Love In a Petrie Dish

[Joanna]

Combining science and jazz, have a listen to my latest:

Love In a Petrie Dish. It's about the love affair between a bacterium and a virus.

And for the first time, you hear the debut of the bamboo flute I bought on ebay for a penny. I had such a good time recording this song. It was fun to sing, and a real bonus that I figured out a song on which I could play my new flute.

I hope you enjoy it!

-- Joanna

[maggieo]

The new flute sounds great, Joanna! Are you still using the pinhole mic? It sounds like it was recorded in a fancy-pants studio.

And what a wonderful, witty song!!! I swear, it gets harder and harder to not be totally jealous of your easy genius with a jazz melody and your wordplay is approaching Cole Porter's.

You're a marvel, Ms. Sandsmark!!!!

[Boris]

this is a very rich sounding piece, joanna. you've obviously got a handle on the new software, and with the new hardward (the $1 flute), you're all set.

the song is terrific! it's funny, but the "joanna" style is very prominent now in just about everything you produce. i guess it's inescapable. the way you write, the way you play, the way you sing... it's all 100% you. it's a style that has not only become familiar, but always a joy to hear.

this piece had a very tip-to'ing effect, like sneaking around the luh-bor-uh-tory late at night, doing no-good. every verse is a word-treat and musically it just keeps moving.

i love the flute! it makes the song. i have to admit, about half-way through the song, i kept waiting to hear you say, "break it down, now!" with the sound of bubbling flasks and clanking test tubes and such. i'm not suggesting you do that, of course, it's just what the song evoked in my head.

another fine piece and i'm really happy you shared it! thank you!!

[toots]

The flute reminds me of Silver Civics (one of the comp 2 entries) that popped up while playing through my itunes today, except his was a loop. really cool!

[Joanna]

Thank you so much, Maggie, Boris and Toots. Your comments just made my heart soar! Originally, I hadn't expected this to work at all. The musical bed was just one bass loop and some percussion loops. Awfully simple. But for some reason, it worked for me when I found that quirky melody. And since I was dying to try out my bamboo flute, I just had to wee if it would work (I've never played flute before, but this cheap little bamboo flute was really easy to learn, simply because it has such a limited range).

And Maggie -- I'm not using the pinhole any more. Now I use my Shure SM58. I had it all along, from my days as a voice actress, but didn't know how to hook it up to the Mac. I bought an iMic and that did the trick.

-- Joanna

[maggieo]

The SM58 is truly a gift to musicians everywhere!

I'm looking forward to hearing more from your flute!

[Boris]

I just had to wee if it would work

did you just say "wee?"

back to your Petrie Dish... immediately!

(can't help but think of the characters Rob and Laura Petrie from the Dick Van Dyke show
whenever i hear the name Petrie!)

[Joanna]

That'll teach me to keep typing even after I answer the phone. "wee" indeed! Bwa ha ha ha ha!

-- Joanna