Thoughtful, and solemn work. Nicely done.

As always, I'm thoroughly amazed by your process - and your results.

exotic and exiting soundscape..wish it was longer..:)

Lovely Ambient textures bud! Short but powerful! Love the darkness in your work!

Inspiration, brilliant methodology and great result! :)

Hi Michael, what a great way to compose a piece in an unfamiliar mode! Really enjoyed the musical progression you found here..

Great sounds in this, love the atmosphere!

(Sharbaugh)
Michael Ash Sharbaugh [ https://soundcloud.com/michael-ash-sharbaugh ]: synthesizers, percussion, and 'found sounds'
Composed and Recorded January 25 to 27, 2014.
sm3 [LANDR].

Humanizing this piece was of the utmost importance. Throughout its composition, I could not keep Bassel Safadi [ باسل صفادي ] out of my head: his plight, his privation, his predicament. I viewed the video as requested, but it ‘went in one eye and out the other’; Mr. Bassel was my prime concern.

Having never composed Syrian or Syrian-type music, I familiarized myself with Syrian music scales as approximated to Western scales. Multifid are the Syrian scales I discovered, so I settled upon one that felt aesthetically comfortable: C – Eb – E – F – Ab – (C).

Further unsure of my handle on these Syrian scales, I secured (paid for and downloaded) an improvisation based on the most ancient tablets containing Syrian music transcriptions—pianist Malek Jandali’s “Echoes from Ugarit.” Without listening to Jandali’s part, I imported the introduction to this piece into my DAW, pitch-shifted it down a whole-tone (from D to C), expanded it to conform to 123 BPM, and improvised to it myself using the musical scale outlined in the paragraph above. I recorded my improvisation. It took about sixteen takes.

I then removed (muted) Jandali’s recording and added ‘contrapuntal’ tracks—bass, bell, and strings. The driving rhythm was provided by a sample of a bottle dropped onto a concrete sidewalk and almost broken—a sonic representation of what it might be like to be in Mr. Bassel’s place. The field recording of Syrian grasshoppers was added to highlight what I could imagine would be the despondency and loneliness of Mr. Bassel’s predicament.

More on this 108th Disquiet Junto project (“Create a soundscape for the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra.”) at:

http://disquiet.com/2014/01/23/disquiet0108-freebassel/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/?p=16588

Join the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

More on the campaign to free Bassel at:

http://freebassel.org/

For their collaboration on this project, special thanks to: Niki Korth, Barry Threw, and Jon Phillips.

Ballade of Bassel

Buy on iTunes ...

"Ballade of Bassel" [disquiet0108-freebassel]

POP | SPACEROCK | VAPORTRAP | TRIP-HOP
AMBIENT | EXPERIMENTAL

the PERSON, the SOUND : Since 1985, Philadelphia-born Michael has composed and released hundreds of audio recordings, and published dozens of [erotic] poems.

His 'sonic-sojourn' began suddenly when he was just a teen -- feet splashing rhythmically through puddles leftover by a seaside rainstorm. Having just parted ways with the then-love-of-his-life, Michael composed his first ballad [and first song] ever -- "Tina." He rushed to his beach-side home to record his visceral 'awakening' on a tiny micro-cassette recorder, and vowed -- from that day on -- to create art for the rest of his life.

He began zealously amassing used music equipment, and had built a modest home recording studio by age seventeen, all the while crafting simple pop, ambient, and experimental works that HE had wanted to listen to -- that HE had wanted to hear, affectionately emulating the works of his then-idols, Duran Duran and Brian Eno.

Now, decades later, he has relocated to a small village outside Atlanta, Georgia, and continues to voraciously attend to his dream as a young, heartbroken boy -- to create and release music that he, himself, wants to hear.

Although no longer sequestered to pop and ambient musics, Michael's signature sound has merged the two, having integrated the R&B, hiphop, and psychedelia he has grown to love as a older gent -- having absorbed the edgy rhythms and dreamy soul of the southern United States (Atlanta and Miami).

Michael still puts forth ample amounts af ambient musics, but his recent 'sound' hovers elsewhere -- somewhere amidst the genres of vaportrap, spacerock, and trip-hop.

-+-

the INFLUENCES : Duran Duran, The Weeknd, Blondie, Depeche Mode, Billy Idol + Steve Stevens, Stone Temple Pilots, Dead Can Dance, Siouxsie & The Banshees, This Mortal Coil, Air, Naked Eyes, Tears for Fears, Alice in Chains, John Barry, Leslie Bricusse, The Chameleons [UK], Brian Eno, The Cocteau Twins, ABBA, The Bee Gees, Claude Debussy, Frederick Chopin, Guillaume de Machaut, Early Music, Renaissance music, Baroque music, and Joe Meek.

- + -

#duranduran #theweeknd #blondie #depechemode #billyidol #stevestevens #deadcandance #siouxsieandthebanshees #air #tearsforfears #johnbarry #lesliebricusse #claudedebussy #mauriceravel #frederickchopin #eriksatie #brianeno #thecocteautwins #abba #beegees #joemeek #chameleons #octoberproject #patbenatar #haroldbudd #lindseybuckingham #nakedeyes #aha #ceefarrow #omd #thismortalcoil #stonetemplepilots #aliceinchains #baroque #renaissance #earlymusic #theweeknd #skeler

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