Self Discovery

"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

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)

Composed/ produced by @dan-cullen
Strings and solo cello arranged/ performed by Deryn Cullen

Youtube

Hypnos (composed by Dan Cullen; feat. Deryn Cullen)

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!

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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 -- Without Borders

Fivos Valachis has come up with a marvellous idea of collaborating with various artists to create an album to raise money for "Doctors without borders". Fivos supplied me with the original piano track of his tune "Color your life orange" & I added many layers of orchestral instruments. Because Fivos had already taken the piano duties in this piece, I opted for my second instrument, the guitar & basically played it as a duet with his lovely melody line.
Hopefully this tune will be inspirational & uplifting to all those that listen. Enjoy!

Color Your Life Orange- Fivos Valachis & Simon Reich

A soundscape between dream and transcendence.
“Ambient meets Spirit – Floating Realms” drifts through luminous dimensions of light, sound, and memory. Electronic textures merge with soft panflutes, Asian harmonies, and deep dark-techno sub energy. Every sonic wave feels like a breath — sometimes pulsing, sometimes floating, sometimes silent.

The album opens like a digital temple gate: orchestral strings unfold across ethereal pads before sub-bass currents rise and fill the space with infinite depth. Between mechanical rhythm and spiritual melody, a dialogue emerges — between human and machine, earth and data, body and soul.

“Floating Realms” is not music you listen to — it’s a state of being.
An audiovisual dream woven from code, emotion, and light.
Perfect for moments when you close your eyes and let yourself drift away.

Celestial Drift (Orchestral Dream Sequence)

Hi all - I produced this piece for the latest Piano Cloud challenge, which was to create a piano piece using an odd time signature.  I chose 5/4 timing.  It started out as a gentle piano arpeggio, but as I continued to work on the piece searching for ideas, it morphed in quite an unexpected direction towards a large orchestral ensemble.  I hope you enjoy this piece :)


Infinity

A track i wrote this morning - hope you enjoy listening :)

Photo by Cyra Morgan.

Wednesday

Seeds

Cellist, composer, procrastinator.
I work with my other half, @dan-cullen writing music for sync libraries, film, TV and for the consumption of those who love a bit of cello in the mix.

Hypnos (composed by Dan Cullen; feat. Deryn Cullen)

Deryn Cullen - Cellist