This tune was written back on the full moon of December. 

I recently came into acquiring a pair of tall waterproof boots, which have been wonderful for exploring wet & muddy places in nature when it's too cold to walk barefoot. 

I particularly love going for walking meditations in or beside various forms of flowing water, so now in the winter I can continue wading through water and passing my mala beads with each breath. Anyway, this tune was derived during one of these muck boot meditation experiences. 

It was a very foggy day, and while wading through the river and fog I found a particularly large oak tree to sit beside. The tree surrounded by the flowing river, dense fog, a stone wall, as well as lots of mossy logs made for quite beautiful scene. While playing flute there a mink ran along the stone wall, and inspired a fairly pleasant sounding tune to arise out of the flute. 

I originally wanted to give appreciation to all of the elements of the scene, thinking I might title the tune "Mink running along a stone wall beside a river, in dense fog, below an oak tree, before the rising of the December full moon". But I decided to go with simplicity and title it "Mink Moon". 

Instruments:
Kentucky mandolin, Burke low A whistle, Carbony high D whistle, Gold  Tone tenor guitar

Mink Moon

Recorded 1994 with a 4 Channel Mixer, Hifi Tape Deck ;-) - sorry for the bad sound quality!

Artwork M. Besinger (dad)

Demo Songs 1994

Miles to Go 1994 (remastered)

A neoclassical testament to the value of retreat,
where silence gives birth to the most profound expressions,
contrapuncting the noise of our world.

This is the 2nd movement of my Symphony "Alive!".

Composed in the silence, solitude and fears of the Pandemic Lockdown.

Sigh of Retreat

Are you a hopeless romantic?  I think this piece reflects the feelings of the expectation, hopes and dreams in a budding romance. And, the intense vulnerability of each partner. I read "a hopeless romantic is someone who is idealistic about romantic love and hopes for a fairytale ending".  If you have experienced heartache or a failed marriage, you know this isn't always true.  But the power of love pulls us back in ways unexpected.  Have no regrets, seeking love is worth it!

Romance

Words and Music by Roger Whittlesey. Bass by Noel Barrett. All other sounds by Whittlesey.  2024.

The Minutes of Night

Singing video: https://youtu.be/gFoG4xCyUc4

Opera

Regnava nel silenzio

Regnava nel silenzio - Quando rapito in estasi

Inspiration No. 06
Here's another little short tune for your enjoyment.

Inspiration

Inspiration No. 06

method: there is so much static around, so much distortion -  sometimes things are just messed up, sometimes even actively screwed up - until, that is, until you listen with those other ears and remember that you still have a different set of senses beyond the panicking ones
narration: the poem is an older one about becoming an adult, first made public - already many decades after composing it - in  the TINY INCLUSIONS chapter of my collection AUSLEGPAPIER,  2020
image: some of the setup employed in the acoustic recreation, copyright jo richter

poem / copyright jo richter:

on the road, he
found
a deserted smile

poor thing, all
covered
in wanton regret

.

traces of trust
lined
its inside gum

these, he scraped
carefully
off to enjoy in a jar

while the bile, he
handled
with surgical gloves

.


then, he remembered
losing 
it, and shuddered

traces - the aleatoric stimulus meridian response mix

Sunday Afternoon

Nocturne No. 1

Dark Ages

Original compositions played upon various acoustic instruments. 

At the moment, the majority of music I record is original folk tunes. Most of these tunes arise whilst out in natural ecosystems or shortly after visiting a natural ecosystem. The titles often reflect an aspect of the ecosystem I had noticed while the tune came about. Lately this is usually a species of bird.

Tin whistles and flutes appear the most often in my recordings; though mandolin, tenor guitar, lyre harp, jaw harp, dulcitar, and a handful of other instruments show up fairly often as well.

And here's some more music I've made along with my friend Dan Jones:
https://soundcloud.com/user-453898279

Mink Moon

Zach Schneider