Stein Thor

My mind is full of thoughts, my heart is full of music,,,,,    these days I seem to be able to write music when I want (not all masterpieces though :) )... .it´s such a nice thing although I feel like a painter without a canvas, a singer without an audience, a lover without a love, need to be able to use this music somewhere.    I´m working with my orchestral samples again finally, something I wanted to do for so long but haven´t had the time.   Going to do a couple of collabs next,,  first one will be with my SC buddy Dirk Masssen....      Life is not bad,  got a few good things going these days,  especially musically.....   hope you can drop by my new homepage steinmusica.com

Thoughts  (www.steinmusica.com)

Dancers fascinate me,,, they are so beautiful and elegant,,,,, this is a song without a dancer,,,  it´s dedicated to the dancers training alone in dark spaces, without music,,,,  so beautiful and sad at the same time.

Lonely Dancer

I looked outside my window and saw this red full moon tonight,, so I felt something in my heart that I decided to put into music,,, so I just played this song....   so in a way it´s inspired by a full moon :)....

Sorry that I´m song spamming tonight,, but these things just come in waves....   and I kind of like this one.   Hope you do too.....

My Hearts Nocturne

Each day that passes is one day less,,,,,  can´t get more depressing than that !!! :),,,,,,

Playing a lot of funerals can not be the best thing in the world for someone thinking about all the years that are passing,  all these years that do not bring the conquests one hopes for..   musically,,,  but hey,, I could be doing much worse cause I´m one of the fortunate ones that are getting paid for playing music.

Thank you all for your comments and support, I read them all although I´m not always quick to respond.  Currently I´m kind of considering quitting soundcloud, it has so many good aspects but often I think this is a waste of time. Love doing these improvs though, and love seeing your feedback.  

Happy summer :)

Each Day Is A Swing Of Life´s Pendulum

A quiet improv,  sort of poem like,,,   just letting it flow...

it has very soft, quiet parts,  decided to keep the decibel difference although it will probably piss most of the listeners off,,,    I think this might be best in headphones....

A poem without words - a quiet meditation

video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A00k7vyiK2A

Moments is a about musical moments. I´ve wanted to do this for awhile,  just sit down and let it flow where I´m at at that moment. However I had decided to wait till I had better equipment. Getting tired of midi and vsti piano playing, so this is hopefully a good change.

However I got this minirecorder and decided to just try it out, record it in the box of the grandpiano where I work,  and strangely I liked the result.  So yesterday I took one hour and just played as an experiment, with a video from my cellular (will be posted later today).  And this is the result,  first of the moments.

If you have the time I would like to hear what you think of the audio,  is it enough for you,, it´s not the best but it has character, and I do listen to the recording while I play so I tend to play on the sound.  The grandpiano is not tuned well so that adds a new dimension also.

If this is a good thing I´m planning on doing 10 - 15 of these and then release it,,,,  maybe on cd,,,,   and video of each piece played on youtube.  So shoot away, if you don´t like it then I´d like to hear that also......


Moments 1 (with video)

Playing a lot of Bach these days,,  doing all of the Preludes and fugues for the organ. Discouraged by Soundcloud but like to keep in touch with you all who like to listen to my music. Hope you enjoy this morning improv.  and now I´m off to study some c -minor Preludes/Fantasies and fuges by the maestro.

Preludía í c - moll - Stein Thor

Hello my friends,,, not much to say,,,,     better to say nothing than say something bad... 

Still need to catch up on a few letters, sorry about that,, been real busy at work and just managed to make this little tune in my free time.  I´m so happy to see all the success my SC friends are having,,, now David Costa SCOD,,,,  love it man :)

Nucleo

I think there are different types of music, and music making....  there is the construction part,  there is manufacturing of music (not good in my opinion), then there is the intimate music,,, what I would call a gateway or window to a persons soul.  Often singers touch us with this,,, instumentalists, composers etc...   do this,,,  they pour their soul into the music,,,   I also think many electronic musicians do this,,,  however what we hear usually on the radio is manufacturing,,, "made in China" sort of thing.  Usually the singer does nothing except sing the song,,, the song itself is made in "visual basic",,, parts taken from here and there.   Thank God we still have indy scene,,, that´s where people really manage to do things wonderfully still,,,   and that´s the best thing about soundcloud in my opinion.

Well, back to the point,,,,  I get inspired by many things,,, very often by light and nature.  When I was coming home on my bike from work I had a sacred moment by the sea,,,   total calm and the birds where enjoying this wonderful day we got....   the picture is from that place...    So I had to do some music and this is what came out,,,  and it certainly feels like a gateway to my soul....     And now outside we have the northern lights :)

Is Music A Gateway To Ones Soul?

This one is hard to explain to non Icelanders,,,  I´ve been thinking a lot about the story of an old hermit here in Iceland called Gísli and he lived all his live in a isolated fjord without any modern comfort, no running water, no electricity no nothing.  There he spent most of his days and only on his deathbed did he travel away to a bigger town, to die, and there he probably experienced the most comfort he ever did experience,  in the hospital during his last days.

I just read a story written about his life,, a life full of disapointments, cause this man obviously was an artist. He tried to get close to arts when ever he could but times were tough and in the end he just accepted his fate and lived alone. What struck me was that during the tough winter months, without light, without heat, he just sat inside his house and waited for spring,  only to leave his house to take care of the sheep. During those dark days he though tried to enjoy his one luxury, a harmonium which a kind neighbour had taught him to play. So this hermit, without any luxury at all except coffee, enduring 5 months of winter each year used his spare time to play an instrument and write poems. 

This fact is mindblowing for me and makes me think of the shitheads here in Iceland, politicians that are talking down the arts. I don´t know....  

if you want to see a bit of how he lived, here is a video...   this video was shown in the icelandic TV when I was a kid and I still remember it,,,  had so much effect on me, and the whole nation.

around minute 30 is when he plays the organ...  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G160zBIsDLQ

a link to the facebookpage of the book

https://www.facebook.com/GisliAUppsolum

Anima sola - Gísli á Uppsölum 1907 - 1986

Working on some lullabyes,,,  this one is for Aurora (Northern lights, daughter of Danilo, my wife´s brother  

Good night my friends,,, please tell me if this lullaby works on your child :)

A Lullaby For Aurora

After a long week, many energy draining things,,, I manage to cook up this soft relaxation piece.... still in the lullaby spectrum.   Not my best work,,, but I like to keep up with the "one piece a week" goal.

Hope you are all having a wonderful winter my friends.

Mp - A Soft Whisper - Lullaby Nr. 3

Iceland
1944 - 2013  RIP

A nation that attacks and disrespects it´s artists is a dead nation

Cuore Triste

Breathe

Hope you enjoy this little respiro my friends, and thank you for all your feedback and comments,,, means the world to me.

Respiro

Back to my old self,,,  not a happy note to be found anywhere,,, the funny thing is that I don´t find my songs sad, they are just me searching around with my keyboard. But I´m of course always melancholic about something,,,,   this improv. came out of nowhere, am feeling quite fine,,,  lot of sentimental things going on,, lot of thinking, a real desire to change a lot in my life. 2013 I think was a bad year, I´m not very happy with anything this year, no real victories, no real anything to speak of that I can say,, "hey, I did this". Of course I should be happy though, and in many ways I am, but something is not right,  something did not happen this year that I hoped for. And in many ways I think these things are not going to happen, ever, and thats just the way things are.

The picture that goes with this song is special, just saw it on the internet, and probably triggered this moment, it´s my grandfather, one of my favourite persons in the whole world. Everyone says I look like him, and that makes me very happy. He died a few years back, think he was 93 or something, same age my grandmother (his wife) is today. Everyone on the picture is dead I think except the baby, my dear cousin (or nephew or smth, never learned these definitions in english, my moms brother). This picture is probably about 66 years old, so on this picture my grandpa is about my age today. And I have to say, we look almost exactly the same, and I love his clothes, need to get myself some suspenders and wool pants.

facebook page

A Nocturne,  A Soul Lost In The Dark  (27. Dec 2013) (found)

saturday morning music, so much to think about and do,,,  but instead I do this :)

it´s an imrov of sorts in passacaglia style, although just a touch of it,  same chords for six minutes,,, and isn´t our lifes usually the same much of the time. Blessed are the people that manage to live and revitalize all the time.

Birth to death - a waltz about life (19. jan 2013) (downloadable)(found)

Was playing around with Studio 1 from Presonus tonight,,, and this is the result...  hope you like it.  I´m starting to think I could do nothing except write music all day long, only problem is that it does not pay any bills :)....   

I tried analog delay from S1 on my piano sound and let that run the tempo,  played around with the echo effect,  and sometimes let the echo lead me on.  Then I did the string part, which took awhile since S1 has worse midi workings that Logic, and for classical nerds like myself it has no sheet music option.  Seeing the notes helps me when scoring piano improvs, I can see the harmony and read the lines.

So mixing and everything is done in Studio one (old version),  still waiting for Cubase 7 upgrade,,,,  moving away from logic, it´s not keeping up with times.  Apple seems to have given us musicians the finger.... 

Life´s little echoes

Had a lot of emotions of late,,, good ones mostly,,,   still revamping my mind,, trying to find my zen, still far away but some progress.  My heads not too clear, full of ideas but time is quite full of work, odd jobs and stuff I need to do.  Need to find a mountain somewhere and climb it, maybe just stay up there.

This piece here is not letting me alone,, it swims around in my head,,,,   this is the version I´m going to work with,, still 70% improvised, but I probably will write it up on sheet and record it.   The first part is conflicting F- major with f-minor in the melody,,, the second part changes hands,, so the f- minor becomes the harmony under.... then it goes into major of sorts in the end,, so ends in harmony without dissonance....

We all seek harmony and a world without fractures,,, but it´s hard to find,,,  and to be honest,,  music would be so boring without dissonance,,, most of the pop music is today without any dissonance,,,  hence it dumbs the mind,,, quite mindblowing stuff.....    I know the conflict A Ab is going to disturb some of you,,, sorry about that :)   

Dissonance in life´s perfect harmony

Last day, tomorrow I go home, but it was a really nice day. Been living in the past, finding my childhoods favorite places, and spending some time with my 92 years old grandmother. Went with her to my grandfathers grave and then I came back to the farm. Been sunny but windy, really nice, and I´m starting to feel at home. I really should just stay here :).

When I came inside I decided to check on my inspiration and this song came out, fully functional and I think the best one in the series, maybe one of my best songs, when I listen to it I think, yes, this is the song I was supposed to write here.

The picture now is of the house where I´m staying,,,   such a lovely place and I find that I have a really easy time staying alone, way too easy....   should just find a mountain somewhere.....

Maybe this is the last song of this session,  if so I thank you for following,,, for me this has been really nice.  I´ll see if the midnight sun gives me one more song.

Tjörnes session - 5. Memories

I like to work in sets, sorry for that,,,  when I have time and energy to write songs they do come out pretty fast.  This one is a response to the one I did this morning, I like this one much more....

Good night my friends ..... sleep tight,, (here in Iceland it´s about 23:30 and full light outside)

Stein Thor

MarkyB12