A Thunderous Awakening is a stand alone piece where I turned around the placement of the instruments. I normally like to place the double bass and cello at the bottom of the track. In this piece I flipped my own script. The violin and viola provides the base tracks in this piece. The double bass is the main feature and the cello provides the ambient sounds. The timpani is included, creating a thunderous or higher energy which moves the piece forward. 

Thunderous Awakening have now featured on the Top 40 Re-ex Underground Charts on: 

24/12/2021 #27
25/12/2021 #30
26/12/2021 #26
27/12/2021 #28
28/12/2021 #28
29/12/2021 #31
30/12/2021 #30

The piece also featured on the Top 100 Classical Hits on Hypeddit on: 

28/12/2021 #37
29/12/2021 #27
30/12/2021 #27
31/12/2021 #23
01/01/2022 #29
02/01/2022 #53

Enjoy the music and remember, there is more music coming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IegI9Jax6dU

Thunderous Awakening

Free Download

Break Through was definitely influenced by the work of Hans Zimmer and Ludovico Einaudi. Yes, I wanted to make something big and I wanted each sound to have substance, to take the listener on an emotional journey of discovery. This meant working outside of my comfort zone again. 8 sound files later and here is the final product. The piece features: 

Violin
Double Bass
String Ensemble playing tremolo
x5 Synth files which includes a boom, kick, pulse warp, dusky sweep and a metalink

You will hear forward motion in the music with a sense of arrival and resolution. 
Enjoy where the music takes you and remember "there is always more music coming".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXTHIIIXkho

Break Through

More Powerful Thank You Can Possibly Imagine - came into existence through long periods of listening, practice and improvisation. Again, this piece is not accompanied by a music score. After 3 days of recording, listening, re-listening, mixing and mastering, and re-recording the piece is finally available. This piece is most definitely influenced by the work of composer Nikita Koshkin, especially his works created for guitar. 

The piece features the nylon string guitar and harp. You will hear a beat in the background with the guitar in the foreground. The title of the piece was of course Star Wars inspired. Enjoy the music.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82jWAo6QhbA

More Powerful Than You Could Possibly Imagaine

More Powerful Than You Can Possibly Imagine

"Allons Y" is French for the term "let go". This piece feels rather poetic with an emotional aesthetic to it. I've never been a fan of the violin but in this track the violin serves a specific purpose. The instrument gives a sense of being stretched and faded at the end of each sound produced by the violin. A sense of letting go can be felt throughout the entire piece which echo in the melody.  Reverb was used to create the overall texture in the piece. The intention was to create a sense of flight and moving on from the past. Looking forward and up, not down. This is exactly why I love using Ableton Live, I can manipulate the sounds to the extent needed to produce emotional trails and connections.  

The piece features two cellos, two double bass, viola and violin. The violin is at the foreground and the lydian mode was used to create the harmonies. Enjoy the music and keep an eye out for more music coming. Cheers Sean

Allons Y (Let Go)

Sunset Over Yzterfontein is the 3rd piano piece in a new cycle and series of work. It is hard work becoming who you were meant to be. It is also hard work to let go of that which does not serve us anymore. In saying this, Yoda in Star Wars says it well "Do or Do Not, there is no try". Live, you only have one life and do what creates happiness in your life. Don't try, just do and remember who you are, where you come from because it shapes you as a person. Take control of your life and allow the universe (or your higher power) to show you the way. Yzterfontein was definitely one of my happy places in South Africa. It was the place where life was easy, simple and beautiful. Nostalgic if you may... 

Enjoy the music and keep an eye out for more to come!

Reflections From Home

Sunset Over Yzterfontein

Ocean Rain In Yzterfontein is the 4th piece in a series of piano works which takes the listener to Yzterfontein which is on the west coast of South Africa. I remember the rain on the west coast being peaceful offering a sense of contentment for the soul. I remember the sound of ocean waves crashing on the shore, becoming one with the rain. I remember the happiness and the simplicity of life. Enjoy the music and keep an ear out for more music coming...

Ocean Rain In Yzterfontein

Last Goodbye is the last piece of the piano series which looks at Yzterfontein, located on the west coast of South Africa. Yzterfontein is the place which holds my happiest memories of my youth. South Africa holds mixed emotions for so many people who left the country. It is the same for me, in this instance, it was a wonderful experience to put this collection of work together. Enjoy the music and keep an eye out for the last outstanding piece of this collection. 

Remember, "there is always more music coming"
Cheers 
Sean

Last Goodbye

Rogue Illusions is the last in the series of piano music. The piece reflects on a personal experience on the west coast of South Africa which I can't recall. My brain has blocked or hidden the experience in a place which I can't access. Although, emotionally, I have a sense of discomfort and raw unshaped language. My mother can give an exact account of what happened to me. The piece instinctively looks at the dissonance and disconnected responses of my brain and body. 

Now that the collection of work is complete, the full set of music will be promoted internationally and in Australia. The music has done well on Repostexchange where it has been on the "Best Of The Rest Top 40" charts consistently for weeks on end. I am proud of the work and I would love to hear the work played by professional pianists on of course grand piano. 

Thank you to everyone who is listening and coming back to my work. It gives me such a sense of purpose, knowing that my work is being heard. 
Remember, "there is always more music coming"

Rogue Illusions

"Walk" follows on from "360 Degrees Of Nowhere". This piece is quite unique because of how it was made and the fact that it is all sound design. Essentially it is a fusion of African Drums, acoustic and electronic sampling. To make the piece work, I referred to the template I used in "360 Degrees Of Nowhere". I stripped back the Ableton file to the bare essentials. It means I kept the percussive components of the work and then added layer after layer (all samples). This piece feels like the percussion work I've been wanting to make. It has an experimental feel about it and it works. For some reason the combination of sounds came together quite nicely.

The soundscape is an illustration of walking through the South African Karoo. As I've indicated before, the landscape is vast with many unearthed secrets and places. The rhythm illustrates a heart beating with the binary movement we create when walking or hiking. One foot in front of the other, it is the same when we run. So, imagine what your body would feel like when you walk or run in the South African Karoo in the heat of the day with the sun beating down you, sweat dripping onto your shoes and your shirt clinging to your back. Nothing else matters, it is just you and the elements of nature.  The music video is available on Youtube -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvwhIVVQnrY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHHomn6zIXU

Enjoy the sounds and remember "there is always more music coming". I don't know what the next piece will be but I know it will follow on from this work. The collection is far from finished.

Untouched

Walk

"Coming Home" is the next piece in the collection of work looking at the South African Karoo. The piece is unique on its own because of its structure and the themes built into the harmonic progression. 

Building the music took me back to a piece of composer Nikita Koshkin "La Grande Parade Du Cirque" which is part of a suite of 6 pieces. This piece was written in A Major and uses tremolo in the last 11 bars. There is a subtle movement between A and E in the base notes which I played around with to create a pattern of my own. "Coming Home" uses B major instead and takes the listener to a different "plane". 

I've been wanting to play the guitar again but due to old injuries it is taking longer for me to sit back down with the instrument. This means I am currently relying on my midi player to make the music and as a result is always a major challenge to record the guitar sound files. It is taking multiple recordings to get the patterns and progression just right. The process as we know doesn't begin and end with the recording of the guitar. After this the mixing and mastering becomes rather tricky especially when you include a tuba with two guitars. 

The themes in this piece has a strong emotional component to it. The ones that stand out for me is the promise of coming back and not breaking such a heavy weighted promise. The other is this sense of resolve and an inherent knowing where you belong. Out in the wild where nothing can be tamed, not even the human heart. Other influences are the thematic approaches of Ludovico Einaudi  especially the forward motion of the rhythm and pushes the music to the end. 

Enjoy the music and as I always say, "there is always more coming..."

Coming Home

This second version of "More Powerful Than You Could Possibly Imagine" contains alternative percussion and the main melody remains the same. I wanted to play around with the piece and see what else I could add into the track. 

Enjoy the music and remember "there is always more music coming!"

More Powerful Than You Could Imagine Variation 1

More Power Than You Could Possibly Imagine Variation 1

"Endless" wasn't directly influenced by many major artists. In saying that, I've been listening to Ludovico Einaudi and some of my favourite South African artists, especially Juanita du Plessis. The piano music of Einaudi is always a joy to listen to and to hear how he works with the piano and other instruments are unique. "Endless" uses a minimalist approach to show the endless loop of sound, even the endless loop of emotions.   

"Endless" is another stand alone piece which will eventually be released to Spotify. Enjoy the music and as I always say "there is always more music coming".

Endless

“Onder Papegaaiberg” is pure piano. The piece looks at the town Onder Papegaaiberg, located in Stellenbosch, in the Western Cape of South Africa. The town is part of the Cape Winelands District. It is one of many places we lived when I was a kid.  Thinking of the stories my parents told me of those years bring warm and happy feelings to my mind.  The music offers a happy and peaceful aesthetic. The piece consists of three piano sound files and the A major scale/mode was used to create it. 

Enjoy and remember, there is always more music coming!

Onder Papegaaiberg

"Broken Strings" follows on from the last piece "End Of The Journey". The piece is another variation of the same song I wrote in the early 1990's. The main melody features in the piece and variations of the melody have been included in this recording. The title of this track refers to the chorus which sings "elke snaar van my kitaar het ek vir jou gebreek" (I broke every string of my guitar for you).  

The original song will be recorded and made available later on this year. Enjoy the piano and remember, "there is always more music coming!".

Broken Strings

"Rise" is an intense track which was designed using multiple samples, including beats, kick drums and other samples to give an illusion of the universe. The piece is predominantly percussive with only one cello included to create a vibrational effect. There is a bit of grain in the track which is an unintentional addition to the overall sound. 

The piece showcases how I work, design or build music. This track looks like it will be another template which will be used for more work. 

Enjoy the sounds and remember "there is always more music coming!"

Rise

"Shutout" is a pure electronic track with more of a focus on design instead of a tune. The track features multiple sound files, a majority of which contains various beats. The piece was made out of pure necessity and something different had to come together. The track feels like a complete shutout from everything, including all the noise. House music fans and drum & bass music fans will like this one. Enjoy and remember, "there is always more music coming!"

Shutout

"Secrets Of Another Life" is an introduction to a new project which looks at Cape Town's most iconic towns & beaches - Muizenberg. I was lucky to have a wonderful view of the ocean in Muizenberg growing up in South Africa. The piece features the piano which modulates from D Minor to D major and percussion. It is a short piece which introduces elements and sounds unique to the region and cultures. 

Enjoy the music and remember "there is always more music coming!"

Secrets of Another Life

Secrets Of Another Life

"Atlantic Road" features the piano, guitar, timpani and sampling. The track looks back in time when I was still a young child. We spent a lot of time in Muizenberg during school holidays visiting with family. My grandfather always went walking with us and would buy us ice-cream on Atlantic Road. I remember the wind blowing up against you as you walked along the streets and the happiness of those times. Life was simple and uncomplicated. My grandfather somehow showed me the joy in the simple things, being with family, going for slow walks and eating ice-cream along the way. 

There is a lot of nostalgia attached to this piece and rightly so. The Muizenberg Project will paint some amazing pictures of life along the south coast of South Africa. It was and still is a beautiful place. 

Enjoy the music and remember, there is "always more music coming!"

The Muizenberg Project

Atlantic Road

An awesome collaboration with DarkHigh. It is nice to hear the music come together. DarkHigh did a great job! Enjoy the music and feel free to have a listen to the original recording here on my profile. 
The piece also featured on the SoundCloud Hot & New Playlists in 2023. The accompanying piece is "End Of The Journey".

Broken Strings Remix

Broken Strings Remix Sean Botha Ft. DarkHigh

"Winter Rain" is reminiscent of the winter months in Muizenberg which is on the south coast of South Africa. The rain is synonymous with winter in this region and was always accompanied with wind howling by the windows of my grandparents’ home, especially at night time. 

The piece has 4 piano files, two of these files gives a percussive effect and forward motion. The forward motion represents the ocean. The other piano file represents the main melody and movement of the rain which feels like an ocean wave in itself but inviting. The last piano file and the cello represents the light piercing through the rain but also the way in which the rain becomes an accompaniment against your skin when you least expected it. The double bass gives a deep resonance as the piece builds and contributes to the movement of the ocean waves as it crashes on the shore. 

The weather in Muizenberg can be rather unpredictable, it means you could be walking along and it would just suddenly start to rain. The rain always had a fleeting and soft feel against your skin, almost inviting. At night time when you lie in bed you couldn’t always discern the rain from the ocean, it was so soft and heartwarming at times. I remember, I would be lying awake at night or in the morning trying to tell the rain apart from the ocean. 

Enjoy the music and remember, "there is always more music coming!"

Winter Rain

"At The Foot Of Table Mountain" brings a combination of ideas together which took more than 20+ different recordings to finally work. The piece combines the piano, trombone, hand clapping samples and other percussive sounds. The hand clapping, trombone and tambourine represents the multiracial ethnic people and their improvisational music talents. 

The percussion instruments and samples were taken from the piece "Le Geste" which was made in 2022. I basically stripped back the template of the piece, kept the percussive elements and then added the harmonic and brass instruments. It is interesting to hear how the heavier sounds blend with the light colours from the piano. 

Enjoy the music and remember, "there is always more music coming!"

AT The Foot Of Table Mountain

At The Foot Of Table Mountain

"Light" is the first piece of 2024 and the 5th piece of "The Muizenberg Project". The project is looking at the South Coast of South Africa and brings the colours, energy and life into a musical existence. The piece features the cello, marimba, violin and timpani. The is meant to have a light quality, with two cellos talking to each other while the marimba moves the piece forward. 

I was playing around with the fourth interval and it eventually created quite a unique texture and nostalgic feel. The title of the piece does not directly reference sunrises or sunsets, instead the title refers the a light and joyful emotional feeling. The music happens to showcase a time during South African history of the 1980's which included happiness, innocence and new life. This probably only because I grew up in the 80's and my memories of Muizenberg are happy. 

Enjoy the music and remember "there is always more music coming!"

Light

"Rolling Clouds Over Table Mountain" quite literally looks at the clouds rolling over the top of the mountains on the south coast of South Africa. The clouds over Table Mountain is absolutely stunning, it doesn't really matter what the weather does on the South Coast. The landscape leaves you breathless even on the rainy days. If this piece leaves you breathless, then the first intention of the music was achieved. 

I wanted to work with the percussive ideas in the previous piece. The track was stripped back and instead of using strings I included the trombone, trumpet with extra percussive samples. The double bass was included but it offers a deep guttural feel to the track. Two trombone files were created with one trumpet. I used reverb and the saturator to move the sounds forward and to make it feel stretched. 

The piano in combination with the percussive sound files offer quite a unique blend of sonic qualities which is augmented by the trombone and trumpet. The end of the piece is meant to leave the listener hanging and wanting more. If you feel like this by the end of the piece, great!

Enjoy the music and remember "there is always more music coming!"

Rolling Clouds Over Table Mountain

"Climb" combines running, hiking and mountain climbing into one piece of music. The piece features multiple piano files and percussive sampling. 

The combination of steady running, hiking & climbing brings together the consistent effort we see in athletic pursuits. My father being the athlete in the family when I was very young, instilled the process of training and exercise until you reach your goal. I saw this not only in his pursuit for the truth but also in his passion and love for running mulitple marathons, including the Two Oceans, Comrades & Washie (100miles) in South Africa. It was special to see the runners coming through the streets of Muizenberg and it livened up the region year after year. 

The repetition you hear in the piece mimics a steady pace and uses minimalist approaches to move the music forward.  Even though I struggled with heights and change as a child, I loved getting  out into nature and I needed it more as I became older. In a way the piece is a reflection of the steady pace I've needed in my own life as a music composer, writer and researcher. The piece is titled "Climb" to encompass grit, determination, steadiness, change, resilience and motion. 

Enjoy the music and remember, "there is always more music coming!"

Climb

"Full Moon" is the next piece in "The Muizenberg Project" collection of music. The piece features the piano with a rhythmic element which helps to move the music forward. The piece looks at night time along the south coast of the Cape Province. The idea behind the piece was to create a mystical atmosphere mixed with anticipation. The piece creates a sense of uncertainty but at the same time showcases night time and the effects of the full moon on the ocean tide. 

Enjoy the music and remember "there is always more music coming!"

Full Moon

Brand new music is finally here, after taking some time away from recording. The piece features the Buzzheng and 9 different sound samples. The track looks at the universe and has an overall ethereal feel to it. The piece was fun to make and is a wonderful distraction away from the work I've been making. Enjoy the music and remember, "there is always more music coming!"

Feel free to find me at the links on my profile. 

Shadows Of The Sun

"Rise As Fire" is one of the first pieces I made which fuses strings, samples and other electronic instruments together into one piece. The piece was originally released in 2020 and initially promoted in 2021. Since then the music was released on Spotify @ Sean Botha. The track was created around the same time than "Rivers of your eyes" and has a similar emotional feel to it with an overall uplifting feeling. 

The track is remastered and includes new samples and electronic instruments.  The piece features the double bass and a wonderful beat with tambourine. Enjoy the music and remember, "there is always more music coming!"

Rise As Fire

Rise As Fire - Remastered

"In Tandem" is a new project which deconstructs this first piece which contains 10 piano files and two synth sound files. The project uses simple intervals which creates landscapes with a focus on resolve. C Major key signature was used and reminds me of the work of Steve Reich. It is fun deconstructing the original track and the rest of the pieces are coming together quite nicely. 

The first piece is busy, with many small melody lines, it means there are many sounds the listener can isolate to practice their deep listening and analytical skills. Enjoy the music.

In Tandem I

"In Tandem II" is stripped back to only 5 piano sound files. No extra piano was recorded for this piece. Play "In Tandem I" and at the 1 minute mark, start playing "In Tandem II" in unison with the first track. It makes for a very interesting sound experience. Imagine you are singing in song in a round, this is what you are doing with these two pieces. The music is much fuller. Many people may wonder what is the purpose of the second piece. The idea is to break down the original piece and that is exactly what happened. The piano sounds were cut in half which leaves the listener with a minimalist piece where you can predict what is coming. No, this is not an academic exercise. It is actually a lot of fun doing this, it shows me how every piece of music is linked together. Everything is connected.

In Tandem

In Tandem II

Rise As Fire has hit the Underground Top 40's on Repostexchange for 7 days in a row between the 18th of October 2021 - 24th of October 2021. The track has made it back on the Top 40's again on the 27th of October @ #33 for another 3 days! 

Official Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUxyHrQLa50
Live IG - https://www.instagram.com/tv/CVmsRyUp8F9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link 

The track features the double bass in combination with other electronic synth sounds. The track is another fusion of strings and electronic features that help push the movement of sound into new spaces. As I always say, there is more music to come... Enjoy! Cheers Sean

Sean Botha builds music and has a deep love for the arts, music, sound and all forms of storytelling. He builds music and sound experiences for his listeners through improvisation and profound in-depth listening. Each piece is a fusion of different styles which means there is something for everyone. The music Sean creates is Immersive & Contemporary and ultimately an experience for the listener. Enjoy the music and as he always says, "there is always more music coming"...

HSBothaMusic

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