I generally like to publish my ambient style relaxing and comforting sounds.  This is the reason why I built a studio and started composing music in the first place.  But I think the expression of music is a language that expresses the whole spectrum of human experience.  I am a multi-genre listener and enjoy the works from many cultures and moods.  So here is a challenge.
How would I express the experience of a real living nightmare?  With the power of electronic synthesis and some knowledge of psychoacoustics I will give it a try.  THIS PIECE IS NOT FULLY DEVELOPED YET ... but I will bring my listeners with me in experiencing a nightmare.  And be sure to listen to my next upcoming track "Escape from a Nightmare" ... your means of escape ;).
Thanks for listening (KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON !!!)

Night of Broken Dreams

I am sure during the present world situation we all miss a good rock or classical concert.  To fill in the missing space in our lives I have produced by the art of studio synthesis a mini-rock-concert that expresses a world held together by hope and brotherly and sisterly love.  And of course this expression in music has always had a part in bringing us together.  With the best of my studio resources I have produced this first track of the 'Holding Our World Together' album.  For those who do live music may this give you help and ideas in what you will do on stage as we return to the theaters.  May you play your sounds to once again "hold the world together"!  Peace my friends!

Holding Our World Together

Escape from a Nightmare

Pirate movies, pirate stories ... we all know there are certain elements in any music that goes along with this theme. Kind of a drunken yet captivating pace, dark and nasty as we say, that seafaring ring to it, and for me those low subrange notes that rattles the studio speakers ... the theater speakers ... your headphones.
Pirates ... well you would not really want to meet any of them ... but then again there is that pirate lingering in all of us. And this brings to mind the pirates I really enjoy meeting. July through August there is the Seattle Seafair and those Seattle Seafair Pirates that every year in Seattle I used to enjoy when I lived in Seattle some years ago. Can't make it this year but they were on my mind when I composed, performed, and produced this track. People who know me see me as a mellow sort of guy. I'll tell you a little secret. My wife lets me have a night out with the pirates now and then. After I let that pirate in me have a chance to express himself as in this musical piece I am then ready again to face the world again with the satisfaction of focusing that pirate in me to having peace with myself, my family, my country and our world ;). When I was putting all this together the sub-title 'Our St. Elmo's Fire' came to mind. Perhaps one of you story tellers out there can put some words to this story. You are welcome to it ;) ... just keep it in the spirit of being a great adventure story, something those Seafair pirates could enjoy!

Pirate Stories - Our St. Elmo's Fire

I started this piece several years ago when I first was putting my little studio together.  At the time my first listener was a Maine coon cat who always enjoyed listening to my sounds sometimes sitting on my lap as I was playing.  That old friend lived a long time for a cat but now only time separates us but I still sense that presence of my faithful listener.  Well you know those laws of quantum mechanics and that superposition of living and non-living seem to be the case.  But music and love can keep the relationships of past eternal.  I have recently found the beginnings of this piece reaching out to me across time and I have finally finished it for all my good listeners.

Reaching Through Time

Sonorous Suspense is a representation of the spirit of pioneering in music with synths.  When those innovative synth keyboards were coming out in the 70', 80's and 90's the pioneering artist of the day were experimenting with sounds that were never heard before.  My enjoyment of music comes with that pioneering spirit that I will never let go ;).  So here is a sonorous suspense experience based on the vintage KORG Wavestation with all it's quirks and sounds.  I will transition from classic suspense to a roller coaster ride of sonorous suspense ... hang on!  And for the season I will add some of that Mark K studio 'pumpkin spice' to the sound!

Sonorous Suspense

Waves of Suspense is the first and intro track of my 'Waves of Suspense' theme album.  While composing and playing this piece using a orchestral synth setup ... I was imagining those classical old black and white, deep light and shade contrast suspense films with a subtle blend of suspense, romance, and adventure with that 'Hollywood touch'.  Yes they had a way of giving the audience  a contemplative environment that was more like reading a story novel.  I will play this in a casual pace that seems to fit this idea. In the album more to follow on this interesting and entertaining  theme of suspense.

Waves of Suspense

There are times in our lives that can never be forgotten and certainly inspire our music expression.  Many years ago, in the late 80s I had the opportunity to experience a memorable little voyage that is the theme of this piece.  Along the coast of the state of Washington in a tall vintage ship christened the Sylvia. The owner of this ship who impressed me much was someone who loved to educate and share the exprience of being a part of such a journey, and even being given a chance of taking the helm at times.  Being so long ago I am not sure what has become of the Sylvia. But I did manage to find a newpaper clipping (in the Seattle Times) of this fine skipper's expression of what this ship was to him and all of us who experience being aboard her ...

“She was beautiful, built in Sweden as a sailing fishing vessel. Very comfortable in the water. Standing there at the helm, sailing along particularly at night, I’d get that feeling that 95 years earlier someone was standing right here doing what I’m doing. How beautiful is that?”

And now to my welcome listeners ... the "Voyage of the Sylvia"

Voyage of the Sylvia

A heartfelt semi-classical blues piece for those who yearn to find peace amid extraordinary challenges in life. This is my intention to share this with all who know what I mean by this.  I have enjoyed experimenting with many forms of sound and I feel that this semi-classical blues format fits the best intention of this theme.  Out of my modest studio yet extensive array of synth-based sounds is my Moog Voyager based backing performance, and some classy brass sounds.  I played these sounds in two layers where I accompanied my synth backing as a solo brass and also with some occasional lower scale brass bursts of 'I am with you'.  I hope what I am sharing with you meets my goal of wiping the tears with that blues way of bringing hope back to the hearts of my faithful listeners who could use a musical lift. To those who play real acoustical brass may this inspire you to do the real thing with the wind from you soul ;).

Peace In Blues

This track is track #2 of the released album "The Journey Home Against The Storm".  "Stream of Psi" is a soundscape that continues a journey home against the forces in our consciousness that we must endure before we arrive to the comfort and peace in our lives.  This track was produced primarily with vintage instruments or emulated vintage instruments and processors in honor of the veterans of the early synth days ;).  Frequency modulation and phasing techniques used throughout.

The Journey Home Against The Storm

Stream  Of Psi

Stream Of Psi

The Case of the Flying Pyramid composition was motivated by those Saturday morning mystery cartoons such as "Scooby Doo". The sound section in this case was a mix of software synths and special processing to bring the music to a more contemporary HD composition and soundscape.

from Mystery NOVEL, released October 21, 2018

Mystery NOVEL

The Case of the Flying Pyramid

I love those classics and the influence of Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Hitchcock motivated the cover art and composition. You may also detect a subtle saturation effect with typical sound chain effects and noise characteristic of the film tracks of the era that I was wanting to bring in here. And I added a touch of electronic musique concrete characteristic of the 50s and 60s that was the precursor to the synth sounds that followed. That explains the little intro at the beginning of the track. Hope this gives you the sense of the old mystery music of the 50s and 60s with all those discordant chords with the shrieking violins 
... minus the screams! 

I wanted the synth voices to be only hardware generated. The studio Ensoniq SQ-1, a Moog Mother 32, and the Timbre Wolf (great for the musique concrete part with all those analog knobs to turn) are the stars of the show here. I performed on the Ensoniq SQ-1 keyboard and got a little accompaniment from the Korg SQ1 sequencer. A little film track vintage emulation and spicing up of the sound being produced by the studio sound post processing section.

This is my first collaboration with another artist.  I would like to welcome Ayenzie to the "band" ;).  This ambient arpeggio based track is accompanied with Ayenzie's recital of his contributed lyrics:
"There's so many feelings that can be felt", "I can help you find light, you're a gift worth giving. Every soul on this earth has a life worth living"
This track is included on my "Soulful Season" album.
These sounds and the words are a soulful contribution to the Christmas and Holiday season.

Soulful Season

Soulful Expression

This is a joyous dance theme that I composed for the Christmas time holidays but it could be joyous dance listening at any time of the year!  This piece has the rich analog sound of the vintage Oberheim SEMs of the 70s.  I did my original mastering with LANDR which went well, but I did a little more sculpturing of the sound with Dolby to bring out some of the more hidden motions of the piece for my Soundcloud listeners.  ENJOY !   The original track is included in my "Soulful Season" album.

Celestial Dancing

I composed "Soulful Season" for the Christmas Holidays with the rich sound of multiple synths, analog and wavetable.  The accompanying chorus is produced using original Mellotron chorus samples from the "Squids Tron Collection".
Of course I gave the piece a touch of my soundspace special recipe for the holidays!
This track is included in the "Soulful Season" album that has been released.

What is complex yet soft?  To my listeners who have experienced this theme of expression this is your song!  Someone who we know may fit this description ;), and there is a technical side.  This piece which is part of my Mindful Journeys theme also has a technical complexity using FM synthesis on an excellent modeled DX7 emulated synth that will fill the air with complex yet mindfully soft expression.  At the keyboard I managed to reach the very high notes in this piece so be ready for them.  I had a similar studio setup to my Humanity's Compass piece and you might give that one a listen if you like this style.

Mindful Journeys

Soft Complexity

This track has dynamic evolving notes, with cinematic percussion, and theatrical effects.  I would say the influence I had composing and producing this piece came from the movie "The Right Stuff".  I imagined two to pilots together breaking the light barrier in interstellar space (with some theatrical representative soundscape).  In music there are infinite  possibilities in creating sound.  If you have "the right stuff" you can certainly compose, create, and break barriers!  It took a little practice to key the long evolving notes to get that theatrical sound I wanted along with the soundscape effects but it was a lot of fun as well.

Pushing The Envelope

As the season of holidays comes again the soulful, spiritual meanings come to my mind. And this has been to me a time to especially reflect on the aspect of peace. Only weeks ago in the predawn hours in my studio I sat at the keyboard and the underlying score of this piece of music came to me.

It is interesting how peace generally has the feeling of gentle whispers of sound such as "Silent Night". And yet it also can have a bold powerful climax of sound bringing a majestic joy and assuring sense that peace is more than a hope or a dream.

I brought the resources of my little synth studio back to a setup very similar my "A Classical Dream" track and carried over some influence from my "Soulful Season" track. And the spirit of this beautiful season once again can fill the air! Perhaps this can be a sound for all seasons.

A Time For Peace

This piece is part of my Mindful Journeys theme, that gives a soundscape expression of mindful thought and experience.  It has a very ambient theme and a gentle pace.  Another thing to note is that am using a lot of low ethereals that is a little out of the ordinary, but it gave a uniqueness that seems to add to the mindful expression. The timeline is filled with sound from many corners of my studio. Perhaps there may also be a cinematic sense to it.     Relax and experience the spectrum of mindful thought and enjoy!

I am primarily an instrumentalist but I have been asked at times if I will ever do a vocal track and will I ever do a cover song.  I think I would self-consciously feel that I could not match up to the many great songs and vocal artists that I love to  listen to here on Soundcloud ... let alone sing on a cover song.  Late last year when I did my Ambient instrumental "A Time For Peace"  I had remembered a song throughout my life that had given me the powerful emotional and spiritual feeling that inspired me to compose and perform "A Time For Peace".  And what really makes a song is the heart that is put behind the song and that is what mostly matters.  So I have overcome my self-conscious barrier and finally put my voice to the song "Turn! Turn! Turn!" that the song writer Pete Seeger arranged from words spoken throughout the ages of humanity but adding the words "a time for peace, I swear it's not too late".  But I am sure for every generation those words have always been in the minds of those who have known the original verse through the ages.
Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)
The lyrics can be easily found on internet search resources such as Bing and Google.
Thanks for joining me in this timeless song!
Credits:
I have produced this song in my own studio on my own instruments.  However I owe my thanks to eSoundz for making available the Mellotron chorus samples that I used for chorus backing.  And I give my thanks to tencymusic.com and karaoke-version.com for the use of backing tracks that were invaluable as an aid for me to produce the best representation of the song's popular melody, as I was developing the arrangement and my enhanced melody composition of "Turn! Turn! Turn!".  My heartfelt thanks goes to Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, and The Byrds for the many years I have heard and been inspired by this song!

Turning the Pages of Time

Turning the Pages of Time (Turn! Turn! Turn! - COVER)

There are two things about music that gives me the desire to be an active participant in the endeavor of producing and sharing these sounds.  I found that the best way to compose is to "play what I feel".  Whether a somewhat gloomy theme such as this "Aftermath" piece, or the cheery sounds of the holidays the ability to express in this way always is a heartening experience that makes me feel good now.
Many of my creations emulate large ensembles in large and timeless spaces.  But when I sit at the keyboard and at the production editor seat producing these sounds with the miracles of electronic synthesis I have in my consciousness the violins, pianos, cellos, drums, horns, guitars, harmonicas, voices and everything else ... with THOSE OF YOU who have those instruments dear to you in your hands wishing to participate in this beautiful ensemble of the world of music and I HAVE YOU IN MY HEART. 
Now and then if the piece can be presented in a reasonable form as a printable score I will publicly share my score with you.  This is one such a piece.  If you wish you may go to the Flat music score site where I have some of my scores publicly available to you and you are welcome to them.  
Note: This will soon be available.
A printed score for 'Aftermath' can be downloaded on FLAT (email me here on Soundcloud if you need help downloading the score.)
Enjoy ... I am always hearing the words Be Safe these days but equally important ... Be Musical ... ;)  !!!

Aftermath

Soundcloud puts a limit to how many can be followed by artists (2000). I apologize for now for the limit in follows. As many others I have enjoyed building a small studio at home to help me wind down at the end of the day or week.  Thought I might begin to share some of my creations.  I have the most fun with vintage gear and vintage emulated synths.  If some idea comes to me I like to experiment with the concept and put it to sound.  Thank you all for your comments!

Mark K

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