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The Tiny Skeleton Shuffle

from Cello Noodles, Vol. I by Betsy Tinney

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It's said that at midnight on Hallowe'en, the skeletons rise up and dance. But why should humans have all the fun - what about the animals? Cats, of course, and dogs and horses and wombats and alligators and ...mice.

Mice.

At this point, it occurred to me that, on Halloween, the interstices of our (huge, old) house are probably the venue for a colossal mouse-skeleton party.

So I wrote them some dance music.

My old wooden cello, Godiva, is the only instrument on this piece (including the thumps and shuffles). Initially I was concerned that this piece wasn't "mousy" enough: the cello is such a large, low instrument, and shouldn't music for mice be all squeaky and high? But then I realized that if mice were to perform this piece, they'd use tiny wee mouse-sized cellos, and the piece would automatically scale itself down to mouse size as a result.

(Some trivia: to create this piece, I started with the thumps, added the shuffles, and then improvised the left-side cello all the way through, on a single take. I then went back and improvised the right-side cello (also via a single take). Then I added the pizzicato. The only place I did multiple takes was on the intro pizzicato (it took several takes to get it loud enough), and on the very last pizzicato note (same problem). It took me only about an hour to record the whole thing, but it took me about twenty hours to mix it. (This is a typical ratio for me.) I could have continued tweaking the mix forever, but that's what deadlines are for. :)

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from Cello Noodles, Vol. I, track released October 31, 2015
cello: Betsy Tinney

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Betsy Tinney Seattle, Washington

Betsy is a cello storyteller. Using her cello and an electronic looper, she weaves rich, complex and varied tapestries of sound; her original cello compositions paint pictures and tell tales, from thunderstorms and skeletal mice to dancing elephants and humpback whales. ... more

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