Two Compositions - “Drone Attack”

We receive some submissions which, while they don’t specifically meet the project’s defined goals of covering existing pieces of music from foreign regions where we have military occupations, are still quite related to the intentions of the project.

Charles Joseph Smith of California has submitted these two original compositions. His description is also included below.

Charles Joseph Smith - "Logarithm Fantasma 5ths / Drone Attack"

“The actual piece was first named “Logarithm Fantasma 5ths”, composed during the Workshop for Algorithmic Computer Music Workshop at the U. of California/Santa Cruz in 2007.

I had decided to make this piece with a new title: “Drone Attack.” This algorithmic/electroacoustic piece is a witty avant-garde homage of how people in the newest anti-war protests are protesting the use of drone planes, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In my opinion, a drone plane used in recent wars is a little new twist of the “shock and awe” campaign when we had the war in Iraq in 2003.

The compositional concept of “Drone Attack” depicts a drone plane constantly seeking a target, then destroying the target, and then, reloading to seek another target and destroying that other target….and the cycle continues.

For this project…I had sent you 2 version of this piece…..

1. The 1st version uses a piano track from GarageBand (Mac) with a pattern of resembling the “seek and destroy” cycle of a drone plane.

2. The 2nd version is like the 1st version uses a real Fantasma 5ths preset from GarageBand. Much more electroacoustic than the former….and louder, which depicts not only the awful cycle, but the loudness will remind one of Iraq’s “shock and awe” campaign.”