I’m all out of love
I'm not sure what I’m saying?
When nothing can help us now
And I’m in no mood for praying
I’m all out of tears
Can’t you see that I’m crying?
When no one cares, they take your side
They’re tired of listening to my cries
I can’t even look at your face anymore
Without remembering what we had before
I’m all out of love.
All out of love.
I’m all out of hope
And I see this going no where
When I checked out a long time ago
But it seems like you’re still here
I’m all, out of faith
I'm not sure what I believe in
But I, I have to find it myself
And now I’m looking for a reason
I can’t look to you for the answers anymore,
I need to find what I’ve been searching for
I’m all out of love.
All out of love…
Lift this weight upon my shoulders, I’ve carried it too far and long
Now the time has come to walk away
We can’t listen to what other people say
Just embrace your destiny
You know your home’s not here with me
Don’t be afraid to be alone
You know someone else will love you more than me… 

Athanasia Agnostoua, vocal version lyrics, from the woman's perspective

ALBUM INFO:

"The Idea Of You" is the first of a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may it help you on your journey, as it has us...

The Idea Of You Cover Art "The Idea Of You" is music inspired by the spirit of Eros and all of its blessings as well as its tribulations. It explores the vicissitudes of romantic love, the delicate seasons and contour of life, and all the lessons learned along the way. Themes of desire, passion, limerence, romantic love, idolatry, jealousy, envy, loss, regret, forgiveness, acknowledgment, appreciation, acceptance, and eventually glimpses of true understanding permeate the work. It attempts to communicate that which so many of us can never quite communicate properly with words. It is an open apology for the clumsy mistakes we all make when coming to maturity in learning how to care selflessly for another human being. It is a gentle reminder as to what is most important in life, as well as an invocation to continuously seek self-improvement regarding our understanding of such matters.

Andrew Souter -- Other People

As the saying goes: nothing ever ends well, otherwise it would not end. And yet large parts of us still wish things would not end, even after we convince ourselves it is for the best. Is it an act of grace to accept fate and slowly fade away without a fight, or does the universe want to test our resolve and see just how far we are willing to go to obtain, and more importantly perhaps to keep, the object of our desires? It is human not to know; it is human to exist in bewilderment regarding such matters. Being aware of this, however, never makes it any easier. Endings always bring an emptiness in a person's heart and soul. No one ever wants to fail, but sometimes we wait too long to really try in the right ways to truly succeed. The eleventh hour concession is always the hardest case to handle. It leaves one with many doubts. It leaves a person with the hope that things would be, could be, should be, better if only... In such cases the weather can be forever raining in one's heart. 

ALBUM INFO:

"The Idea Of You" is the first of a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may it help you on your journey, as it has us...

The Idea Of You Cover Art "The Idea Of You" is music inspired by the spirit of Eros and all of its blessings as well as its tribulations. It explores the vicissitudes of romantic love, the delicate seasons and contour of life, and all the lessons learned along the way. Themes of desire, passion, limerence, romantic love, idolatry, jealousy, envy, loss, regret, forgiveness, acknowledgment, appreciation, acceptance, and eventually glimpses of true understanding permeate the work. It attempts to communicate that which so many of us can never quite communicate properly with words. It is an open apology for the clumsy mistakes we all make when coming to maturity in learning how to care selflessly for another human being. It is a gentle reminder as to what is most important in life, as well as an invocation to continuously seek self-improvement regarding our understanding of such matters.

Andrew Souter -- Still Raining There

Co-Composed with Nicolas Laget:

https://soundcloud.com/nicolaslaget

All things have hope. With patience and caring hands, even the delicate and vulnerable can survive winter and grow into maturity with strong roots and branches. With time and unconditional love, our tree may one day blossom and bear fruit in the joy of spring. We must remain patient.

ALBUM INFO:

"The Idea Of You" is the first of a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may it help you on your journey, as it has us...

The Idea Of You Cover Art "The Idea Of You" is music inspired by the spirit of Eros and all of its blessings as well as its tribulations. It explores the vicissitudes of romantic love, the delicate seasons and contour of life, and all the lessons learned along the way. Themes of desire, passion, limerence, romantic love, idolatry, jealousy, envy, loss, regret, forgiveness, acknowledgment, appreciation, acceptance, and eventually glimpses of true understanding permeate the work. It attempts to communicate that which so many of us can never quite communicate properly with words. It is an open apology for the clumsy mistakes we all make when coming to maturity in learning how to care selflessly for another human being. It is a gentle reminder as to what is most important in life, as well as an invocation to continuously seek self-improvement regarding our understanding of such matters.

Andrew Souter & Nicolas Laget -- Solstice

New piano composition composed 9/11/2013.  Tentative arrangement.

In a time when the world is too easily focused on the differences between different people and cultures and fear of the unknown, online communities such as SoundCloud are amazing places for people from all over the world to come together and celebrate life and the gift of music.

Places like this allow artists to sincerely and honestly share their talents in an uncompromised manner with whomever would listen. This is possible regardless of who the artist is, where they are from, what level of marketing savvy they posses, or what degree of support they have from the entrenched entertainment establishment that purports to dictate what is cool, trending, and marketable.  It allows sincerity to triumph and for real people to find other real people wherever they are.  It allows people to potentially expand their concept of friendship and family from the microcosm of the self to the macrocosm of the global village. It allows us all to focus on our shared commonalities and better believe in the innate goodness in all humans via uniting in our shared passion for the universal language of music.

Special thanks to Loredana whose smile and free spirit can light up a room even from 5,000 miles away.  Of all the amazing people in the world, the D-Flat Major women are some of the truly special ones:

https://soundcloud.com/thesignatureseries/d-flat-major

Andrew Souter -- Smile From Afar

The repetitive rhythmic structure of the motif invokes the mechanical rhythm of an idealized train engine. There is a constant rhythmic motion to the train, but as we travel we see various shades of colors and textures out of the window and occasionally slip into day-dreaming, reflecting on the past, and imagining the future. At one point the daydream takes over and the rhythm is lost for a short while. A bridge, unrelated to the main theme, takes over for a moment of pure reflection. We are awakened from our daydream by the activity and excitement of the next stop, and the anticipation that this may be our destination. Alas it is not, and as we continue our journey, the rhythm guides us onwards towards the next stop. The stops, which function musically like choruses, focus consciousness on the present and hint at being another step closer to the final destination, until finally we do reach it: the metaphorical New York.

ALBUM INFO:

"The Idea Of You" is the first of a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may it help you on your journey, as it has us...

The Idea Of You Cover Art "The Idea Of You" is music inspired by the spirit of Eros and all of its blessings as well as its tribulations. It explores the vicissitudes of romantic love, the delicate seasons and contour of life, and all the lessons learned along the way. Themes of desire, passion, limerence, romantic love, idolatry, jealousy, envy, loss, regret, forgiveness, acknowledgment, appreciation, acceptance, and eventually glimpses of true understanding permeate the work. It attempts to communicate that which so many of us can never quite communicate properly with words. It is an open apology for the clumsy mistakes we all make when coming to maturity in learning how to care selflessly for another human being. It is a gentle reminder as to what is most important in life, as well as an invocation to continuously seek self-improvement regarding our understanding of such matters.

Andrew Souter -- Train To New York (Part)

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. (Helen Keller)

ALBUM INFO:

"The Idea Of You" is the first of a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may it help you on your journey, as it has us...

The Idea Of You Cover Art "The Idea Of You" is music inspired by the spirit of Eros and all of its blessings as well as its tribulations. It explores the vicissitudes of romantic love, the delicate seasons and contour of life, and all the lessons learned along the way. Themes of desire, passion, limerence, romantic love, idolatry, jealousy, envy, loss, regret, forgiveness, acknowledgment, appreciation, acceptance, and eventually glimpses of true understanding permeate the work. It attempts to communicate that which so many of us can never quite communicate properly with words. It is an open apology for the clumsy mistakes we all make when coming to maturity in learning how to care selflessly for another human being. It is a gentle reminder as to what is most important in life, as well as an invocation to continuously seek self-improvement regarding our understanding of such matters.

Andrew Souter -- Next Door (Part)

It was seemingly a late Autumn season this year and the leaves held on to their branches a little longer than average this turn of the wheel. I watched as the final remaining members of the deciduous resistance proudly held their ground and clung to their branches, while the wind tried to seduce them to give up their futile attempt at immortality and surrender to the inevitable.  In bold defiance they refused and proudly flew their colorful flags of deep crimson, rust orange, and a shade of yellow so ineffably deep it does not even bare a name. They danced gallantly and gracefully with the wind as they moved in asymmetrical rhythms and flowing tempos - the mathematics of which seemingly beyond human intelligence, boarding on the divine. The eb and flow of the motion together with the beams of sunlight that would burst through the branches and cast a glimmering shimmer onto everything was truly an epically cinematic sight to behold! If I were a cinematographer this is what I would film.  As I am only a composer, I did the best I could with the tools available to my disposal...  I hope you may enjoy it...

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Autumn Rains" is the second installment in a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This trio represents Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may help you on your journey, as it has us...

"Autumn Rains" is music inspired by the spirit of Agape. It is an album dedicated to the concept of spiritual love and universal compassion clothed in the metaphor of transcendental natural beauty. It is an album that simultaneously expresses deep love for both the creator as well as the creation. It is said God gave us music so that we could pray without words. It could be added that nature was provided as an example of exactly how to do this effectively. In this spirit, Autumn Rains is a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to learn from the natural beauty of this world, and an expression of a sense of respect for the inescapable universal equality that nature imposes. It humbly attempts to capture deep feelings of awe, granduer, idealism, and a belief in the innate goodness of the world even when we all face exceptionally hard lessons.

Andrew Souter -- The Wind Whispers To The Trees

In existence there are ideal forms and there are imperfect manifestations of these forms.  It is a matter of philosophy which is more real to us in our experience of the world:  the perfect idealized form of an apple, or the imperfect manifestation of this form that is said to "participate in apple-ness".  In fact we don't ever see the real idealized form of an object or an idea. It is as if, as Plato said, we are prisoners of a cave, where the objective form sits outside the cave and casts shadows on the interior wall of the cave.  We see only these shadows that are subject to the limitations of our perception and influenced by the collection of our emotional beliefs and past experiences.  More abstractly, these shadows may represet a potential relationship, any of our desires or goals, our self image, or a myriad of any possible other more mundane things. We reach towards these shadows trying to understand as best we can, trying to refine them to be one step closer to perfection.  Sometimes magic happens here. Other times it does not.  Sometimes we fail to realize when it has happened.  Other times we fool ourselves into believing it has happened when it has not. The best we can hope for is to remain humble and patient, and continue to believe our perception will eventually converge with reality if we continue growing and reaching for shadows...

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Autumn Rains" is the second installment in a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This trio represents Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may help you on your journey, as it has us...

"Autumn Rains" is music inspired by the spirit of Agape. It is an album dedicated to the concept of spiritual love and universal compassion clothed in the metaphor of transcendental natural beauty. It is an album that simultaneously expresses deep love for both the creator as well as the creation. It is said God gave us music so that we could pray without words. It could be added that nature was provided as an example of exactly how to do this effectively. In this spirit, Autumn Rains is a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to learn from the natural beauty of this world, and an expression of a sense of respect for the inescapable universal equality that nature imposes. It humbly attempts to capture deep feelings of awe, granduer, idealism, and a belief in the innate goodness of the world even when we all face exceptionally hard lessons.

Andrew Souter -- Reaching For Shadows


December is a special time of year for most of the world. As children we look forward to it with eager anticipation of all of the shiny new toys and presets we will get this season.  As adults our priorities hopefully shift some and we worry more about the gift of giving than the act of receiving.  We imagine making friends and loved-ones, new ones as well as old, happy in some small way. We envision participating with them in their life for a moment or two and sharing some form of intimacy.  We celebrate the opportunity to give love with the intention of building lasting relationships, and if we are wise enough, we let go of expectations of immediate reciprocation and realize the act of giving is itself its own reward...

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Autumn Rains" is the second installment in a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This trio represents Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may help you on your journey, as it has us...

"Autumn Rains" is music inspired by the spirit of Agape. It is an album dedicated to the concept of spiritual love and universal compassion clothed in the metaphor of transcendental natural beauty. It is an album that simultaneously expresses deep love for both the creator as well as the creation. It is said God gave us music so that we could pray without words. It could be added that nature was provided as an example of exactly how to do this effectively. In this spirit, Autumn Rains is a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to learn from the natural beauty of this world, and an expression of a sense of respect for the inescapable universal equality that nature imposes. It humbly attempts to capture deep feelings of awe, granduer, idealism, and a belief in the innate goodness of the world even when we all face exceptionally hard lessons.

Autumn Rains

Waiting For December

Andrew Souter -- Waiting For December

I'm away from the piano at the moment, so I thought I'd share this with everybody...

Compositional sketch for a modern Pastoral Appassionata String Quintet.  Primary composition sometime in November 2013.  Work in progress.

Somebody asked if this is a "sad" song.  Here is my answer:

It is not a "human emotion" song.   It is more a divine/nature/universe  song.  It does not have human emotions like happy/sad.  It has only what is.  It has only pure beauty. Like a waterfall.  Or a mountain.  Or a star. A waterfall is not sad.  Or happy.  It only is. It is simply pure beauty.

Pastoral = of or referring to nature or the creator

Appassionata = with passion  (but in this case, it is not passion like between a man and woman.  it is more passion of the creator for his creation or created for his creator.)

It is more of a spiritual music.  This is what I will do more of later in life. Like these guys:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_minimalism

I aspire to follow in their footsteps one day.

Somebody asked about the plug-ins used:

Solo Bass, Cello, Viola, Violin 1, & Violin 2 from NI Kontact (standard set from Komplete) for this sketch.  Sometime later I will ideally record the real thing... (Or at least use more advanced string libraries.) 6 Instances of 2CAudio Breeze (which I am the developer of) are used here to make the Kontact Strings sound reasonably good. 

http://2caudio.com/products/breeze

The strings samples themselves are not that good.  The reverb is!  :)  That's the trick here.



Many new solo piano compositions to share with you all soon!  Happy New Year!

Andrew Souter -- Pastoral Appassionata For String Quintet (Sketch)

This is your song. I wrote the main parts of it in the first month of our relationship as we were falling in love. I've played parts of it for you before many times, but I had never finished it. I have now evolved it into its complete form. This is how I choose to remember you. I focus on the positives; I idealize and romanticize you. My idea of you remains loving and longing even if we are not meant to be. My idea of you persists and looks past challenges despite how difficult they may seem. I believe our ideas and our ideals create our own reality and therefore it is always best to imagine perfection however we may desire it to be. This song is reflection of all the love and gentleness we shared during good times. Ultimately it is a song of optimism even in the face of adversity. Its verses and chapters moves sideways like the astrological crab that you are, but there is deep beauty in it, and in the end it gets to were it wants to go and finds happiness and peace. Thank you for this song. I hope it may comfort you.


ALBUM INFO:

"The Idea Of You" is the first of a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may it help you on your journey, as it has us...

The Idea Of You Cover Art "The Idea Of You" is music inspired by the spirit of Eros and all of its blessings as well as its tribulations. It explores the vicissitudes of romantic love, the delicate seasons and contour of life, and all the lessons learned along the way. Themes of desire, passion, limerence, romantic love, idolatry, jealousy, envy, loss, regret, forgiveness, acknowledgment, appreciation, acceptance, and eventually glimpses of true understanding permeate the work. It attempts to communicate that which so many of us can never quite communicate properly with words. It is an open apology for the clumsy mistakes we all make when coming to maturity in learning how to care selflessly for another human being. It is a gentle reminder as to what is most important in life, as well as an invocation to continuously seek self-improvement regarding our understanding of such matters.

Andrew Souter -- The Idea Of You (Part)

It's always pure magic when nature creates abstract art using only water, air, and sunlight. There is really some epic beauty to be found in nature, even in the simplest and most humble things. What a wonderful gift we have all been given to be a part of this world. I hope we all learn to value it as deeply as we should, and protect it for future generations...

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Autumn Rains" is the second installment in a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This trio represents Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may help you on your journey, as it has us...

"Autumn Rains" is music inspired by the spirit of Agape. It is an album dedicated to the concept of spiritual love and universal compassion clothed in the metaphor of transcendental natural beauty. It is an album that simultaneously expresses deep love for both the creator as well as the creation. It is said God gave us music so that we could pray without words. It could be added that nature was provided as an example of exactly how to do this effectively. In this spirit, Autumn Rains is a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to learn from the natural beauty of this world, and an expression of a sense of respect for the inescapable universal equality that nature imposes. It humbly attempts to capture deep feelings of awe, granduer, idealism, and a belief in the innate goodness of the world even when we all face exceptionally hard lessons.

Andrew Souter -- Melting Icicles

A collage highlights overview of The Idea Of You album, providing 0:45 to 1:30 or so of each track on the album.

The full album is now available now on iTunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-idea-of-you/id854783736

Full album Info, longer previews (full song in several cases), and new web site:

http://www.galbanum.com/music/theideaofyou

New Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti-GfCM5-zk

(BTW: all the individual tracks found in the album playlist and uploaded previously here, were replaced with re-recorded versions from Jan 2014, so you can hear longer clips of the final versions and sometimes the full song in the playlist as well.  ...or stream from the player on the new web site...)

Sheet music will be available soon as well.

"The Idea Of You" is the first of a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may it help you on your journey, as it has us...

"The Idea Of You" is music inspired by the spirit of Eros and all of its blessings as well as its tribulations. It explores the vicissitudes of romantic love, the delicate seasons and contour of life, and all the lessons learned along the way. Themes of desire, passion, limerence, romantic love, idolatry, jealousy, envy, loss, regret, forgiveness, acknowledgment, appreciation, acceptance, and eventually glimpses of true understanding permeate the work. It attempts to communicate that which so many of us can never quite communicate properly with words. It is an open apology for the clumsy mistakes we all make when coming to maturity in learning how to care selflessly for another human being. It is a gentle reminder as to what is most important in life, as well as an invocation to continuously seek self-improvement regarding our understanding of such matters.

Andrew Souter -- The Idea Of You Album Overview (Available Now)

A new joyous composition composed, performed, and recorded the last week of April 2014.

Inspired by the beauty, grace, wisdom, and simple pleasure of the feminine spirit and the joy of spring.

I am doing an experiment with this one.  It is only a few days old -- literally completed yesterday -- but as it is a timely song and this is the perfect season for it, I have made it available immediately on iTunes.   If this proves to be a popular decision I will do this for future songs as well.

Special thanks to all of the wonderful women in all of our lives: our mothers, our sisters, our wives, our girlfriends, our female friends...  You all make the world a better place with your kindness!

Photo Credits:
Loredana Maria Pricopie: Model, http://dailylook.ro
Dragos Asaftei: Photographer, http://www.dragosasaftei.ro

Andrew Souter -- Sundress

It was sort of a gloomy day weather-wise yesterday, so I took an excursion into pure minimalism.  :)

Thoughts?

Andrew Souter -- Missing You

"Let me admonish you, first of all, to go alone; to refuse the good models, even those most sacred in the imagination of men, and dare to love God without mediator or veil."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Divinity School Address

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Autumn Rains" is the second installment in a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This trio represents Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may help you on your journey, as it has us...

"Autumn Rains" is music inspired by the spirit of Agape. It is an album dedicated to the concept of spiritual love and universal compassion clothed in the metaphor of transcendental natural beauty. It is an album that simultaneously expresses deep love for both the creator as well as the creation. It is said God gave us music so that we could pray without words. It could be added that nature was provided as an example of exactly how to do this effectively. In this spirit, Autumn Rains is a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to learn from the natural beauty of this world, and an expression of a sense of respect for the inescapable universal equality that nature imposes. It humbly attempts to capture deep feelings of awe, granduer, idealism, and a belief in the innate goodness of the world even when we all face exceptionally hard lessons.


Andrew Souter -- Benevolent Force

I feel very thankful and fortunate to have had a truly amazing summer in 2014.  I visited no fewer than seven counties between July and August.  I witnessed so many amazing things in Romania, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Denmark, and Iceland. I spent quality time, working, playing, and planning for the future with close friends and colleagues. I met and befriended many new and truly wonderful people whom I now consider close friends.

I was asked many times both by friends and family in the US, as well as the local people in the various cities I was in, what I thought about all the various political instability in the world today.  The questions invariably centered around something to the effect of "Aren't you worried/concerned/afraid to be traveling at the moment?"

My standard answer, which I became quite practiced in reciting, was:  I think that if some alien species which did not speak any human language came to Earth and visited New York, Washington DC, Bucharest, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Tallinn, Copenhagen, and Reykjavik it would have a very hard time telling us all apart.  Despite our small cultural differences, people everywhere generally want the same things.  We all look quite similar when we smile and laugh as well as when we cry.

It is said,  everybody loves something, is afraid of something, has lost something, and is looking to find something.  Which will you focus on?  Will you give love unconditionally, or will you help create fear in effort to mask your own?  Will you help yourself and others get lost, or will you try your best to find something of true value and meaning?  Will you focus on artificial divisions and all the reasons why you think you can not do something, or will you open the borders of your heart to new experiences and opportunities for growth? The choice is yours.  It is all of ours.



A deep and humble thanks to everyone in Romania, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Denmark, and Iceland for sharing part of your lives and wonderful culture with me.  The memories will last a lifetime and have already become a formative experience to my creative process.  Thank you!

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Autumn Rains" is the second installment in a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This trio represents Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may help you on your journey, as it has us...

"Autumn Rains" is music inspired by the spirit of Agape. It is an album dedicated to the concept of spiritual love and universal compassion clothed in the metaphor of transcendental natural beauty. It is an album that simultaneously expresses deep love for both the creator as well as the creation. It is said God gave us music so that we could pray without words. It could be added that nature was provided as an example of exactly how to do this effectively. In this spirit, Autumn Rains is a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to learn from the natural beauty of this world, and an expression of a sense of respect for the inescapable universal equality that nature imposes. It humbly attempts to capture deep feelings of awe, granduer, idealism, and a belief in the innate goodness of the world even when we all face exceptionally hard lessons.


Andrew Souter -- Without Borders

Winter is coming.  Its cool air and strong winds always bring a refreshing purity that cleanses the mind, body and soul and encourages introspection.  Its quiet solidtude and majestic beauty provides ample space for day-dreaming and imagination. Its peaceful slumber brings a chance for much needed rest and rejuvenation. Its relative lack of sunlight and the play things of summer may sometimes bring about a "dark night of the soul". This a magical time; embrace it. It is a time for taking a personal inventory and evaluating the progress that has been made in the prior year.  It is a time to impart change. It is a time to define who you will become in the following months and years. Look North.  Find your inner light.  Cherish and nurture it. Give it what it needs to grow this season and prepare yourself in all ways for the future seasons to come.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Autumn Rains" is the second installment in a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This trio represents Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may help you on your journey, as it has us...

"Autumn Rains" is music inspired by the spirit of Agape. It is an album dedicated to the concept of spiritual love and universal compassion clothed in the metaphor of transcendental natural beauty. It is an album that simultaneously expresses deep love for both the creator as well as the creation. It is said God gave us music so that we could pray without words. It could be added that nature was provided as an example of exactly how to do this effectively. In this spirit, Autumn Rains is a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to learn from the natural beauty of this world, and an expression of a sense of respect for the inescapable universal equality that nature imposes. It humbly attempts to capture deep feelings of awe, granduer, idealism, and a belief in the innate goodness of the world even when we all face exceptionally hard lessons.


Andrew Souter -- Look North

Take comfort in the small things. Be humbled by their persistence. Be inspired by their courage. Give thanks for the opportunity to learn from their example.

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"Autumn Rains" is the second installment in a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This trio represents Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may help you on your journey, as it has us...

"Autumn Rains" is music inspired by the spirit of Agape. It is an album dedicated to the concept of spiritual love and universal compassion clothed in the metaphor of transcendental natural beauty. It is an album that simultaneously expresses deep love for both the creator as well as the creation. It is said God gave us music so that we could pray without words. It could be added that nature was provided as an example of exactly how to do this effectively. In this spirit, Autumn Rains is a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to learn from the natural beauty of this world, and an expression of a sense of respect for the inescapable universal equality that nature imposes. It humbly attempts to capture deep feelings of awe, granduer, idealism, and a belief in the innate goodness of the world even when we all face exceptionally hard lessons.

Andrew Souter -- The Great And The Common

Life is like a river flowing in reverse. We start off our lives in the ocean, and we are immediately confronted with an infinite number of choices: should we go up the Nile, or the Amazon, or the Mississippi?  We choose one and we proceed down that path, and after a while we face another decision:  should we go up the right tributary or the left tributary? Again we make a choice and proceed. Throughout life we go through this process over and over again and our life path evolves and takes from. 

As we make these choices our future options become limited in a fashion by the choices we make today, for while we can certainly always go back down the river to test another path, it requires an increasingly greater effort to make these kind of changes once we are already far down one particular path. Eventually as our life nears competition we approach a tiny spring on a mountaintop and we have no more choices. The path is complete and the journey is over.

I believe that there is an ideal path for everyone as an individual, and that this path can perhaps be called fate or destiny. I believe that it likely preexists before and outside our lives and is perhaps created by God or the universe or whatever your particular persuasion would like to call it. 

I believe that this ideal path is the one that will bring us the most completeness and satisfaction in our lives as individuals, and at the same time, this is the path that will greatest fulfill an even larger plan or path towards a universal fate or destiny for humanity. All of our individual paths function like threads in a cosmic tapestry which represents a larger, universal plan that unfolds upon itself over the sea of time.

The interesting thing however, is that it is up to us as individuals to earnestly seek out our own ideal path, and as a consequence, our contribution to the larger tapestry. It is not something we are forced into; it is an active decision we must make and it requires effort. We must have the strength to follow it. I do not believe in "apathetic fatalism", as I would call it - "if it is meant to be, it will be". I believe it is up to us to honestly and truthfully search our hearts for our own ideal path, and then diligently go after it with vigor and passion and make it happen.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Autumn Rains" is the second installment in a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This trio represents Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may help you on your journey, as it has us...

"Autumn Rains" is music inspired by the spirit of Agape. It is an album dedicated to the concept of spiritual love and universal compassion clothed in the metaphor of transcendental natural beauty. It is an album that simultaneously expresses deep love for both the creator as well as the creation. It is said God gave us music so that we could pray without words. It could be added that nature was provided as an example of exactly how to do this effectively. In this spirit, Autumn Rains is a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to learn from the natural beauty of this world, and an expression of a sense of respect for the inescapable universal equality that nature imposes. It humbly attempts to capture deep feelings of awe, granduer, idealism, and a belief in the innate goodness of the world even when we all face exceptionally hard lessons.

Andrew Souter -- The River

From the second Wayfarer album: Art Official Life

Completely custom sound design produced entirely by tools I invented and developed at 2CAudio and Galbanum...

Namely Kaleidoscope, B2, and Aether:
http://www.2caudio.com/products/kaleidoscope
http://www.2caudio.com/products/b2
http://www.2caudio.com/products/aether

www.2caudio.com
www.galbanum.com
www.galbanum.com/about/people/
www.galbanum.com/support/faq/

Wayfarer -- Kapteyn B

Wayfarer -- Adobe Of Light

New ambient piece for the second upcoming Wayfarer project titled "Art Official Life".  

A deeply mediative piece...

All sounds are created entirely with a combination of 2CAudio Kaleidoscope and B2, which I am the inventor/designer of...

www.2caudio.com

Anyone who is curious to know more, can read three recent interviews I just did if you are interested:

http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/meet-the-programmers-2caudio-619754
http://soundbytesmag.net/andrewsouterinterview/
http://www.kvraudio.com/interviews/pushing-the-limits-an-interview-with-andrew-souter-from-2caudio-29383


Wayfarer - -Elysian Fields

Classical, electronic-breaks mashup in 3/4 from 2012.

Just for fun. These are the mix sketches...  Violin samples were replaced with a real performance later on....

with and without the drums and bass for your enjoyment... ;-)


Andrew Souter -- Dub In Three (Sketch)

Be careful to sow wisely the good seed, for one day you may have to eat its fruit.  Perhaps grace is not demanding to receive everything that we think we are entitled to by our own merit or position, but rather to instead give thanks for not receiving everything we may deserve for our failures and folly. Let us be diligent year round to do the best we can to nurture our crop. Let us be humbly content to accept result of these efforts, whatever it may be, at the time of the harvest.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Autumn Rains" is the second installment in a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This trio represents Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may help you on your journey, as it has us...

"Autumn Rains" is music inspired by the spirit of Agape. It is an album dedicated to the concept of spiritual love and universal compassion clothed in the metaphor of transcendental natural beauty. It is an album that simultaneously expresses deep love for both the creator as well as the creation. It is said God gave us music so that we could pray without words. It could be added that nature was provided as an example of exactly how to do this effectively. In this spirit, Autumn Rains is a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to learn from the natural beauty of this world, and an expression of a sense of respect for the inescapable universal equality that nature imposes. It humbly attempts to capture deep feelings of awe, granduer, idealism, and a belief in the innate goodness of the world even when we all face exceptionally hard lessons.

Andrew Souter -- The Harvest


September is always a magical month of the year anywhere else in the northern hemisphere. It never ceases to present the perfect opportunity to go outside and enjoy the wonder of nature. It's the perfect moment to feel the warmth of the sun on your face as it pierces through the branches of trees whose leaves may have already been to show small signs of color. Its a perfect time to be thankful for the fun of summer and to prepare us for the deeper seasons we are about to enter. It always feels strangely like a graduation ceremony as well as the start of the next level of our growth and understanding. Its a decidedly peaceful month. It's a time of the year as well as state of mind. Perhaps the entire world could live in September for a while.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Autumn Rains" is the second installment in a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This trio represents Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may help you on your journey, as it has us...

"Autumn Rains" is music inspired by the spirit of Agape. It is an album dedicated to the concept of spiritual love and universal compassion clothed in the metaphor of transcendental natural beauty. It is an album that simultaneously expresses deep love for both the creator as well as the creation. It is said God gave us music so that we could pray without words. It could be added that nature was provided as an example of exactly how to do this effectively. In this spirit, Autumn Rains is a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to learn from the natural beauty of this world, and an expression of a sense of respect for the inescapable universal equality that nature imposes. It humbly attempts to capture deep feelings of awe, granduer, idealism, and a belief in the innate goodness of the world even when we all face exceptionally hard lessons.

Andrew Souter -- September

Overview of "Autumn Rains".

Full Info:
https://www.galbanum.com/music/autumnrains

Available on iTunes & Apple Music here:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/autumn-rains/id1063015335

Alternatively, "CD Quality" uncompressed WAV format is available for purchase immediately directly from me here:

http://www.designersound.com/product_info.php?cPath=34&products_id=117

"Autumn Rains" is the second installment in a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This trio represents Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may help you on your journey, as it has us...

Autumn Rains Cover Art "Autumn Rains" is music inspired by the spirit of Agape. It is an album dedicated to the concept of spiritual love and universal compassion clothed in the metaphor of transcendental natural beauty. It is an album that simultaneously expresses deep love for both the creator as well as the creation. It is said God gave us music so that we could pray without words. It could be added that nature was provided as an example of exactly how to do this effectively. In this spirit, Autumn Rains is a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to learn from the natural beauty of this world, and an expression of a sense of respect for the inescapable universal equality that nature imposes. It humbly attempts to capture deep feelings of awe, granduer, idealism, and a belief in the innate goodness of the world even when we all face exceptionally hard lessons.

Andrew Souter -- Autumn Rains Album Overview (Available Now!)

A scoring project I did last month for your enjoyment!  

Musical timing and structure follows the video edit very closely which led to this interesting compound-meter, asymmetric groove thing that ended up sounding pretty cool IMHO...

Hope you enjoy it...

Live Long (Score)

Another scoring project I did for a technology company in the silicon valley.  A nice, playful feeling of potential and achievement and the goal of making the wold a better place through invention and engineering...

Happy Technology (Score)

"A Path Untold" Remix of "Reaching For Shadows" from Andrew Souter's "Autumn Rains".

https://soundcloud.com/apathuntold

This is the second collaboration between Andrew Souter and Daniel Merrill (aka A Path Untold), following up his epic remix of "If You Would Only Let me" in 2014:

https://soundcloud.com/andrew_souter/if-you-would-only-let-me-a-path-untold-remix

These two pieces represent the start of a large collaboration between Souter and Merill, with a full EP/album project underway!  Stay tuned!

Reaching For Shadows - A Path Untold Remix

The wisemen above watch-over as the world sleeps...

Wayfarer - The Craddle

A scoring project I did for Logitech in January 2017.  Hope you enjoy.  

The music achieves very tight sync with the narrative of the video, which was the goal. Check out the video here to get the full effect:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpnaO9QEyrA

Barcelona (Score)

Rough sketch of a piano + orchestra minimalism piece I did a while ago in the family of Glass, Reich, Nyman and my other early heroes.

Forgive the synth-sounding strings --  just a compositional sketch really.

Andrew Souter -- Potential (Sketch)

New Video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti-GfCM5-zk

If You Would Only Let Me:

I would put you first; I would never be too busy. I would tell you daily how important you are to me. I would hold you every night and kiss you every morning. I would explore every inch of your soul and still long to know more. I would hold your hand on long walks. I would break patterns of ineffective communication, admit my own weaknesses, and let go of male pride which deludes me into mistakingly believing I need to know everything about everything. I would listen more actively to any frustrations you may be experiencing and avoid feeling blamed for them. I would avoid offering solutions when all you really need is empathy and friendship, not a super-hero who thinks he has to fix everything. I would learn to work together effectively as a team and value deeply your strengths without feeling threatened by our differences. I would learn to forgo power and choose grace. I would forgive us both for all of the clumsy mistakes we made along the way. I would learn to value what is important. I would give thanks to the universe for the gift of your presence in my life. I would help you become all you are destined to be. I would learn how to love selflessly, and be of service, both to you, as well as to whatever higher power wished to use our example.

ALBUM INFO:

"The Idea Of You" is the first of a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may it help you on your journey, as it has us...

The Idea Of You Cover Art "The Idea Of You" is music inspired by the spirit of Eros and all of its blessings as well as its tribulations. It explores the vicissitudes of romantic love, the delicate seasons and contour of life, and all the lessons learned along the way. Themes of desire, passion, limerence, romantic love, idolatry, jealousy, envy, loss, regret, forgiveness, acknowledgment, appreciation, acceptance, and eventually glimpses of true understanding permeate the work. It attempts to communicate that which so many of us can never quite communicate properly with words. It is an open apology for the clumsy mistakes we all make when coming to maturity in learning how to care selflessly for another human being. It is a gentle reminder as to what is most important in life, as well as an invocation to continuously seek self-improvement regarding our understanding of such matters.

Andrew Souter -- If You Would Only Let Me (Part)

Her pain was overwhelming--to her as well as me. The loss of a dear friend, was too much for her to bare. She felt an empty, helpless despair. She felt powerless. She felt alone...

A Dancer Remembered

Andrew Souter -- A Dancer Remembered

 "This whole earth in which we inhabit is but a point is space."
 -Henry David Thoreau

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Autumn Rains" is the second installment in a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This trio represents Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may help you on your journey, as it has us...

"Autumn Rains" is music inspired by the spirit of Agape. It is an album dedicated to the concept of spiritual love and universal compassion clothed in the metaphor of transcendental natural beauty. It is an album that simultaneously expresses deep love for both the creator as well as the creation. It is said God gave us music so that we could pray without words. It could be added that nature was provided as an example of exactly how to do this effectively. In this spirit, Autumn Rains is a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to learn from the natural beauty of this world, and an expression of a sense of respect for the inescapable universal equality that nature imposes. It humbly attempts to capture deep feelings of awe, granduer, idealism, and a belief in the innate goodness of the world even when we all face exceptionally hard lessons.

En Passant

Andrew Souter -- En Passant

"Unless you love, your life will flash before you."

-Terrence Malick, The Tree Of Life

ALBUM INFO:

"The Idea Of You" is the first of a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may it help you on your journey, as it has us...

The Idea Of You Cover Art "The Idea Of You" is music inspired by the spirit of Eros and all of its blessings as well as its tribulations. It explores the vicissitudes of romantic love, the delicate seasons and contour of life, and all the lessons learned along the way. Themes of desire, passion, limerence, romantic love, idolatry, jealousy, envy, loss, regret, forgiveness, acknowledgment, appreciation, acceptance, and eventually glimpses of true understanding permeate the work. It attempts to communicate that which so many of us can never quite communicate properly with words. It is an open apology for the clumsy mistakes we all make when coming to maturity in learning how to care selflessly for another human being. It is a gentle reminder as to what is most important in life, as well as an invocation to continuously seek self-improvement regarding our understanding of such matters.

Unless You Love

Andrew Souter -- Unless You Love

I create things.  Musical things...  Technological things...

Production of my third solo piano album to complete the trilogy is underway now! Stay tuned...

If you enjoy the music please support via Apple Music, Spotify, or other streaming/download service. My music is also available directly from my company web-store in uncompressed WAV format as well if you prefer:

http://www.designersound.com/

My other job is co-founder and primary algorithm designer of 2CAudio.  We make some pretty cool stuff for the pro audio software community including some of the best reverbs on the planet, which you are hearing in all of my personal work here too of course.

http://www.2caudio.com
http://galbanum.com/about/people/

Thanks for all of your kind words and support!

Andrew Souter

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