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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 orchestral tracks please check out my full orchestral album here:
soundcloud.com/pianissimo/sets/orchestral-works-original

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Track Notes
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My goal with this track was to create a Hitchcock-esque retro thriller type of vibe. There are 4 particular things that are rather unique to this track as compared to my other orchestral works:

(1) This piece is a fair bit drier than most of the rest of my orchestral work as I preferred a strong sense of clarity over putting my listeners in a particularly reverberant space. The increased dryness I think adds to the immediacy of the sound and makes it feel therefore more menacing/threatening in a way. 
(2) I used quite a few non-traditional orchestral instruments (basset horn, cimbasso, etc) in unison parts in the track to create a rather unique sonic palette. 
(3) I use quite a few less common articulations (ricochets, marteles, rips, various trills) to add additional sonic interest and engagement.
(4) I added some intentional dissonance in spots to further lend to the creepy vibe. 

Hopefully my little experiment has been successful. Please put on a good pair of headphones and enjoy!

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Instruments:
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Brass: horn, tuba, bass trombone, cimbasso, euphonium
String: violin ensemble, viola ensemble, cello ensemble, double bass ensemble
Woodwinds: flute, piccolo, oboe, bass oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, basset horn, saxophone, contrabassoon
Percussion: timpani, marimba, xylophone, tom ensemble, bass drums, piano (used percussively)
Vocals: female choir, male choir

War of the Worlds

Samurai

Terminus

Yearning (Chill Solo Guitar, Emotional)

12-tone percussion piece, hope you enjoy!

The Ellipsoidal Belligerent Capacitor

22 9 10

Main PID: 1123 (code=exited, status=125)

Calm Before The Storm

My full medieval album: soundcloud.com/pianissimo/sets/vox-populi
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General Track Notes
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"La Vie Simple" is French for "the simple life". This piece is meant to be a light medieval ode to the simpler things in life. Put on a good pair of headphones and enjoy!

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Instrument Discussion
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Plucked Strings: Gittern, Psaltery, Bass Citole, two more medieval lutes

Bowed String: Jouhikko (melody and backing rhythm), Hurdy Gurdy (drone and rhythmic buzzing), Tromba Marina

Percussion: tympanum romanum, dayre (similar to tambourine), medieval snare, tom, multiple frame drums, shaker

Vocals: male countertenor, female soprano

La Vie Simple

For more orchestral tracks please check out my full orchestral album here:
soundcloud.com/pianissimo/sets/orchestral-works-original

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Track Notes
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As the track title and image suggest, "Rebel" is a sonic homage to the world of Star Wars and a sequel of sorts to my prior Star Wars themed epic orchestral track "The Dark Side". A rousing, energetic kaleidoscope of bombastic brass and operatic vocals, this track is meant to pull the listener into an epic planetary battle between the cosmic forces of good and evil. May the force be with you as you enjoy this journey with a good pair of headphones!

Thank you for listening (and reading)!

Image: "The Mandalorian" by Andrew Sebastian Kwan (https://the-andrewkwan.artstation.com/)

Rebel

24 Pièces en style libre, Op. 31 – XI. Divertissement – Vierne

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

War of the Worlds

Pianissimo