All of the pieces in this playlist lean squarely in the direction of "Celtic/Fantasy". They also contain strong medieval elements by virtue of their respective instrument selection and other melodic, rhythmic, and thematic considerations.

Please enjoy with a good pair of headphones!

Into the Woods -- A Collection of Celtic/Fantasy Compositions

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Track Notes
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About a week ago I was having a dream. In this dream I saw a sort of ancient, enchanted landscape, more or less like something out of Lord of the Rings. There was a broad waterway of some sort, with a narrow stone bridge crossing it. The waterway and bridge were actually quite long such that the ends disappeared into the mist. There was a young woman running toward the base of the bridge. She then turned onto the bridge and as she did so, music started playing. It featured an ethereal Celtic melody sung by a female vocalist. There were also some heavy, bassy drums thumping along, driving the song, and perhaps the girl, forward. At that moment I awoke from the dream. It was the middle of the night. The melody still fresh in my mind, I opened the voice memo app on my phone and sung the melody into it repeatedly. Several days later I recorded this song. The A and B melodic lines that appear repeatedly throughout the song (performed by a number of instruments including the main vocalist, the soprano whistle, the lute) are note for note the melody that I heard in my dream and subsequently sung into my phone. I honestly didn't even know that it was possible to compose a song in a dream. I'm still a bit baffled. But also very pleased as I very much like this tune and I think that the final composition has done my subconscious proud! Another interesting point, this time on the name ... it is complete gibberish but interestingly ALSO came to me in the semi-conscious state immediately following the dream. I have absolutely no idea why or how, but it did and somehow I feel it's rather fitting as it has a vaguely old english / ancient / Celtic sort of quality that feels well suited to the music.

Anyway, please put on a good pair of headphones and enjoy this little Celtic journey! Thank you for listening!
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Instruments:
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Bowed Strings: nyckelharpa (performing a drone-like bass line during the choruses), hurdy gurdy drone + rhythm (the one making the buzzing noises, my favorite instrument of all time)
Plucked Strings: cittern (B melody, panned hard right), bass citole, plucked psaltery, theorbo (for accents)
Percussion: tympanum romanum, frame drum x2 (one centered, one panned hard right), taiko (panned hard left in latter half of song)
Wind: soprano whistle
Vocals: female soloist, male soloist, female shouts, male shouts, female whispers

Aefthere Ahno

Æfthêre Ahnó

For more Celtic/Fantasy tracks, please check out the full "Into the Woods" album here:
soundcloud.com/pianissimo/sets/into-the-woods
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Track Notes
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The chorus for this song popped into my head as I was driving on the freeway a couple weeks ago. The rest is history ;) Please enjoy with a good pair of headphones!

Cliffs of Dover

For more Celtic/Fantasy tracks, please check out the full "Into the Woods" album here:
soundcloud.com/pianissimo/sets/into-the-woods
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Track Notes
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Hope you guys enjoy this little snowy adventure! **Please use headphones**

Image credit: "Snow on trees in Bavarian Black Forest" by Konrad Wothe

Into the Woods

For more Celtic/Fantasy tracks, please check out the full "Into the Woods" album here:
soundcloud.com/pianissimo/sets/into-the-woods
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Track Notes
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Hope you guys enjoy this little Celtic journey. Please use headphones!!

Image credit: "Changing Mood" by Diana Marshall (www.dianamarshallfineart.com)

Kilgharrah

For more Celtic/Fantasy tracks, please check out the full "Into the Woods" album here:
soundcloud.com/pianissimo/sets/into-the-woods
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Track Notes
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I hope you enjoy this magical little journey through an enchanted forest! I've composed a handful of Celtic pieces at this point, but this piece particularly follows in the footsteps of www.soundcloud.com/pianissimo/into-the-woods and www.soundcloud.com/pianissimo/kilgharrah ... so I encourage you to check out those tracks as well if you haven't yet :)

Please use headphones!!

Enchanted

For more Celtic/Fantasy tracks, please check out the full "Into the Woods" album here:
soundcloud.com/pianissimo/sets/into-the-woods
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Track Notes
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Following in the footsteps of "Into the Woods", "Kilgharrah", and "Enchanted", this piece represents my fourth journey into the mystical realm of Celtic/Fantasy. I hope you guys enjoy. Please use headphones!
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Instrument Discussion
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Percussion: kettle drum and two taiko drums
Wind: bagpipe and Bulgarian piccolo flute
Bowed: violin
Plucked: celtic harp
Vocals: several different female vocalists, male vocal shouts

+ additional atmospheric sounds to create a cool ambience

Moonlight

This is my third ever orchestral track and my first ever epic/orchestral track in the celtic/fantasy realm. I've been wanting to release this type of piece for years but didn't have the proper instruments to do so until now. 

For more Celtic/Fantasy tracks, please check out the full "Into the Woods" album here:
soundcloud.com/pianissimo/sets/into-the-woods

Dance of the Elves

For more Celtic/Fantasy tracks, please check out the full "Into the Woods" album here:
soundcloud.com/pianissimo/sets/into-the-woods
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Track Notes
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One part Celtic, one part Bluegrass, and 100% Pianissimo. Hope you guys enjoy!

Instruments: irish flute, irish soprano whistle, bodhran (irish drum), tenor banjo, acoustic guitar, irish fiddle, ocean drum, vocals

Song of the Sea

For more Celtic/Fantasy tracks, please check out the full "Into the Woods" album here:
soundcloud.com/pianissimo/sets/into-the-woods
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Track Notes
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"Caoimhe" is an Irish girl's name, derived from the Gaelic root "caoimh", meaning "gentle, beautiful". Contrary to what it may seem, the name is pronounced "Kee-va". 

Put on a good pair of headphones and enjoy this rousing celtic tune!

Thank you for listening!

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Instruments: bodhran (drum), irish flute, irish whistle, tenor banjo, irish fiddle, acoustic guitar (strummed and plucked), hurdy gurdy drone, two female vocalists, male shouts, female whispers

Caoimhe

For more Celtic/Fantasy tracks, please check out the full "Into the Woods" album here:
soundcloud.com/pianissimo/sets/into-the-woods
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Track Notes
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"Niamh" (pronounced "neev") is an Irish girl's name meaning "radiance, luster, brilliance". In Irish mythology, Niamh is the daughter of the god of the sea, Manannán mac Lir, and one of the queens of Tír na nÓg, the land of eternal youth. She was the lover of the poet-hero Oisín.

Put on a good pair of headphones and enjoy this rousing Celtic/medieval tune! Thank you for listening!
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Instruments: baroque guitar, medieval cittern (a type of lute), bass citole (another type of medieval lute), violin, bulgarian piccolo flute, medieval hand drum, tom drum, hurdy gurdy drone, female vocalist

Image credit: "A Celtic Dream" by Schattenlos on DeviantArt (https://www.deviantart.com/schattenlos/art/A-Celtic-Dream-154300065)

Niamh

For more Celtic/Fantasy tracks, please check out the full "Into the Woods" album here:
soundcloud.com/pianissimo/sets/into-the-woods
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Track Notes
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A reference to the famous 19th century fairytales written by the Brothers Grimm, this piece is meant to evoke imagery of elves, fairies and enchanted forests. This is my first piece after a 14 month hiatus from composing. It's been a uniquely challenging year but it feels great to finally put out a new piece of music :)

Put on a good pair of headphones and enjoy! Thank you for listening!
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Instruments:
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Bowed Strings:  solo violin, 2 solo cellos
Plucked Strings: medieval bass citole, medieval lute
Percussion: tom ensemble, taiko ensemble
Wind: bulgarian piccolo flute
Vocals: 2 female soloists, male choir (staccato), female choir (staccato), male shouts, female whispers
Atmosphere: forest sounds, birds chirping, etc

Grimm

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Track Notes
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The name of this piece refers to the nymph from Homer's "Odyssey" that rescues Odysseus after his shipwreck. The piece features a typical staple of medieval instruments, though does also feature a cello which technically didn't exist until hundreds of years later :) The track starts serenely enough, with dueling whistle and bombarde parts in a type of "conversation" with each other. This then gives way to some ethereal vocals backed by a medieval lute and a baroque guitar ... before all hell breaks loose and the song moves squarely into its second act.

Put on a good pair of headphones and enjoy! Thank you for listening!
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Instruments:
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Bowed Strings: cello, hurdy gurdy drone + rhythm, tromba marina
Plucked Strings: bass citole, medieval lute, baroque guitar
Percussion: frame drum, snare, dayereh (similar to a tambourine), tom ensemble
Wind: soprano whistle, bombarde (a medieval reed instrument)
Vocals: 3 female soloists, male shouts
FX: waves, thunder

Image: "Venus" by Lindsay Rapp (https://lindsayrappgallery.com/products/venus-original-painting)

Calypso

I'm a 35-year-old software engineer and amateur composer living in the beautiful city of Seattle. I have no musical training or background at all. I taught myself to play piano in August of 2014 and then started actually composing in January 2015.

I focus on crafting atmospheric, evocative pieces that take my listeners on a journey through both time and space. Although my focus in the past 6 years has been on cinematic ethnic music (celtic, middle eastern, medieval), I'm now starting to venture into the orchestral realm and couldn't be more excited to mix some of my ethnic sensibilities with more traditional orchestral elements.

Every piece you hear on my cloud is 100% original music that is composed, recorded (using VSTs), and produced by myself. No remixes, no covers (unless explicitly stated), no loops, and absolutely NO prerecorded "musical phrases" of any kind (with the *very* rare exception of an occasional vocal phrase to lend some added color and depth). I manually compose and record every single note of every instrument you hear ... whether it's a violin, flute, vocals, drums, or anything else! 

Also, don't be shy! Feel free to shoot me a message even just to introduce yourself. I love connecting with other soundcloud artists :)

Now that that's all out of the way, put on a good pair of headphones and enjoy!

~Tim