A splash of epic, hybrid, orchestral music...starts small scale with a light touch, mixed ensemble and finishes with a full flourish of orchestra and choir.

Created in Kontakt sampler.

Composed, arranged, performed and produced by Mark Taylor, March 2021

Exile's Return

Full instrumental remake of 1982 hit “Save a Prayer” by Duran Duran. Played on a Korg Minilogue XD, Ibanez Gio and Fender PJ-bass. Drums from Addictive Drums 2. Recorded and mixed in Studio One 5 Professional.

Duran Duran - Save a Prayer

Short piece for a small, unusual mixed ensemble - clarinet, baritone sax, flute, double bass, kamānche, Morin khuur.

Big focus here on texture / movement on sustained notes.

Silence and Tears

Silence and Tears (Goodbye Old Friend)

Short orchestral piece that rises from a gentle, delicate beginning towards more intense interplay between solo cello and full choir.

The Space In Between

Short (and hopefully emotional) little piece for 4 cellos and choir.

Emptiness Inside

A chilled, minimalist piece for an unusual tuned percussion instrument called 'Morpheus'

The recording uses a multi-sampled version of the instrument created by Sonic Couture...

http://www.soniccouture.com/en/products/26-percussion/g25-morpheus/

(Copyright Exists / Registered with the PRS for Music)

Dream Within a Dream

Marco Lucchi : synth, found sounds, tape and treatments

Oh, the waters flow over rock and stone
O'er the waters blow windy wind so cold
Oh, the rivers flow so old
Oh, the rivers flow so old.
O'er the rivers fly stately kingfishers
Through the waters swim stickleback fishes
Oh, the rivers flow so old
Oh, the rivers flow so old.
Oh, the waters flow over rock and stone
Through the waters swim stickleback fishes
Oh, the rivers flow so old
Through the rivers swim so old
Oh, the rivers flow so old.
Ooh.

(Donovan Leitch)

29 maggio 2019

Bandcamp

So old

https://citiesandmemory.com/

March 2020 Project: Future Cities

Future Cities is the largest ever survey of the sounds of urban spaces around the world, examining how the soundscapes of our cities are changing and what that means for us all.

Original Field Recording: 
023 ITALY Venice Fondamenta Zattere and Calle Scuola water, boats and accordion

What if Venice and all its wonderful canals were lifted off the earth’ surface and became a floating metropolis in outer space?

In terms of the sound world they create, I’ve always found journeys on water to be discrete and utterly disconnected from their immediate surroundings, so I’ve tried to create a more cosmic, outer space version of travelling by water!

The first 90 seconds of the piece are 99% taken from the original field recording:

The opening waves of sound are taken directly from the original field recording – snippets of water sounds were processed using granular sampling and synthesis in two instances of Reaktor 6.

The outer space tinkles, clicks and beeps area combination of tiny vocal samples from the original alongside synthesis in Omnisphere.

The pad sound that enters at around 50 seconds was created from the accordion playing towards the end of the field recording – sampled and processed in two instances of Omnisphere.

The original music was all created using Omnisphere.

The Cosmic Gondolier

Composed for the City and Memories 'Smithsonian Treasures' project...

https://citiesandmemory.com/mappoints/smithsonianfull

During February 2020, the Smithsonian Institute – the world’s largest museum complex, with more than 154 million items – made 2.8 million images from its collection freely available into the public domain.

The Smithsonian Treasures project asks sound artists and musicians all over the world to get inspired by the Smithsonian’s collection, producing a series of compositions based on individual works – reimagining  images and scenes of history, art, science and culture through sound.

The stimulus for this particular piece is the thumbnail image:

'Angel' is both a portrait of his daughter Mary at age eleven and an allegory of hope and spirituality. Thayer manipulated the paint with brooms, scrapers, his fingers, and even a paint tube to achieve his effects. The Renaissance-inspired frame, called a tabernacle type, was designed specifically for this painting by American architect Stanford White.

Brief analysis of the actual music:
Strings, voices and tuned percussion combine to create a hopefully uplifting, thoughtful, ethereal atmosphere.

ALL of the music stems from one simple motif which is used in various ways throughout the different parts.

SOFTWARE:

Camel Audio's ALCHEMY - featuring sounds created by Simon Stockhausen and Martin Walker.

KONTAKT sampler - featuring sounds from Dan Wilson at Hideaway Studio.

Smithsonian Treasures

Reverie of Angels

Reverie Of Angels

Cities and Memory Project: Dante’s Inferno 

https://citiesandmemory.com/

Music inspired by Cantos 1 and 2
(Note: Other composers from around the world continue the narrative in their pieces as Dante descends through the gates of Hell and continues his journey).

Opening Section: 
Dante is halfway through his life. We find him walking along contentedly, but there is an edge of melancholy to his mood; something is missing.

Section 2 (starts at 1 min 4 seconds):
He has unwittingly wandered into a dangerous forest. Panic rises - he feels more and more desperate, trapped and hopelessly lost.

Section 3 (starts at 2 min 32 seconds):
Just as he feels that all hope is gone, Dante sees a shining light above a distant hilltop. Maybe he can find his way back to the right path?

Section 4 (starts at 3 min 6 seconds):
Dante tries to climb the hill and reach the light but his path is blocked by three terrifying beasts. A heroic confrontation ensues as he tries to find a way past them and reach salvation.

Section 5 (starts at 4 min 16 seconds):
A despairing Dante is forced to retreat back into the forest but his misery is lifted by the unexpected appearance of the Roman poet Virgil. Virgil’s spirit has been sent to guide Dante back towards the light.

Section 6 (starts at 5 min 10 seconds):
Virgil warns Dante that before they can climb the hill they must first pass through the place of eternal punishment (Hell) and then a place of lesser punishment (Purgatory); only then can they reach God’s city (Heaven). Slowly but surely, they begin their journey. Dante is determined but still full of doubt.

Section 7 (starts at 6 min 14 seconds):
Approaching the edge of the forest they see a distant, first sight of the Gates of Hell.

Composed, arranged, performed and recorded using Native Instruments' KOMPLETE ULTIMATE.

Dante's Inferno

The Lost Poet

The Lost Poet: Dante's Inferno Cantos 1 and 2

Lead track of my 2nd album released way back in 2016

https://alfrescolovesounds.bandcamp.com/track/lonely-in-a-crowd

Lonely In A Crowd

Mark Taylor, Birmingham, UK

Professional music and sound design for all media since 1994…

TV // Live Theatre & Multimedia Events // Radio // Advertising // Film // PC games

Always interested in providing music and sound design for projects around the Birmingham area and across the world.

All of the composing, arranging, performing and recording is done in my own private studio. In the last 25 years, I have provided music and general sound design for productions all over the world – USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, UK, Panama, Ireland, and mainland Europe.

Recent clients include:

• Nocturnal Works – ‘Eleusis’… a 3d first-person adventure game

• RTE (Irish National TV and Radio) – Ident / Jingle

• Chevrolet Malibu / MSN -online advert.

• Fifteen (festival of short plays from some of the UK’s most exciting artists and playwrights).

• Bally Technologies – Pirate themed casino game

• Castrol UK – ReMix of their classic jingle.

• PBS (US TV Network) – ident / jingle

• Collegehumor.com –  underscore

• BBC World Service – documentary



• Catalyst Design on behalf of TV’s interior designer Tess O’Hara – Ident / Jingle

• Novelist Maria Isabel Pita – Underscore for Promotional Video

I recently had the dubious honour of having one of my tracks beamed into space from the Goonhilly satellite earth station in Cornwall, UK…took just 5 hours to go beyond the solar system and is now well into deep space. If aliens do finally arrive and they look angry, you now know who’s probably to blame!

Message to Will.i.am…music on Mars…that’s nothing…I’m way ahead of you! :0)

Exile's Return

Chameleon Music

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