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)

This is the last uploaded piece from the second collaborative album with @Stephan-Beneking : "Petits rêves bizarres XIII-XXIV". We both hope you've enjoyed this "bizarre" journey :)

The full album with all 12 "Petits" is available for purchase both digitally and on CD:

http://milana.bandcamp.com/album/petits-reves-bizarres-xiii-xxiv 
http://itunes.apple.com/album/petits-reves-bizarres-xiii/id695284812 
http://www.amazon.com/Petits-Bizarres-XIII-Xxiv-Stephan-Beneking/dp/B00EUS6XSG 
http://www.amazon.com/Petits-Reves-Bizarres-XIII-XXIV-Milana/dp/B00FFKCBH0


Buy on iTunes

Petit rêve bizarre XXII - Stephan Beneking and Milana - on iTUNES!

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)

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

PLEASE SHARE & REPOST.
It's been many months since I last shared a new composition here. I hope you will enjoy this new one! 
As 2014 comes to an end and we look forward to the new year ahead, I hope this track might provide a simple soundtrack to your reflections, as it is for mine.
Happy New Year!

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Its Alot To Dish


Rivers have always captured the imagination of humans. Many hymns have been dedicated to them. Their beauty lies in the landscapes they traverse. 
Shenandoah is an American folk song. It was first a riverman's and then sailor's song. And this is just a beautiful melody – FOLLOWED BY MY OWN IMPROVISATION ON IT.

Here are the lyrics from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh_Shenandoah 

    Oh Shenandoah,
    I long to see you,
    And hear your rolling rivers
    Oh Shenandoah,
    I long to hear you,
    Away, you rolling river.
    Oh Shenandoah,
    I long to hear you,
    Away, we're bound away
    Cross the wide Missouri.

    Oh Shenandoah,
    I love your daughter,
    Away, you rolling river.
    For her I'd cross
    Your roaming waters,
    Way, we're bound away
    Across the wide Missouri.

    'Tis seven years
    since last I've seen you,
    Away, you rolling river.
    'Tis seven years
    since last I've seen you,
    Away, we're bound away
    Cross the wide Missouri.

    Oh Shenandoah,
    I long to hear you,
    Away you rolling river.
    Oh Shenandoah,
    I long to hear you,
    Away, we're bound away
    Cross the wide Missouri.

    Oh Shenandoah,
    I long to hear you,
    Far away, you rolling river.
    Oh Shenandoah,
    Just to be near you,
    Far away, far away.
    Across the wide Missouri.



Keith Jarrett- ‘Shenandoah’, PLUS MY OWN IMPROVISATION

Happy new year my friends,,, 2016 is here, 2015 was the year that mostly nothing happened,,,

2016 I don´t have high hopes for,, but I hope it will bring you all nice things.

Free download if you want this piece.

Una Melodia Dal Passato

Sometimes it's possible to get through dramas in our life on our own, but there are times that we need to ask for that "Helping hand". This can be a difficult thing to admit, for some of us & this solo piano improvisation, is a reflection of these feelings put to music.

Here is a link to the Youtube clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VCm2DshWfo&feature=youtu.be


Helping Hand

Restless

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 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!