This track is part of my ongoing "Clutha Project" - music inspired by my childhood memories of the River Clyde and its surrounding countryside as well as the changes wrought over time to the communities set in this region. It is an elegy for the passing of the numerous wooden piers that once serviced the extensive and highly popular Clyde steamer routes and the various ferries that took hundreds of folk (and sometimes their cars) back and forth across the Clyde.

Boats and shipping of all sorts  have been the lifeblood of the River Clyde throughout the centuries.

The era of the Clyde steamer began in August 1812 with the very first successful commercial steamboat service in Europe, 
when Henry Bell's Comet began a passenger service on the River Clyde between Glasgow and Greenock.

By 1900 there were over three hundred Clyde steamers operating, and the industry was still in full swing by the early 1960s. Then, competition from new forms of holiday travel brought the era almost to a close, but the Paddle Steamer "Waverley" still continues to provide excursions as the last of her kind on the Clyde.

Ferry crossing points on the Clyde, such as Erskine Ferry, were made redundant by the construction of modern bridges. 

The jobs that these services once provided also became redundant, and their employees faded into obscurity as did their ships and ferries.

Most of the wooden piers that serviced this once bustling trade now lie derelict and unloved. Their memories linger on in forgotten holiday-snap albums, specialist history books tucked away in local libraries, and in the hearts of the small bands of enthusiasts who work to save what is left.

In dusty corners of Britain's antiques emporiums, lie cheap pottery pieces bearing the names of these places - trinkets brought home years ago as souvenirs of a brief holiday away from the dull routines of town-dwelling and factory-working.

There's a video to go with this soundtrack at https://youtu.be/OkBOZSx91pc if you fancy a peek back in time.

Cover image - Sunset from Craigendoran by Colin MILNE (@argyll66)

This track was composed using only 8DIO Soundpaint instruments, which was part of the challenge I set myself in making this.

End of the Pier

End Of The Pier (Clutha Project)

There Is A Better Place

Crow Hill Composing Challenge using Pocket Strings

Pocket of Infinity_Alistair McGrann_LHZ Collective

Track made exclusively with Crowhill company's Pocket Strings Library as per the challenge. 

No additional effects or plugin used
Made in a *very* short time ;D and had a lot of fun doing so! First go at a 'scary' vibe.

Pocket String is an affordable, very well built little jewel. It is highly customizable, from cinematic sound to gritty sound design.

Daemonic Whispers

Daemonic Whispers - Crow Hill Company's Pocket Strings Composing Challenge

For the Crowhill composer challenge July 25. Using only their pocket strings plugin.

Time's Up! - Crow Hill Composer Challenge - July 2025

PocketStrings.Challenge.Crowhill.by.David.O.White.07,06.2025 - 01 Start(2)

Challenge - to compose a track using only the Crow Hill Pocket Strings library, one day turnaround.  Library has amazing shorts and pizz, sweeping longs, and a really intuitive GUI which allows you to blend as needed great string samples, and also two vintage string synths, with in-library effects.  Chose this genre to make something different to my usual style in the spirit of a challenge, but also make the best of those cracking pizz and shorts and see if I could use them as a creative stand-in for brass stabs and punchy bass.  Really brilliant library at the price point, I had lots of fun!  Thanks for listening!

Rachel Howie Pocket Strings Challenge Soundcloud

https://youtu.be/c--TU69LxkU

Made entirely from stringed instruments, using the updated Crow Hill Company Glass Strings, this is one of the most vulnerable pieces I’ve put together.

It’s for moments when words fall short. Music to sit with when you feel quiet, overwhelmed, or just need space. Like the mirror it’s named after, it reflects something back - stillness, sadness, or whatever’s been waiting to surface.

I wanted each note to feel like it was disappearing into the distance. Like how a mirror creates a sense of space - not actual space, but reflected space. That illusion, that gentle stretching of reality, is what this track leans into.

I hope you enjoy it!

The Looking Glass

Original song by Nick Drake

Lyrics:

When I was young, younger than before
I never saw the truth hanging from the door
And now I’m older see it face to face
And now I’m older gotta get up, clean the place

And I was green, greener than the hill
Where flowers grew and sun shone still
Now I’m darker than the deepest sea
Just hand me down, give me a place to be

And I was strong, strong in the sun
I thought I’d see when day was done
Now I’m weaker than the palest blue
Oh, so weak in this need for you

Place to Be (live acoustic cover, orig. song by Nick Drake)

Tom's piano melodies are so inspirational, not just to me (Mark) but also to Jussi, Georg and Boon. The energy of this piece carried us all off on a wonderful journey. We hope you enjoy the joyful enthusiasm that Tom initiated. Tom also gave me the key line, 'My Way Through' and I had to run with it as it made so much sense with this uplifting and hopeful music. Thanks for listening.

Tom Regnier -  @tom-r-gnier Music composition, piano and other instrumentation
Jussi Welin - @juswel First guitar and guitar arrangement
Georg Boehme - @georg-boehme Horns and horn arrangement
Boon Suzuki - @boon-suzuki Final guitar and guitar arrangement
Mark Bennett - Vocals and lyrics

Wherever you’re bound you know I’ll, 
Make my way through 
Sure may take a little while
 But I’ll make my way through

Wherever I’m bound I know I’ll,
 Make my way through
 It may take a longer while 
Till I make my way through

Wherever you’re bound,
…You’re bound
I know that I’m bound, yeah!

When I get there you know I’ll
Make my way through
Sure may need a broader smile
But I’ll make my way through.

My Way Through - Tom Régnier & Friends

Here's track 7 from the album "Congeries," featuring Marty Lucas on piano. 
Mixed and mastered by Jon Huxtable.

Lyrics:
Whispers 
The wind on the plains 
Restless 
The eternal remains 

They all will rise up at the omen 
Snow-covered kings, yearly frozen 
Sprung from the hills like new children 

From the stone-laden tombs long forgotten 
Clad in a cold fallen cotton, 
They’ll emerge to the fields that they fought in

Congeries

Whispers with Marty Lucas

This is my latest spill-over page for newer stuff. The older material is at @enlimila and @enlimila-plus

Thanks for looking. :-)

 SoundCloud
 hearthis.at/4YJwNLhy/
 metapop.com/enlimila

End Of The Pier (Clutha Project)

enlimila++