This is a playlist featuring my collaborations with the tremendous bass player Mirko Borach, aka Stringburner, https://soundcloud.com/stringburner. It is a diverse catalogue with a blend of styles ranging from Jazz to Rock to Flamenco to Funk... Let's say Fusion. It is great to find a player as good and versatile as Mirko here on SoundCloud and I am sure this playlist will grow through more collaborations to come.

We hope you enjoy our music here!

Dan

Stringburning Tunes with Mirko Borach on bass

This one is a tribute to the great fusion group Tribal Tech, especially to  guitarist Scott Henderson and bassist Gary Willis. The great bassist aka Stringburner here on Soundcould asked me to collaborate on this lighting, or better rocket launching, fast fusion track which refers to Saturn 5, off the the tenth album called Rocket Science by the jazz fusion band Tribal Tech released in 2000. A mind boggling original that we could only humbly pay respect to. It uses a faster pace and condenses the themes, then aims in different directions with it, going from a free fusion style into rock and some Indian and Oriental modes.
We greatly enjoyed our little collaboration on this and hope you do too!

Bass guitar and drum programming by Stringburner,
Guitars by Dan van den Berg
recorded and mixed 2014, 2015

Please do check the awesome Stringburner here on Soundcloud! https://soundcloud.com/stringburner


Tribute to Tribal Tech - feat. Stringburner & DanArchX

Some of you that know me a bit longer might recognize this tune. The original name is "A Drone of A". When Mirko Borach, aka Stringburner, asked me if he could have a go at it with his fretless bass I didn't think twice! His take on it made me change some of the drum rhythms and remove the loud rhythm guitars almost completely cause the bass parts of Mirko are so expressive, they can carry the track. The feel is completely different and became more subtle and nuanced. In it's slowly modulating progressions it made me think now of sands continuously shifting the shapes of dunes by the wind, like I saw in Maspalomas earlier this year. The picture was taken there.
Anyways, I hope you like this revamped version!

Arrangements, music, mixing and guitars by Daniël van den Berg, 2014-2015
Bass arrangements and Fretless Bass by Mirko Borach, 2015
Drum samples from Amplitube

Check out Mirko's profile on Soundcloud! https://soundcloud.com/stringburner


The Ever Shifting Sands - feat. Stringburner & DanArchX

The title hints upon the dangerously seductive dance of Salome. Beauty and unease... The track's harmonies and melodic intents seem to flow from eerie to melancholy, tension and resolve. 
I have been working on this track for quite some time in the shape of a very loud rock tune, yet in that form still to be released. Recently I asked Mirko Borach, aka Stringburner, if he would add his bass ideas to this. His musical intention, virtuosity and his singing tone made me try an acoustic version with more room to shine for his playing. In the reworking I changed it into an exotic wild oriental or eastern dance with the, for me at least, obvious hints of Jazz Rock, Flamenco and Fusion. I hope you can enjoy it!

And! Do visit Mirko's splendid work on his SoundCloud profile:
https://soundcloud.com/stringburner

Music, arrangements and guitars by Daniel van den Berg.
Fretless bass and bass arrangements by Mirko Borach.
Drum samples from Amplitube.
February 2015

Guitars:
Paulino Bernabe, Taller de Guitarras, modelo-50, 2001
Ibanez JS100




Veils in the Serpent Wind, Part I - by Dan van den Berg, featuring Mirko Borach

This one is quite a crazy funky fusion track! A great bass player Mirko Borach aka Stringburner(https://soundcloud.com/stringburner )came up with the idea to cover this track by Los Lobotomys, a fusion group that was formed by Steve Lukather in 1989 with some of his friends and talented players, like David Garfield.
Mirko asked Jamie Rhind (https://soundcloud.com/jamie-rhind) and me to join on this one to complete the blend. Jamie brought his Miles' oriented synths, I brought my loud and funk rhythm guitars. We reworked the original, added different sounds and flavours to it, turning it into "Entanglement".  All of us have one solo spot around the main theme. Quite interesting is the turn of events with a more quiet interlude after the guitar solo, something we just had to keep in from the original.

Anyways! We hope to entertain you with this cover of a great fusion track and band. Do check them out if you don't know them already! Los Lobotomys...

Bass and bass arrangements, initial drum programming by Mirko Borach https://soundcloud.com/stringburner

Keyboards, synths and synth arrangements by Jamie Rhind https://soundcloud.com/jamie-rhind

Guitars and guitar arrangements, drum programming, mixing and mastering by Dan van den Berg

Drum samples from Amplitube
April 2015




Entanglement (cover) - feat. Mirko Borach | Jamie Rhind | Dan van den Berg

It was already a long time that I had in mind making a little tribute to one of my all time favorite guitarists. A man that has been on stage as long as I live and has had a major influence on guitar music and fusion music.
I first heard his work in the early eighties when a cool uncle of mine would make mixtapes for me of some of his favorite music, mainly fusion and jazz rock. I was blown away as a kid.
Now through all these years this music continues to stay with me and I am glad that I could make a combined acoustic-electric tune with latin percussion and string accompaniment to celebrate that.

I hope you enjoy and know who I am referring to with this song title: Señor Al.

Update! Now this tune has the marvelous Mirko Borach aka Stringburner on bass, to add a bit more to the flavor!

All guitars, music and arrangements by Dan van den Berg, April 2015 
(short quote in the bridge derived from Passion, Grace and Fire - Señor Al ;) )

Classical concert guitar: Paulino Bernabé, Taller de Guitarras, Modelo-50, 2001
Electric guitar: Ibanez JS100
Bass: Mirko Borach, Stringburner https://soundcloud.com/stringburner
Percussion and string section created with SampleTank
Recorded using Amplitube
Microphone: Apogee
Mixed and mastered with Final Touch


Señor Al  |  by Dan van den Berg with Mirko Borach on bass

This one came about from a request by Mirko Borach, soundcloud.com/stringburner , a great virtuoso and extremely versatile bass player I have come to know here on SoundCloud. We have already done quite a few tracks together. I was honored when Mirko suggested to do the bass parts on a tune of mine I wrote quite a while back: Anticipating Intermediacy. https://soundcloud.com/danarchx/anticipating-intermediacy

In essence this track came from an idea I had of a repeating unchanging melody line that would change in feel an character by a modulating chord progression that is constantly changing. As describing a person's state going through changes and accepting that the only constant is change.
Anyways!

Mirko's work made me change the track into a more smooth and clearer version with more of a prog rock or jazz rock feel to it, compared to the original which is louder and very dense in texture.

We hope you like our collaboration on this one as well as the new version!

All guitars, music, arrangements and production by Dan van den Berg, DanArchX
All bass parts and arrangements by Mirko Borach, Stringburner, soundcloud.com/stringburner

Guitar: Ibanez JS100
Recorded with Amplitube
Drum programming by using drum samples from Amplitube
Additional synths by using Sampletank

22 April 2015

A.I. - New Version | Dan van den Berg with Mirko Borach on bass

On this summer track we can hear some awesome musicians:
Acoustic Guitar: Dan Van Den Berg @https://soundcloud.com/danarchx 
Synth Solo: Jamie Rhind @https://soundcloud.com/jamie-rhind
Fretless Bass: Mirko Borach @https://soundcloud.com/stringburner
Keyboards and drum programming: Julien Apelian
I hope you will enjoy!
The picture was taken by Dan in Portugal, Algarve.

Summer Rising with Dan Van Den Berg, Jamie Rhind, Mirko Borach & Julien Apelian

The great bass player Mirko Borach, aka Stringburner https://soundcloud.com/stringburner, sent his wonderful original piece called "Mysterious" to Julien Apelian https://soundcloud.com/jules-keys-1 and me to see if we could add our touch and instruments to his warm singing bass sounds. It is a track that is reminiscent of several typical seventies and early eighties bands and sounds, ranging from, for example, a Black Sabbath type oriental riff, to more Return to Forever-like sounds, to even a hint of the Doors in some of Julien's playing. We had great fun working together again, arranging parts and adding solos and the wonderful mixing and post production by Julien tops this collaboration off!

We hope you'll enjoy this fusion of styles and our playing on Mirko's original called ...Mysterious...

Music, drum programming & fretless bass by Mirko Borach https://soundcloud.com/stringburner
Keyboards, synths, Rhodes, arrangements, mixing and mastering by Julien Apelian https://soundcloud.com/jules-keys-1
Guitars and arrangements by Dan van den Berg
July 15th, 2015

Mysterious | by Mirko Borach, with Julien Apelian on keys & Dan van den Berg on guitar

Recently I found the work of a fantastic trumpet player and composer here on SoundCloud: Vivek Patel https://soundcloud.com/vivek-patel. It was always my wish to have a truly great trumpet player on one of my flamencoated tracks, for one because trumpet is one of my favorite instruments in it's sound, dynamic range and voice-like expression. Secondly, Jazz is one of the musical styles I love, in which I always was most exited about the trumpet solos. 

To increase the excitement I also asked my SC buddy, the great fretless bassplayer Mirko Borach https://soundcloud.com/stringburner to join in the fun, who always brings such a thrilling drive to the music and such rich tone.

This one is as I call it a flamencoated track which blends several styles. From flamenco to Jazz, some Middle Eastern motives and a touch of orchestral strings background. This one is a tribute to Michael Brecker's great Two Blocks from the Edge, which I've always loved for it's dark atmosphere. The ones familiar with Brecker's work and catalogue will recognize some of the themes in this one.

I am happy to present this unusual track with an eerie atmosphere and crossover quality: Close to the Edge.

We hope you'll like it!

Loosely based on "Two Blocks From the Edge" by Michael Brecker,
Arrangements and adaptation, acoustic guitars, drum programming, string arrangements, mixing and mastering by Dan van den Berg
Vivek Patel, Flugelhorn and horn arrangements https://soundcloud.com/vivek-patel
Mirko Borach, Fretless Bass and bass arrangements https://soundcloud.com/stringburner
Released: August 8, 2015

Pretty crazy photo of a person sitting on the edge of a skyscraper. Photo by RoofTopper@1x

Close To The Edge |  Dan van den Berg, feat. Mirko Borach, bass & Vivek Patel, flugelhorn

Redemption is an original track set up by Mirko Borach soundcloud.com/stringburner. In Mirko's words: "The title Redemption aims to signify the balance between the human soul and nature in a spiritual way of life far away from the hustle and bustle and the drab monotony of everyday life.".

This track brings to mind the glorious days of seventies fusion with bands like Return to Forever, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Weather Report. Mirko, aka Stringburner, sent us the outline of this track with some splendid bass work and percussion. 

Dan van den Berg soundcloud.com/danarchx on acoustic guitar, Jamie Rhind soundcloud.com/jamie-rhind on synthesizer & Julien Apelian soundcloud.com/jules-keys-1 on piano and keyboards joined in on Mirko's request to really make this a virtual band effort where each player is featured. We are very proud of the result.

We had a great time pulling this together and hope you now will too. The photo of the beautiful waterfall was taken in Costa Rica by Jamie. As always we really appreciate your comments, likes and shares!

Bass guitar, bass arrangements and tabla percussion programming by Mirko Borach
Acoustic guitar and guitar arrangements by Dan van den Berg
Synthesizer and co-production by Jamie Rhind
Synthesizers and piano, drum programming, arrangements, mixing and production by Julien Apelian
October 2015

Redemption - Mirko Borach, Dan Van Den Berg, Jamie Rhind & Julien Apelian

Bass, fretless bass, music and composition: Mirko Borach @stringburner 
Rhythm and lead guitars, co-production: Daniel van den Berg @DanArchX 
Synthesizer, co-production: Jamie Rhind @jamie-rhind  
Drums: A man called Martin @amancalledmartin  
Electric piano, synthesizer, mixing and production: Julien Apelian @jules-keys-1

A message from Mirko:

"The journey continues!

After releasing "Redemption" on SoundCloud which was a full success, we were thinking of a part II to continue the journey into great spheres of fusion and progressive rock. 
This time it should be more intense, more heavy and more mind-blowing than the first part. 
Like a spaceship flight through other dimensions.

With the same line-up as on “Redemption” but now supported by Martin of the British metal band Winterfire on drums we want to enter some parallel worlds of sound.

The title Parallel Worlds should explain our hopes and feelings when we fall asleep.
Falling into a dream our mind is drifting into a parallel universe of different moods and atmospheres.

This track takes us back to instrumental prog rock bands like Planet X with such great musicians like Derek Sherinian, Tony MacAlpine, Virgil Donati and Tom Kennedy.

Again Julien Apelian gives us outstanding key and piano lines and a magic synth solo from outer space.
Dan van den Berg’s splendid rhythm and lead guitar work took us beyond the bounds of universe. 
Jamie Rhind discovers new space at the speed of light with an awesome synth solo.
A man called Martin’s great drums are pure gravity holding it all perfectly together and finally Mirko Borach’s deep bass grooves took us to undiscovered planets and back.

As always we really appreciate your comments, likes and shares!"

December 2015

Parallel Worlds - Mirko Borach, Dan van den Berg, Jamie Rhind, A man called Martin & Julien Apelian

Now here's an electric part II of Veils in the Serpent Wind, featuring the extra-ordinaire, brilliant keyboards player and composer Jason Rubenstein soundcloud.com/jasonrubenstein AND Mirko Borach again. 
Jason worked throughout the track on several instruments, ranging from Moogs, Synths and piano, did the co-production, and mixing and mastering. 
Mirko added his warm singing fretless bass tone again and some super virtuoso bass playing.
And! Very special guest here is a great drummer I have gotten to know though Jason's invite here: Tom Hipskind. Do check out his great drumming and versatility.

Eleven months ago I released this track called "Veils in the Serpent Wind", which features the great bass player Mirko Borach, aka Stringburner soundcloud.com/stringburner, who joined on an experimental fusion track hinting on Salome's seductive Dance. An acoustic version: https://soundcloud.com/danarchx/veils-in-the-serpent-wind. Now this has turned into a pair and a little "suite". In musical appreciation and upbringing I am a seventies guy. I love epic music and thinking up these long tracks in different modes, movements and parts. 

It is indeed my great joy and pleasure to release this exiting, wild and unusual piece of music, that brings a whole new light to the material of "Veils in the Serpent Wind". This is part II.

We hope you will enjoy our journey into a new territory for this track and as always appreciate your comments, likes and shares.

Dan van den Berg, January 14th, 2016

Initial music, guitars, drum programming, co-production by Dan van den Berg
All keyboards, arrangements, production, mixing and mastering by Jason Rubenstein soundcloud.com/jasonrubenstein
Fretless Bass and bass arrangements by Mirko Borach soundcloud.com/stringburner
released January 14th, 2016


Veils in the Serpent Wind, Part II - Quartet with Jason Rubenstein, Tom Hipskind & Mirko Borach

Initial music and fretless bass arrangements by Mirko Borach https://soundcloud.com/stringburner
Drums and drum arrangements, co-production by A Man called Martin https://soundcloud.com/amancalledmartin
Guitars, guitar arrangements, theme melodies, co-production by Dan van den Berg https://soundcloud.com/danarchx
Keyboards, harmonic arranging, production, mixing and mastering by Julien Apelian https://soundcloud.com/jules-keys-1

Mirko's message:
After the success of our track "Parallel Worlds" i was thinking of another piece that would contain some different styles of music. 
The title “Distant Mirrors” should explain the different parts and musical styles in this track. 
There are a few parts and changes in there and it’s not coming back to an earlier played theme. 
After laying down my bassparts I was seaching for musicians who would be able to put that plan into action. 
So what’s better to ask A man called Martin, Julien Apelian and Dan van den Berg again? 
Think they all exceeded my expectations again with some wonderful ideas and arrangements.
Thanks again for this beautiful piece of music!

We had great fun on this spectacular piece by Mirko. As always we thank you for your generous time listening, giving comments, likes and sharing!
February 2016


Distant Mirrors - Mirko Borach, a man called Martin, Dan van den Berg & Julien Apelian

Dawning of a Brighter Day

Now with Mirko Borach on fretless bass, check out this brilliant bass player: https://soundcloud.com/stringburner

At the dawn of a New Year to come I send this one out to all of you here truly wishing you clear and bright days to come. It was an intense year for me here, but also for many of my friends around the world with great many challenges and struggles. I am looking forward to making things better in the near future and felt the vibe yesterday with all the guys and girls at my firm. It feels good, let's keep it up!

About this rock instrumental: it was my first full recording with my newest Fender Elite Stratocaster, a joy to play and I much enjoyed this familiar, twangy sound I know so well from my youth when I just started playing on my Fender Squire JV-series. 
This track is built around a few different sections and cab settings, from clean to gritty to fuzz distortion, which leads to different moods, riffs and melodies. In a way playing this Fender pointed the way to my early playing style in more of a rock setting. Through the last years I recorded a few with this kind of feel ever so once in a while.

I sincerely hope you will enjoy this one and as always I appreciate all your likes, shares and comments!

-Dan

Recording data:
All music, guitars drum programming by Dan van den Berg, December 16, 2016
Guitar:
American Elite Stratocaster® HSS Shawbucker
Fretless bass by Mirko Borach, Stringburner, https://soundcloud.com/stringburner
Drum samples using Amplitube, SampleTank, editing in AURIA
Recorded with Amplitube, Auria
Mixing and Mastering in AURIA and Final Touch

A Brighter Day

A Brighter Day | Dan van den Berg, with Mirko Borach on bass

We are proud to present a new progressive rock track we have been working on. On request by Mirko Borach https://soundcloud.com/stringburner, a great and talented bass player, who made the initial composition by way of a bass arangement and beautiful drum section by Danny Handler both Jason Rubenstein and I joined in. Jason Rubenstein is a multi-facetted, brilliant keyboardist and established name in the genre. I picked up my Fender guitar to complete this quartet effort. 
Mirko set up many different sections to this track that grooves, sings and screams. Danny's drum parts add richness in texture and fine details everywhere. Jason juxtaposed some extra tension in the harmonic chord arrangements, which served as great and rich material for the guitar parts, as well as quite a surprise in the piano solo. 
We had a blast writing, arranging and recording and hope you will enjoy the musical explorations in this track called "The Organic Machine".
Orginal composition, bass arrangements, bass guitar by Mirko Borach, aka Stringburner @stringburner
Drum sections and arrangements by Danny Handler @dannyhandler
Piano arrangements and piano by Jason Rubenstein @jasonrubenstein
Guitar arrangements, electric guitars, mix and master by Daniël van den Berg
Cover image by Dan van den Berg

The Organic Machine

The Organic Machine | Quartet with Mirko Borach, Danny Handler, Jason Rubenstein & Dan van den Berg

Light and Shade

This original has now the wonderful basslines with that signature sound of Mirko Borach, aka Stringburner  https://soundcloud.com/stringburner. Proud to add this to the long list of our collaborations, including our 2018 album release of The Hypersonic Factor. 

This track has different sides, a lighter and darker side. Optimism, unease and melancholy can be found in four different parts, coming together as in life... Light and Shade.
As always my music is centered around the guitar as main instrument, my trusted companion in expressing my moods and feelings. This time the electric guitar. Because it can howl, growl and weep.

I hope you will enjoy this music and as always I really enjoy your likes, comments and shares.

-Dan

All music, instruments, drum programming, arranging, mixing and mastering by Daniël van den Berg, November 2018
Guitar: Fender Elite Stratocaster HSS Shawbucker
Bass: Mirko Borach 
Recorded using Amplitube and AURIA for iPad
Mixing in AURIA, mastered with Final Touch
Samples and string section using Sampletank
Drum samples using Amplitube, arranging in AURIA

Electric Contraptions

Light & Shade

Light & Shade | Dan van den Berg w/ Mirko Borach

This solo piece for the acoustic guitar I made almost five years ago. However, thanks to Mirko Borach it has turned into a duo piece. Mirko just sent me this bass line he’d come up with. And it’s great! It Further embellishes this constant flow of melodic lines, typical for a Zapateado, but with some of Mirko’s roots in funk, fusion and blues. I added a little jazz shuffle drum to it and some typical flamenco percussion and hand clapping. Do check Mirko’s fine bass playing out here: @stringburner

I always appreciate your comments and interest in my music and hope you like this one!

Guitar and music by Daniël van den Berg, DanArchX, May 2015, arrangement March 2020
Guitar: Paulino Bernabe, Taller de Guitarras, Modelo-50, 2001
Bass: Mirko Borach, March 2020
Drum samples using edited and arranged Amplitube and Flamenco Loops

Zapateado | Dan van den Berg & Mirko Borach

It was about five years ago that I recorded this solo flamenco guitar piece, in a festive and fiery style called Bulerias. Both a challenge and fun to play. Much to my surprise Mirko Borach has come up with a fretless bass addition now, with his signature sound and style, using both the source material and adding some of his funk and fusion sounds. Really cool! Please do check it out and don’t forget to also head over to his profile here on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/stringburner

Hope you’ll enjoy the music and as always I appreciate and enjoy your likes, comments and shares!

-Dan

Guitar, hand clapping, percussion and music by Dan van den Berg, based on the basic flamenco palo of Bulerias.
Guitar: Marín, Modelo Estudio /9 Calidad, 1997, Malaga, Spain, flamenco guitar
Fretless Bass: Mirko Borach
Drum sample used from Sampletank, Flamenco loops
Mixed and mastered using Auria and Finaltouch for iPad
September 24, 2015 - April 4, 2020

Bulerias | Dan van den Berg & Mirko Borach

THE NEW ALBUM OF MY BAND THE HYPERSONIC FACTOR  CALLED BELEVOLENT BEASTS IS OUT NOW!  AVAILABLE ON ALL STREAMING SERVICES!
featuring:
Jason Rubenstein - Keyboards, Piano, compositions, arrangements and producer
Mirko Borach - Bass and compositions
Tom Hipskind - Drums
Dan van den Berg - Electric and Acoustic guitars, compositions, arrangements, synthesizers
https://thehypersonicfactor.bandcamp.com/album/benevolent-beasts



Check my SOLO Album here! https://danielvandenberg.bandcamp.com/album/short-tales-for-three-guitars

This site is for my musical avatar or alter ego. Architect/partner/company owner by day, I find myself playing guitar and writing these tracks in afterhours, at nights, evenings, when in need of a dose of guitar sounds. You will find a wide range of guitar oriented music, ranging from Jazz to Blues, Flamenco to Classical, Rock to Fusion. And many collaborations with some great musicians.

I have been playing guitar since I was 11 years old, largely self-taught and have tried different styles and instruments: Renaissance lute, flamenco guitar, classical guitar, steel string guitar and electric guitar with which I have been playing in styles ranging from rock and metal in my early years to classical music, some American Folk music, jazz rock, prog rock, flamenco nuevo and fusion.

It’s been a splendid time here so far, in collaborating with a lot of brilliant musicians on SoundCloud and sharing ideas and the passion for music. 
My collaborations are with musicians that I have a deep respect for and have a mutual appreciation for real instruments, and musical styles that focus on letting the instruments “shine”. 

Here is some technical data:
Currently I am using Amplitube and Auria on an iPad as DAW with Final Touch for mastering. For acoustic recording I use an Apogee microphone.

Guitars are:
Fender AMERICAN ELITE STRATOCASTER® HSS SHAWBUCKER, 2016
Fender Stratocaster Squire (first edition: JV-series)
Ibanez JS100, Joe Satriani model
Evh Frankie Striped MN Relic R/W/B

EVH 5150 Series Standard Stealth Black EB guitar
Fender American Professional II Stratocaster HSS Olympic White RW
Charvel Pro-Mod DK24 HSH 2PT CM Mahogany Natural
Paulino Bernabe, Taller de Guitarras, Model-50, 2001, classical concert guitar
Marín, Modelo Estudio /9 Calidad, 1997, Malaga, Spain, flamenco guitar
Joan Cashimira, modelo 145, spruce top w/ cocobolo sides and back, Gata de Gorgos (Alicante), 2015

I hope you will enjoy my music.

Daniël van den Berg
DanArchX