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YouTube: https://youtu.be/MPhnjyAkqGY?si=8JhwAG1X-rrJBkf6
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1dC5zv0avPvNQgIL2nRBig?si=K6FPz0WVRpCXniYuSXSyyw
Amazon: https://amazon.de/music/player/albums/B0DWKTCHH3?marketplaceId=A1PA6795UKMFR9&musicTerritory=DE&ref=dm_sh_W5XMtApJTcLDEB3OPk2VRoJpF
Apple: https://music.apple.com/de/album/sternenstaub/1795838394?i=1795838396
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Lyrik: (The English translation is below the German lyrics)

Durch die Weiten dieser Nacht
Schwebt ein Traum aus Sternenstaub
(Sternenstaub, ewiger Traum)
In mir wächst eine stille Macht
Die mich trägt, an die ich glaub
(die mich trägt, an die ich glaub)

Spür den Ruf der Ewigkeit
(Ewigkeit)
In den Tiefen meiner Seele
(tief in meiner Seele)

Ich bin aus Sternenstaub gemacht
Trage Licht in meinem Herzen
(Licht im Herzen)
Was die Seele still erdacht
Wird zur Kraft in allen Schmerzen
(wird zur Kraft)

Jeder Weg führt tief nach innen
Wo die wahre Freiheit wohnt
(wahre Freiheit)
Lass die alte Zeit verrinnen
Bis der neue Morgen lohnt
(neuer Morgen)

Zwischen Zeit und Ewigkeit
Schwingt die große Harmonie
(große Harmonie)
Was getrennt war, wird vereint
In der kosmischen Symphonie
(in Symphonie)

Wir sind aus Sternenstaub gemacht
Tragen Licht in unsren Herzen
(Licht der Herzen)
Was die Liebe neu erwacht
Heilt die Zeit von allen Schmerzen
(heilt die Zeit)

In der Stille dieser Nacht
Sind wir eins mit allen Sternen
(eins mit Sternen)
Sind aus gleichem Stoff gemacht
Um die Liebe neu zu lernen
(neu zu lernen)

English translation:
Through the vastness of this night
Floats a dream made of stardust
(stardust, eternal dream)
A silent power grows within me
That carries me, in which I believe
(that carries me, in which I believe)

Feel the call of eternity
(eternity)
In the depths of my soul
(deep in my soul)

I am made of stardust
I carry light in my heart
(light in the heart)
What the soul silently conceives
Becomes strength in all pain
(becomes strength)

Every path leads deep inside
Where true freedom dwells
(true freedom)
Let the old days fade away
Until the new morning is worth it
(new morning)

Between time and eternity
The great harmony vibrates
(great harmony)
What was separated will be reunited
In the cosmic symphony
(in symphony)

We are made of stardust
We carry light in our hearts
(light of hearts)
What reawakens love
Heals time of all pain
(heals time)

In the silence of this night
We are one with all the stars
(one with stars)
We are made of the same stuff
To learn to love anew
(to learn anew)

Sternenstaub

After I had seen the movie "Out Of Rosenheim" for the third time and had read a book about a number of well-known musicians writing songs about the historical road "Route 66", I came up with my story and Stytz composed this DEMO-track on the basis of my lyrics.
The "Road Of America"  still famous as "Motherroad". Bikers always loved it and love it to the present day telling thousands of stories and adventures referring to  this legend! 
We tried to capture the unique atmosphere and flair of this adventurous trip.
       
Intro: Mother, Mother, Mother Road............
          Mother, Mother , Mother Road 
          You´re a legend I was told
          Mother, Mother, Mother Road
          A million stories on about two thousand miles
Mother Road shows her spines in the heat of the day
Rock`em bikers til they sweat and sigh
C´mon, spread your wings and you ´ll fly
On the road with no bendings mile after mile
Passing by places of great movie times
Like” Bagdad Café” in "Out Of Rosenheim"
Or "Rain Man " at the” Big 8 Motel”
The “Goldrush” ,another story to tell
     Mother, Mother, Mother Road..........
Coffee and bagels at” Dixie Truckers Home”
Get the latest talk from the" Kings Of The Road"
Take a break to relax your mind and your soul
Listening to "Johnny" Cash and "Nat King Cole"
       Mother, Mother, Mother Road....................
"Bobby Troup" and his song of everlasting fame
All those great legends far too many to name
From East to West  , you´re free to take your picks
So ” Get Your Kicks On Route 66”

     Mother, Mother, Mother Road...........................

Outro:  ... a legend never dies...

Mother Road

Warm Wind Blowin'

same shit, different year.........another one of my favs from the great man.....cheers for having a listen


The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
WRITTEN BY: BOB DYLAN
 William Zanzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll
 With a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger
 At a Baltimore hotel society gath’rin’
 And t   he cops were called in and his weapon took from him
 As they rode him in custody down to the station
 And booked William Zanzinger for first-degree murder
 But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears
 Take the rag away from your face
 Now ain’t the time for your tears
 
 William Zanzinger, who at twenty-four years
 Owns a tobacco farm of six hundred acres
 With rich wealthy parents who provide and protect him
 And high office relations in the politics of Maryland
 Reacted to his deed with a shrug of his shoulders
 And swear words and sneering, and his tongue it was snarling
 In a matter of minutes on bail was out walking
 But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears
Take the rag away from your face 
 Now ain’t the time for your tears
 
 Hattie Carroll was a maid of the kitchen
 She was fifty-one years old and gave birth to ten children
 Who carried the dishes and took out the garbage
 And never sat once at the head of the table
 And didn’t even talk to the people at the table
 Who just cleaned up all the food from the table
 And emptied the ashtrays on a whole other level
 Got killed by a blow, lay slain by a cane
 That sailed through the air and came down through the room
 Doomed and determined to destroy all the gentle
 And she never done nothing to William Zanzinger
 But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears
 Take the rag away from your face
 Now ain’t the time for your tears
 
 In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel
 To show that all’s equal and that the courts are on the level
 And that the strings in the books ain’t pulled and persuaded
 And that even the nobles get properly handled
 Once that the cops have chased after and caught ’em
 And that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom
 Stared at the person who killed for no reason
 Who just happened to be feelin’ that way without warnin’
 And he spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished
 And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance
 William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence
 Oh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears
 Bury the rag deep in your face
 For now’s the time for your tears

The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll

My Method of Composing and Producing

I'm sharing my method of composing and producing music recordings in case other composer-producers like me might find ideas worth exploring in their own work. I use this method for Classical, Avant-Pop or Neo-Folk Instrumental genres, not for Ambient and Soundscape pieces. Non-composers might find this explanation interesting, but having a bit of music theory background will definitely help. I consider myself a humble learner when it comes to music theory. 

I owe a debt of gratitude to British musician and educator Gareth Green, whose Music Matters online courses and free YouTube lessons have taught me so much over the past few years. Thanks to his instruction, I’ve moved from struggling to compose music by trial and error to something more enjoyable and productive. The knowledge I've gained has taken my work in new and expanding directions. As the saying goes, “Theory is not a cage — it’s a map. It doesn’t make the journey for you, but it keeps you from getting lost.” 

When I start a new piece, I begin by choosing a key, and picking a scale drawn from one of these sources:
 
1) Western Tonal / Functional Harmony - major or minor chords I II III IV V VI VII
2) Modal Harmony - Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, etc.
3) Slonimsky's "Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns" 
4) Messiaen’s "Seven Modes of Limited Transposition" 

For many pieces, I also decide on a progression, one as a simple as I IV V, or something more elaborate.  

Next I create a "scales and progressions" piano track in my DAW (digital audio workstation software) and enter the chords I to VII in my chosen key. These harmonized scales serve as a basis for writing multipart harmonies and finding pivot chords for key modulations. 

At the start, I know what instruments I want to use, making adjustments along the way. I tend to write chord parts first, then melodies created through a mix of improvisation and direct input in the DAW. Sometimes I start with a melody.

I develop melodies and variations of a phrase by some combination of: a) passing it from one instrument to another, transposing it by an interval that sounds pleasing, b) reversing it, c) inverting it around the tonic (first) note of the scale. These are well-known methods. 

After completing a section, I choose another scale and maybe a new key and repeat the process until I have a draft of the entire piece. Then I export a recording and listen to it “offline”, take notes of errors and new ideas, and incorporate them back into the piece. Often this “compose / listen / compose” cycle is repeated many times. These iterative cycles include adding new ideas, polishing transitions between sections, changing the arrangement, and incorporating expressive details like accents, and articulations (staccato, sustain, portato etc.). I’m often working several different pieces at once. 

Last is mixing and mastering: balancing the loudness between instruments and adjusting elements like reverb, compression, and equalization. I tend to mix as I compose, even though many producers frown on that approach. I find mixing as I go helps me envision the completed piece and make adjustments to the choice of instruments; it self-inspires me when the piece is starting to sound good.  At the end I do a final mix, but as the saying goes, “A mix is never finished — it’s surrendered.”

In the end, this method gives me a basis for exploration and creativity and helps me stay focused. The goal is always to make a piece of music that feels expressive, cohesive, and emotionally resonant.

Suite for Woodwinds and Percussion No. 2

Remembering Jill.

When the railway runs along the coast, right beside the sea, there are many tunnels. Sometimes they’re so narrow that two tracks must draw near to one another to pass through. That’s how a strange love story begins between them.
This is a song I wrote around the year 2000, one of my last. I think it has a good mood. I’ve remixed and partially rearranged it.
You can still hear the warm tone of the Washburn, along with the old Yamaha’s sounds (including the flute). The sax — reworked by me  — is kindly provided by Dropgun Samples.
Still, as always, everything is very handcrafted.

Below is the English translation of the lyrics.

They converged at the tunnel’s mouth,
suddenly parallel —
twins of the railway.
They looked at each other, studied each other,
just enough
to not quite grasp
how much the one beside you knows of you.
They hesitated, thinking of the road behind:
companions in adventure,
but now unsure why.
And then they stared at the night gaping inside the tunnel:
a magnificent promise
to be traveled on the thread of fantasy.

“Inside this darkness, maybe we will never part,
under this shadow, maybe you’ll finally know me,
after this night, who knows where you’ll fall asleep —
perhaps closer to the sea…”

They parted at the tunnel’s edge,
but a narrow wall concealed a silence
charged with jealousy,
shaped like fear — fear of that strange kind of courtesy,
fear of the light,
fear of the end of the tunnel.
“Parallel track,
mirror born of the railway,
traitorous twin,
lover made of parody.
Don’t tell me that
after this darkness we’ll never part,
that under this shadow you’ll finally touch me,
that after this night, who knows where you’ll take me —
perhaps down by the sea…”

And at the end of that masterpiece of engineering,
only one of them
came rushing out of the tunnel;
on instinct, he turned and saw
that the sea was beside him,
and under the sea, the sky,
and beneath the sky — who knows what lies...

“After this darkness, surely we will never part,
inside this shadow, surely you’ll let go,
after this night, I cannot say where you’ll fall asleep —
perhaps closer to the sea…”

----

Confluirono all'ingresso della galleria
improvvisamente paralleli 
gemelli della ferrovia.
Si guardarono, si studiarono quel tanto che
non basta a misurare sino in fondo
quello che hai di fianco cosa sa di te.
Indugiarono, pensarono alla strada dietro di sé:
compagni di avventura,
ma ora non capivano perché.
E poi guardarono la notte spalancata nella galleria:
magnifica promessa
da viaggiare sul filo della fantasia

"dentro questo buio forse noi non ci separeremo mai,
sotto questo scuro tu finalmente mi conoscerai,
dopo questa notte poi non so dire dove ti addormenterai,
forse più vicino al mare ..."

Si congedarono sulla bocca della galleria,
ma parete stretta nasconde silenzio
fatto a carica di gelosia,
fatto a forma di paura di quella stranissima cortesia,
paura della luce
paura della fine della galleria.
"Binario parallelo,
specchio generato dalla ferrovia,
gemello traditore,
amante da parodia.
Non dirmi che 
dopo questo buio noi non ci separaremo mai,
che sotto questo scuro tu finalmente mi toccherai,
che dopo questa notte poi chissà dove mi accompagnerai,
forse giù vicino al mare ..."

E alla fine di quel capolavoro di ingegneria,
di loro uno solo
usciva di corsa dalla galleria;
d'istinto si voltò e vide che
c'era il mare di fianco a sé,
e sotto il mare il cielo,
e sotto il cielo chissa cosa c'è ...

"dopo questo buio certo noi non ci separeremo mai,
dentro questo scuro tu sicuramente ti abbandonerai,
dopo questa notte poi non so dire dove ti addormenterai,
forse più vicino al mare ..."

----

Composed by Michele Ansani (1999)
Posted on SoundCloud: 2025, May 16

Down by the sea [Viaggio di nozze] *

Villain within my mind
Stirring the pot
Villain, trouble come
Spoil the fun

Blindside will knock me off
This treacherous game
When I’m gone
Real fun, it’s only begun

We can plan it out to run
Run it out
Only plan that’s sure to make it 
To fruition, distant in the mirror

Weight up there, torch I carry
All I’ve lost
Destruction left
Along the path I take

We can plan it out to run
Run it out
Only plan that’s sure to make it 
To fruition, distant in the mirror

Slipping through my hand
Million dollars blowing across the beach

We can plan it out to run
Run it out
Only plan that’s sure to make it 
To fruition, distant in the mirror

Slipping through my hand
Million dollars blowing across the beach


Alliances And Plots

This song is actually more of a poem. But I only realized that when I tried to set the text to music after I had written it. 
"I count on you" is a song written as a heartfelt thank-you to the quiet companions in our lives — those who stand by us when times get tough. 
Sometimes, these are the people who understand us without needing many words. Sometimes, they are the loyal, four-legged friends who remain by our side through the years. And sometimes, it’s a spiritual presence that carries us through our darkest moments.

This song is about that steady, silent presence — the comforting feeling of not being alone. It reminds us how much strength can be found simply in being there for one another. Some call it friendship, others call it love — some believe it is God. Ultimately, it’s about connection, trust, and the quiet certainty: I can count on you.

A heartfelt thank-you to Andreas and Colter, who deeply inspired me in the creation of this song.

It would mean a lot to me if this song finds a place in your heart and uplifts you when you listen.



I count on you

When everything inside goes quiet,
and I don't know what to do,
when every step feels heavy,
somehow – there’s you.
You never asked for answers,
you just stood there by my side.
In a time that felt so broken,
you were my piece of light.

I count on you 
when the fire’s burning low.
When I feel like fading,
you’re the one who still knows.
I count on you –
not 'cause you're loud or strong,
but 'cause you stay,
when everything feels wrong.

You held my silence gently,
carried every flaw I had.
You saw the parts I couldn’t show,
and never said it’s bad.
You never needed big ideas,
you just showed up as you are.
And in the middle of the night,
you were my northern star.

I count on you 
when hope has gone to hide.
When the world gets smaller,
you still stay by my side.
I count on you 
no questions, no disguise.
You’re the quiet truth
in a world of little lies.

And if the day should ever come
when you can’t hold it all alone –
I’ll be the one who holds you back,
like you have always done.

I count on you 
And you can lean on me
We carry what the other can´t
And set each other free
I count on you 
and hope you feel it too.
Through every broken piece,
I’ve found a friend in you.


Lyrics/Vocals/Music: Axel Menningen

I Count On You

Single Use And Recycled: Guitars, Songwriter
Rob Olsson: Bass, Lyrics/Vocals

You only love me when I
Do what you want me to 
Got this weight on my shoulder
Don’t want to be a martyr

Blooms in full flourish
Fold away at night
Out in summer air
Out in summer air

Can we talk about the fact that
You want to be free
You’re capable at any time
Break your bonds and run away

What you’re giving, only some of
What I want to take
Take it all for myself
Life turns on a dime

Blooms in full flourish
Fold away at night
Out in summer air
Out in summer air

Can we talk about the fact that
You want to be free
You’re capable at any time
Break your bonds and run away

You out in summer air
Prowling in my garden
Turn my back, you run away
Don’t know what you’ll encounter

You only love me when I
Do what you want me to 
Got this weight on my shoulder
Don’t want to be a martyr

Blooms in full flourish
Fold away at night
Out in summer air
Out in summer air

Life can turn on a dime
Turn on a dime
Life can turn on a dime

Blooms In Full Flourish w/Single Use And Recycled

About some Oceans around the world, where vessels mysteriously disappeared without trace.
Thanks for listening :)
Arranged and produced by, Mike Hilton © 15/07/13

Instruments

Takamine Acoustic
Fender Strat
Percussion (midi)
Synths (VST)
Fender Amps
Artwork ~ " Neptune ".. courtesy of, Mathieu Lauffray.

EarthSongs

Devil's Sea

Devils Sea

Welcome and thanks for listening.. 

Composer of guitar instrumentals from Australia, producng music & film from the home studio in my spare time purely for enjoyment.

Inspired by some of the guitar greats & instrumental bands from the 60's and 70's era. 
I produce mostly original instrumental guitar tracks. a few covers & tributes, and involved in the odd collaboration.

In the spirit of the old Classic Soundcloud, please feel free to leave a comment or like.. would be greatly appreciated. In recent years it's been difficult to leave timeline comments possibly due to some AI issue, but i will certainly try to return by mutual interaction where possible.

To family, followers, friends and Soundcloud, thanks for all the support and inspiration over the years and hopefully many more to come.
Thanks for dropping by and I hope you enjoy the music.

All rights to the audio/tracks, and album photography are reserved, and respectfully belong to the owner. 
© 2008-2025