I like that little outro there, nice touch

Lovely in-deed, Peter! .......... Write On....Right on! :-D

Do you work in the image? Your productions are really of high quality. I like it very much :D

A beautiful melancholic melody. Fine orchestration and arrangements. ;)

Orchestral

"A musical vision of Spring, a time of renewal and growth. From out of the cold ground comes a promise of warmer days. Then April showers herald an explosion of life, shorter nights and lighter days full of the sound of birdsong. As the season moves on, there is a slowing of change as Summer draws near."

Description

Spring, finds me trying to express, in music, my feelings about this season. Below is a attempt at doing this in words too. This is the third of four orchestral pieces that describe the four temperate seasons of the year.

If you want to hear the other pieces from the series "The Wheel Turns" after listening to this piece, the links are here :-

https://soundcloud.com/mrbouzouki/sets/the-wheel-turns

The Wheel Turns Orchestral Suite - YouTube playlist.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQkE1sMc-t1sixu4RmJmjyFr0HF6dnUF2

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Spring
The waiting is over. The Winter chill recedes and there is a tacit acceptance to the demands of birth and rebirth. A sign of fresh green poking through the ground is a welcome sight, a simple signal that all will be well.

Very quickly, in a sudden rush, there is life in the hedgerows and the sound of birds heralding a new season. One of life and growth and warmer days and rainy times, but overall a feeling of hope.

You have longed for this moment, a chance to put away your Winter clothes and feel the sun upon your face again. The riot of change will continue as the life-giving sun takes longer marches through the sky.

Spring of all seasons is a time to revel in simply feeling alive. 

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Instrumentation

Con Sordino Strings (Albion One - Spitfire)
Viola Ensemble (Chris Hein Strings)
Viola Ensemble Pizzicato Loose (Chris Hein Strings)
Cello Ensemble (Chris Hein Strings)
Solo Cello (Chris Hein Strings)
Solo(1826 Old)Violin (Chris Hein Strings)
Alto Flute (Chris Hein Winds)
Piccolo (Chris Hein Winds)
English Horn (Chris Hein Winds)
Barock Bassoon (Chris Hein Winds)
Bb Clarinet (Chris Hein Winds)
French Horn (Chris Hein Brass)
French Horn Ensemble(Chris Hein Brass)
Trombone (Chris Hein Brass)
Tuba (Chris Hein Brass)
Bell Tree (Flying Hands Percussion)
Triangle (Kontakt Factory Library)
Concert Harp (Garritan Personal Orchestra 5)

I really wanted a lightness to this piece and it took me a while of tweaking to get what I heard in my head. I didn't want it to sound like Autumn, or Summer, both weightier seasons, but not as thin and austere as Winter. So this piece is mostly woodwinds and strings with hardly any percussion

I didn't need bottom-end, I needed more focus in the melody interaction and there was a missing link. It needed to be light and airy and what else says light and airy like the harp. After about a day working on the harp part it started to give the feel I wanted. The harp glissandi were useful as bookends to the section it features in. 

The piece begins with an echo of Winter and the bell tree, the piccolo and alto flute describe the first signs of growth before giving way to pizzicato strings of April Showers. The harp section is a semi-formal counterpoint section with the harp melody inter-woven with the solo violin in my attempt to describe the rapid growth of the Season. The final section brings in the brass and is a calmer end to the piece that hints at the glory of Summer just around the corner.

The Wheel Turns

Spring

"A musical vision of Summer, a time of warmth, light and fun. A time to live life to the full and enjoy all that mother nature has to offer. As the season moves on, the solstice reminds us that the warmth and light cannot last as we start to head into Autumn"

Description

Summer, finds me trying to express, in music, my feelings about this season. Below is a attempt at doing this in words too. This is chronologically the forth and final of my orchestral pieces that describe the four temperate seasons of the year.

If you want to hear the other pieces from the series "The Wheel Turns" after listening to this piece, the links are here :-

https://soundcloud.com/mrbouzouki/sets/the-wheel-turns

The Wheel Turns Orchestral Suite - YouTube playlist.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQkE1sMc-t1sixu4RmJmjyFr0HF6dnUF2

---------------------------------------------------------------
Summer
The days grow longer, the nights shorter, as the golden ball we call the sun parades in all it's glory.This is a time for living life to the full, a time of happiness, a time of pleasure and excess.

At the solstice, some people still give thanks to the life giving orb upon which we all depend. For we know this moment cannot last, the majesty will fade, the warmth will falter, the party will end.

With threadbare days and darker nights the proud display of Summer flowers starts to fade. The heat can be oppressive, at times there is a chill in the air and Nature herself seems finally quiescent.

We will carry those memories of days on the beach or at the park in our hearts forever. Those days of fun.

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Instrumentation

Con Sordino Strings (Albion One - Spitfire)
Ensemble Strings Mid Octave (Chris Hein Strings)
Viola Ensemble (Chris Hein Strings)
Cello Ensemble (Chris Hein Strings)
Bass Ensemble (Chris Hein Strings)
Solo(1826 Old)Violin (Chris Hein Strings)
Alto Flute (Chris Hein Winds)
C Flute (Chris Hein Winds)
Piccolo (Chris Hein Winds)
English Horn (Chris Hein Winds)
Barock Bassoon (Chris Hein Winds)
Trumpet Ensemble (Chris Hein Brass)
French Horn (Chris Hein Brass)
French Horn Ensemble(Chris Hein Brass)
Trombone (Chris Hein Brass)
Tuba (Chris Hein Brass)
Cymbal (Albion One - Spitfire)
Bass Drum (Kontakt Factory Library)
Concert Harp (Garritan Personal Orchestra 5)
Timpani (Kontakt Factory Library and Garritan Personal Orchestra 5)

This piece evolved into 5 different thematic viewpoints that I labelled up to give an insight into the composition.

1)Grand Intro ... Sunrise / The Majesty of the Sun
2)Summer Promenade / The Beauty of Life
3)Summer Fun / The Bandstand
4)Balmy Days / Sultry Nights
5)A Fading Glory / The Last Hurrah

The piece commences with a Summer sunrise and the sound of French horn and alto flute before the brass heralds the glory of the sun with a fanfare . 

Next is the introduction of the main Summer promenade theme which reflects on the glory of a Summers day before a quieter section featuring solo violin and a bit of flute in the beauty of life.

A harp glissando heralds a change of pace and mood as harp and flute hint at children playing in the park before a brief visit to a quintessentially English band-stand, complete with brass band and thumping bass drum.

Balmy days / Sultry nights introduces the listener to the fading grandeur of Summer, a more melancholic line from the English horn acting as a counterpoint to a slower version of the earlier promenade theme. 

Finally the piece ends with a last hurrah for Summer as a wistful line and rolled timpani hint at the onset of Autumn. A final bit of pomp with timpani and brass completes the piece. 

It was quite a task to fit all that imagery into  four minutes of music but overall I think it works. :-)

Summer

Psychoanalyze

Inspired by the recent victory of the French Volleyball team at the last Olymics and their outsanding coach Laurent Tillie, with a  wink  to this  fantastic French jazzy funk  track  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdkFZO4w8i8

La Gagne (come on ! )(Remastered)

Indeed a piece for strings and in this recording also some string syntheseizer for backing things up.

Enjoy your listening!

Largo for Strings

Thank you Annie for this chance to collaborate again, love how this one this came together!! @annie-smart-1

Annie = piano, bass, drums, electric piano
Phil = low whistle, whistle, Uilleann pipes, guitar, and virtual harp.
Mixed and Mastered by Phil.

Atlantic Drift (Annie Smart & Philleann)

This is the first track of a new instrumental project I've entitled "It's All Greek to Me", as I explore the myths and legends of Ancient Greece. 

I'm using Ancient Greek instruments featured in the 'Ancient Worlds VST Library from Big Fish Audio', underpinned with classical orchestral instruments.  There are some very interesting sounds in it that do seem to evoke a time long ago. 

Since the project is based around some of the myths and legends of Ancient Greece, I wanted a generic opening track that would introduce the listener to some of the sounds and set an overall tone for the project. I really wanted a different feel from a typical 'all guns blazing' modern film score since it isn't accompanying live action but is hopefully a piece in its own right. 

So a piece with the title "A Time of Heroes" seemed like a good idea to kick off the project. :-)

Instrumentation Used

Lyre - it was one of the most important and well-known stringed instruments of Greek Antiquity.

Kithara - this was considered the “professional” instrument of antiquity, and the public highly regarded kithara players.

Kavali - this is a chromatic end-blown flute traditionally played throughout Armenia, the Balkans, Greece, and Turkey. 

Flogera - is a type of flute used in Greek folk music. It is a simple end-blown bamboo flute without a fipple, which is played by directing a narrow air stream against its sharp, open upper end. It typically has seven finger holes.

Water Pumpkins - also called “Water Drums” these instruments can be found in Africa (Mali) and other continents. Water Pumpkins are played with the hands or with soft mallets. They usually come in pairs and have a diameter of 32 - 36 cm. The deeper bowl is filled with water, the smaller one is set on the water. The pitch of the water drums can be tuned by changing the water level inside the floating shell.

Antique Cymbals - are the ancestors of the modern metal cymbals. During the Minoan period, they arrived on the island of Crete from Asia.

Pan Flute - this is an ancient instrument, associated with the demigod Pan, who was the protector of the woods and the shepherds. Variations of the instrument used a number between three and eighteen pipes. The classic Greek Pan Flute used pipes of the same length. 

In addition to the ancient instruments above the track also features :-

Orchestral CS Strings (Albion One - Spitfire)
Viola Ensemble (Piz and Long)(Chris Hein Strings)
Cello Ensemble (Piz and Long)(Chris Hein Strings)
Bass Ensemble Piz and Long)(Chris Hein Strings)
French Horn Ensemble (Chris Hein Brass)
Trombone Ensemble (Chris Hein Brass)
Tuba (Chris Hein Brass)
Bb Clarinet (Chris Hein Winds)
Snare Drum (VSL Big Bang Orchestra | Quasar)
XXL Percussion(Albion One - Spitfire)
St Peter's Choir (Halion 6)

A Time Of Heroes (It's All Greek to Me)

Exhaust Pipe

In the shadow of a smokestack rising eating up the air
Kinda gritty look you give me on this street to God knows where
We’re ducking under extrusions in the face of water walls
At least we got each other ‘neath this sky that’s like a war

Eye brows on the ceiling even though we got the word 
Imagining is one thing but reality’s absurd

Part of me is chill
And part of you is screaming
Now that we got choked in earth’s exhaust pipe
I can pull you closer
You can stare me out
It’s getting hard to breath in earth’s exhaust pipe

Creating scenes a hotel room the balm of bodies close
And bricks so thick to hide the world is all that we can hope
Nose in flesh the best to hide like puppies suckling mums
And after rain the swollen streets be scorching in the sun

How did it come to this . . .
I just want to love you . . .

EXHAUST PIPE

Open Collab Offering
If you could own the sky, then it wouldn't be sky anymore
add to or just download for jamming with, 16bit wav. file
Photo by taRka+ https://soundcloud.com/myrhyum
low end fix 4/28/2023

Thru An Open Window

the mission was over and we achieved what we set out to do.
closing down a drugs cartel.
but this still left me with no satisfaction and a great amount of sadness.
the agent assigned to me was intelligent and very pretty and also very inexperienced. 
i pleaded with my bosses not to put her on this mission, but they wouldn't listen.  now she is dead, gunned down by members of the drugs cartel.

Mission over.

Musik & Text: Gabriel
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
OF THE LYRICS CAN BE FOUND HERE:
http://www.gabriel.land/gabriel-name-im-stein.htm

Name im Stein

ANTHEM OF THE HIGHLAND GIRLS

A piece of two instruments being friends for a long time

Deux amis

Overview

This is a piece of cinematically inspired music that grew out of a 30 seconds Composer Club (Facebook) Group challenge. Our remit was to create a Leitmotif based on 'The One Ring', from The Lord of The Rings trilogy.

Being a bit of a Tolkien fan I decided to create a piece based on the actual forging of the ring of power, to try and get the sense of power, malice and a desire to dominate condensed into this small object and the overriding sorrow of the Elves when they realised just what had been created.

The Shevvanai 'Voice of the Elves' vocal library certainly came in handy  :-)

After doing the initial 30 seconds I thought there was a bit more I could do with the idea so I went back to setting up the story. This involved trying to give a feeling of the Elves in Middle Earth and then I thought ... what I need is some of the Black Speech of Mordor, part of the ring rhyme to lead into the forging section. So I did my very best Dark Lord impression to utter the lines in the Black Speech of Mordor. 

Ash nazg durbatulûk, 
ash nazg gimbatul,
Ash nazg thrakatulûk 
agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.

One Ring to to Rule Them All
One Ring to Find Them
One Ring to Bring Them All
And in the Darkness Bind Them

I must admit is the most weird thing I've ever tracked vocally ;-)

Instrumentation

Shevannai vocal library (Eduardo Tarilonte)
Strings (8ve Long, Spiccato Shorts, CS Strings ,Nasty Brass (Albion One - Spitfire)
Harp (Garritan GP05)
St Peter's Choir Patch(Halion Sonic)
Alto Flute (Chris Hein Winds) 
Oboe (Chris Hein Winds)

The sound of working on a Blacksmiths Forge and Explosion sound FX that is classed as Public Domain is used to add colour to the track from www.freesound.org

The Ring Is Forged - The Elves Lament

This Lord of the Rings cinematically inspired orchestral track follows on the tale of the Ring of Power as it is rediscovered in the Gladden river by Déagol, who was out fishing on the Gladden river on Sméagol's birthday, after being lost for thousands of years.

Besides orchestral instrumentation and choir voices, it also features my Alto F Low Whistle in the first half of the piece and a Foley type section of Sound FX to link to the second section.

The idea was to setup an idyllic pastoral scene by a river before Déagol falls into the river whilst trying to catch a fish.  Underwater he spots a glint of gold on the riverbed and returns to the surface, clutching his prize.  In the second half of the piece, the One Ring quickly ensnares Sméagol, with fatal consequences. 

Listers of my earlier piece might notice the reoccurring Ring motif as it's malevolent power takes hold of Sméagol.
 
Instrumentation 
Alto F Low Whistle 

VST Orchestration 
Strings (8ve Long, Pizzicato Shorts,Spiccato Shorts, CS Strings ,Nasty Brass Long Tremelo(Albion One - Spitfire)
Sky Choir Patch, Timeless Choirs Patch(Halion Sonic)
Alto Flute (Chris Hein Winds)
English Horn (Chris Hein Winds)
Rolled Timpani (Garritan GP05)

Background
Déagol was a Stoor Hobbit, who lived in a small community bound by kinship ties—akin to a clan. He had a relative named Sméagol, whose grandmother was the matriarch of the community. He found the One Ring—which had been lost for thousands of years—while fishing with Sméagol in the Gladden river.

Instantly ensnared by its beauty and seductive power, Sméagol demanded the Ring as his "birthday-present". When Déagol refused to give it up, Sméagol strangled him and hid his body, which was never found; nevertheless, the murderer (nicknamed Gollum after the swallowing noises he made) was eventually driven from his home and into the Misty Mountains.

This track contains various Sound FX that are classed as Public Domain and are used to add colour to the track from www.freesound.org, in addition to home-grown vocal FX.

The Birthday Present

In Your Dreams - an Orchestral Mystery 

Another tick of the clock,
one moment follows another,
But is there space outside reality ?

The beat goes on,
incessant and unceasing.
But while you sleep do you live another lifetime ?

... in your dreams ?

MrBouzouki Nov 2020

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Background 
This track developed from playing a simple arpeggio that you can hear in the pizzicato strings. It ended up examining the space beyond the norm ... lol

Anyway, an interesting little project and the words that arrived from the 'ether'  acted as a catalyst for the music. I'm quite enjoying using orchestral instruments in my storytelling at the moment.

Metaphysical Playlist
soundcloud.com/mrbouzouki/sets/metaphysical
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Instrumentation
Celesta (Bell Piano)- Kontakt Factory Library 
Pizzicato Strings - Albion One (Spitfire)
Violin - Chris Hein Strings
Viola - Chris Hein Strings 
Alto Flute -Chris Hein Winds 
Cello - Chris Hein Strings
The sound of an antique clock FX that is classed as Public Domain is used to add colour and provide a rhythmic pulse  to the track from www.freesound.org
creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

In Your Dreams - An Orchestral Mystery

Pilgrims Way Project Album Release - Early 2025 !
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A collection of songs, instrumentals and orchestral pieces charting my adventures in home studio recording and production.  All original compositions using voice, acoustic and electric guitar (sometimes using altered tunings), bouzouki, low and high whistles and MIDI instrumentation. 

I'm also using VST instrumentation to create classical compositions and integrating orchestral sounds into my songs and instrumentals.

Links to various instrumental projects and other Social Media links are available below.

My Repost Channel (Eclectic Music Connections) is here

https://soundcloud.com/mrbouzouki-repost

A Time Of Heroes (It's All Greek to Me)

MrBouzouki

Recent comments

Karin-Maria Brunner

philippe blanc - composer

philippe blanc - composer

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