Notes
What you see on the video is a live performance, with only mild editing to cut out additional repetitions and make the performance more concise. The whole performance was recorded on a single track in Ardour, where the audio editing and a small bit of mastering was done. The performance was filmed with three cameras, and I used Kdenlive to edit the video.
I have been playing with loopers lately, and I really like the MOD Dwarf interface for that play. For the last few loop jam sessions I have been using snapshots to switch between parts of the song. With one stomp I can change the gain on the amp, engage an effects module, and adjust the stereo panning. (Scroll down for a screenshot of the pedalboard).
This tune first came into my head in late 1998, while I was a missionary in England. I was reading Alma chapter 47 in the Book of Mormon, which tells the story of the evil Amalickiah conspiring a military coup of the Lamanite nation. He was given power over half of the Lamanite army, and commanded to subjugate the other half. When he finds the other half of the army encamped on a hill, that night he sends multiple envoys up to the leader of the army, who refuses to receive them. Finally Amalickiah himself climbs the mountain, and persuades the other leader to speak with him. Amalickiah offers to surrender his half of the army, on condition that he be made the second leader over the unified army. Of course, once he is made the second commander he has the first commander poisoned, so he becomes the commander of the entire Lamanite army without fighting a single battle. After that he arranges for the assassination of the Lamanite king, and then becomes the king by marrying the old king’s widow.
Anyway, as I read this chapter it occurred to me that Amalickiah is doing something like a serenade on that hill, wooing the commander of the army with false promises. This music became the soundtrack for that story in my imagination, and I always hear it again when I read that chapter.
After my mission I recorded a quick sketch of the tune, and you can hear one of my babies (who is now an adult) in the background at the end. I didn’t get every melody from the old sketch into this jam, but I’m pretty satisfied with the result anyway.
Info and Stats:
- Production dates: October 2026
- Equipment:
- interfaces: Behringer Xenyx 1204USB, MOD Dwarf Founder’s Edition
- instruments: Fender Telecaster guitar, Ibanez ASB140 bass, Simmons SD 2000 electric drumkit
- Software:
- Linux Mint 22.2
- Ardour 9.0.0
- x42 plugins: dynamic compressor, parametric equalizer, digital peak limiter
- Kdenlive 26.08.1
- MOD Dwarf plugins: Looperlative, GxSupersonic, Vintage Cabinets, Shiro Shiroverb, Shiro Modulay, TAP reverberator, FuidGM Drums, Stereo Gain, Stereo X-Fade
- Tracks: 1
