From the album "Stimmig" by Christoph Pfändler (Release 2024)

Haumesser

From the album "Stimmig" by Christoph Pfändler (Release January 2024)

Vogelherd

This song was commissioned by Skijarama (aka Tone Shift) for his D&D campaign.
» SKIJARAMA’S YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@Skijaramaz

Sometimes, there are beautiful little moments of spontaneous synchronization: a blend of last-second planning and joyful abandon that blend into a cocktail of unplanned but unforgettable delight.

Or, that time two Dungeons & Dragons characters came together to make some impromptu music at a festival as an elephant-man flew overhead whilst trumpeting and blowing bubbles.

This is probably the silliest thing I’ve ever made, but then, what better way is there to broaden my horizons as a composer? It also gave me the opportunity to write for the hammered dulcimer again, which is always fun. The sound effects were trickier – I scoured every “elephant sounds” video I could find and only barely got enough pachyderm trumpeting to fill this song with (seems the majority of elephant sounds you hear in recordings are reused over and over, usually in ever-worsening quality…).

Note: This version doesn’t include the eponymous toots & bloops. You can find alternate versions on YouTube:
» Version with toots & bloops: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv3v4qgoRHs
» Version with toots, bloops & a crowd ambiance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZiwL1HaSdc

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DOWNLOAD —
Grab this track for free in high-quality MP3, WAV, FLAC and other formats on Bandcamp:
https://joemcken.bandcamp.com/track/toots-bloops

Note that the Bandcamp post only lets you download the version without toots, bloops or crowd ambiance. If you truly want a high-quality download of the other versions, contact me and I’ll send it to you.

SHEET MUSIC (PDF) —
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kd80kd5in51apla32iri4/Toots-Bloops-24-04-07-01-56.pdf?rlkey=6tk1xruvh9qoxzph06yz49sx8&dl=0

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SOCIALS —

Personal website: https://joemcken.net/
Commission information: https://bit.ly/JMComms

You can also find my music on:
» Bandcamp: https://joemcken.bandcamp.com/
» YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@joemcken

For announcements and personal news, follow me on:
» Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/music.joemcken.net
» Mastodon: https://mas.to/@jm_music
» Twitter: https://twitter.com/joemcken_music

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SOFTWARE & CREDITS —

Recorded April 06, 2024
Software used:
» Written & recorded with Sibelius using the following sound libraries:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;» Claps & stomps: CinePerc
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;» Hammered dulcimer: Cinesamples Dulcimer & Zither
» Mastered with Ozone & Audacity

SFX:
» Crowd by Metzik on Freesound:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;https://freesound.org/people/Metzik/sounds/371222/
» Applause by kevp888 on Freesound:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;https://freesound.org/people/kevp888/sounds/639482/

Art:
» Illustration by Skijarama
» Canvas frame texture by Brenda Clarke on Flickr:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;https://www.flickr.com/photos/brenda-starr/5494874103

Download

Toots & Bloops

Teach me how to pray Lord
Teach me how to pray
Show me the right words, when I don't know what to say
It's not in my own strength, for in these times when I feel so weak
The power of the Holy Spirit, constantly intercedes

And He's touching me, touching me
When I'm on my knees
I lean not on my own understanding, but solely trust in You
For these trials I face I know that You're leading me through
Teach me how to pray, Lord
Teach me how to pray....  Heavenly dulcimer fades out.

Teach Me How To Pray

Good evening, friend. The moonlight jellies are close... I already saw one glowing in the distance. Once we launch the candle-boat, they'll come up to the docks and say hello. What do you think... should I launch the boat now?

///

The glow of summer has faded, now... and the moonlight jellies carry on toward the great unknown.

Dance of the Moonlight Jellies

i wanted to practice writing instruments more... still new to writing originals so i hope this is fine/feedback would be cool. the doodle i made is a little cute so i might make a small mv if i have time :)

no tre(k)spassing (ft. chis-a, uzuki, yamine renri, asane ema, adachi rei, ouka alice)

All acoustic track featuring hammered dulcimer and glockenspiel.

Pueblo Mountains Serenade

guilded frame

drift wood

settled when

chimacum rain

Song #10 in The Singing Grove album.

∞∞∞

I fell in love with Snowy Owls as a Grad Student at The Raptor Rehab Center of Minnesota back in the 1980s. They breed at the top of the world in the frozen Arctic and were not normally seen in the United States. But in irruptions, Arctic birds sometimes showed up in record numbers much farther south than their usual winter range. 1983 was an irruption year for the species.  

Snowies were inexperienced in the ways of humans, and we received many injured birds at the clinic that year. We helped many of them, and in so doing I got to hold them in my arms, feel the gentle softness of their luminous white feathers, and gaze into their blazing amber eyes. 

I have never forgotten that experience.

Snowy Owls now winter regularly in the US, thanks to climate change. Their complex Arctic ecosystem has been altered by global warming. This is a very bad thing for the Snowy Owl. They, like so many other animals unique to the Arctic biome, are in trouble. But now I once more have the joy of encountering these phantoms of the frozen wilds –– from a respectful distance, viewed through my binoculars and camera.

I still adore Snowies. They are sacred to me.  And so I wrote this song to share the mystery and majesty of these stunning phantoms of the Arctic. I hope you fall in love with them, too! I hope you care enough to save them.

∞∞∞
 
Music, lyrics, vocals, Celesta, and digital Bowed Glass Bowls by Diane Laura Rains. Hammered dulcimer by Stu Janis.

Copyright © 2018 by Diane Laura Rains. All Rights Reserved.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞ LYRICS ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

∞∞The Solstice∞∞

White foxes are sleeping
in their cool tundra bed.
Sharp shards of color
fold the sky overhead.
Ghostly and silent
in the calm winter air,
pale wings are hunting.
But the prey isn’t there.

In the snow is an owl.
And the snow is the owl.
And the owl hears the singing of Arctic ice
in the blue of the longest night.
In the midnight of shimmering light.

∞∞The Journey∞∞

Leaving home skies behind,
she seeks what she needs
over lands unfamiliar
far from Greenland’s cold seas.
Strange lights pass below her,
in a world upside down.
Endless miles! She keeps going
‘til she meets fertile ground.

In the snow is an owl.
And the snow is the owl.
And the owl hears the singing of engines in flight
in the din of the busy night.
In the midnight of airport lights.

∞∞The Window∞∞

Away again, yearning
for quiet and space
to shelter through Winter
with some measure of grace.
Then a field near a farmhouse
with one window aglow.
For now she will stay here;
she has nowhere else to go.

A child sees the owl.
And the child is the owl.
And the owl hears the singing of awakened sight:
spark of wonder in a mind burning bright,
like a candle flame in the midnight.

∞∞The Future∞∞

And we are the owl
seeking light from the faded year.
Will the midnight hear the singing of its darkest fear
as the snow and the owls disappear?

The Singing Grove

The Snowy Owl

Buy the album

SNOW BUNTINGS

Words, music, vocals, sleigh bells, electric Celesta, and Shruti Box by Diane Laura Rains. Hammered dulcimer and bowed psaltery by Stu Janis. Song art by Diane Laura Rains.

Copyright © 2018 by Diane Laura Rains. All rights Reserved.

∞∞∞

On a crystal cold day in deep midwinter, when even the north wind’s icy tongue was silent and humble, I stood beside white acres of sleeping farmland and marveled. Across a quilted landscape of glittering snow, nothing moved but my own rhythmic puffs of frosted breath. It was a moment of pure, unbroken calm and beauty. I had stepped into a diamond world, a precious, foreign realm.

Suddenly, a small flurry of motion at the snowfield’s edge caught my attention. I thought at first that a burst of breeze had stirred the featherlight snow. But in an instant, a cloud of lively white birds with black-tipped wings leapt up and poured into the air like a genie from his bottle. And I was granted a wish that I didn’t know I had desired.

Magical creatures! Buntings of snow!

∞∞∞ LYRICS ∞∞∞

Under the sundogs' icy glow — 
(Buntings of snow, buntings of snow)
shadows are skipping over the snow.
Restless buntings of snow.

Flocks of white birds flush and splinter
(Buntings of snow, buntings of snow.)
far from the bitter Arctic winter,
sheltered here in the snow.

Murmurrations right and left! 
(Buntings of snow, buntings of snow.)
Avian nations’ warp and weft,
weaving tales in the snow.

Buntings sing an Arctic prayer
(Buntings of snow, buntings of snow.)
with the falcon, fox, and hare:
May there always be snow!

Fragile Arctic species, finding
(Buntings of snow, buntings of snow.)
patterns of their lives unwinding,
melt away with the snow.

Bye bye, baby bunting.

Warming the year’s longest night,
(Buntings of snow, buntings of snow.)
holiday cheer and candlelight!
Sleighbells ring in the snow.

Giving gifts to one another,
(Buntings of snow, buntings of snow.)
what shall we give the Earth, our mother?
Ask her creatures of snow!

People make a joyful sound
(Buntings of snow, buntings of snow.)
planting seeds in common ground
nestled under the snow.

Healing of the sea and land
(Buntings of snow, buntings of snow.)
starts with human heart and hand,
and the wisdom of snow!

Snow Buntings

In many cultural and spiritual traditions, four Elements comprise the building blocks of our planet: Earth, Air, Water, Fire. Spirit is also often considered an element.

But there is a sixth element, in my view: Shadow. What is a shadow, that ephemeral and perplexing thing? It has form but not substance. It is both stationary and mobile. It appears and it disappears, lives and dies and lives again. It is a thing unto itself.

And if, as I like to imagine, there are Elementals all around us –– beings bound to a specific Element, like Sylphs to Air and Undines to Water -- then surely there are Elementals of Shadow, too. When I gaze out my second story window past the prairie, into the dark recesses of the woodland beyond, I think I see The Shadowlings move and metamorphose. I see them dance!

∞∞∞

The Shadowlings

Words, music, and vocals by Diane Laura Rains. Hammered dulcimer by Stu Janis.
Copyright © 2019 by Diane Laura Rains. All Rights Reserved.

∞∞∞ LYRICS ∞∞∞

We are the Shadowlings. We are the Dark —
the form you cannot see.
We smolder quietly under each spark.
We peer out from every tree.

We are of Earth, and we are of Sky.
We are the calm of the night.
In our arms deep roots are tethered to ground.
We give the blackbirds flight!

We appear substanceless in the betweens
where day concedes to night.
We give definition to luminous scenes,
without us there would be no light!

We tumble and change. We shrink and we grow.
Our mutable, shapeshifting dance
sways with each leaf and soars with each crow.
Our dark arms caress and entrance.

We are not quenched by the fires of sun.
We multiply in vivid light.
Cyclical battles we’ve lost and we’ve won,
for day can’t exist without night!

In lightning-ripped sky and ocean abyss,
strange shapes coalesce in our ink.
We rattle in hollows where gnarled gnomes exist.
We’re deep in your mind, where you think.

We contour the lands
and shelter the stars in our hands.
We hold the planets in place,
woven into the black voids of space.

In the shadows beyond human sight,
our restlessness grows toward the night.
Light as silk in a web spiders wove,
we are shades wafting through shaded groves.

We hide ‘til the sun sinks in the west.
Absence is what we do best!
In the twilight time we emerge
as the bonfires of daylight are purged.

And we dance in the dark
to the song of the cuckoo and lark
in the darkness we made for ourselves
by the quicksilver foxfires of elves.

Tangled brambles behind secret doors
polish our dark dancing floors!
In rocky, cavernous vaults
the Shadowlings gather to waltz!

The Shadowlings

She is the blue spark in every frigid snowflake. She is the smothering white veil of the blizzard. She is the mountain and the whirlpool, the deep black slumber and the blinding reflection. She is your own bones, blanched by the unfathomable power of Time.

She is The Cailleach.

∞∞∞

The Cailleach Tango

Words, music, vocals, piano, and ratchet by Diane Laura Rains. Hammered dulcimer and concertina by Stu Janis.
Copyright © 2020 by Diane Laura Rains. All Rights Reserved.

∞∞∞ LYRICS ∞∞∞

I’m The Cailleach, Cailleach Bhéara.
I walk the earth and make it snow.
I’m the Crone who’s sleeping on your doorstep
in the deepest dark you’ll ever know.

I’m the crack of ice beneath your footfall.
I’m the Cockerel crowing Winter morn.
In my lap I foster generations.
Seven tribes my wrinkled back has borne.

I rule the lightless!
I drop stones to raise mountains high.
I bring the wind and the storm.
I spot the Truth with my all-seeing eye.

When the Hag comes scratching at your window,
when the Bean Sídhe wails outside your door,
do not fear the singing of the night wraith.
Come outside and walk the windy moor!

I have no beginning;
count your own bones to figure my age.
I am the Stonehearted Sage.
The sleeping land needs my comfort
and my rage!

I was born old,
and young I’ll die again and again!
The delicious cold inside of me
hates the warm time that signals my end.

I wail and I rage at the close of each age,
as the skin on my hands starts to crack.
My facade peels away and I’m lost to bright day.
The Spring Maiden steals my power,
until I take it back!

The Cailleach Tango

Flidais is a fascinating figure in Irish mythology. She is a wild thing, a goddess  most at home in the vast forest with a herd of does and a magic cow for her companions. Born of the De Danaan – a clan of fae folk - Flidais is known as the Protectress of wild animals, cattle, and deer. In the old tales she has colorful encounters with men, as well. She demonstrates powerful magic and a powerful libido, as well!  

I see Flidais in the deep dark eyes of does who wander the prairie and woods that Stu and I call home. To them I dedicate this song.

∞∞∞

FLIDAIS OF THE FOREST

Words, music, vocals, egg shaker, and harmonium by Diane Laura Rains. Hammered dulcimer by Stu Janis.

Copyright © 2019 by Diane Laura Rains. All Rights Reserved.

∞∞∞ LYRICS ∞∞∞

A young man went walking in deep woods one day.
After some hours he lost his way.
Tired and confused, he sat under a tree, saying
“If no one passes here, what will become of me?”

He cried, “Can any, anyone hear me?
Won’t someone show me the way to town?
If not, I fear that I’ll surely perish
and leave my bones upon this ground.”

Then from the dark wood, a lady appeared
walking quite barefoot among a herd of deer.
Skin fair as milk, hair of strawberry gold,
gown green as young ivy, dark eyes bright and bold.

Upon her shoulder there sat a falcon.
Butterflies flew ‘round her head and settled like a cloud.
At her right hand stood a beautiful cow
whose lowing was musical, though he cold not say how.

“Lady, oh, lady, I’m struck as if by blows
to see such a fair maid in the company of does!
Pray, can you help me get out of this place?
Or just let me die gazing on your lovely face.”

She said “I’m Flidais — Flidais The Soft-Haired.
These does are my children, these woods my home.
And if I help you, you’ll be in my debt —
a debt you must honor wherever you may roam.”

And she sang, “All wild creatures are my kine
fox, deer, and rabbit, vital and divine.
If you’d take my part,
walk among my daughters,
swim with the otters,
follow the White Hart.”

“Gladly, oh, Lady, do I accept your terms,
for you’ve spared this poor man a death among the worms
But grant me some cow’s milk; I’m weak as a calf.
And when I’ve recovered, your favor may I have?”

“Sir, she is special, my cow, ‘The Maol.’
She does not labor in the fields nor in the dairy toil.
But you may drink and grow strong again.
Her milk and my favor have sustained 300 men!

When they were sated, she led him away
out of the forest, so he’d live another day.
“Won’t you come with me? Yon town’s where I dwell.
It’s there we’ll be married, for you know I love you well!”

She said, "I'm Flidais of the De Danaan,
born to the Fair Folk who dwell in the west.
I won’t go with you, for here I’m needed:
Protector of Animals. It’s they that I love best!”

And she sang, “All wild creatures are my kine
fox, deer, and rabbit, vital and divine.
If you’d take my part,
walk among my daughters,
swim with the otters,
follow the White Hart.

Follow your wild heart!”

Flidais of the Forest

Flidais Of The Forest

For millennia, reindeer have roamed the northern reaches of our planet, following ancient seasonal migration routes through the Arctic and sub-Arctic, boreal wilderness. Most reindeer birth their calves in the high Spring mountains, where lichens and other vegetation offer lush food. Then they retreat to the lowlands in Winter. They follow the tracks of their ancestors, navigating the same route year after year, century after century. It is the female reindeer who leads the herd. She retains her antlers through the Winter and into Spring, shedding them in the mountains after giving birth. Males drop their antlers in the fall. 

Humans have always had a vested interest in reindeer and their remarkable journeys. At least 2-3000 years ago, humans began shepherding reindeer. They followed the reindeer during their cyclical migrations and tamed them to some extent. These unique animals provided food, clothing, and shelter for circumpolar northern cultures in what is now Arctic Scandinavia and Russia.

The reindeer herders also derived spiritual sustenance from their furry companions in the form of an antlered goddess revered by reindeer people since Neolithic times. She was widely known as Reindeer Mother, and her people connected with her through the (mostly female) shamans of their tribes. Art, ceremonial burials, jewelry, and clothing of these ancient reindeer peoples tell Reindeer Mother’s story. These stories have passed down to modern day herders from their ancestors generation to generation, and today archaeologists study artifacts from those ancient cultures.

Reindeer Mother’s influence extended beyond Scandinavia and Mongolia into the British Isles. Her name is Elen or Helen in the old stories of Wales. To many she is now known as Elen of the Ways, for the straight track – the roadways, the deer trods, and the ancient migratory routes of reindeer – are her domain.  

With Elen, I too, follow the reindeer. I seek the straight track, the ancient pathways to help lead me beyond the things that bind me. For in my heart, I am a child of Reindeer Mother.  

And so I sing of Elen, of Reindeer Mother. It’s a very, very old and wondrous song.

∞∞∞

ELEN OF THE WAYS  

Words, music, vocals, frame drum, sleigh bells, and electric Celesta by Diane Laura Rains. Hammered dulcimer by Stu Janis.

Copyright © 2019 by Diane Laura Rains All Rights Reserved.

∞∞∞ LYRICS ∞∞∞

In northern lands of the Midnight Sun,
where boreal forests grow,
nomadic herds follow their heart’s path
through the still and ancient snow.

People there speak of Reindeer Mother’s
track across the sky.
She bears the sun out of darkness,
and she helps her children fly.

Elen of the Ways,
Elen of the Ways.
She who walks where reindeer graze,
Elen of the Ways.

The first nomadic humans
followed reindeer where they roamed
to verdant summer calving grounds,
then to find a Winter home.

They summoned Reindeer Mother
with the shaman’s magic art.
She taught her people patience
and the path to the animal heart.

Elen of the Ways,
Elen of the Ways
helped us in our early days.
Elen of the Ways.

Eons passed, and most forgot
what ancient people knew:
to love the Earth with a reindeer heart
is the best thing humans can do.

Deer still tread the ancient tracks,
and I walk them, too.
I hear the song of the winging stars
and the call of the caribou.

Elen walks there with me
at each hopeful journey’s start.
And the deer trods that I follow
lead inside the human heart.

Elen of the Ways,
Elen of the Ways
takes me where the reindeer graze,
Elen of the Ways.

Elen of the Ways.
Tracks of Mother Earth:
amaze me all my days!

Elen of the Ways

Elen Of The Ways

Primarily a percussionist making arrangements of some of my favorite video game tracks

I've been songwriting since 1991.  I was a music educator for 23 years in elem. education.  I was called into music ministry, when the Lord said, I would have a fulltime music ministry.  I cut 5 CD's, which included Your Character Counts.  I traveled did concerts, shared my music in churches and other places.  I went to Asbury Theological Seminary.  I met my husband.  Headed towards becoming a pastor.  I served in a few churches along with my husband.  Now retired and living the good life from home I continue to write songs, and now I'm in process of digitalizing, all my songs and getting them out to the world.  IHCmusic1 youtube, itunes, amazon.com, iheart radio, spotify
Praise God this is His ministry, made God glorify Himself through the songs He gave me to write and minister through.

Ceol Sidhe is the married musical duo of Diane Rains (aka Crow Bard) and Stu Janis. [How do you say our name? "Kyohl SHEE"]

The Irish Good Folk (known also as "fairies") make astonishing music, called "ceol Sidhe" in Gaeilge, the Irish language. Bewitching, alluring, sometimes a little dangerous! It travels on the wind and lands where it will.

The music of Ceol Sidhe duo explores and celebrates the beauty and mystery of fairy music. We sing of the vast splendor of stars. Of an enchanting island hidden in magical mist. Of ancient goddesses and the alluring realm of Fairy. We sing of hearts both human and Fae.

∞∞∞


Header art: Greek Girls Picking up Pebbles by the Sea, by Frederic Leighton, ca. 1871

Composer in Québec specializing in orchestral, particularly soundtracks. My tools are Sibelius and a mountain of virtual instruments. (Also known as Noc.)

Open for commissions! See link below for more info.

COPYRIGHT/LICENSING: All original content on this page is licensed under CC BY-NC (https://bit.ly/CCBYNC4), except where otherwise noted.
TL;DR: Unless indicated otherwise, you can do whatever you want with my music – download it, share it, modify it, sample/reuse it in your own project(s), etc. – so long as you a) credit me as the original creator, and b) don’t use it for commercial purposes without my permission (just ask!).

New tracks tagged #Hammered Dulcimer