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Brief Notes on the Albums, with one free track from each: |
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| Chrysanthemum is free in its entirety! So is "Hecate Thawing!" | |
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Flute in Heavy Syrup These flute improvisations were recorded in March of 2009 in a process of meditation and self-soothing. There is a distinct Japanese influence as well as the influence of modern pentatonic music. These were recorded with Native American and Native American style flutes. |
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Flute improvisations recorded in June and August of 2007 and in March of 2009. Some are short; some have never happened again; and some have grown into compositions. Music and scents are usually considered luxuries, but they are pervasive and have been part of human culture for as long as wheat and rice; by now we should realize that they are staples, and should be available to everyone. Recorded on Native American and Native American style flutes, the melodies on this album lean more toward the uplifting and energizing spectrum, like a cup of lemongrass tea.
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Acoustic harp music describing those things that are slow, cold, solitary, disorienting, barren, windswept, poisonous, beautiful, peaceful and thought-provoking. A conscious attempt to introduce musical dissonance in the form of seconds, sevenths, tritones and unexpected notes. Structured improvisation that still allows for growth. |
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The Morpho Series is, first of all, about butterflies; the pop-culture chaos theory that a butterfly can flap its wings here, and create a hurricane elsewhere; the chaos butterflies. Part of the composition process is an attempt to know the harp, as if you’d know a person; their history, their aspirations and expectations; all facets of their personality; not just what is beautiful or good. Part of the process is exploring simply making sound. You produce a sound, and ask… What kind of sound is this? How do you feel about it? What will other people most likely think when they hear it? What’s its purpose? Does it need one? Is this the sound you wanted, or some other sound? What else can you do to change it? |
| Chrysanthemum - Ambient Music - Free! | |
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Ambient sounds in harmony with the Orange Chakra. This chakra is based on the note “D” and is the chakra of fertility, reproduction and love. It is translated through a dreamy wash of healing sound. |
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Cherry Blossoms is wire harp improvisation in springtime; shameless word painting with applied nontraditional pedal harp techniques and lots of glissandos for those who like them. Incidentally, the sound board on my Triplett Luna wire harp is also made of cherry, so this is a good metaphor for the sound “blossoming” as well. |
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Acoustic harp improvisation describing a feeling that passes with time. Discontentment; the auction you lost, letters never written or received; the friend that never calls. The album charts the process from the initial feelings of disconcertion through an arc of bittersweet wistfulness, to a resignation recognizing that everything passes with time, and that not everything is as important or pressing as it seems to be in the present moment. |
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Universe Two explores the subtle differentiation between day and night, using environmental and atmospheric sounds, Native American flute, and a grounding tone. Universe Two is also based on B-Flat, as in "Universe," below. The lowest note calculated to be vibrating in the universe is a B-Flat, fifty seven octaves below middle C, far below the range of human hearing, and is emanating from a black hole in the Perseus galaxy cluster, some 250 million light-years away. The note has been sounding for approximately 2.5 billion years. The B-Flat drone at 30.87 Hz represents this universal vibrating frequency. The Light compositions have a more open and meditative texture; the Dark compositions illustrate the condensation that comes with night’s cooling temperatures, encouraging movement and activity in the flute melody, yet illustrating somnolence with deepening harmonies.
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Universe is a blend of environmental and atmospheric sounds, Native American flute, and a grounding tone. "Universe" is based on B-Flat, see "Universe Two," above. Universe is meant to illustrate the dream-state of our daily activity. The flute song overlays a background of ambient harp based sounds mimicking wind and tides; the natural world is represented by crickets, peeping frogs and the gentle sounds of distant thunder. Bell-like sounds mimic humans’ industrial arts, invoking urban loft-dwellers. "Nine" from Universe - Click Here!
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Ambient harp based sounds; both gently stimulating and soothing, like the wind, and grounded in a root tone. Red Chakra is based on a low C note, associated with the first or root Chakra. Red is the color most commonly associated with this Chakra. The music is meant to soothe and contemplate. The polyphonic structure is based on the track “Harp” from my previous CD, UnderWater. “Harp” in turn is a modified version of “Starfish,” played backwards and smoothed to create a sonic fabric. The texture of “Red Chakra” is structured so that the first and last tracks are the most open and least intense, while the greatest activity occurs on tracks four through eight. Layering of repeated motifs allows each track a subtle difference, yet may induce a meditative state. Here's a free, three minute sample of "Red Four."
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UnderWater realizes the liquid effects of harp sounds through electronic enhancement. The track "Flute" is actually an enhanced Native American flute, and the track "Harp" is actually digitally altered harp music.
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UnderWater_Pure contains harp music recorded over several years, illustrating the exploration of new concepts, capturing a stream of thought. This is the first compilation and release of this material. |
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