HUMANS — infinitwav

A science fiction story is part of the HUMANS record. The nine songs are the soundtracks for the nine chapters. The story is only available with a purchase of the vinyl 33 1/3 album, or the digital download.

HUMANS – Liner Notes and Credits

Humans is a retelling of the ancient story of human evolution and migration. It was inspired by National Geographic’s Genographic Project. The story posits an alternative interpretation of human evolution. The core of the story is that specific genetic mutations bound together the humans that shared them.

Humans One through Nine - the songs – are meant to support the story. The story and the music were written together, and influenced each other during the writing process.

The core of the music is percussion. On every track, from the hand drums that introduce Humans One, to the drum kit used in Humans Nine, percussion is there as it has been throughout human history. I am convinced that whenever the last human alive approaches death, that s/he will be tapping out a beat prior to the last human breath.

Compositionally, the nine songs that are part of Humans are an amalgam of classical, jazz, rock and drum corps. Some people will say this record fits into one genre or another. My opinion is that it doesn’t matter.

The Holocene Epoch is behind us, and the Anthropocene will not likely leave us time to debate how works of art should be labeled. If there is a critic left on Earth who thinks that fitting into a genre has value, then that critic should be silenced.

For some humans, the author’s intent will find its target; the groove will nestle snugly between the lines.

This is your guide to the concept.

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The album begins, as it has to, with a song for the number Ones. Orange sky over Lake Tanganyika; hundreds of generations beyond Eve. They followed the Nile to the North. As the Ones left Africa, they continually reached new, glorious silences, and filled the void with their own songs. The cacophony of tribes left behind, they could hear the land and the sea again. Their song pushes into unknown territory just as the Ones did.

The number Two’s are complex, and so is their song. It begins with a five/four percussion part which eventually is paired with a four/four piano part. The Ones are in front of them everywhere. The time signatures blend just as the Ones and Twos mutations do as they push towards the Pacific.

The number Threes leave Africa with a song that includes pot drums and didgeridoos, and a vast increase in knowledge. The song’s main theme keeps returning to where it has already been; mimicking the fate of the Threes. By the time the Threes leave Africa, the Ones have already reached what would come to be known as Australia. All that was left was the Americas.

The Fours go with cymbals, index drums, flutes and guitars. Their destiny was to be instigators of change that would vastly alter the path of human history. There are fours all over the song (Hint – the number of octaves).

They were the first mathematicians, the first to use language to describe abstract concepts, the first musicians.

The 5’s song has a frenetic rhythm driven by snare and toms, and a strange sounding piano, providing counterpoint to an arpeggiated, distorted guitar part. Their song leaves you feeling edgy, like someone is spying on you, reminiscent of the way the 5s hid behind their robes and uniforms throughout human history.

Humans Six through Nine reflect the diversity of the migrants as they form new cultures, fight wars, and continue exploring. In Humans Six, time is condensed to encompass the rise and fall of empires, feudalism, the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment. Lying underneath the complex interplay of various instruments, the bass line never changes, representing war, the human constant. Focusing on the bass line could make you lose track of the story, but sometimes, just listening makes more sense.

The twenty-one spaceships taking off in the Humans Seven chapter of the story can be heard in the song. However, not all of the ships go in the same direction. That is reflected in the different instrument’s rhythms and note progressions. The trumpet leads the way into some strange jazz. The electric guitar literally tells stories.

The happiness and vibrancy of true freedom that becomes part of our future in Humans Eight is captured with sixteenth notes on the hi-hat, followed by a slow build to a chorus in which the percussion and guitar parts merge in an attempt to express the energy associated with two gigantic planets crashing into each other.

The eight groups of explorers penetrating a black hole of historic importance in Humans Nine carries the mystery of life forward. They can be heard going and returning in the song. And they return to their beginning; their Africa. It is a joyous homecoming.

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Humans is an intervention, a return to stories as opposed to tweets, an aural continuum as opposed to discrete bits arranged in files. You could say that Humans has been reverse engineered; from digital to analog; from back-lit plastic pads stuffed with circuit boards to the tactile elegance of ink on paper.

The totality of Humans is intended to remove you from your status quo; a unique immersion in a literal groove. Let the sounds vibrate the air you are breathing while you read. Let yourself get lost in the story illuminated by the photons blasting by you at 186,000 miles per second. Let those sound waves and photons be what they have always been - our connection to the rest of the universe.

Press the start button. Put the needle on the vinyl. Sit down in your favorite chair. Take a deep breath. Open the cover. Be one with the groove. Flowing with it will transport you.

Take it from me,

Mark Time

Credits

All songs on Humans were written, recorded and mixed by Stephen Latin-Kasper. The story was written by him as well.

The images used to illustrate the story came from a number of sources. Anything to do with space was sourced from NASA.gov. The rest are from other public sources. The images were modified by Ruthann Miller and/or Ross Monagle, and/or Charles Snowden.

Graphics, including the album jacket and the album booklet, were designed and created by Charles Snowden.

Art for the album cover was created by Kim Loper.

Photographs on the back cover were created by Ross Monagle.

The instruments used to make the music include the KORG M50 and Roland Octapad. Congas, claves, maracas, Index Drums, and Zildjian cymbals were also used.

All songs were mixed on a ZOOM R16 Recorder:Interface:Controller.

Mastering was done by Scott Finch at Velvet Sky Productions in Milwaukee, WI.

The booklet was printed at Amerigraphics Inc. in Milwaukee, WI.

A to Z pressed the album and printed the album jacket.

Thanks to friends and family for lending their eyes, ears and minds throughout the creation process. Special thanks to Sarah Latin-Kasper and Mike Kroll for album cover design consultation.