IT'S A SECRET combine the topics of futurism, philosophy, political science, science fiction, technology, and theosophy into a modern 21st century sound, utilizing analog and digital electronic music technologies.

13 MP3 Songs
ELECTRONIC: Techno, ELECTRONIC: Dance



Details:
THE MAKING OF IT'S A SECRET'S SAVE THE WORLD

IT'S A SECRET is the solo recording project of composer/producer Peter Panos. Although guest musicians appear on the debut album Save The World, IT'S A SECRET is nonetheless a solo musical venture.

Prior to forming the project IT'S A SECRET, Peter Panos was in a synthesizer band called S.Q.U.I.D. (Society for the Qualitative Understanding of Informational Design).

S.Q.U.I.D. was the brainchild of musicians Peter Panos and Glenn Fisher. These two founders first met in a university political science class and shared similar musical interests, most notably in the field of electronic music. When the band formed, Peter did vocals and played processed electric guitar, while Glenn played the Roland SH-5 synthesizer (later purchasing a second Roland) and processed oboe.

Peter, having been formally trained in electronic music at the college level, purchased Moog and Oberheim synthesizers (the later of which is featured on the Save The World track Crush Them) and incorporated these into the sound of S.Q.U.I.D.

Other members later joining S.Q.U.I.D. included, among many (long story), Cheryl-Ann Tousignant (vocals and Moog synthesizer), and Brady Hicks (video).

Prior to everyoneâs departure from the band (another long story), S.Q.U.I.D. had achieved some notable success. They had composed musical scores for a popular television show and a feature film (of the science fiction genre); had their own 30 minute television special (which was a documentary called The Great Squid Hunt which featured the music video called Cybernetic Information) produced by the bandâs video artist, Brady Hicks; and were guest hosts on a music special for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (which featured Peter Panos as announcer, and one of the bandâs songs which played to an audience of over 5 million people in Eastern Europe).

After the S.Q.U.I.D. project, Peter Panos took a hiatus from music and pursued acting. He made a guest appearance on a cable TV comedy special (writing, directing, and acting on a satirical segment about U.F.O.s), and later joined a cable TV comedy troupe (as a regular cast member, while writing, producing, and acting in his own character segment).

After his brief foray into acting, Peter Panos again began to pursue his musical interests by purchasing a Korg DSS-1 keyboard sampler (one of the early sound sampling instruments), and began incorporating that into his solo venture which he entitled IT'S A SECRET for the first time, and later registering (but not releasing) a five song EP with the United States Copyright Office.

That was all in the last century; but what of the 21st century? Just in case you haven't noticed, there is a musical revolution taking place, and the leader of that revolution is the personal computer!

With the advent of the digital audio workstation (DAW), musicians all over the globe can now record, mix, and master their compositions all within the digital domain. Something as small as a laptop computer is all that is needed to produce the worldâs next great masterpiece. The world of recording is no longer the realm of the large record company sponsored studio extravaganzas; it is now something everyone can enjoy!

Records no longer need to be manufactured and sold at retail stores; entire recording projects can now be published and sold directly through a music groupâs personal web site. Independent record labels now account for almost 30 percent of sales throughout the recording industry. This fact has a lot to do with the digital computer revolution.

Like many artists, Peter Panos and his project IT'S A SECRET, is also benefiting from this renaissance in music.

Utilizing a 20â Apple iMac G4 computer loaded with the ubiquitous DAW software program called GarageBand (Apple Computer), Peter recorded 13 new songs for the IT'S A SECRET album entitled; "Save The World".

The album was composed using the sampled (digital recordings of actual instruments) loops found in GarageBand as well as those available from Apple (called âJam Packsâ).

In addition to these sampled instrument loops, various acoustic instruments were played. For example, a 19th century alto horn (J. W. Pepper Co.) was played on the track Electronic. On Youâve Travelled Too Far, an acoustic/electric mandolin made out of a rare wood called koa was played (Flatiron Mandolin Co.). On the track Mantra, a very old Tibetan singing bell was played by guest artist Guru Mihali, which added a transcendental quality to this song.

A Fender Stratocaster electric guitar was played on the track What They Want using a device called an E-Bow (invented by Greg Heet). Instead of the conventional way of plucking the strings of the guitar with a nylon pick (or plectrum), the âStratâ was played by generating an electromagnetic field by holding the E-bow over the stings (thereby vibrating the strings without ever touching them!). This enables the guitar to sound very much like a sound that would normally emanate from a synthesizer.

An electronic instrument called a theremin (Moog Music Co.) was played by guest artist Brady Hicks (formerly the video artist in S.Q.U.I.D.) on the track Theremin Rhythm. The theremin (invented by Leon Theremin) is one of the worldâs oldest electronic music instruments. It predates the classic voltage controlled synthesizer by about 40 years, and is played without ever touching the instrument!

Other electronic music instruments played on the album include the Korg Legacy Collection MS-20 digital software synthesizer (soft synth) with MS-20 hardware controller interface (used on the intro to My Fantasy), the Oberheim two-voice (TVS-1) analog synthesizer (previously mentioned), and the powerful Nord Modular physical modeling synthesizer (used in several sections of Mantra).

In addition to the previously mentioned artists, Glenn Fisher (co-creator of S.Q.U.I.D. and former product developer with Fostex Corporation) also contributed his deft skills, and appears on the track My Fantasy.

Interestingly, another former member of S.Q.U.I.D. contributed on the album Save The World; it was Cheryl-Ann Tousignant, who helped design the albumâs graphics.

The mastering of the album Save The World was performed by Grammy Award Nominee Myles Boisen, who operates the Headless Buddha Mastering Lab in Oakland California. Myles is an excellent recording artist in his own right, and is a frequent editorial contributor to Electronic Musician magazine.

Thank you for reading about, and listening to IT'S A SECRET!

© 2006 IT'S A SECRET ALL RIGHTS RESERVED