Yamaha CS-60: "The Beast Must Die" by Raymond Castile

Published on Jan 8, 2017 raycastile

"An eerie John Carpenter-inspired piece. The CS-60 is not the star this time. It plays a supporting role backing up the Yamaha Reface CP on the main melody. A more flamboyant use of the CS-60 are the jarring stingers that punctuate the piece. I haven't experimented much with the CS-60's noise generator, but it is capable of some powerful effects.

This piece has nothing to do with the Peter Cushing movie, 'The Beast Must Die.' I just thought it made a good title. I imagined something supernatural going on, probably in the woods, maybe witches meeting for a sabbath. But that seemed too passive. I thought the music sounded more urgent and dire, like a hunt, maybe the hunter becoming the hunted, tracking down some creature, maybe a werewolf. Maybe the stingers indicate the werewolf is picking off members of the hunting party. Maybe witches are involved somehow. Who knows.

The piece also has nothing to do with 'Pickman's Model,' even though I used the Night Gallery painting from that episode. I just thought it captured the mood of the piece."