This song has a very long history. Having written songs since the late 80's, I'd acquired a stock pile of scores that had not yet been laid down in a tangible format. I simply transcribed them by hand onto music score paper so I would not forget them. At some point in the early 90's, my friend Manyk's mother bought a Roland electric piano, one that had sequencing capabilities. I begged and pleaded with her to let me 'borrow' it for a couple of afternoons, and proceeded to take the rudimentary music I'd scored and translate it to the keyboard. I did this one and one other track that has since been lost.
When I sat down at the instrument to lay this down, I only had a chord progression and a main melody line. I had no idea what I was going to flesh it out with. It was the first time I ever had to think about composing a song from the ground up, and I remember being pretty impressed with what came out. It wasn't what I had heard in my mind however. This version sounded, to me, like something you might have heard on the Miami Vice Soundtrack.
When it came time to do Headspace, in 1995, I pulled out some of the old scores again, and picked this one to work on. That version of the track contained the original melody line that, on the 1991, version was sequenced using a steel drum patch. I was never really happy with the electric piano sample I replaced it with, but I was pleased with new vibe that I gave all the other parts.
Meanwhile, the tape I recorded the original 1991 demo onto was lost for almost five years, which was terribly tragic for me, but I ended up unearthing it again sometime around 1998, and quickly mp3'ed it for posterity.
Along comes 2006, and I was remastering the Headspace tracks, and I really, really still hated the electric piano sample as well as the melody. So I scratched it, and replaced it whit an entirely new instrument and melody. At the time, I was involved in the beginning stages of a dark trance vocal project, and was tasked to write some preliminary demos. I thought Nightgames might translate well, and the new melody was written to more easily accomodate a female singer. The project failed before it started, but I kept the new line, and put it in the remaster.
VERSIONS
- Nightgames (Demo) (6:28)
recorded live, nowhere in particular. was not produced.
1991: The original demo, recorded from cassette tape. Polyphony errors and tape noise were unavoidable. - Nightgames (Original) (6:28)
written, produced and arranged by EtherReal.
1996: The original album version, with the old melody line. No one will ever hear this one again, I've decided. - Nightgames (Remaster) (6:28)
written, produced and arranged by EtherReal. remixed and remastered by EtherReal at The Safehouse.
2006: Remastered version for the 10th anniversary bundle of Headspace, featuring the new medody line, programmed in Fruity Studio.
- Nightgames (Alone Mix) (6:17)
written, produced and arranged by EtherReal. remixed and remastered by EtherReal at The Safehouse.
2006: Alternate version for the 10th anniversary remix bundle of Headspace.
- Nightgames (Bare) (6:28)
written, produced and arranged by EtherReal. remixed and remastered by EtherReal at The Safehouse.
2006: The remaster without a main melody line. Unreleased.
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