song does NOT go that way!

You know, PG forum rules prohibit "cryptic sentence fragments suggesting relevance to previous conversations" (seriously, it's one of the best TOS conditions I've ever seen.)

Mind flips where the mind flips to...paraphrasing Elvis Costello and then adding my own bit - naughty. i like you piece but the panning wasn't expected. You're keeping folk on their toes...good.

I don't want to hear it - because I know what I've done.

I have since learned how to explain why I panned oversmoothly.

I was avoiding "zippering", which I had encountered in earlier mixes.

FWIW, unnaturally smooth panning has its origins in the 14th century recordings of Thomas Aquinas, who called the technique "pannus angelicus" and described it as "the way the angels mix".