Self Discovery

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...

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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 Wind Whispers To The Trees

This is our first production together and we couldn't be more pleased with the results. We hope you like and share this little piece of each one.

Thanks to Dirk (https://soundcloud.com/ascoltadi)

Dirk Maassen with Vla DSound - Armas de Cristal

Ed Haydon's beautiful piano piece "Hope" was one of my absolute favourite pieces from the Piano Cloud group in 2013. So when we launched a new challenge to record a cover version of another member's music, it was an obvious and immediate choice. 

Rather than simply reproduce the piece in the same way that Ed himself recorded it, I have used his notation as a start point and made some subtle changes. I have added extensions to the chords and re-voiced them, embellished the melody in places and added additional runs and doodles. There's a new ending too. These changes give the piece an "Andrew Eales flavour", while staying true, I hope, to Ed's original vision for the piece.

One of the reasons Ed Haydon's "Hope" was such a great track was its simplicity though, and I realise that by adding complexity I have created a version which is distinct. You may in any case prefer the original, which I encourage you to listen to here:

https://soundcloud.com/edhaydon/ed-haydon-hope-2013-version 

Artwork by Ed Haydon used with permission. 

Ed Haydon: "Hope" (new recording by Andrew Eales)

Follow me at Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dirk_maassen

Einklang (CD1) Track #02 ... hope you enjoy.

find the offocial pre-release here: https://dirkmaassen.bandcamp.com/album/einklang-cd1

An Island (follow @dirk_maassen at instagram)

MATHILDE

Final Hours No. 2 Desolate Numbers


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.

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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 -- September

original music: luca longobardi

Formally written for Les Madaleines, an exhibition by Valeria Patrizi.

Ta Peau

Through sound, emotion seeks new dimensions, not as an escape from reality but rather in a search for the image of a new reality. Music that creates emotion, is like a wind that purifies, rendering visible all the obstacles and divisions. It is rather like a piercing arrow that alerts the parts of our mind we do not normally go to, in our daily lives. It opens up unknown and obscure landscapes, like a ray of light that filtering into a dark room, banishes the darkness and leaves nothing to hinder vision. 
”Canone degli Spazi” is about the sound that journeys in all directions, the sound that travels through endless space - through the outer world and the inner space - through the unconscious and the senses. 
When I play with precision and with specific intent, the emotion that rises inside of me is the mirror of the one that arises in the person who is listening - it provokes a sense of union and communion with those sharing the same moment. Music becomes a vehicle of an objective feeling, which is almost the same for most people. Similarly, if I am not One with the sound and my intention is not clear, the same notes played carelessly are empty - they lose their power and their intensity. The level of clarity of my expression depends on what I can make arise inside of me. When that happens, the inner nature of the melodies that are being played spreads out into space, into the air, into the earth and out to the whole atmosphere. A real spell takes place between the performer and his public, creating a magical aura of deep harmony and sharing. This is the wonder of a sound that has come from a long time ago, through myths and mythology, and returns us to the essence of Music, that most supreme of Arts. 
I composed “Canone degli Spazi” around essential elements - the harmony of the triads, the melodic repetition and the cycles that follow the orbits of the planets and the structure of harmonics - the very same fundamental rules that Pythagoras followed to make the laws of the Universe coincide. Sound can help us to realize that our inner space is as vast as our outer space and that in reality there is no difference between them. Sound travels through walls - the walls of the mind too – transcending both time and space. 

Canone degli spazi - Michael

Another track I originally composed for the fantastic artist Gavin O'Donnell's drawing "Azura" that I have re-mastered and edited. 

It's a long track, but it's split into 3 unique sections that tie together. The thought process was to follow the growth and emotions of the woman in the drawing. 

Find the original drawing video here on Gavin's YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M88K0m8eYLE

Azura (re-mastered & edited)

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!