Brilliant Shower artwork by Shawn Atkins

I'm a little embarrassed to say this... but I just now taught myself the difference between the 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures. And I'm happy to say that I can proudly claim Street Drums to be in 6/8 time.

Street Drums by Nik Furious [ 2:28 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This song is just drums. Well, drums and a juice bottle.

INTERMISSION! Street Drums on SoundCloud:

But wait... didn't I say something about a juice bottle?

While recording, I decided that I wanted to give this drum track a more unique flavor. I remembered a Marvin Gaye biopic where they told the story of the Got to Give It Up recording session. According to legend, Gaye plays a half-full bottle of grapefruit juice among the many layers of percussion.

I decided to steal a page out of the master's book and play a juice bottle of my own on Street Drums. You can first hear it at 0:54 and again at 1:47. (It's weighted towards the right, in case you're having trouble distinguishing it from the cymbal.)

NEXT: A sample of a friend's electric guitar turns into a digital symphony.

Brilliant Shower artwork by Shawn Atkins

I fell asleep while I was recording Speechless. In fact, I didn't even realize I was recording the song at the time. All I knew was that it was 2 AM and I simply couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

Speechless by Nik Furious [ 9:48 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

See, I'd laid down 10 minutes of funky electronic drums. But I was having a hard time coming up with a melody for the beat. I decided to improvise an extended jam on top of the drums. My plan was to relisten to the recording and cherry pick the best moments of the performance to create loops for a rap track.

Well, that never happened. I listened to the recording over and over again -- for years, really -- trying to find the best parts to loop into a beat. But somewhere in the process of relistening to the song, I began to really enjoy it as a work of its own.

Speechless was raw and improvisational, capturing the moment instead of trying to fit riffs into a tight structure. I really appreciated the free qualities of the song.

INTERMISSION! Speechless on SoundCloud:

And before I even realized it, I was copying my accidental recording style to make new songs. I'd construct a 15 minute drum loop and lay a few raw tracks over it. That's how Purple Suite and RAW both came to be.

So despite the fact that Speechless was an accident, I learned to cherish the way it was created. Nowadays, most of my songs are built with the Speechless method. Eventually, some get shaved down into tighter sections while others retain their spontaneous qualities and remain just as they were performed.

NEXT: Digital drums built for an abandoned ditty about street food set in 6/8 time become their own musical beast.

Brilliant Shower artwork by Shawn Atkins

It began as Phoenix Bay, a stripped-down groove with a lot of 'tude and li'l bit of funk. While I dug some of its qualities (including the name, inspired by Jean Grey's experience in Jamaica Bay), it didn't resonate with me. It felt too minimal.

Determined to not abandon the framework, I built upon the foundation of Phoenix Bay and added extra layers, amping up the funk and rechanneling the flow. And thus Remix the Phoenix was born.

Remix the Phoenix by Nik Furious [ 2:58 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The most obvious addition was a heavy coating of frantic percussion, making the song feel twice as fast as before. I also decided to rework the melody, something which was seriously lacking in the original. And that's where things got interesting.

See, I wasn't happy with all of my new melodic synth performances. In fact, I recorded several different versions because I was having a hard time picking a favorite. And that's when a mistake turned into inspiration.

Any musician who multi-tracks can relate to what happened next -- I left on both of my synth performances by mistake while replaying the reworked Phoenix Bay... and I liked what I heard. Two similar-yet-unique synths swirling back at me, challenging my brain to a game of "Can You Follow the Melody?"

INTERMISSION! Remix the Phoenix on SoundCloud:

Instead of trying to pick one single melodic line, I decided to use both. It was a trick I'd learned from listening to Pavement as a kid. Often, their guitarists would solo at the same time, creating an experimental and sometimes exciting sound.

After a lot more editing, I finally had something I liked. Phoenix Bay was saved! But in the process of my rescue, I'd created a different body of work. So I changed the title to indicate its remixed status. And that's how this song was born.

NEXT: How falling asleep on my keyboard led to some interestingly long results.

Psssst! Here's a secret.