Best of Igor  (Collaborations and original)

Celebrating my 1st year on SoundCloud with this amazing collaboration!

My music from 1997 meets with words from 2013

Jenny Dyer - https://soundcloud.com/jaydee25 - lyrics, consulting
Debbie Deijkers - https://soundcloud.com/thingsfromthepast - composition of vocals part and singing
Lee Lucas - https://soundcloud.com/lee-lucas - consulting
Igor - composing all the music, all the  instruments, idea to use the line "What doesn't kill you..." as a start line in lyrics, mix and  production

I invented the main riff and the chord progression in 1997. In 2008 I had started recording it as an instrumental. The main idea at that time was a duel between 2 guitars using 2 famous fuzz pedals: DoD FX32 Classic Fuzz (the best fuzz pedal ever) and Ibanez L.A. Metal (which also a fuzz and the worst fuzz ever according to HarmonyCentral.com reviews). As you can see L.A.Metal is not so bad :-)

I put it on a shelf until Jun 2013 when I rediscovered it and was excited with its sound myself. So I started asking people here on SC for opinions and help and that led to this great collaboration. I asked Jenny if this should be a song starting with a line "What doesn't kill you makes you stronge"( I read it in a fantasy book). 

Unexpectedly, Jenny came up with a lirics which she wrote in 1 night! And I believe this was the first time when she wrote lyrics when music already existed. I contacted Lee Lucas and he was very helpful, had been reviewing many intermediate versions and made many invaluable suggestions how to improve the music. Finally Debbie composed so brilliant vocal part over my music and with such a freedom have sung the lyrics.

Many thanks to Jenny, Debbie and Lee for making this possible.

== Actually, the third part of the recorded material remained edited out and unused: banjo, melody theme whistled like in Sergio Leone movies, surfing guitars: on some step the demo had a wild west feel and looked like "box full of surprises" - something new were constantly popping up. I plan to create another intro and someday release unused material as a short instrumental.==


-------------------------------------
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

You've got to hold it together 
Ride out that stormy weather
If there doesn't seem to be an end
Just be patient my dear friend
No one gets out of the world alive
We're all gonna die
We have to make the best of what we've got
Good things will come out of this bad lot

What doesn't kill you 
Makes you stronger
You just have to wait 
A little longer
Believe me
I should know 
Been so far down 
You wouldn't want to know

I've been on that sinking ship
I was loosing my grip
Just going through the motion
Battling waves in that big ocean.

Made myself get out of bed each day
Go about things in the normal way
Prayed for my life to turn around
I got back on solid ground

Oh, What doesn't kill you 
Makes you stronger
You just have to wait 
A little longer
Believe me
I should know 
Been so far down 
You wouldn't want to know

You've just got to hold it together
Ride out this stormy weather
You've got to hold it together
Things will get better

What doesn't kill you 
Makes you stronger
You just have to wait 
A little longer
Believe me
I should know 
Been so far down 
You wouldn't want to know

Lyrics copyright Jenny Dyer June 2013
Music copyright Igor Maximov 1997 - 2014
Vocal melody copyright Debbie Deijkers 2013

What doesn't kill you (Fuzzy Logic). Collaboration with BigmamaDee and Jenny Dyer

Sorry, it is still a draft, but after a mastering attempt to achieve finer sound. This version was played too freely, like a contemplation when thoughts jump from one topic to another.

Should re-record it paying more attention to rhythm next time (when I have time).

Guitarra solitaria

:-)Guess what is my favorite movie?

@harmonicajack - harmonicas
Igor  - whistling!!! Composition, all the music, all the rest instruments, mix and production
Lee Lucas - @lee-lucas - idea to apply harmonica here

I invented the main riff and the chord progression in 1997.

The main idea is a duel between 2 guitars using 2 famous fuzz pedals: DoD FX32 Classic Fuzz (the best fuzz pedal ever) and Ibanez L.A. Metal (which also a fuzz and the worst fuzz ever according to HarmonyCentral.com reviews). As you can see L.A.Metal is not so bad :-)

The second idea is to demonstrate how banjo nicely lays over fuzzed guitar. That part was recorded a year ago and it seems this idea is becoming a trend on SC.

When the song https://soundcloud.com/project-managers-trio/fuzzy-logic-version-2 was released, too many good materials with Wild West flavor which really excite me: banjo, whistling and "surf"-like guitars were edited out.

So I remembered Lee's idea about harmonica and asked Jack for help. The key of C#m is not very convenient scale for a harp and Jack did a astonishing job nicely fitting to Spaghetti Western feel of the composition.


Fuzzy Logic: Wild West instrumental(with harmonica, banjo, whistling). Ft. Harmonica Jack

Nothing special, this track was on Jack's page for a while. Just want to post it on my page.

@harmonicajack - harmonica, mix
Igor - idea, guitar

Single guitar part and the story - https://soundcloud.com/project-managers-trio/afterbirth-baby-blues-part-1

Baby Blues (Ft Harmonica Jack)

Gave a try to open collaboartion invite https://soundcloud.com/megsmusicjourney/strings-improvisation-open-collab-invite

Original track by Megan McCarthy - strings
Guitar part by Igor M. - (no edit)
A bit of mixing/mastering by Igor M.

Many thanks to Megan for this wonderful lovely music.

For some reason I thought that I had to improvise too, so after one or two runs along the original track I recorded it. 

Hope I'm not much out of original tune, but at least it has culmination  :-)

And probably I will made another, "mature" take.

Here is a playlist of all the participants in this open collaboration:
https://soundcloud.com/megsmusicjourney/sets/strings-improv-open-collab

I haven't listened to them before I made my record.

Fallen tears of μετάνοια (Strings Improvisation by Megan McCarthy, guitar improvisation by Igor M.)

Original music by https://soundcloud.com/eddytimmermansmusic  https://soundcloud.com/eddytimmermansmusic/on-the-way-to-tomorrow-new
Guitars added by Igor

Thank you, Eddy, for this fantastic and inspirational music.

Mother and Father, Daughter and Son (collab of Eddy Timmermans and Igor M.)

by Igor

Another long term project.  It's started in 1992 as a short poem which unexpectedly fit to my 2008's attempt to compose something using each step of E minor scale in both directions: downward and upward. After that it has grown up a lot :-)

Please let me know if there any flaws. Your feedback is very appreciated.

1993 - lyrics
2008 - music
2008 - 2015 Recording, arrangement, production, etc.

==============    LIRYCS   ============================
scandals and gossips, tittle-tattle,
will diversify insipid life 
The sounds of breaking tableware
Are ringing like church bells

Chorus:
Why gloomy dreams
and low flight of lust?
What hopes for and expectations?
It was before and it will pass

And if on the live air
I listen to a song about you
I will join it with my lyre
And I will grief about the fallen joy

Chorus:
Why gloomy dreams
and low flight of lust?
What hopes for and expectations?
It was before and it will pass

=====================================

Скандалы, сплетни, пересуды
Разнообразят скудный быт
Звон разбиваемой посуды
Как колокольный звон стоит
Зачем унылые мечтанья 
И низкий похоти полет,
Зачем надежды, ожиданья -
Все это было и пройдет.
И, если я в немом эфире
Услышу песню про тебя,
Я подыграю ей на лире
О падшей радости скорбя
И шорох сонных мух по мокрому паркету
Вдруг остановит, выведет на след
И, смешивая горе с солью,
Намажет тусклым ножиком на хлеб
Огонь, вода, трамваев трепетанье
Слились в одно единое дыхание   
===========================================

Down And Up (lyrics inside)

Fivos Valachis: original composition, piano performance
Igor M.: Symphonic Rock arrangement, orchestration and lead guitar

Actually, there are stories from that Age much more appealing to me, such as a story about Adrian and Natalia or  about a woman named Wisdom with her daughters Creed, Hope and Love, than the story about Antinoos and Emperor Hadrian. 
 
However, my friend Fivos composed a compelling and inspiring music. So, thank you, Fivos, for this wonderful opportunity to participate in such an international project. 

I would like also to devote my arrangement as a humble tribute to Jon Lord whose works "Concerto For Group and Orchestra", "Sarabande" and "Gemini Suite" are one of my most important musical influences.

Well, imaging a stage with maestro Fivos Valachis on the pianoforte with Project managers band nearby. All of them surrounded by Symphonic Orchestra (basses, celli, horns, tromboons, various percussion) and let's Rock!  

Please also check other works in this open collaboration project - 
https://soundcloud.com/fivosvalachis/sets/antinoos-project-request

Triptych of Love - Pathos (By Fivos Valachis, Symphonic Rock arrangement by Igor M.)

My attempt to enter to a new genre :-) A bit of bassa-nova and salsa(as I undersand them) over my acoustic song. 

Everything is by Igor
The song composed with lyrics in 1999
Arranged and recorded in 2013-2015

The first guitar solo is absolutely spontaneous played with an index finger while recording the rhythm guitar part. The second solo is just a second take.

===== Translation ==========

What I remember about you? 
Now you are looking with coldness 
What I will take with me? 
And what will return back?

Let pour the cup with bitterness
And gulp down all the pain
The dawn has turned into midnight
And I've played my role

Now you are too tired to love
And I'm alone again
And there is no one to blame
Our way is unique

Disintegrated the thin thread
That has bound us
I just can't be with you
When you are looking with coldness 

...And they lived happily ever after


What I Remember

What I Remember (with lyrics)

This track has been possible thanks to the help of artists from USA/Russia/Germany/France on the base of a simple base track with leading ideas of giving tribute to French authors/composers Maxime Leforestier and Claude Nougaro's wonderful melodies (see links herebelow) supporting awareness on important issues at their time ...and nowadays still it seems .... Further melodic routes were found by all through musical interactions ... 
I feel I owe so much recognition to these great artists who understood my first musical ideas ...and pushed them to a height I would never had imagined :)

@kat330 for her singing (I love her idea of evoking native americans incantations)
@joerxworx whose sax is so soulful and who plays so well with other instruments (clarinet in particular which he understands and plays very well ;-)
@project-managers-trio : (Igor) for his amazing satrianesque/pagesque guitar solos 
@jules-keys-1 : for his amazing duduk play (armenian oboe)
https://soundcloud.com/johnbodi : for fantastic classic/jazzy colors added with the piano
Wonderful graphic image from : JT Lindroos


I'm the one behind all this, I play all other real (including rythmic guitar and my brother's old trumpet ! ..) or vst instruments ..; I  have been so happy to mix everyone's inputs 
Steph
@ddjohn

Places we were born : 
-  in the village of Salem in a land called Indiana (Kathleen "kat330" )
- in the small town of Nizhnie Sergy,  South Ural mountains area (Igor)
- In Köln, one of the major European metropolitan areas, located on both sides of the Rhine River, in southeastern Westphalia (Jörg)
- John was born in Szeged, the "city of sunshine", in the Great Southern Plane, on the banks of river Tisza.
- Stéphane was born  in Lyon, between Paris and Marseille, in the Rhône-Alpes region,  where the Rhône and Saône rivers converge 


 OUR sources of inspiration : 
Claude Nougaro : 
www.youtube.com/watch?v=n63woek9vzc 
Maxime Leforestier 
www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8dJQEF4cSk
Led Zeppelin : www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ed98_le…n-kashmir_music
The Beatles
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVf5Cr4M-F8
Joe Jackson (at the very end ! !)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oDAkmfoAgA
Joe Satriani 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c0WVU3tXBE

and my SC friends Barry and Chris !
https://soundcloud.com/chris-pendergraft/love-star-ep-ft-the-inconsistent-jukebox

Born Somewhere (Né quelque part)- feat Kathleen, Igor, Jörg, John &  Julien

Just a joke. A bit of fun in hard times.

Thanks Tom for your outstanding playing. Maybe I will do a real blues version of it some day :-)

Get Back to Saint-Petersburg (Tom Adam's Hello Chicago open collab))

Megan McCarthy https://soundcloud.com/megsmusicjourney - original piano improvisation "Sadness" (Open Collaboration) == Thank you, Megan, for this wonderful melody!

Igor - orchestration, guitars, production, enhancing the piano sound.

In memory of 224 passengers and the crew of Metrojet Flight 9268 heading from Sharm el-Sheikh to Saint Petersburg and disintegrated by a bomb above the northern Sinai on 31 October 2015. Also in memory of recent Paris events and all the victims of recent "hybrid" wars.

I believe there is an evil power at work in the world deliberately overthrowing stable countries one after another and turning them into bloody chaos. And that chaos spreads over borders further and further. Lives of millions of people means nothing to those who make such schemes.

For a year and a half I have this feeling deep inside. On the surface I can smile, can live normal life, but I feel it. There is no hope for peace. Only grief.

Grief.There is no hope for peace. (Contemplation over Megan McCarthy's piano piece)

work in progress

original composition by keyboard player and drummer Maxim K.
original guitars by Igor M.

Old Friend 2 (Project Managers re-union) work in progress

The sound of the destruction of ancient ruins and historical symbols remind us that barbary is striking again...history seems to repeat itself... endlessly...since the dawn of humanity... under constantly renewed forms .. peace and chaos...will that circle ever brake one day ?

The original musical ideas were further developped with my very talented friends Igor (https://soundcloud.com/project-managers-trio) at the guitar, and Julien (https://soundcloud.com/jules-keys-1) at the duduk ...to whom am very grateful for pushing further these ideas forward and bringing beautiful expressive new colors ... thank you for your listening to this imaginary trip in time and space.

Lead guitar and Mastering :https://soundcloud.com/project-managers-trio
Duduk : https://soundcloud.com/jules-keys-1
I took care of the rest 

PS -  I'd like to  thank here my friend Chris for one of his magnificent tracks which inspired me greatly 
https://soundcloud.com/chris-pendergraft/the-royal-chamber-psyche-orchestra-sacrifice

Echoes of World Chaos

Original composition long time ago: 
Andrew (@osteopat): chord progressions, riffs, intro guitar solo, vocal melody, arrangement for guitar
Igor:  Lyrics, arrangement for guitar
 
This track (c) 2017-2019:
Maria Smailova (@insinistra): performed vocals
Andrew (@osteopat):  composed and performed 2nd and 3rd guitar solos;
Igor: arrangement of orchestral, piano, base and drum parts , symphonic intro and outro sections; performed rhythm guitar part and intro guitar solo, mixing and mastering;


  
It started a long time ago when 2 cadets of a military academy were spending all their free time playing cheap acoustic guitars and imagining advanced heavy arrangements. So, we dreamed of starting our hard-n-heavy band. This song was a pure electric guitar piece with Andrew on vocals and guitar "duels" in the middle as in Power Metal style.

A couple of years ago I decided to re-arrange it as a Symphonic Metal piece and, maybe a bit, re-worked vocals part to fit female range following modern fashion. It was not an easy task to find a vocalist, but finally, Maria Smailova - soprano and composer of Insinistra band - contributed her amazing  vocals into this project (Please check their pure and dark Sympho-Metal style tracks with lyrics in English on their SC page @insinistra and their exellent collection of acoustic covers on thier YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwGXJx49UkjujJKygLCLjSg). 

It's also really amazing that Andrew found time and performed 2 freshly composed solos for the middle section. In the style of our old guitar duels. And we haven't played together for almost 2 decades.

So, thanks a lot to both Andrew and Maria for making this song happen in a new form. Another example of our song from that early era is here https://soundcloud.com/project-managers-trio/in-the-shadows-of-things

Verse 1:
With the scarlet signature of dawn,
The world's been crisscrossed.
Over the hills there, in the distance,
Again a purple feast is ongoing

Two waves've come running
They are armor-clad
All the spaces and worlds 
Have been put to fire

Chorus:
Ah! How beautiful is the battle for life
The battle for life bursts into the sky
Like a whirlwind a lightning beam 
Rips it up
Between the torn clouds

Verse 2:
But like a reflection
Between the walls of houses
The battle is ongoing between us
For thousands of centuries
The rivers of blood ruin again 
The shores of life
Everyone sees a new enemy
In a friend

Chorus:
Ah, how terrifying is the battle for life
It's a roar of the battle for life
The eruption of evil has shaken the earth 
As an autocratic judge
Is the Battle for Life

Куплет 1:
Красным росчерком зари
Перечёркнут мир
За холмами там, вдали,
Вновь багряный пир -
Две волны сбегаются
Вжатые в броню
Все пространства и миры
Преданы огню

Припев 1
А-а, как прекрасна битва за жизнь
В небо врывается битва за жизнь
Вихрем её разрывает молнии луч
Среди разорванных туч

Куплет 2:
Но как отражение 
Среди стен домов
Бой идёт меж нами
Тысячи веков
Реки крови снова рушат
Жизни берега
Каждый видит в друге
Нового врага

Припев 2:
А-а, как ужасна битва за жизнь
Это грохочет битва за жизнь
От извержения зла содрогнулась земля
Как самовластный судья
Битва за жизнь

Battle For Life (Битва за Жизнь) ft.Maria Smailova and Andrew Barokho. Lyrics translated

Igor: composition and arrangement, lead guitar part.
Maxim: drums
Anonymous Manager:  rhythm guitar

This is the first track I published on SoundCloud and the only recording as a trio :-).

111 (live as a trio)

Music by Igor
Chord progression had been composed during a few days before the recording.
Both lead parts are improvised while recording them.

Just 3 takes on the spot: rhythm guitar, a first lead and a second lead. 
Editing: deleted a few  extra notes. No compression and mastering at all. Only blended 3 parts as they were.

Gave a try to a birthday present: a Fender acoustic guitar

Winter Night Petersburg

All parts are composed and played by Igor

I created this tune playing along while my wife's niece (she was visiting us for a week) was jumping on the sofa. She grown up now, but the tune remains.

Have many versions of this theme using various scales and harmonics, two of them were recorded. 

This one is a fixation of preliminary ideas with some nods to my inspirations.

Fresh morning

Composed in cooperation with https://soundcloud.com/osteopat
Andrew and Igor: composition including "canonical" solo in the middle
Lyrics: Igor

This track is arranged, performed and recorded solely by Igor  in ~2008

This is a song from a year 1993 when 2 young cadets of a military academy were spending all their free time including night time in barracks playing cheap acoustic guitars and creating advanced guitar solos and songs based on riffs. They dreamed about starting their own hard-n-heavy band.

I used to call our style "Hard-n-Soul" for some reason, maybe from emotional point of view :-)

Here is some line-by-line translation:
===========================================================
In the shadow of things, among candles
By the behest of the heart and sadness
There are like a reflection of crossed swords
Your eyes, calling through the paths of despair
Once again the circle of fate is broken 
On the coast of the sea of dreams
I was left, and suddenly saw a dream
Where born, died love ...

But the silence was pierced by my cry
As a white trail in the far sea
And the pain subsided only for a wink
Where the ships of the past burned down

Stop worn path!
Your temptations chase us down to fall
I was beckoned by the shores of the waves   (comment - Russian wordplay “the waves” vs “elements“ vs “poetry and shores”)
And whisper of the evening rolling swell
Forget me “hard fate” (comment - Russian wordplay “hard rock” vs “hard fate/doom”)
Your cross is not for my shoulders at all
And below the line I am reckoning up
The scorching days, the mysterious nights ...

But the silence was pierced by my cry
As a white trail in the far sea
And the pain subsided only for a wink
Where the ships of the past burned down
=================================================

В тени вещей, среди свечей
По повеленью сердца и печали
Есть словно отблеск скрещенных мечей
Твой взгляд, зовущий сквозь пути отчаяния
И вновь судьбы разорван круг
На побережье в море снов
Остался я и сон увидел вдруг
Там, где родившись, умерла любовь...

Но тишину пробил мой крик
Как белый след в морской дали
А боль утихла лишь на миг
Там, где последние сгорали корабли

Остановись истертый путь
Твои соблазны гонят нас к закату
Меня манят стихии берега
И шорох волн вечернего наката
Забудь меня тяжелый рок
Твой крест совсем не по моим плечам
И за чертой я подвожу итог
Палящим дням, таинственным ночам...

Но тишину пробил мой крик
Как белый след в морской дали
А боль уихла лишь на миг
Там, где последние сгорали корабли

In the shadows of things (with translated lyrics)

Igor: a guitar
Maxim: drums

Don't know if this is audible at all, but here is a live combination of some ideas which was recorded during a rehearsal. So it's a bit too long

Just 2 instruments : drums and a guitar. 

Turnip turns up (live as a duo)

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita........
Je meurs de soif aupres de la fontaine......

Songwriter. Kitchen guitarist with inclination for orchestration and arrangement. Poet in the past.

I occasionally post solo works of "the other manager", my friend, drummer and self-taught keyboard player Maxim K.

My spotlight :-)
https://soundcloud.com/project-managers-trio/when-i-come-home-to-you