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...

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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 -- Reaching For Shadows

"Have patience with all things, but, first of all, with yourself." - Saint Francis de Sales
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Image (c) 2013 <a href=https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=772341389449116&set=a.674844345865488.1073741828.156806751002586&type=1&theater>Cap Photography</a>

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Flying

another live take I did whilst preparing myself for a studio session this summer....

please follow me @spotify: http://open.spotify.com/artist/758yIKdhJhWL6oTuTSFVV6

To The Sky - Saturday Evening Live Take (HQ Version and more @spotify)

Today is the birthday of my son, Aris https://soundcloud.com/aris-valachis.
Orange is his favorite color.
Orange is also the color of the sky when the sun rises, looking at the Aegean sea.
So this is my gift for him, that go to add a new "color" for my upcoming album "Color Your Life".

Someone tries to remove the color from your life?
Just decide.
The path is long but possible.
result guaranteed :-)

Color Your Life, Orange ( spotify http://open.spotify.com/artist/25SRM5wLczZ3uTLcVXRoe7 )

Psyche

This instrumental piece is painting this feeling you get when you close the chapter of your day to enter the special realm of evening, like a blurry door to the vibe of the night. This is the first of a weekly series of new music I will be posting on this page and on Soulbow.com - with exclusive content and free downloads to come. I would love to hear your comments and what this music triggers in you!

Evenfall

More music...

Composed by Oliver Sadie for The Silver Notebook
Performed by Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
© 2015 Lovely Music

The Silver Notebook is a multi-artist production library album published by Lovely Music label, a collection of piano and strings compositions performed by the RLPO.

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The Contentedness Of Being

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

This is my first waltz, inspired by the great series of waltzes from Stephan Beneking, I could not hold back to compose my own one. It was fun composing it and I hope you like it....

Really Amazing Swan Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11k0ipBaz_0

If you like my music please give me a smile and like my Facebook page :-): http://www.facebook.com/Dirk.Maassen.Music

watch my piano video clips at youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/ascoltadi?feature

Dirk Maassen - Stella (Valse #1) - (Project Ascolta !) - Don't miss THE SWAN Video in description

I hope you enjoy this re-made and extended version of a track I produced last year.  

This track is part of the album "Beyond the Horizon" by Ed Haydon & Alexander Hallberg and is available to buy from iTunes... https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/beyond-the-horizon/id669200648

You can also check out the video here...http://vimeo.com/69757892

Many thanks to Alf Pilz for creating such wonderful effects; the magic world of freezing water, growing and disappearing raw frost, amazing crystal diversity and enchanting twilight situations.


Faded Memories

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!