Sad funerary song. Just the way I like it! *Sob!*

Dirge (2)

Inspired by Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells of course.  I played quite a bit of classical guitar  as well as electric on this, I love the middle bit with its tubular bells - very Christmassy - and the big electric guitar crescendo towards the end.

Tubularly

Buddhist chants meets acoustic and electric guitars and sparkly synths... This was the first song where I recorded my Takamine classical guitar.

Meditation

Atmosphere-3

An updated version, with more guitars and a more melodic ending.

Loupe

I used traditional Chinese and other Oriental instruments, but creating a Western-sounding melody with and a bit of cowboy Western thrown in. I then introduce electric guitar and slide electric guitar, and end up with shrieking electric guitar.

Oriental Occidental

Just a nice, mellow track with some of my vintage Ibanez acoustic guitar and some Mike Oldfield-esque electric guitar thrown in. I like the the bassline as well.

Chill Out

I like this song's simple, modular construction; four repeating chords, drum loops and arpeggios. But then the ubiquitous Mike Oldfield-style double-tracked guitars make their appearance again! :-)

Transit

I've always loved this song. I tried to do an authentic version using medieval instruments such as lute, flute and dulcimer. Simple, but nice.

Scarborough Fair

Another track I made whilst on holiday in Australia, using only my MacBook Pro, GarageBand, Spectrasonics Omnisphere and reFX Nexus 2. I didn't even have a MIDI keyboard, so I had to actually draw in and edit the notes one by one. Enjoy!

You Got Me Rocking

Kind of a dark tune inspired by the David Lynch movie 'Lost Highway'.

Lost Highway

Reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings, but wistful and melancholy. The piano melody underpins classical guitar and an orchestral flourish towards the end.

Dark Shire

A simple ambient track with cascades, risers, and a simple melody, with snippets of classical guitar, Dave Gilmour style guitar panned to the left, Mike Oldfield Platinum-era style guitar panned to the right, Mandy Smith vocals in the middle, and ended off with some lovely warm analog synthesizers. The drum track starts off very soft and takes about six and a half minutes to come to the fore…

Inspire

Lots of guitars on this one, sitars and slide guitars, grit and grime, strummed steel string and finger-picked classical guitar, tremolo guitars, electric guitars, the works!

Theuns Kruger's Album

Runaway

I was playing around with the Solid State Symphony Kontakt instrument from Indiginus. It's incredibly good value for money, easy to use, and even though it isn't a huge orchestral setup like Spitfire Albion it is great for putting together ideas. The step sequencer adds a lot of depth and movement, and the accompanying analog-sounding synth makes it sound even better. Here I just played a simple melody and used different articulations to play either softly, or big and epic. Sorry about the corny song title...

01/12/2017

Epic Drama

The piano is inspired by Star Wars, there's a bit of Depeche Mode-y synths, ambient Mike Oldfield-ish electric guitar, screaming solo on my new Ibanez electric guitar, rounded off with classical guitar. Experimental, but nice.

Pillars of Creation

Pillars Of Creation

Stargazing to an emotive melody, Gregorian chants, heavenly choir, apocalyptic brass and sweet classical guitar to a laid-back beat. How's that for a genre-salad?

Perseid Shower

This is for two of my friends; Mike Hilton outside Adelaide in South Australia - down the road from Ayer's Rock - for always having a kind and encouraging word about my music; and Potskerf Potgieter, one of the coolest people I know - and an actual didgeridoo master! I tried to combine didgeridoo, vocoder, crunchy rock guitar, a stomping beat, and some Mike Oldfield-esque screaming lead guitar.

Uluru

This is a virtual note-for-note recreation of Mike Oldfield's Musica Universalis off his 2008 album Music of the Spheres. I used GarageBand of all programmes, so it sounds a little clunky, but i did this in 2009, so don't judge too harshly.

Musica Universalis

A dramatic orchestral track with haunting vocals and classical Spanish guitar. A nice tune to test my new studio setup.

Moorish Invasion

I fiddled around with Logic Pro X's EVOC vocoder, as well as with iZotope's Stutter Edit, and also with Three-Body Tech's Heavier7Strings guitars.

Glitch In The Matrix

Thinking That I'm Crazy

This song could be the end credits to a Scandinavian crime thriller...

Aurora Borealis

Just a bit of fun with some old school electronic sounds.

Bleep - Bloop!

I wrote this song as a tribute to little Abby, and as a gift to her mother, Lizelle. Abby died tragically, aged only four years old. She was a happy child, with wide blue eyes and a beautiful smile. She was loved by all she met, and she will be missed forever.

When I think of you,
Your blue eyes like the sky,
Dewdrops on flowers,
Rainbows and butterflies.

When I think of you,
Your laugh and your smile,
Puppies and kittens,
Rainbows and butterflies.

I wish I knew where you are tonight.
The hole you left is deep and dark.
The storm rages, and the rain falls through the night.
We slowly, and reluctantly,
say our goodbyes.

But after a while,
The sun rises once more,
and breaks through the thunderclouds.
And everywhere I look,
I can now see,
Rainbows and butterflies!

Music, arrangement and all instruments: Theuns Kruger 
Vocals: Rosie Young

Rainbows And Butterflies

Another track inspired by that sad passing of little Abigail. I imagine her playing in an eternal playground with laughter and smiles, and squeals of delight, where a knee never gets grazed and a tear is never shed. I hope that people remember that Abby was a happy child who loved milkshakes, and playing outside. Hopefully the song conveys a little bit of the happiness and sunshine.

Music composed and arranged by: Theuns Kruger 
All instruments: Theuns Kruger

Playground

All Systems Go

All Systems Go!

Space & Time

A bit of new-wave space-age synth-pop vocoder throwback to the early Eighties!

Attention, Astronauts!

Pennywhistle, oboe, English horn, harp, and violin over a bed of choir and strings. This reminded me of the Lord of the Rings...

Memories of Lothlorien

Memories Of Lothlorien

I used only the original vocals from Flash Republic's In the Name of Dance, the rest is all me. The melody sounds nothing like the original, which is always good in a remix. Hopefully Tamara Dey and the Flash Republic gang will like it!

In the name of Dance (Oh No, Oboe! Remix)

It's not so easy to describe my music, but the influences are so diverse, the arrangements so kooky, that it is hard to slap a label on it. Each song is different, and the closest I can come to labelling is to call it 'eclectic', meaning that I derive inspiration from many different sources. Another possible label might be 'modular', because that is the method that I use to put the songs together; I break them into blocks that I can repeat or alter and reuse. I learnt this from listening to early Depeche Mode. Another influence is Mike Oldfield who has inspired me to make music 'without words', to let the instruments tell the story. Other influences include Faithless for their melancholy dance anthems and willingness to embrace diversity in all aspects of their music, as well as their awesome production quality. I tried to steer away from pristine production, because it is nice to sometimes hear a little hum from the electric guitar, or some fret noise or a little distortion. Keeps it real. Anyway, enjoy the playlist, and feel free to leave a comment.

Theuns Kruger

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