A few days ago, my quarterly ASCAP statement came in the mail.  I learned that three clips of music appeared in two History Channel programs last summer.  "Neptune - The Mystic" and "Venus - The Bringer Of Peace" from my AD ASTRA album were in a program called "Fly With Me".  "Mercury - The Winged Messenger", also from AD ASTRA, was in something called "Miracle On Ice".

Hopefully this is a sign of bigger and better things to come in 2009!

Rob

To put it bluntly, much of 2008 was rotten!  Most of the year between March and the end of December was devoted to ironing out computer issues and dealing with my grandma’s health.  She had a shunt inserted in her head back in March, to ease the water pressure on the brain.  Unfortunately, something else is going on that is affecting her memory, communications, motor skills, and the ability to stay awake.  I have to constantly prompt her to do things.  The decline really began about three months ago.  Before that, she was making great progress at getting back to normal.  On December 11th., she broke her right hip.  What a few days that was!  She came through the surgery really well and she’s presently in rehab at a nursing home for a few more weeks.  However, they had to quarantine the place because of the Flu since last week.  If any of you know some special prayer I haven’t already tried, please say it for her.  I would be so grateful to get her back home and more active.

My computer nightmares began in the middle of April.  It would freeze up with no warning and sometimes not even come back on.  I was told it could a power distribution to or in the hard drive.  I was told it could be the power supply or the processor.  I made many calls over the period of about a month.  It was suggested the RAM went bad.  So, I tried that.  I got replacement RAM and the computer worked fine,  So well, for four months, I had no issue.

In that time, you already know, I was able to record another Christmas album, ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS STAR.  (Sorry I didn’t get all the details posted.)  Then, the issue came back.  I switched the RAM again.  The trick worked for four days.  Well, I took it to the nearest Apple store, over forty minutes away.  The guy there was absolutely sure that my power supply went bad.  (I thought the power supply was the cord and the plug in the back.  Foolish me!  There’s a great big battery of sorts that sits on the bottom of a desktop tower that can go screwy.)  He said it had happened to him and it was all the same symptoms.  So, I trusted him.  Guess what?  The power supply it was not.  It was now a toss up between the processor and the logic board.  To fix the logic board, it was going to take around $850.  The processor was roughly $400.  Reluctantly, I told them to try the processor first.

In the meantime, having lost all my faith in Apple’s so called geniuses, I made more calls and found a rebuilt computer, almost identical to the one I had.  This one came with a larger hard drive and a dual processor, but, it was basically the same set up.  I called Apple and stopped the work order and picked up my heavy piece of stainless steel junk.  Then, I went over and got the rebuilt tower for the $800 (it came with a year guarantee, the same thing Apple offers on new computers).

After another weekend of frustration getting the system tweaked just right, I then had to go through and reinstall a lot of software, sometimes up to four times.  (Complete and utter nonsense!)  In fact, I still have residual issues from time to time on that front.

2008 was just really bad.  I know that I normally don’t write depressing blogs, but, this last year really took it out of me.  It’s time for a lot of good to come my way!

And, some of it has begun to happen.  I was able to get three CDs released; ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS STAR, AD ASTRA, and YESTERYEAR CLASSICS.  I’m doing a collaboration with another really talented artist.  I’ve been getting some tracks played on Internet radio and I’ve seen a gradual boost in sales through iTunes.  As I write this, I’m setting up a page at Soundtrack.MTV.com.  More videos were created during those times when I could get work done.  There’s eighteen on YouTube at the minute.  Look for some more in the coming weeks.  In March, I’m aiming to release BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX.  So, there’s a lot of good to look forward to in 2009.

I’ll try to write blogs more often.  You have my word.  My wish for all of you is to have a safe and prosperous 2009!

See you back here soon!

Rob

ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS STAR Filled With A Mix Of Contemporary Instrumental Arrangements And Traditional Textures

When an artist releases a Christmas CD, they’re generally trying to cash in on the season.  Not so with Electronic and New Age musician Rob Astor.  As proven on his first holiday album (2006’s SHINE A LITTLE LIGHT CHRISTMAS COLLECTION), Rob creates beauty that not only enhances time honored classics, the effort he puts into his creations simply breathes new life into them.  The same can be said of his new Christmas CD ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS STAR.

Continuing with a tradition to top himself on subsequent releases, Rob Astor’s ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS STAR takes apart any conventional thinking when it comes to recording well known holiday chestnuts and placing them side-by-side with titles a bit more obscure.

ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS STAR opens with an unusually brilliant reworking of the “Snow Waltz”.  As if orchestrated with Mannheim Steamroller in mind, the music takes off with a pulsing electric guitar panning between sound channels while keyboard textures create a snowy musical backdrop.  From one flurry of sound into another, “The Winds Of Yule (Carol Of The Bells)” has a very similar feel to the album’s opening track.  Starting out strong, the music relaxes in the middle, then Rob brings the intensity up again at the end.

Taking liberties of all kinds, Rob Astor transforms “O Christmas Tree” into a toe-tapping pleaser, adding elements of Contemporary, Jazz, and Southern Gospel into his arrangement.  “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” has a magical intro while the overall feel is of Children opening presents on Christmas Eve.

Four additional traditionals on ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS STAR go through a similar reworking while encountering the creativity of Rob Astor.  “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” relies on building around percussion and brass.  “O Little Town Of Bethlehem” might very well be New York City’s Central Park in its new setting.  The message of “Go Tell It On The Mountain” sparkles in a Jazz Fusion cross pollination combined with bells and strings.  And, you’ve never heard the angels get down like you will in “Angels We Have Heard On High”.  The Southern Gospel Swing style arrangement is a splendorous, joyous jam.

For listeners seeking something a bit more conventional in arrangement on ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS STAR, Rob Astor delivers the goods with an assortment of tracks.  “Sleigh Ride” is up-beat and bouncy as ever.  “I Saw Three Ships” takes cues from the Julie Andrews version where parts of the music go up instead of staying in the same key throughout. Tchaikovsky’s “Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy” and “Dance Of The Reed Flutes” from “The Nutcracker Suite” also remain true to their written forms.

Enlisting help for this project, Rob Astor asked song writer friend Harry Grillo to do vocals for “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”.  The only vocal track on ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS STAR, Harry’s voice fits right in with the album’s selection of instruments that includes pan flute, lute and hammered dulcimer, bringing a more organic feel to the album.

In keeping with the theme of his first Christmas offering, Rob Astor also includes a selection of rare holiday tracks to balance the set.  On ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS STAR, look for those moments in “Echo Carol (While By My Sheep)”, “Past Three O’Clock”, Gustav Holst’s “In The Bleak Midwinter”, and “Still, Still, Still”.

Whether you’re searching for something new and different, or comfortable and familiar, Rob Astor’s ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS STAR delivers.  The selection of music and the arrangements used make this the only holiday CD you will need to buy this year.  Rob goes above and beyond the accepted norm of the season yet again.  ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS STAR has something for everyone.

ROB ASTOR’s AD ASTRA Is The Soundtrack Of Space Exploration For The Twenty-First Century

Electronic and New Age musician Rob Astor is no stranger to composing music inspired by the future of space exploration.  Three of his first six albums; MARSTROPOLIS, BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS, and RAHU; were either all, or in part, influenced by the future of humanity’s trek out into the solar system.  On his latest release AD ASTRA, Rob takes the idea of a grand tour of the planets and sets it to music with a heaping dose of inspiration from early twentieth century composer Gustav Holst.

From 1914 to 1916, as World War I ravaged Europe, Gustav Holst wrote his most memorable work, his famed “Planets Suite”.  Although the music was based upon astrological connotations connected to the planets rather than astronomical, every composition fits in either context.  On AD ASTRA, Rob Astor not only re-imagined Holst’s work, he reinvented it.  In Rob’s own words, he created “twenty-first century settings” for music that has inspired him for two decades.  And then Rob did it one better.  The inspiration drove him to compose several original tracks to stand side-by-side with the “Planets Suite”.

AD ASTRA opens with an original composition by Rob Astor, the three part Symphonic Rock track “Tiamat”.  “The first movement is a musical take of the supernova that exploded and set into motion the creation of our sun,” Rob explains.  “The second movement is the gases drifting out into space and condensing into a star.  The third represents the creation of our solar system.”  “Tiamat” is one of Rob’s finest compositions to date.

Serving as a musical guide to many of the strange and varied stops in our planetary system, AD ASTRA is structured to begin at the sun and progress with each planet in the order of their orbits around our central star.  Instead of following the formula of the Gustav Holst “Planets Suite”, Rob Astor stops at Mercury first, the first of seven movements from Gustav Holst’s work.  “Mercury - The Winged Messenger” plays at a frantic, spasmodic pace, seemingly jumping through sound channels in the same way the planet speeds through its orbit.  Traditional orchestration layered with rock instruments and synthesizers is the theme throughout the entire two disc set.

The next sign post on AD ASTRA is “Venus - The Bringer Of Peace”.  The complete counterpoint of “Mars - The Bringer Of War”, “Venus” is as beautiful as “Mars” is aggressive.  The stunning version Rob recorded blends Classical and New Age to make the music sublime, dreamy.  A second track dedicated to the planet Venus makes an appearance in the form of John Philip Sousa’s late nineteenth century “Transit Of Venus”.  In it’s original form, “Transit Of Venus” is a march.  Determined to include this piece of music in his collection, Rob Astor slowed the tempo down to reveal it’s waltz structure and transformed the piece into a Neo-Classical/New Age ballet.

“Instead of simply including a handful of originals inspired by the ‘Planets Suite’, I also wanted to record music I feel fits well with Holst’s work,” says Rob.  “‘Transit Of Venus’ was one of those.”  AD ASTRA includes the fruits of his efforts in several unexpected ways.  Two pieces of music from ancient times; “Hymn To The Sun” and “The First Delphic Hymn” are woven into the rich tapestry of the album.  Another centuries old composition, “Goddesses” written by John Playford in the 1600s, leads listeners along an inbound journey to “Earth - The Home Planet”.

The second of nine originals, Rob’s stop at “Earth” is much more contemporary.  The music is an electric guitar ballad filled with the sounds of crashing surf, reminding us of how beautiful and unique our planet is in the overall scheme of the solar system.

Reworked Classical makes a first appearance on AD ASTRA in the form of Johann Strauss’ “On The Beautiful Blue Danube”.  “This was a track I was compelled to do.  It’s so closely connected to the scene in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ where the ship is docking with the space station in orbit.  This piece of music makes me think of the current space program, taking the first tentative steps out of the nest.  It just felt right to record it for the album.”

Taking a cue from Gustav Holst, Rob Astor attached an astrological meaning to his next original “Luna - Mirror Of The Soul”.  Beginning dark and ominous, “Luna” becomes atmospheric, forward feeling and reflective.  Keyboard layers create a sense of traveling through magical stardust.

Easily the center point of AD ASTRA, Rob Astor transformed Holst’s “Mars - The Bringer Of War” into a pounding juggernaut.  Often called the most aggressive piece of music ever written, the level of aggression is taken up to a whole new level, one that never lets up.  Much like the advance of war machines, “Mars” chugs along, crunching and grinding through remarkable electric soundscapes, reaching a hammering climax.  “When it’s done, you feel like you’ve been run over,  Flattened by a steamroller,” Rob says.  “I have this theory that Holst was commenting on the destructive nature of war in this piece of music.  ‘Mars’ represented the horror while ‘Venus’ represented the longing to escape back into a normal reality.”

Incorporating soundtrack titles into AD ASTRA, Rob Astor’s next music stop comes from John Williams.  “Between Mars and Jupiter are the asteroid belts.  I can’t think of a finer musical expression of the asteroids than ‘The Asteroid Field’ from ‘The Empire Strikes Back’.”  Rob’s version combines the film score with a concert version pumped up by electric guitar.  “‘The Asteroid Field’ is one of my most favorite pieces of music of all time.  I think it fits right in.”  Another John Williams composition, “The Planet Krypton”, makes an appearance early on.

Next up, the king of the planets, mighty “Jupiter - The Bringer Of Jollity”.  Opening with the sound of the planet’s magnetosphere, a trick Rob Astor sprinkles throughout AD ASTRA, “Jupiter” settles into a Neo-Classical/New Age/Contemporary mix, gaining power by the clever placement of electric guitars with brass instruments.  Serving as his own counterpoint to “Jupiter”, the next Rob Astor original, “Galilean Satellites”, reflects Galileo’s discovery of Jupiter’s four largest moons and the subsequent persecution he suffered at the hands of the church.  A sense of darkness pervades the track with a deep bass section, chiming, and low keyboard parts.  It makes the perfect lead-in for “Saturn - The Bringer Of Old Age” which is sleepy in its execution, making for a night filled with mysterious and troubling dreams.

Considered profane in its time, “Uranus - The Magician” takes on a persona of rough and tumble play in Rob Astor’s hands.  There are moments of science fiction sounding wit and parts that sound as if two players are sizing each other up.  Written for Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Mendelssohn, “Oberon Undoes The Spells” follows.  “I chose this track because the moons of Uranus are all named after characters in Shakespearian plays.  I was trying to find music to fill in for some of the more unusual spots in the solar system.”

One of the most inspired moments on all of Rob Astor’s AD ASTRA takes place during “Neptune - The Mystic”.  The final movement of Gustav Holst’s “Planets Suite” traditionally uses a female choir fading off in the distance, something very progressive in the early 1900s.  In keeping with the theme of reinventing Holst’s music, Rob chose instead to use electronic dolphin sounds with the female choir, creating a sense that life just might exist on other worlds.  The effect is surreal and almost eerie.

Although music was commissioned for Pluto several years ago, the discovery of Pluto happened late in Gustav Holst’s life.  He never wrote music for the new planet.  Instead of using the commissioned music, Rob Astor wrote his own composition for AD ASTRA entitled “Pluto - Bringer Of Change”, again relying on the astrological context, but also reflecting Pluto’s current status of demoted planet.  Because change is often difficult, the tone of “Pluto” is deep and dark, much like the far reaches of the solar system.

“Hydra”, named for one of Pluto’s two newer satellites, and the next Rob Astor original on AD ASTRA, follows.  Charming the listener from the start as opposed to a snake being charmed, the music flows like a reptilian dance misunderstood before revealing itself as mystical.  Then, the dance is once again engaged.

Diving deeper still into the dark, cold reaches of the solar system, Rob Astor takes the listener next to “Eris - Bringer Of Discord”.  Appropriately named (Eris was the goddess of discord), this recently discovered body is larger than Pluto and the cause for Pluto’s demotion to a dwarf planet.  On AD ASTRA, the title reflects not only this, but also the root cause of the Trojan War.  Building up power, it’s easy to imagine Eris marching uninvited into the wedding party and dispatching the golden apple that results in a contest between three very powerful goddesses.  Near the end, the track breathlessly pauses as if allowing the full consequence to sink in with nightmarish clarity, reality forever altered.

Picking up where “Neptune” leaves off, Rob Astor’s “Sedna - Inuit Mother”, is a musical tribute not only to this far flung body in the solar system, but also to the goddess herself.  Opening with the choir and electronic dolphin sounds used in “Neptune”, “Sedna” feels much more like a sister track to “Neptune”, taking Gustav Holst’s vision one step further.

The final Rob Astor original on AD ASTRA, “Nibiru - Planet Of The Crossing”, comes from Sumerian mythology.  “There’s a group of people who believe this is a very real object that sweeps into our solar system and creates havoc,” Rob says.  “I find the concept more fascinating than anything.”  Fascination is the underlying tone of the track.  Completely New Age, scattered textures play on the idea of discovery rather than impending danger.  It’s as if the listener has stepped beyond the boundary of our solar system and into interstellar space.

Closing on an uplifting note, AD ASTRA concludes with the wild Can-Can romp of Jacques Offenbach’s “Orpheus In The Underworld”.  Placing electric guitar at the lead, Rob Astor creates another masterful fusion of Classical music with twenty-first century technology.

Gustav Holst’s “Planets Suite” had been endlessly reinterpreted.  Isao Tomita created one of the more unusual settings in the 1970s.  Unlike Tomita, however, Rob Astor includes every musical element of the “Planets Suite” on AD ASTRA.  Rob’s originals and choice of covers only serve to enhance Holst’s music, and Rob’s vision of Holst’s music, and place the full “Planets Suite” into a brand new context.  Breathtaking and refreshing, Rob Astor successfully brings Holst’s work into the modern era.

Take a musical grand tour of the solar system and pick up your copy of Rob Astor’s latest release, AD ASTRA, today!

ROB ASTOR’s YESTERYEAR CLASSICS Is A Delightful Collection Of Popular Music From The Late 1800s To The Early 1900s

Best known for his New Age, Electronic, and Video Game influenced music, Rob Astor turned his artistic vision to the past to create his newest album YESTERYEAR CLASSICS.  Delightfully charming, the selections on this set sound like the music played while riding a merry-go-round at a county fair.  The titles are so well known and infectious in their delivery, the listener will find themselves humming along.  After all, some of the tracks are so timeless, their very fiber is woven right into the fabric of human DNA.

“There’s a lot of music from that era I think popular culture tends to overlook,” Rob says of his latest effort.  “Some of it certainly deserves to be remembered.”  YESTERYEAR CLASSICS is like taking a stroll down memory lane.

Every track Rob Astor recorded was well known in their respective time periods (primarily using period instrument sounds), creating glimpses of history.  Nostalgia not only surrounds the music, the music entices the listener to study the time frame more carefully, to fully appreciate where it originated and the conditions that inspired it.

More than half of the titles on YESTERYEAR CLASSICS are instantly recognized.  Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer” has to be one of the most beloved songs of all time.  Who could possibly forget “Give My Regards To Broadway”?  Or the highly unusual melody of “Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built For Two)”?  It’s all in our genome!

Still other tracks have fared well in later decades.  “Hello Ma Baby (Telephone Rag)” may best be remembered as the song sung by Michigan J. Frog in a 1950s Warner Bros. cartoon.  “I remember seeing it at least a hundred times on Saturday mornings watching the Bug Bunny Show as a kid,” Rob recalls fondly.  “Everyone wanted to see the frog sing in front of anyone and make that poor man a fortune.”

Important historical events are also connected to several of the titles on YESTERYEAR CLASSICS.  The lament of “When The Lusitania Went Down” marks the point in history where The War To End All Wars (World War I) was in full swing.  Civilians were no longer safe from brutal attack.  The patriotic anthem “Over There” became a rallying call for the United States to join the European struggle against the oppression of Germany.

Rob Astor also recorded three tracks closely tied to the most famous shipwreck in history, the Titanic.  The first, “Eternal Father, Strong To Save” (also known as “The Naval Hymn” and “For Those In Peril On The Sea”), reminds us how much of, and how important, spiritual influences were in music of the past.  The other two pieces, “Nearer My God To Thee” and “Songe d’Automne (Dream Of Autumn)” vie for the honor of being the last piece of music performed as the ship sank.  The latter, penned by Archibald Joyce, while not represented in filmed versions of the disaster, probably holds a stronger claim as many survivors said this was the last piece of music they heard.  The version included on Rob Astor’s YESTERYEAR CLASSICS is downright ghostly, sounding as if it’s bubbling up through water about midway through.

Rounding out the set are varied pleasures in the form of southern charm in “Old Folks At Home (Swanee River)”, rollicking fun in “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home?”, burlesque Vaudevillian in “You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want To Do It)”, warm orchestration in Irving Berlin’s “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”, and flights of fancy “In My Merry Oldsmobile” and “Come Josephine, In My Flying Machine”.

The cover art, created by Harry Dart circa 1900, reflects the mood of society before the first world war.  In retrospect, everyone seemed carefree.  People thought they could master anything.  They dreamed of a future free of all worries and ailments.  So, it’s fitting the picture goes with Rob Astor’s recordings of YESTERYEAR CLASSICS.  The carefree spirit returns.

NEW PROGRESS REPORT COMING SOON!

First of all, my grandma had the shunt inserted.  She’s doing well.  Now it’s a matter of watching the process reverse itself so she’s back to as close to normal as possible.  It’s been a long and bumpy ride, to be sure.  Some days are filled with absolute insanity, while others are so close to normal, you really couldn’t tell the difference.  As for what I’ve been doing musically, here comes the rundown.

When I last wrote, my work centered around music for the Sonic Remixed 2008 project.  “Collision Chaos Past” was finished and sent off.  The next track I recorded is a combination of two versions of “Sandopolis”.  The first part is the music similar to how it sounds on the Virtual Sonic CD.  It’s slow moving with heavy Percussion and has Electric Guitar thrown in.  The second half of the track is very much like the music from Sonic & Knuckles.  One of the problems plaguing the track was distortion.  While arranging and mixing, some of the layers were taken out simply because they really added nothing to the track as a whole.  A lot of correction went into the Drums and Cymbals for the same reason.  Magically, the distortion issues disappeared.  This allowed me to tweak a few Guitar parts and one of the Basses, allowing for a louder level.  In the end, the track works great pieced together with an Electric Guitar fade.  Unfortunately, unless the project later requires additional tracks, “Sandopolis” will not be on the Sonic Remixed 2008 release.  Seems like a lot of work for nothing right?  Not really.  It’s all in the learning process.  ;-)

The next Sonic track sequenced was “Volcano Valley”.  The beauty of this piece of music is the many layers of instruments.  With so many, the creation of a Classical hybrid arrangement became possible.  In doing so, the music transforms and transcends.  Video game music seems to be lumped into some sort of disposable category for the most part.  When anyone can go in and take the music to a whole new level, the depth and creativity not only become more apparent, the true talent of the writers emerges more clearly.

For example, switching a Synthesizer to Strings created a Neo-Classical base to launch from.  Adding a lowered Guitar part as a layer of Cellos sealed the deal.  “Volcano Valley”, in this newly created setting, sounds more like movie soundtrack music while retaining its identity.  Look for it later this year on the Sonic Remixed 2008 release.

The last track prepared for that album is another incredibly fun piece of music, “Panic Puppet”.  It’s wild to begin with.  When passing my way, it became five times more so.  The ending was restructured to have a pause before launching back into the main part of the music.  This effect makes the tune more aggressive.  Using Electric Guitars for the main instrument backed by a throbbing Rubber Band Bass sound set the music on fire!  It’s my plan to try to create a video around this one in the near future.  For several days, searches have been conducted to find good Sonic video clips.  If you know of any, feel free to send links.

From Sonic back to tidying up loose ends.  Some of the leftovers from “Technosaur” went through transformations of their own in preparation for use in the World Record track being created at the Electromagnetic Impulses network site.  What happened to the music was a matter of coming up with varying sounds to add texture.  So, the same piece was recorded in several ways; Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Cello Pizzicato, Violin Pizzicato, Tremolophone, and Xylophone.  Those all sounded the best to me.

At this point in time, I once again, foolishly, thought all the music I wanted to create was finished.  My sights were turned on setting up a page at SoundSugar.net where I still need to add music.  Trouble is, every time I try to upload a track, my browser crashes.  MusicForte continued to be my best outlet for physical CD sales.  I took a few days to make up another batch of my XENOPHOBIA album to send off to them.

By this time, creative urges began nagging me once again.  For a few days, I kept hearing “On The Beautiful Blue Danube” in my mind.  The urge was for me to record this to fit on AD ASTRA.  As I pondered the notion, I realized the urge was so strong because of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.  This music plays in the scene where the space shuttle is docking with a space station above the Earth.

As I went off in search of the music, another thought occurred to me.  Nothing on AD ASTRA, either by Holst or anyone else, was written for the Moon.  Earth’s Moon has a very powerful effect in astrology, leaving an obvious hole for me to fill in some way.  Remember, Holst wrote his “Planets Suite” about the astrological meanings attached to the planets.

While seeking out the music for “On The Beautiful Blue Danube”, I also went out in search of songs about the Moon.  One I had hoped to find was “Fly Me To The Moon”.  However, this song didn’t have the right feel.  The more I searched, the more frustrated I became until ideas of my own began to bloom.  My original composition to plop with the others down alongside of Holst’s “Planets Suite” was named “Luna - Mirror Of The Soul”.  The title comes from astrology where the Moon is a reflection of the inner self.

As I searched for songs about the Moon, I came across a song written sometime in the 1600s by John Playford entitled “Goddesses”.  I thought I’d also give this one a try since its sound and arrangement were very similar to “Hymn To The Sun” and “First Delphic Hymn”.  With three more tracks to work on, my recording sessions really weren’t finished after all.

With a renewed sense of energy, I dove into the beauty of “On The Beautiful Blue Danube”.  The first alteration I made to my version was to create a dreamy Keyboard opening leading into Guitars and Orchestra.  Some of the other tricks used included using a Harpsichord in the Horn Section, and an Electric Bass with the Bass Section.  This created a wonderful play of Electric to Strings and back throughout while, at the same time, lending power to the underlying waltz rhythm.  With rare good fortune, this piece of music came together far more easily than I had expected.

Where “On the Beautiful Blue Danube” once again serves as an orbital docking point for AD ASTRA, “Luna - Mirror Of The Soul” combines lower pitched spots to contrast the light and dark and eventually lead into the powerful juggernaut of “Mars - The Bringer Of War”.

“Luna” had a few issues for me to work though, the first being Tempo.  It changed a few times before I liked the mood.  The second was length.  The track ran back and forth between light and dark, to the point of too much repetition.  The music took a good editing , leaving only the very best parts in.  The first idea I had was to close the music on a punctuated note.  But, the more artistic side of me won out in the end.  The track closes with a sustained fade that sounds like stardust trailing off in the distance.

Opening with deep Strings, “Luna” flows into New Age Synth layers and Electric Guitars.  The music majestically sweeps along like a ship across the ocean, combining sound textures with atmospheric moods.  Much like a full moon, beauty is the order of the day.  Several days’ worth of work went into getting just the right sound and keeping the track on level with Holst’s music.

The last planned track at this point in time was the John Playford composition “Goddesses”.  For the sake of length, I rearranged the structure slightly.  Only one problem part came up.  Part of the Percussion reminded me of the sound of clopping horses.  Removing that part worked really well because the music sounded better there with Acoustic Guitar and Flute.  Once again, I had reached the end of my recording sessions.

For those of you keeping track, here’s the new final track listing for AD ASTRA:

Disc 1

Tiamat (by Rob Astor)

The Planet Krypton (by John Williams)

Hymn To The Sun (by Mesomedes, c.130 A.D.)

Mercury - The Winged Messenger (by Gustov Holst)

Venus - The Bringer Of Peace (by Gustov Holst)

Transit Of Venus (by John Philip Sousa)

First Delphic Hymn (from 130 B.C.)

Goddesses (by John Playford)

Earth - The Home Planet (by Rob Astor)

On The Beautiful Blue Danube (by Johann Strauss)

Luna - Mirror Of The Soul (by Rob Astor)

Mars - The Bringer Of War (by Gustov Holst)

The Asteroid Field (by John Williams)

Disc 2

Jupiter - The Bringer Of Jollity (by Gustov Holst)

Galilean Satellites (by Rob Astor)

Saturn - The Bringer Of Old Age (by Gustov Holst)

Uranus - The Magician (by Gustov Holst)

Oberon Undoes The Spells (by Mendolssohn)

Neptune - The Mystic (by Gustov Holst)

Pluto - Bringer Of Change (by Rob Astor)

Hydra (by Rob Astor)

Eris - Bringer Of Discord (by Rob Astor)

Sedna - Inuit Mother (by Rob Astor)

Nibiru - Planet Of The Crossing (by Rob Astor)

Orpheus In The Underworld (by Jacques Offenbach)

The rest of what I have to tell you is all about the busy work.  ;-)  You MySpace readers probably saw that I put six new tracks up in my MySpace player.  Be sure to leave your comments!  The rest of this past week, I’ve been working on getting the rights to legally release cover material.  It’s an involved process, and it entails some expense.  But, I think it will all be well worth the effort when I can release some of my favorite music, made over in my musical image.  I just know you’re going to love it as much as I do!

We’ve reach the end of another blog.  Funny how a month’s worth of time can be summed up in a few pages of text.  I’ve been really discouraged lately with my grandma’s health and this grind to try and get things on the right track to release cover music this year.  If you can find it within your means to send some good vibes my way, I’d really appreciate it.  I’ll try to post another blog soon.  Until then, I hope the world is treating you far better than it treats me.  :-)

Rob

At the moment, there are eighteen pages where blogs are maintained.  An additional one was canceled when I discovered the code for video formats wasn’t going to work out.  On every page compatible with what gets used, the videos for “Tropic Of Antarctica” and “Flight In Ursa Minor” were uploaded.  It was an all day project, even with a DSL connection.  (Posting blogs on that many pages requires about ninety minutes of work.)

Right after finishing that task, work resumed on the new track “Technosaur” for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX.  A lot of time went into getting the instrument sounds just right.  This came to a point where I realized there was simply too much music.  The first parts removed either added nothing to the existing piece or where cluttering things up.  When that happened, the Percussion went through a serious transformation as well.  The idea in mind was to go with a jungle sound; a mix of Tribal Drums and wooden Percussion.  They all came out.

Getting the textures was my next focus.  I rotated many Guitar sounds for a layer I’d written for an Acoustic Guitar.  None of the adjustments worked.  That part came out, all except a small part used as an Intro.  From there, the Percussion went through another transformation to bring up the volume.  Count-ins were created to lend the live feel of the other tracks in the BELLATRIX collection.

The last part giving me problems was a twelve bar section toward the middle where I felt slowing the track down to create a change in mood would be a good idea.  The part was classically orchestrated and did nothing except bog down the overall flow.  Removing that section cured everything.  “Technosaur” works much better as a straight Rock & Roll track.  Proof again that music can come to life through cosmetic surgery.

After months of waiting, I heard the decision about my story “Persephone”.  The publisher passed on it.  The funny thing was, I kind of suspected they would, however, the reason they gave had absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the content of the story.  It was quite comical, considering this was a romance publisher.  Remember, “quality editorial is paramount”!  “Persephone” will find a home somewhere.  I’ll keep shopping it around.

The next piece of music in my queue is also intended for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX.  It’s an Oriental flavored piece entitled “Mystic Temple”.

The track actually started out as two separate pieces of music.  But, I found a way to make them compliment each other in a single track.  The first half relies mainly on Acoustic Guitar.  There is a spot where a Keyboard comes in.  The music pauses, changes Key, and takes on Percussion and Flute.  In fact, I could hear the Flute in the music before even deciding to have one.  In this second part, the Acoustic Guitars crosses four channels, adding dimension not present during the first part.  It’s very mellow, almost magical.  The setting might be the inside of a temple filled with fine linens decorated with Japanese writing flowing in the breeze.  It’s very tranquil, very serene.

Once again, the next track is the last planned track for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX.  (You’ve heard me say that before, right?  ;-)  )  The track is called “Draco”, named after the northern constellation wrapped around Ursa Minor, the star pattern with Polaris, or the North Star.  In Greek Myth, Draco was one of the Titans.  While battling for control of the world, the dragon very foolishly tried to attack Athena, goddess of strategic warfare and wisdom.  Athena grabbed Draco by the tail and hurled him up into the sky.  Draco was caught around the North Star and became knotted and entangled as the Earth rotated, leaving the dragon forever imprisoned.  When star maps were drawn with lavish illustrations a few hundred years ago, Draco was often depicted as twisted or coiled.

When beginning work on “Draco”, I wanted to use some of the leftover parts from “Technosaur”.  This was an idea that sounded very good in theory, but, didn’t work so well in practice.  The music went through a transformation, none the less.  The Percussion was drastically altered to fit the mood the track took on.  In fact, at that point, it reminded me a lot of “Xenomorphic” (another track for BELLATRIX).  “Xenomorphic” has a very distinct march going for it.  “Draco” picked up some of that feel, but in a different way.  (To make sure I wasn’t rewriting a track, I kept comparing the two to make sure “Draco” was working on its own without borrowing too much from “Xenomorphic”.)

Gaining texture, however, did borrow an idea from another track.  A trick I used in “Kutulu” from XENOPHOBIA, except in reverse.  Part of the Percussion line was placed into a Keyboard and into an Electric Guitar.  The effect created is a low, growling pulse.  This brought the second part of the track to life in a much better way than the Guitar parts I left out of “Technosaur”.  “Draco” evolved into a sort of dragon march, building up from the first half of the track, reaching full potential by the second half.  Taking the minimalist approach once again did the trick.

At this point in time, all of my original musical work is finished.  Unlike before, this felt much more anti-climatic.  Maybe it’s because I know, deep down, the music will never be over.  Ideas will present themselves again.

The next thing getting attention was a track released by Duran Duran in 2004 entitled “(Reach Up For The) Sunrise”.  I’d wanted to do some Duran Duran for my INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION.  Unfortunately, as you’ll recall, none of those worked.  This time was different!

“(Reach Up For The) Sunrise” came together very quickly and very easily in comparison to most of my work.  It was as if this track was the one meant to be for my project.  The only part that took any length of time was the shimmering opening Keyboards.  The rest of the mixing and instrument placement went off without a hitch.

With one final idea in mind for the INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION, I started working on a track from the Vangelis soundtrack of “Antarctica”, the title theme.  Right after I started getting things going, I realized about half of the music was missing.  Unwilling to settle for just part of such a great piece of music, I scrapped the idea for that obvious reason.

Second project finished within a week’s time.  The creative juices were flowing, so much so, an idea for a cover graphic for INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION finally came to mind.  Using the upside down RA rune symbol, I’m going to draw it into a Guitar, possibly as a stand alone picture, or possibly using a drawing of myself holding it.  It will be red, my favorite color, and will look great!

My writing teacher, Mary Rosenblum, writes a weekly newsletter for the Long Ridge Writers Group.  Last week, she included a link to an organization that provides grant money for performance arts projects called Creative Capital.  I went over and checked out the site and then decided AD ASTRA would be my target project.  I spent a few days working exclusively on the proposal.  In many questions, you’re only allowed about one hundred words (Me?!  Only one hundred words?!  You have to be kidding, right?  LOL).  While answering the questions and outlining my vision for the recording, I had to be very careful about what I wanted to say in terms of how to say it in the very best way possible.  These things are good exercise, always.  The deadline is March 4th.  I don’t know how log after that I might hear any kind of decision.  Any financial effort I could get launching something a special as AD ASTRA would really be welcomed!

At this point, only four tracks of music required my attention, music for the Sonic Remixed 2008 project.  The one I chose to work on first is a bouncy, incredibly fun track for the level “Collision Chaos Past” from the Sonic The Hedgehog CD.  That’s the only title I’ve ever known the music by, so, that’s what I’m calling it unless I find out otherwise.  The track was part of the original Japanese score penned by Naofumi Hataya & Masafumi Ogata.  Like all the music used in the “Past” levels of the game, the music is very different than the Spencer Nilsen & David Young tracks.  This one has always been one of my favorites.  I really can’t tell you how fun it is. You want to get up and dance, that’s for sure!

Because I don’t do Vocals, I used a trick with the Basses to double for the really low Vocal parts.  One of the Basses pans back and fourth through the channels, just like the original recording.  The second Bass has a built in undulating sound.  The combination of the two filled in very nicely for deep voices.

The main Melody in the original is played by Flute.  In mine, the Flute is a gorgeous Synth sound combined with Electric Guitar.  The Rhythm section also became an Electric Guitar, bringing out more of the track’s underlying texture.  At the very end, I close with Percussion, creating a live feel, much like the BELLATRIX body of work.  In the final mix, my track is every bit as fun as the original.  I’ll have to keep you posted as to when the Sonic Remix 2008 project is ready so you can hear it for yourselves.  At the moment, I’ve run out of space on my albums.

Well, here we are.  We’ve reached the end of another two weeks of progress.  I’m hoping the next few keep going well.  Once again, I can’t promise a weekly blog at the minute.  I will try, though.

What’s happening in your life?  Share your thoughts with me.  See you back here soon!

Rob

First off, let me tell you about the personal issues causing the delays in my work.  Last year, My grandma started having issues with memory and communicating.  This set off a battery of tests to see if she had had a stroke, or if something else was happening, either related to age, or possibly not.  Right around the end of last year, the doctors discovered she has water on the brain.  It’s causing pressure which is affecting her memory, her balance, and her communicating.  She’s undergone many scans to be sure that nothing else was creating this problem, namely some blockage or another.  After everything was ruled out, the neurologist recommended a spinal tap with the possibility of a shunt.  Almost two weeks ago, she had the spinal tap and came through with flying colors.  That day, you would never have guessed she’d had one.  No lingering pain from it, and certainly no slowing her down.  She’ll be having the shunt inserted soon.  Thank goodness, this procedure isn’t a major brain surgery issue as I’d originally feared.  A tube is inserted to drain excess fluid from the brain down to the belly where the fluid is absorbed into her system.  It’s under the skin so she can’t knock it out combing her hair or anything like that.  At any rate, as far as her health issues go, things are looking much brighter and a lot more optimistic than they have for many long months.  The day after the spinal tap, she was having memory flashes, so, I know things are going to be okay.  This has been the reason for my being unable to keep up as well as before.  Not only was I preoccupied, I just didn’t have a lot of time.

However, I did managed to accomplish several things in the month and a half since my last progress report.  Now, I’d like to share all those details with you.  Hope you don’t mind!

2008 began with my doing a lot of behind the scenes busy work.  A page was created at iLike.  The Sonic Remixed Project will now be a yearly thing, so, I started hunting down music I thought I might like to do for the 2008 project.  There’s so much great music and so many games to choose from.  The tracks I narrowed down to are “Sandopolis” from Sonic & Knuckles (either that or Sonic 3), “Volcano Valley” and “Panic Puppet” from Sonic 3D Blast.  And the last track is from the Sonic The Hedgehog CD entitled “Collision Chaos Past”.

iCompositions added a new feature to their website making it possible for artists to sell their music on site.  Of course, I went over and added my store complete with all my CDs.

Early in January, I continued working on my AD ASTRA project by tackling “Saturn - The Bringer Of Old Age” (fitting considering my grandma’s health issues), and it took about a full month to complete.  The track opens with natural radio signals of the planet itself followed by a slightly extended Intro.  I went for a New Age and Classical feel for the overall track, using Electric Guitars sparingly.  Putting in a Bass Guitar helped give the lower sounds more power.

Periodically, I had to set “Saturn” aside as other things came up.  The first of these is something many of you might want to be a part of.  There’s a community of musicians at Electromagnetic Impulses (myself included) who are going to try to put together some music with a world record number of musicians.  I haven’t had time to create anything as of the moment, however, I did express my interest in being a part of this project.

The second distraction came in the form of more musical ideas for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX.  Three ideas presented themselves to me.  One is going to be called “Technosaur”.  The second is a fusion of two variant ideas I’m calling “Mystic Temple”.  The third didn’t get a name until later, but will be entitled “Draco”, after the north circumpolar constellation.

You may also have noticed I’ve been talking about music videos recently.  For the longest time, I’ve wanted to set some of my music to video.  One track I felt would be perfect is “Tropic Of Antarctica”.  It’s one of my favorites.  The title evokes images all by itself.  I started looking around for images and video.  Drafting a letter to Tom Dempsey at Photoseek.com, I asked for his permission to include some of his work in a video.  He agreed as long as I credited him properly.  From there, creating the video came very easily.  The ability to do this has been at my fingertips for four years.  (When I got my computer system, I knew I was getting it for multi-media projects.)  I’m still learning all the capabilities of this wonderful machine.

Over the course of a weekend, “Tropic Of Antarctica” in video format was born.  At the minute, the video is only up on YouTube, MySpace, and Last.FM.  Today, while I’m posting this blog, I’ll ad it (and “Flight In Ursa Minor”) to any pages where video is permitted.

One of my friends will be posting it on SingingFool.com in the near future as well.  (I guess it’s time to send out the second DVD, right?)  Speaking of DVDs, when I burned the video to DVD, I tested it on my oldest player, to be sure it would work.  And, WOW, did it ever look gorgeous on the 32” TV screen!

With “Tropic Of Antarctica” completed, I had ideas for “Flight In Ursa Minor” next.  Again, using images of stunning skyscapes and artwork, the process fused beautifully.  Be sure to check them out and let me know what you think.

The next video I wanted to do is for “Northern Lights”.  I ran into the issue of time where MySpace is concerned.  Recently, they’ve limited the length videos can be to ten minutes.  “Northern Lights” is over eleven minutes long.  I don’t know if this restriction is an issue at MySpace, but, I’m unsure as to whether or not I want to create an edited version of the track.  (I’m nowhere near ready to create the video at this point, so there’s plenty of time to mull it over.)

With these pleasant distractions out of the way, “Saturn” was completed at the end of January.  I thought I’d have a few more months ahead of me to finish the rest of the AD ASTRA album.  Fortunately, the process didn’t take that long at all!

“Uranus - The Magician” comes next in the line-up.  Again, I opened the track with some natural sounds, those of the planet’s magnetosphere captured by Voyager 2 in January of 1986.  The evolution of the music went from Rock & Roll to a fusion of Rock and Classical.  I remember telling Harry the sound put me in mind of the movie TRON for some reason.  If there had been a carnival scene in TRON, the version of “Uranus” I created would be the soundtrack, although not quite David Copperfield.

The next track I worked on was an ancient Greek hymn called “Ouranos”.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough for me to work with.  The music was only in two parts and very short.  Doing a full repeat added nothing.  My attempts to offset the Key did nothing, and neither did my trying a wide variety of instruments.  Lacking the feel and the vitality of the previous AD ASTRA tracks, I had to let this one go.

“Ariel’s Song” suffered the same problems.  This gave me cause to worry.  I wanted to have a bit more than my recreations of Holst’s material with some of my originals and a few covers tossed in.  I tried “Ariel’s Song” in differing ways, including playing it at half speed.  Nothing helped.  Reluctantly, I abandoned it as well.

Facing “Oberon Undoes The Spells”, I feared I’d have three strike outs in a row.  With more parts to work with, my optimism returned.  I slowed the tempo to lend length as well as extending the beginning.  Then, I went in and changed the structure.  There’s a long section in the middle that’s supposed to sound magical.  After the full track runs, I repeated the opening and the ending at the conclusion of the track.  It worked, renewing my confidence in being able to continue the project with only one lingering worry, “Orpheus In The Underworld”, the track I wanted to close the project with to give it an optimistic and upbeat feeling.

Before that point, there was more for me to do.  The next track, the last of Holst’s, “Neptune - The Mystic”, came first.  Without any sounds from Neptune (I couldn’t find any recordings anywhere), the track opens with a slight sound effect, a sort of computerized blipping, as if Voyager 2 was transmitting data back to Earth.  My idea for the track was to follow the template of “Venus - The Bringer Of Peace”; go for straight Classical Orchestration combined with New Age elements.  Those turned out beautifully.

In an act of sheer brilliance, I came up with an idea to make the Choir parts at the end sound even more ethereal.  Part of the layer uses the Synth Choir while a duplicated line was run through a flange effect to create Dolphin-like sounds.  Mystical and otherworldly is the only way I can describe the beauty of this arrangement.  The idea was born of the idea of Neptune being the Roman god of the seas.  Placing Dolphin-like sounds into this piece of music sort of brings the mythological and astrological together, I think.  All I can tell you is that “Neptune”, much like “Venus”, is stunningly gorgeous.  I can’t wait for you to hear it!

Leaving Holst’s work behind, completely finished, my musical journey deeper into the solar system now would be a reflection of mostly ideas of my own.  From Neptune on to Pluto I went, right to “Pluto - Bringer Of Change”.  This one was always intended to be a dark, brooding combination of New Age, Classical, and Electric Guitar parts.  There’s a sense of coming into the Greek Underworld, while at the same time, facing off the dangers and the unknown at the frigid edges of our solar system.  The music builds up to the overpowering, as I suspect discoveries out there will be in the future.

While visiting Pluto, the next piece of music takes a look at one of Pluto’s recently discovered satellites, “Hydra”.  In Greek Mythology, Hercules had to sly the Hydra as on of his twelve labors.  The Hydra was a huge snake-like creature.  When Hercules cut off its head, two more grew in its place.  A very dangerous beast indeed!

The music I came up with is a combination of Classical and Rock.  I get the sense of seeing the Hydra at rest, laying in wait.  It looks tame, but, the danger is very much there.  There’s a certain undulation in the Guitars and the Bass to help carry that ominous presence while Keyboards carry the fantastic, or the dreamy unreality.  I’m looking forward to 2015, the year the New Horizons space probe arrives at Pluto and we will know so much more about the minor planet and its host of moons.

My next stop was “Eris - Bringer Of Discord”.  For this minor planet, I was relying on the events leading up to the Trojan War to come up with the music.  Years ago, I had a discussion with someone who felt Homer blamed the entire event on Helen.  I said that was untrue.  Eris wasn’t invited to a wedding.  So, she shows up with a golden apple marked with the words ‘to the prettiest one’ and deliberately tossed it between the goddesses Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena who all thought it belonged to them.  Zeus declined making any such ruling between the three and had Paris judge the contest where each goddess offered him a prize; Hera wealth, Athena glory in battle, and Aphrodite the most beautiful woman in the world.  Naturally, Paris chose Helen, thus sparking the war.

The music I created builds up from dark tones toward a sort of march.  It’s a dark march, to be sure.  The Percussion borrows from “Mars - The Bringer Of War” on some levels, slowly propelling the music along.  The flow builds up into an otherworldly climax where all seems to stop, hold its breath, and wait for the outcome before a punctuated ending.

Smack in the middle of “Eris”, another idea came up for a track to include on AD ASTRA called “Nibiru”, which I’ll talk about more very shortly.

I also found some Duran Duran music for my INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION.  Remember, I couldn’t get any of their tracks to work for me before.  Well, I’m willing to give it another try for a track they released in 2004 called “(Reach Up For The) Sunrise”.  Another I thought I’d like to do is a Vangelis track from the Antarctica soundtrack entitled “Antarctica Echoes”.  We’ll see how well they work.  (The latter sounded like a great idea while doing the video for “Tropic Of Antarctica”.)

After completing “Eris”, I moved to some of the most distant places in the solar system, to a minor planet that might very well reach the inner edges of the Oort Cloud, “Sedna - Inuit Mother”.

There are two versions of Sedna’s story in myth.  Both start with she and her father going out in a boat.  They get caught in a rough storm and the father, fearing for his life, throws Sedna overboard.  She holds onto the side and he cuts off her fingers.  They fall into the seas and transform into Whales and other sea life.  Sedna sinks down to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean.  In the other version, Sedna is pulled up by a fisherman’s net.  He takes her to his home and nurses her back to health.  In both cases, she became the mother goddess figure of the Inuit peoples (those native to areas around the Arctic Circle).

I wasn’t able to get an opening Wind Harp to sound right for “Sedna”.  Borrowing on my idea for “Neptune”, Dolphin-like sounds weave through the opening music, eventually melding with Strings and a Choir layer.  Bass Guitar with low-toned Strings gives the track added depth.  At the center is a Keyboard sound I used to repeat at the end, making for a more dramatic closing.  Once again, I was relying on the mythological story to create the tapestry of the track.  I think I have captured the overall tone very well.

Depending on what you’ve heard, either as a belief, or in mythology, there’s a possibility that another large body exists in our solar system.  This large body may orbit the Sun in a very elongated orbit, or may orbit a brown dwarf companion of our Sun in a very elongated orbit.  Approximately every 3,600 years, this body swings in through our part of space creating havoc.  Derived from Ancient Sumerian beliefs, the object bears the name Nibiru, which translates to ‘Planet of the Crossing’, describing how it moves through our solar system.

From Sedna’s story to a realm of possibly complete myth or fact, my next stop was at “Nibiru - Planet Of The Crossing”.  Given that this object may very well pose a great danger to the order of the solar system and to life here on Earth didn’t figure into how I created the music for this track.  What I set out to create was a track based in wonderment and awe.  If Nibiru actually exists, I would be in complete awe learning all its facts upon its discovery.  This was the basis for launching into a track.

The tones are primarily New Age with some Keyboard effects sprinkled throughout to lend a sense of movement and disruption, but, not in some significant way; in the way of magical wonderment.  In fact, I tried the track in several ways, mainly with Strings and other layers that were peeled away because they were too distracting.  The music is soothing, calming, perfect to meditate by.  Toward the end, I did put in a short String layer to add to the cumulative sense of the music, just enough to give it a touch of something even more wonderful.  The final product is a straight New Age composition reflecting some of my earliest recordings.

Now that all the stops I wanted to make in the solar system were finished, I wanted to close AD ASTRA with a track of optimism.  Something to leave the listener with a good feeling.  My choice from nearly the star has always been “Orpheus In The Underworld”.  I thought this was a perfect choice, considering how much the outer solar system is associated with the Underworld of the Ancient Greeks.  My only fear was that the ideas I had for the track wouldn’t sound as good in practice as they did in theory.

When I began working on the music, everything fell together as if it was meant to be.  I had no trouble fusing Classical with Electric Guitars.  With a slightly extended Intro, “Orpheus In the Underworld” flows naturally out of “Nibiru” without subtracting from the calm of “Nibiru”.  I guess it really was meant to be.  And so, my musical journey through the solar system came to an end (unless I find some other track to include between now and later this year when I plan to release the project).  For those of you keeping score, here’s the complete AD ASTRA track listing with composers notated:

Tiamat (by Rob Astor)

The Planet Krypton (by John Williams)

Hymn To The Sun (Ancient Greek Hymn)

Mercury - The Winged Messenger (by Gustov Holst)

Venus - The Bringer Of Peace (by Gustov Holst)

Transit Of Venus (by John Philip Sousa)

First Delphic Hymn (Ancient Greek Hymn)

Earth - The Home Planet (by Rob Astor)

Mars - The Bringer Of War (by Gustov Holst)

The Asteroid Field (by John Williams)

Jupiter - The Bringer Of Jollity (by Gustov Holst)

Galilean Satellites (by Rob Astor)

Saturn - The Bringer Of Old Age (by Gustov Holst)

Uranus - The Magician (by Gustov Holst)

Oberon Undoes The Spells (by Mendelssohn)

Neptune - The Mystic (by Gustov Holst)

Pluto - Bringer Of Change (by Rob Astor)

Hydra (by Rob Astor)

Eris - Bringer Of Discord (by Rob Astor)

Sedna - Inuit Mother (by Rob Astor)

Nibiru - Planet Of The Crossing (by Rob Astor)

Orpheus In The Underworld (by Jacques Offenbach)

The final thing I’ve managed to do, other than writing this long delayed blog entry, was start working on “Technosaur” for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX.  At the minute, it sounds really different, in a very good way!  The music is more up-beat and will have a lot of Rock & Roll elements, fitting with what I already have finished for that set of tracks.

No guarantees, but, I will try to post a blog much sooner next time.  Until my grandma’s procedures are all taken care of, I’m sort of in a limbo myself.  Work continues, although not at the pace I would have liked.  Keep watching.  You know the details will come eventually.

I hope all of you are doing very well!  See you back here very soon!

Rob

Way back at the beginning of the month, I took a break to read a book a friend of mine wrote.  It’s entitled “Reality Therapy: The Influence Of Rollercoasters, Religion, And Rock & Roll” written by Mr. Jeffrey STONEking, President of Stoneking’s Island.  It’s my intent to write a complete review, just that I haven’t had much time.

As for Mr. STONEking’s autobiography, the details he shares of his life follow in a pattern of memories remembered, where often there is no logic or reason to the order, except events in our lives trigger these things, sending us backward in time with whiplash speed.  In a very Native American belief of circular time, you get details out of sequence, leading into a completely engaging story the more it progresses.  You share in his discoveries, humiliations, and gain insights into this crazy, mixed-up world we all live in.  You’re expected to know things beforehand.  Otherwise, you might not catch some of the undertones.  I have been present at a few of these events and heard some of them right after they happened.  In fact, some of his events have spilled over to my own life.  For example, there’s a story about a t-shirt with an eye which happened at the time I had Harry drawing my XENOPHOBIA cover.  Or the ending chapter “Equinox” which happened just as I had recorded a track of the same name.  We can all relate to being fans of certain musicians and have our own stories to tell.  Read some of his adventures involving some of the biggest names in popular music.  Ultimately, the story ends on notes of forgiveness.  The journey from being hurt and confused, to being angry, and finally reaching that goal, this is the thread holding everything together.

You can purchase “Reality Therapy: The Influence Of Rollercoasters, Religion, And Rock & Roll” by visiting the following link:

http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/ItemDetail~bookid~48226.aspx

At the time, I was also hammering out Olivia Newton-John’s “Twist Of Fate” for my INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION.  With a little tweaking, the final version came out very well.  Right after that, “Xanadu” by Olivia Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra fell into place.

Early on in the month, I set up a page at BETA Records to help further promote myself.  Some of the tracks that have appeared on other pages wound up in the player over there.

Next came the part where I worked on additional music for INFLUENCES, however, the tracks ended up not being completed for one reason or another.  “When Doves Cry” by Prince & The Revolution was one of these.  After a certain point, the Guitars stopped sounding just right.  I was also frustrated that I couldn’t find music for the full track, only the radio edit version.  The Percussion didn’t want to cooperate either.

Without starting, I decided against “Brown Sugar” by The Rolling Stones.  It sounded fun in theory, but, it just wasn’t for me after all.  Then, as I thought might ultimately happen, I decided against doing “Snoopy Vs. The Red Barron”.

Joined another website, Electrogarden, setting up the same basic page I did for BETA.  The tracks were virtually the same, or things that can be heard on any of the other numerous sites currently being maintained.

Went to work on getting the track orders for YESTERYEAR CLASSICS and INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION reorganized.  In the case of YESTERYEAR CLASSICS, the only change made was the traditional version of John Philip Sousa’s “Transit Of Venus March” being placed as the first track on the disc.  The previous track order remained intact.

It was another matter entirely for INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION.  This collection is divided now into three discs, all independent of one another, but bearing the same title.  What happened was, each set has it’s own subtitle.  When I release them, they’ll all have a different barcode.  (That way, I won’t get completely killed paying the royalties to the writers.  ;-)  )

Disc three was easiest for me to organize because I had a specific vision for it while working on the Xanadu music.  It’s subtitle is DREAMS OF FUTURE PAST with the following track list:

Twilight (Originally by Electric Light Orchestra)

I’m Alive (Originally by Electric Light Orchestra)

Your Wildest Dreams (Originally by The Moody Blues)

Sirius/Eye In The Sky (Originally by Alan Parsons Project)

Dolphin’s Intrigue (From Ecco: Defender Of The Future - Written by Tim Follin and Attila Heger)

Quartz Quadrant (From Sonic The Hedgehog - Written by Spencer Nilsen and David Young)

Stardust Speedway (From Sonic The Hedgehog - Written by Spencer Nilsen and David Young)

Speedway To Good Future (From Sonic The Hedgehog - Written by Spencer Nilsen and David Young)

Stardust Speedway Bad Future (From Sonic The Hedgehog - Written by Spencer Nilsen and David Young)

Rusty Ruins Of Metropolis (From Sonic 3D Blast & Sonic The Hedgehog 2 - Written by Richard Jacques and Masatu Nakamura)

All Over The World (Originally by Electric Light Orchestra)

Xanadu (Originally by Olivia Newton-John & Electric Light Orchestra)

Magic (Originally by Olivia Newton-John)

21st. Century Man (Originally by Electric Light Orchestra)

Song Of The Whale, Pt. 1 (From Dawn) (Originally by Tangerine Dream)

Disc two has the subtitle “Let’s RAWK!” with the following track list:

The Rover (Originally by Led Zeppelin)

Rhiannon (Originally by Fleetwood Mac)

While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Originally by The Beatles)

I Hate Myself For Loving You (By Joan Jett & The Blackhearts)

The Metro (Originally by Berlin)

Magic Man (Originally by Heart)

Sisters Of The Moon (Originally by Fleetwood Mac)

What Is And What Should Never Be (Originally by Led Zeppelin)

Another Brick In The Wall (Originally by Pink Floyd)

Magic Carpet Ride (Originally by Steppenwolf)

For What It’s Worth (Originally by Buffalo Springfield)

You’re The Voice (Originally by John Farnham)

Love, Reign O’er Me (Originally by The Who)

Barracuda (Originally by Heart)

Helter Skelter (Originally by The Beatles)

Whole Lotta Love (Originally by Led Zeppelin)

Black Dog (Originally by Led Zeppelin)

Misty Mountain Hop (Originally by Led Zeppelin)

Disc one is mostly a pop music mix I’m calling MIX IT UP with all the following tracks:

Alive And Kicking (Originally by Simple Minds)

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Originally by The Beatles)

Magical Mystery Tour (Originally by The Beatles)

I Think I Love You (Originally by David Cassidy & The Partridge Family)

Rain (Originally by Seat Belts)

What About Love (Acoustic Version based on the Heart version)

For Your Eyes Only (Originally by Sheena Easton)

Alone (Originally by i-Ten, based on Heart’s 2003 live version)

Dog & Butterfly (Originally by Heart)

Puff The Magic Dragon (Originally by Peter, Paul & Mary)

Tangerine (Originally by Led Zeppelin)

All I Ask Of You (Written by Andrew Lloyd Webber)

Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You (Originally by Stevie Nicks)

Soul Kiss (Originally by Olivia Newton-John)

Twist Of Fate (Originally by Olivia Newton-John)

Obsession (Originally by Animotion)

Baby, You’re A Rich Man (Originally by The Beatles)

Self Control (Originally by Laura Branigan)

Don’t You (Forget About Me) (Originally by Simple Minds)

All exciting, don’t you think?  I really can’t wait to be able to share them with you.  (I still have all the letter writing ahead of me to do so legally.)

Having organized those discs, I also went ahead and came up with a tentative tracking for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX.  At the minute, it looks like this:

Bellatrix

Neurogenic Cyberspace

Pathfinder

Diokolis

Flying Stallion

Olympiad

Ishtar

Music Box

Yearning

Just Because

Universal Paradox

Singularity

Calabi-Yau

Stairway To The Fifth Dimension

Summerland

K-Minor

Nile

The Velt

Equinox

Faces In Firelight

Xenomorphic

Lunar Rainbow

Kullat Nunu

Zodiac

Parallax

Tesseract (Hypercube Labyrinth)

Seduction Of The Minotaur

Conquest

Bellatrix (Acoustic Version)

Tycho Says, “Good Morning, I Love You”

Two more albums came out where you can find me.  One of them is the 2007 Christmas album from T. S. Klugh Studio entitled “Expressions Of The Season” featuring three tracks.  The album came so close to Christmas, I had no time to devote to trying to promote it.  It can be picked up from any of the artists on the discs with all proceeds being donated to charities.

The other is a net release, also featuring three of my tracks, called Sonic Remixed Deluxe.  All of it is very good!  Here’s the link to download:

http://www.mediafire.com/?dmtz0l1z0d1

Because there was such a good response, the project will happen again in the coming years!  More music for me to work on!

Went back to working on AD ASTRA, finally.  LOL  Gustov Holst’s “Jupiter - The Bringer Of Jollity” came together fairly well, except those personal issues made for a week’s worth of work in what I might have had finished in just a few days.  New Age ideas melded well with slight touches of Rock & Roll.

When I went to do Mozart’s “Jupiter”, interesting facts came to light while doing the research for it.  The first was, Mozart’s music is a full five movement symphonic track.  Not something I had originally intended to undertake.  Plus, the title was given to the track much later.  With that bit of  information, I no longer felt I needed to include this work with the Holst music.  If Mozart didn’t call this piece of music “Jupiter” himself, then I didn’t feel right going by a title given to it by someone else.

From Jupiter to the planet’s largest moons, the next track completed is one of my own for AD ASTRA, “Galilean Satellites”.  Basically, I wanted to create a mood, a sense of discovery and danger for two reasons.  The discovery part would be Galileo himself looking through his telescope at the planets, seeing those four points of light and realizing they were moons.  As for the danger, Galileo suffered at the hands of the Church until he recanted his findings.  Also, being in such close proximity to Jupiter is deadly; powerful radiation belts, comet and asteroid bombardments, volcanic eruptions on Io.  The music I was going for reflects all those temperaments, intertwining Classical instrumentation with New Age elements and some Electric and Acoustic Guitar.

And, that’s where I am in this summary of December 2007.  I wish all of you the very best in 2008!  With a little luck, I’ll see you back here next weekend.

Rob

In order to use “Rusty Ruins Of Metropolis” on an official release, one of the things needed was for me to know who wrote the music.  With a little luck, I did manage to find out who did the music for the Sega Genesis game Sonic The Hedgehog 2 and Sonic 3D Blast.  Next, I’ll need to figure out how to pay royalties considering half of the track is by a Japanese writer.

As hinted at the end of last week’s blog, I was going to record The Moody Blues this week for my INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION.  The track, “Your Wildest Dreams”, comes from their 1986 release The Other Side Of Life.  Keeping in tune with all the challenges I’ve faced doing cover tracks, this one was no exception.  Right away I discovered the music I had was all out of whack, both in structure and as far as some missing parts went.

If you’re familiar with the song, you know there’s a middle section of vocal “Ahs”.  This presented a unique problem.  Instead of doing those, I took a Verse and ran it as a Synthed out Flute.  Worked beautifully.  With all the corrections in place, the next big challenge was picking the right instrument sounds.  Several combination went into the Vocal layer before settling on an Electric Guitar.  Everything else was fairly easy.

Next, I went back to give “Crimson & Clover” another try.  How many times didn’t it work before?  ;-)  LOL  Well, it didn’t work this time, either.  Tinkering with two versions, I was unable to correct the central timing.  This time, I’m done with it for good.

While I was looking for the right music, I ran across a Fleetwood Mac track I thought I’d like to try, the Stevie Nicks penned “Rhiannon” from 1975.  Just on a whim, I played around with the main Guitar part until it was right.  Then, the next part fell in line.  And the next, and so on.  With the track going so well, I knew a glitch would have to show up.  As with the previous track, it was a matter of settling on the right instrument voice for the Vocal layer.  After a few attempts, and even changing the main part to another sound, the right combination came together.  The end version works very well.  An unplanned surprise.

Setting my sites on Olivia Newton-John, I tried “(Livin’ In) Desperate Times” next.  Unfortunately, the music was riddled with too many holes.  Several chunks of the second Verse were gone, too many repeated Chorus parts, and that great intro; all one big jumbled mess.  (I think part of the problem is that so many versions of this track have been released, no one remembers the true original, the same as the video version.)  So, another track was abandoned.

But, there was another of Olivia’s for me to try.  As I write this, I’ve begun on “Twist Of Fate”.  So far, it’s working.  Getting some of the sounds right is proving to be a headache.  LOL  There’s also been some minor adjustments to the music.  However, I think I can work this one out.  I’ll keep you posted!

Other than recording more music, this week I’ll also be looking into a list of websites where I just may be adding pages.  Yes, I know, more busy work!  Don’t remind me.  LOL

See you back here next week!

Rob

On Monday, those home made doughnuts took up every spare minute.  It really is an all day job.  Fortunately, I like to cook.  On Tuesday, the first signs of a cold took hold.  And if you now me at all, you’d know I really hate catching colds.  They just get in the way!  That was the unexpected part of the week.  However, the first signs of a cold didn’t stop me from making the apple pies and the lemon pies for Thanksgiving dinner.

Wednesday saw a mega dose of chicken soup.  This was the day I was a slacker, battling that darn cold.  The soup certainly made my throat feel better!  Dinner on Thursday was perfect.  I might not have been at 100%, but my appetite sure was.  Everything was so delicious!  My mouth waters at the memory.  In fact, I’m getting downright hungry just thinking about it!  ;-)

The sparks for future musical projects made a visit very briefly that day as well.  My brother Scott told me he’d found a Bass player.  They are going to record some more material or me to use at some point.

Back to work I went on Friday.  Having finished the Ecco track and the Tangerine Dream track the previous week, I was ready to sink my teeth into some more music to use for my INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION.  The first song chosen was originally recorded by John Farnham, his protest anthem speaking out against censorship, “You’re The Voice”.

In my musical collection, I have a few versions of this song; John Farnham’s original, a live version he sang with Olivia Newton-John in the late 1990s, and two versions by Heart (one left off their 1990 album Brigade, and the live version from their 1991 release Rock The House LIVE).  All of these would help me shape the hybrid I wanted to create for myself.

My idea was to come up with something combining Rock & Roll elements with Classical (similar to what I’m doing with AD ASTRA).  Starting the track was fairly easy.  Using a Drum count-in leading into Guitar, Piano, and Strings set the tone for the rest of the music.  The other part I wanted to change slightly was the ending.  The original version of  “You’re The Voice” has two complete choruses (if I remember right).  I extended this version to four, reflecting the Heart version in some ways, although the Guitar I used for the Vocal only plays in key spots during those last two, making the music just different enough to not get boring or too long.  Finding the right voice for both Guitars (the Vocal and the Solo) was a bit of a challenge.  I didn’t want them to sound exactly the same, nor sound too widely different.  The tone I picked for the Vocal guitar part is slightly lower than the final one used for the Solo.  Played together, it’s easy to tell when the singing part pauses and the other part begins.

One final alteration went into the ending.  It’s punctuated.  With a slight extension, there’s more power, I think.  I’ve been listening to “You’re The Voice” all weekend.  I really love how it turned out!

Should I tell you about this girl I knew once back in the early 1990s?  Her name was Ann and she was blind.  She told me this story about how she was trying to tape this song off the radio when it first came out.  The picture I had in mind was hilarious.  To get the signal in right, she had to climb up on furniture and spread limbs out holding hangers.  (She lived in the mountains out in the country where signals weren’t easy to make come in clear.)  Well, the picture I had in mind was the girl on top of a dresser stacked on a table balanced on a chair.  She’s doing a Swan Lake kind of pose with hangers in each hand and tin foil wrapped in her hair while being wired to this little transistor radio propped on the window ledge.  As a human antenna, Ann did manage to tape the song off the radio.  But, the visual image she left me was priceless!  She’d probably hunt me down if she knew I told you this story.  So, let’s keep it between us!  LOL

The next track I worked on is a bit more obscure, however, the group of people who recorded it have been a more recent influence on my music.  The track is called “Rain”.  It was put together by Tim Jensen and Yoko Kanno.

Yoko Kanno’s group Seat Belts performed it with two different vocalists.  The official version was sung by Steve Conte.  The version I like best was sung by Mai Yamane (who’s a very powerful singer, by the way).  In the late 1990s, Yoko Kanno recorded a lot of music for the Japanese anime series Cowboy Bebop.  Steve Conte did some great work on the songs “No Reply” and “Call Me Call Me”.  Mai Yamane, however, really scored vocally on a handful of tracks that included her version of  “Rain” as well as the show’s ending theme “The Real Folk Blues”, “Blue” (featured in the very last episode), “Pushing The Sky”, “Want It All Back”, and the lyrically brilliant “Knock A Little Harder” from the Cowboy Bebop movie.  (My favorite piece of music from the franchise is called “Ask DNA” sung by Raju Rammaya, also a lyrical masterpiece.  I also like the Reynada Hill sung “Cosmic Dare [Pretty With A Pistol]”.  The melody is irresistible.)

“Rain” is an Organ heavy track, much like Medieval Cathedral music, or something puts me in mine of funerals.  The idea I kicked around was very similar to “You’re The Voice”, go in and create a cross of Classical and Rock & Roll.  Well, considering the song is a ballad, the Rock part would have to be heard or felt in some other way.

Seven parts of “Rain” were written for Organs.  In my version, only one remained.  The other parts transitioned very well into String instruments, thereby creating a semi-Classical feel.  The Rock & Roll part came through the Vocal layer where Electric Guitar takes center stage.  Three different sounds were auditioned.  Again, the Voice had to differ from the Solo Guitar part.  Clearing that hurdle before with “You’re The Voice” made it simpler to do this time around.  In the end, “Rain” turned out beautifully.  Provided I can figure out the legal way to pay royalties to someone in Japan, the track should be on my INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION.

I’m in the process of updating my cNet page (music.download.com).  Last week, I put in a request to remove almost all the tracks to make room for new stuff from BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS and RAHU.  Once again, the remaining time of the week was spent uploading.  When the tracks are approved, here’s what will appear over there:

Raion Kapella

Chocotopia

Skyboarding

Get Vertical!

Flight In Ursa Minor

Six Moons Of Pluto

Aurora On Planet Rahu

Summer Rain On Ganymede

Walking In The Garden At 3 AM

Forest Of The Black Moon

And, here I am again at the end of another week.  Still lots more to get done.  The cold is clearing up and I feel The Moody Blues coming on.  What’s headed your way?

See you next weekend!

Rob

Before we cover that territory, some more behind the scenes stuff took place.  I’ve been following leads and suggestions for self-promotion.  Some of it involves registering at various websites.  Some sites work for me and some don’t.  It’s a fact of life.  The sites I tend to like best and that work best are those where I can upload tracks.  So, I sort of put myself into the position of spending a lot of time uploading.  (Yes, you hear me complaining about it, but, all grumbling aside, it does work.  ;-)  )

The site in question this last week, someplace called Last.FM.  I went over and spent two days uploading my entire released catalog.  Keep in mind, four of my six CDs are double disc albums, so, that’s a significant chunk of time and effort.  But, you can hear all the tracks by streaming them.  Be sure to go check them out!  Now that you can hear a complete piece of music, you’ll be able to decide for sure if it’s worth downloading from iTunes.

Right after this little project, I went over to upload the new material on TuneFlow and SoundClick.  Unfortunately, SoundClick has a size restriction.  Because of this, I didn’t upload either BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS or RAHU there.  I didn’t want to have just partial albums for sale.  (As a sales outlet, I don’t do well there anyway.  Remember the fact of life comment.)  Note to SoundClick; please increase the upper limit for the size of a track.  :-)

It was at this point in time where I could get back into creating music, or more correctly, recreating it.  Back to the world of video game music I went, back to “Dolphin’s Intrigue” from Ecco - Defender Of The Future.

The track itself isn’t too terribly complex.  What was are all the differing volume levels used in the mix.  They rise and dip all over the place.  To bring out some of the hidden textures, I added a Keyboard to go with the Violins.  Bringing out the String levels was more of a challenge.  (The Synth layer worked wonders.)  Good experience, though.  The end result is always the reward.  “Dolphin’s Intrigue” turned out to be a beautiful piece of New Age music with an Electric Guitar thrown in.

The only other track I managed to knock out was “Song Of The Whale, Pt. 1 (From Dawn)” by Tangerine Dream.  I’d wanted to do this one originally last year.  I thought it would be too difficult.  Working with Classical music (Holst’s “Planet Suite”) helped boost my confidence levels.

“Song Of The Whale” is on Tangerine Dream’s 1986 release Underwater Sunlight (as well as Journey Through A Burning Brain Anthology).  I first heard it around 1988.  The experience, for me, can be likened to a religious experience.  This track was completely unlike anything I’d heard before. The only way I can describe hearing the music was like being deaf and hearing Mozart, Beethoven, or Chopin for the very first time.  I was that moved!  Over the years, I’ve become more and more fond of the track.  It’s one of my very favorite pieces of music in the entire world.

Tangerine Dream proved a band could create music and not have to have a singer to make it special.  Another of their albums I really love is Lily On The Beach released in 1989.  (I’d dearly love to find music for “Radio City”, “Desert Drive”, and “Alaskan Summer”.)  The group combined New Age with 1980s Synth pop, creating the sound of perfection as far as I was concerned.  It’s this kind of perfection I continue to strive for in creating my own music.

Unlike last year when I felt daunted facing “Song Of The Whale”, I dove in head first this time around.  The all round challenge of it was a very good experience indeed.  To stay true to the original version, a lot of work went into getting the track to sound as close as possible to the original recording.  Some parts of the music and very large chunks of Percussion were missing.  (I’m getting much better at filling in the gaps, that’s for sure!)

Picking the instrument sounds was no easy task.  I couldn’t get some sounds to match perfectly, obviously, but, what I created has all the depth and feeling I felt when I heard the track for the very first time all those years ago.  Much like with “Dolphin’s Intrigue”, I did the recording in little chunks of a few minutes each.  There are some time changes and instrument parts that needed to align exactly, making it a tricky proposition.  I also had to figure out a few ways to lend power to the overall track and to the memorable punctuated spots at the end of both movements.  A lot of Electric Guitar tinkering took place as well.  Picture me jumping back and forth between my track and the original, making sure everything was all in the right place.  You get the idea!

When finished, I was not only pleased with the final outcome, but also glad I decided to undertake it.  “Song Of The Whale” is a part of my life’s soundtrack.  I’ll be very proud to set it aside all the other tracks I’ve recorded thus far for my INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION (Led Zeppelin, Heart, The Beatles, Electric Light Orchestra, ect.).

I’m unsure how much I will get accomplished this next week.  Here in the United States, Thursday is Thanksgiving.  (Happy Turkey Day to all who read this!)  On Monday, I’m making a batch of homemade doughnuts.  Tuesday or Wednesday, I have apple and lemon pies to bake.  Our family gets together at my mom’s for the big dinner.  There’s a few days where I might actually be productive.  When I emerge from the food stupor, that is!

What plans do you have for the holiday?  Whatever they are, be safe.  See you here next weekend!

Rob

At the beginning of last week, there were two new musical ideas to explore for the BELLATRIX sessions.  The first had the working title “Mind Bender”.  My idea here was to go for something in the vein of Mannheim Steamroller or the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.  As the music evolved and the String sections took shape, the title no longer felt right.  The new title became “Calabi-Yau”.

Okay, so a few of you are wonering where that title came from, right?  Calabi-Yau is a theoretical construct of cosmology.  It’s one way of looking at the overall creation of a place much larger and far more complex than our three dimensional universe.  Calabi-Yau space is a nine dimensional manifold.  Think of a ball with a lot of spikes all around its surface, and the ball itself as a complex intesestion of tubes.  Every part is an alternate dimensional plane.  Some are higher dimensions (five, six, seven), and some are lower (two and one).  In this hypothetical multiverse, our universe rests on the point of one of the spikes.  Every other spike represents some other universe.  Clear as mud, right?  LOL

Well, the music doesn’t pulse around in nine dimensions.  Although its fun for me to imagine that higher dimensional planes not only have extra spatial directions, but also cause sounds to behave differently.  Anyway, what I created musically is a track with that same feel as a huge, electrified orchestra.  It pulses and undulates in its own way.  Getting to that point required structural work, insturments playing in alternating octaves, Percussion changes, and finding the correct Electric guitar sound to sweep through the framework of the Verses.  Using so many layers also led to the issue of distortion in somme parts, requiring the track to undergo a few more minor tweaks to get the final mix perfect.

The next track was a every bit as challeging to complete.  It changed Keys threee different times and went through twice as many Electric Guitar parts.  Some of the ideas worked while others simply didn’t sound good together.  The track also changed Tempo several times for the Guitars to finally meld together.

The next complication was how to get the Strings to sound right.  The final solution for creating a mood?   Trill Strings.  They lend a sense of building up power. Or of creating darkness and danger.  Much like the previous track, this music went through sound adjustments before mixing properly.  The finished piece of music bears the title “Parallax”.

For those of you wondering, parallax is a way of measuring distances in astronomy by using the diameter of Earth’s orbit around the sun to see distant stars move against even farther backgound objects.

As this point, I had every intention of finishing up “Dolphin’s Intrigue”.   In fact, a few more hours were spent doing some mixing work.  However, inspirations sometimes cannot be ignore.  Two more track ideas popped up for me, demanding attention.

The first of these was something with a darker feel, something New Age along the lines of stuff from my first CD.  The title would be, without any doubt, “Tesseract (Hypercube Labyrinth)”.  (More on that shortly.)  What the music wanted was a low, slow Rhythm with some Percussion and Electric Guitar.  To achieve this, the track dropped to a lower Key right off, and the Tempo slowed a few times.

The original Percussion layer didn’t sound right took me.  Keeping the same basic structure, I converted it to a deep Keyboard.  That did work, very nicely in fact.  Mixing it with a low Bass Guitar added the crowning touch.  The original Guitar part also didn’t stay long.  It became a Chime, creating the Percussion I was going for.  Another part became Electric Guitar in three places, accented by Strings.

After getting the track togther and mixed, I waited awhile to see if it was still good later, and the following day.  There was a nagging sense of something wrong.  When I went back and listened again, I liked it better each time.  It’s low, a bit longer, and creates a certain mood.  Here’s why.  A tesseract is a fifth dimensional, theoretical mathematical construct, also known as a hypercube.  The music was intended to sound very geometrical and adhear to some strange math in the way I stuctured the music.  In fact, Harry mentioned to me that the opening might be too long.  I went back to see if I could safely trim it up and keep the longer version as an extended version.  However, the way the math is put together, I’d written myself into a corner.  I couldn’t do anything about the first part of the music without completely cutting the music in half.  And, that’s not what I, or the music itself, wanted.  So, I listened a few more times.  It works fine for me.  It does exactly what I set to make it do.  (It’s okay, really, if not every single listener likes every single track I happen to right.)

The last track finsihed this last week came from some unusual place.  I think I channeled Stevie Nicks.  The music is called “Seduction Of The Minotaur”.  The idea in mind here was to come up with another darker toned piece of music.  However, much like “Kutulu” from XENOPHOBIA took on a lifeforce of its own, “Seduction Of The Minotaur” did the same thing.  It went in ways I didn’t anticipate or dream of, but, completely surprised me in the end.

The Strings refused to stay dark, as did the Piano.  What I’d written was a more romantic Melody than I’d realized.  The second half of the track goes up higher, making the music lifting, heart breaking.  Instantly, I was put in mind of Stevie Nicks’ “Beauty And The Beast”.  Instead of having something dark and brooding, considering the title, the music if much more like some soundtrack for a fairy tale.  In any case, it’s very pretty and works perfectly.  “Seduction Of The Minotaur” is my own little “Beauty And The Beast”.

My ASCAP membership card finally came.  I guess I should be really excited.  And, I am, in a way.  Now, doing all the busy work of registering all my works; that’s something I don’t look forward to.  More busy work!  LOL

Okay, I’m kicking an idea around that requires a little help from you.  Off all of you reading this, how many of you have stuff up on iTunes?  Show of hands, please.  (I get around seventy reads a week at MySpace, many more at all the MyRealTalent sites, and who knows how many on the other dozen pages where I post this blog.)  Please let me know.  I want to include you in my idea, but, I can’t read your minds.  Please let me know if you have music for sale at iTunes.  Thanks a bunch!

We’re at the end of another blog.  Quick and easy.  See you all back here next week!

Rob

BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS and RAHU both showed up in iTunes.  They are out!  Yes!  It’s always a thrill to get more music out there.  Go listen to some of the tracks.  Download some.  It’s good stuff!  If you’ve visited my MySpace music profile, or any of the other number of pages where music is posted, you already know.  ;-)  There’s twenty-five, I repeat, TWENTY-FIVE over at Mood.MyRealTalent.com.  What are you waiting for?

Only one piece of music was finished within the last week, and, it wasn’t even the track I expected.  The SONIC REMIXED project was released over the Internet early in October.  Currently, artists who’ve submitted two tracks were welcomed to send in a third for an extended version of the album.  Naturally, I went right to work on an idea.

The idea in mind was a combination of two tracks.  I wanted to segue them together, something I hadn’t tried before.  The music in question comes from two very different games.  First is a track I’ve always known as “Rusty Ruin” (the second level version) from the “Sonic Adventure” game (if my memory serves correctly).  I’m sure it has a proper title, however, I don’t know who even wrote it at this point in time.  I remember many years ago when the game was released that Sonic music enthusiasts said it was one of very best video game compositions they’d ever heard.  After hearing it for myself, I did agree with the overall assessment.  It is a darn good piece of music.  But, I liked the second level music better.  It was a touch darker, adding an element of challenge and danger to the tone.

The second track I wanted to run it into is called “Metropolis”, from one of the levels in the “Sonic The Hedgehog 2” game.  (Again, I don’t know the music’s proper title.)  The idea I had in mind was to start with “Rusty Ruin”, transition into “Metropolis”, and then transition back out into “Rusty Ruin”.  The title I picked for my special remix is “Rusty Ruins Of Metropolis”.

Sonic music lovers might disagree with me, however, most of the music in the games is very simplistic.  And I don’t mean that to sound bad.  It’s just a fact.  In order for this idea of mine to work, both parts needed to have the same basic Bass Drum beat, have the same time signature, and play in the same key.  Fortunately, all three of these things worked in my favor.  To match the Tempo of both tracks, I made the “Rusty Ruin” part slightly faster.

Okay, so I get right into the music.  The second level music for “Rusty Ruin” has a very basic structure of three parts, all repeating.  “Metropolis” is the same, except it has two repeating parts with a fade.  So that the track wouldn’t get too long in my remixed form, I shortened “Rusty Ruin” into two repeating parts.

There’s a bridge part at the end of each part of “Rusty Ruin” that I was able to make blend into “Metropolis”.  Here’s how.  The Guitar part slows down.  From that point, the Drum beat of “Metropolis” kicks in as the “Rusty Ruin” part plays itself out.  At that point, the Guitar segues into “Metropolis”, which opens with a very distinct, wavering Guitar sound.  At the end of the “Metropolis” part, the Guitar again fades back into the “Rusty Ruin” ending, because it’s lower in tone, and finishes up.  “Metropolis” has a built-in pause in the Percussion, making the transition back fairly easy.  The beginning opens with a live feel while the ending has a slight repeat, ending on sustained Guitar.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the music not only works together, but, how well both blended together with the effort I took to make it happen.  The track may very well be a part of the SONIC REMIXED collection in its extended version.  Because “Rusty Ruins Of Metropolis” turned out so well, I’m also going to see if I can’t figure out how to include it on my INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION.

Everything else this last week was geared toward announcing BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS and RAHU to the world.  One of the first things was to make sure every site that has a store had the CDs listed.  The only exception is MusicForte where I need to send them the copies.

Someone over at UnsungHeroRevolution.com wrote to me.  They wanted to feature “Raion Kapella” on the front page over the weekend.  But, to do so, I needed to set up a profile and upload at least that track.  Well, I did set up the page and then uploaded all of BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS.  I’ll be adding my other CDs as time permits.  The drawback with uploading, even with DSL, is that the process takes time, no matter what.  For that reason, I have yet to add the two new albums to TuneFlow or SoundClick.  They will get there eventually.

The next thing I involved myself in was making sure the bio information on my pages was a bit more up to date.  With so many pages, it’s tedious work, even if it’s only a matter of cutting and pasting.  (Anyone willing to be a secretary?  LOL)

Submitting the official press releases was still another time consuming chore.  First, there are the free distribution services.  (If you don’t think they work, Google my name with an album title once and see what you come up with.  ;-)  )  Second, there are bulletin boards to place them on.  That’s the part that really chews up time.  I don’t know how many I posted to.  I can tell you it felt like several hundred.  LOL  And, I’m not even done!

If you want to get noticed, you have to do the work.  I’m doing the work.  Grumbling under my breath maybe.  But, it’s getting done as much as one person can do it all by himself.  I’ll keep chipping away until the levee bursts.  Where ever you are in your musical journey, keep doing what it takes.  I believe if you have the drive, you will succeed.

In the mean time, be sure to relax and blow off some steam.  I have the perfect remedy.  They are called BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS and RAHU.  Pick up your copies from CDBaby.com or from iTunes.  Leave me some feedback.  You don’t have to like the music to leave feedback.  Just tell me what you think.

Time for me to scoot!  More work to be done.  (I have sixteen places where this blog entry alone will get placed.)  Have a great week!  See you back here next Sunday!

Rob

ROB ASTOR’s RAHU, Filled With Outtakes And Alternate Versions Of Music From Previous Albums, Is A Soundtrack For Fiction, Film, & Nature

With the release of four studio albums and a holiday collection to his credit, Rob Astor has cleared his musical vaults, packaging numerous unreleased recordings as a double CD offering entitled RAHU.  The title is fitting for two reasons.  The first reason, in Ancient Burmese, the word “rahu” means “unseen”.  The second reason, a bit more complex, is as a science fiction author, Rob has been writing a novel bearing the title RAHU.

Packed with music intended as a soundtrack to three stories, alternate versions of previously released material, and filled out with brand new recordings, Rob Astor equates his RAHU collection to a box set.  “Musicians always have leftovers that just don’t fit on their albums.  I know that very well now,” Rob says with a laugh.  “In every sense of box sets being filled with outtakes and rarities, RAHU is my little box set.”

“Many of the tracks on the first CD are music I wrote as a soundtrack for the RAHU story,” Rob Astor says.  “I had an idea in mind to create a full blown soundtrack, thinking the story was good enough to be a film.”  The music goes with key scenes in the story.  Fusing the sounds of Tangerine Dream, John Williams, James Horner, Spencer Nilsen, Norm Orenstein, Biosphere, and Ken Davis, Rob Astor’s soundtrack works in a way that can only be described as Rob Astor in content.

Using a blend of New Age and Neo-Classical, the track “Life On Europa” is heartbreakingly beautiful, gorgeously magical in its execution.  Much like the story, the RAHU collection has many moods woven throughout its tapestry.  “Dinosaur Spheres Descending From Orbit” and “Earth Twin & Earth Parallel” build to a real sense of danger while “Aurora On Planet Rahu” is bright, filled with a sense of hope.  “Six Moons Of Pluto”, inspired by a recurring dream, “Sways in time with the thoughts of trees.”  The calming tranquility of “Walking In the Garden At 3 AM” will transport you to another dimension filled with the peacefulness of a midnight walk through nature.

The RAHU novel tracks are just a sampling of Rob Astor’s soundtrack visions.  “Summer Rain On Ganymede”, combining Jazz elements to sound rainy, belongs to a short story entitled “Ganymede Summer”.  “Dream Sequence”, “Approaching Storm”, and “X’hal Minor” were all written for another novel, BATTLEGROUND ALBANY.  Reflective of his John Williams influenced Neo-Classical work on XENOPHOBIA, “X’hal Minor” is built around converging String Sections leading up to complete chaos in the form of a pounding back beat.  “If I had a character named ‘X’hal Minor’ in the story of XENOPHOBIA, I would have placed the track on that album.”

Stepping back in time to early 2003, many of the tracks Rob Astor was working on remained largely unfinished because of a snowmobiling accident.  “As I began working on XENOPHOBIA and BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS (in 2006), I also wanted to finish the work I’d begun back then (in 2003).  I didn’t want this body of material to lay around forever incomplete.  The music wanted life as much as I wanted to give it life.”  The extra effort was worth the wait!

RAHU has a total of thirty tracks.  That’s two and a half hours of music!  Some of Rob Astor’s best recorded works are showcased within the confines of these two compact discs.  “I fell right back into the mindset I had (then) for the unfinished music.  Surprisingly, polishing them was much easier than I expected.”

A grand total of fourteen tracks might have once been a part of Rob’s first CD, QUADRANGULAR OSCILLATIONS, including the nine tracks written and recorded for the story of RAHU, as well as the other soundtrack pieces.  One of those was intended to be the first album’s title track, “Quadrangular Oscillation”.  Rob was looking for a very specific sound to the music, one which he didn’t find until much later.  “I was going for a very metallic feel,” Rob explains.  “I didn’t get it right until well after the fact.”

“Quadrangular Oscillation” was Rob’s first experiment at setting music to a scene in a movie.  “I wrote the track to go with the part in ‘Cube 2: Hypercube’ where everyone faces off with the Razor Sphere.”

Also included on RAHU are a few more versions of Rob Astor’s favorite piece of music, “Echoes Of Raindrops (Xack’s Theme)”, which belongs to a novel called LIBERATION DAY.  (There’s also a version on MARSTROPOLIS.)  “Two of those versions were finished in 2003 and I completely forgot I had them for a few years.”  Look for a rain of computer chips instead of raindrops while listening to these.  The third is an extended remix, finished in 2000.

The longest piece of music on RAHU from those past sessions, and in Rob Astor’s entire catalogue to date, is “Northern Lights”, a New Age ode to the Aurora Borealis.  It was conceived and envisioned to be Symphonic in length and released as a one track EP.  In this finished version, Rob Astor finds the length to be perfect.  “The music is still a soundtrack for a natural phenomena.”

Some of the album’s other alternates include an extended version of the highly popular BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS track “Get Vertical!” as well as various versions of “Endor-9 Aviary”.  RAHU outtake material can be sampled in the form of two tracks intended for the previously mentioned album in the form of “Double Helix” and “Dark Side Of The Sun”, left out because they felt different than all the rest of the music, according to Rob.

<>As for brand new recordings, Rob Astor serves up several on RAHU.  “Eventide Sunrise” combines Electric Guitar with New Age.  “Hades Playing Piano” is a Piano lament Rob says was inspired by a dream detailed in the album’s liner notes.  Looking to the past for inspiration, and bringing his soundtrack endeavors full circle, Rob Astor also created music fit for the days of silent films in his track “Silent Movie Romance”, proving he can explore any style and perfect it.

<>Pick up a copy of Rob Astor’s latest release RAHU.  It just might turn out to be the soundtrack for your creative projects!

<>Rob Astor’s new CD, RAHU, is now available at CDBaby.com, Apple’s iTunes, and through MyRealTalent.com.

<>RAHU Track List

<>-- CD 1 --

<>Get Vertical! (Extended Version)

<>Radial Cybernet 3

<>Northern Lights

<>Liquid Glass

<>Eventide Sunrise

<>Life On Europa

<>Walking In The Garden At 3 AM

<>Drifting Through Stardust

<>Six Moons Of Pluto

<>Geometric Language

<>Geometric Language II

<>Aurora On Planet Rahu

<>Dinosaur Spheres Descending From Orbit

<>Earth Twin & Earth Parallel

<>Dream Sequence

<>Approaching Storm

<>X’hal Minor

<>-- CD 2 --

<>Summer Rain On Ganymede

<>Hades Playing Piano

<>Silent Movie Romance

<>Double Helix

<>Dark Side Of The Sun

<>Quadrangular Oscillation

<>Diamond Dust

<>Endor-9 Aviary (Edit)

<>Endor-9 Aviary (Extended Intro)

<>Echoes Of Raindrops (Xack’s Theme) (Science Fiction Mix Alternate Key)

<>Echoes Of Raindrops (Xack’s Theme) (Science Fiction Mix)

<>Echoes Of Raindrops (Xack’s Theme) (Shower In The Rain Extended Remix)

<>Aurora On Planet Rahu (Extended Version)

BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS By ROB ASTOR Is More Than MARSTROPOLIS Part II

Fusion is the word of the day when talking about Rob Astor’s newest double CD, BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS.  Successfully, he blends New Age, Dance, Power Pop, Jazz, World, and Rock & Roll, creating an album that is not just a continuation of MARSTROPOLIS, but also surpasses it in every possible way.  Rob says, “It’s more than just Marstropolis Part II.”

BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS picks up where its predecessor left off, then moves with warp speed into unexplored territory.  As with the former, BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS was inspired by video games and the musical soundtracks accompanying them.  As you would expect from Rob Astor, he steers clear of the norm, driving full force into the future of instrumental music.  His best works have a mainstream sound and feel.

Listing the combined influences packed into BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS is no easy task.  There’s a wide variety of styles, much more so than on any of Rob Astor’s previous albums.  From New Age, Meditation, Acoustic Guitar, and even Rock & Roll, look for shades of Tangerine Dream, Heart, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin.  Alternative Rock at it’s very best also lends a hand in shaping some of the faster tracks.  The musical shades of Biosphere blend seamlessly with the European Club Scene.  Smoking Jazz and World Fusion take center stage in spots where the Saxophone is present.  Dance makes the perfect partner to 1980s Power Pop.  Even John Williams echoes through a combination of Spencer Nilsen, James Horner, and Norm Orenstein, masterfully crafted and mixed to become the sound of Rob Astor.

BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS is packed with 28 tracks, two co-written by Rob’s musical friend and partner Harry Grillo of The Lovesick (“1.21 Jiggowatts [Remix]”, “Dream Of The Amber Guitar”) who also created the very Journey-like cover graphic of the album.  “I really wanted to collaborate with Harry on this album and see what we could put together with music.  He’s got a lot of vibes going on inside and it’s time the world knew what he can do!”

Two and half hours of escape awaits the listener.  Thoughtful and reflective, BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS has what Rob calls “bookend tracks”, a connecting New Age thread to MARSTROPOLIS.  “The first and last title (‘Red Awakening’ and ‘A Dream For The Sake Of Dreaming’ respectively) were constructed and played in the same way as ‘Trappings Of Time’.”  Everything else in between follows its own set of rules.

Playing on the sound of Acoustic Guitars from the 1970s, “Project Delphinus” goes on to weave New Age flavor through its structure.  “Flight In Ursa Minor” is simply an Acoustic dream to behold.  “Scorpio Inversion” begins with a chiming Acoustic intro reminiscent of early Heart before turning into a mid-tempo rocker.  “Dream Of The Amber Guitar” flows in that same kind of direction, turning back on itself following a rock solo.  “Endor-9 Aviary” combines Acoustic Guitar to a tribal beat and grinding Bass.

For listeners expecting Power Pop, look for connections to fictional superstar Janet Jetson (a track from MARSTROPOLIS) through the anathematic groove of “Rikku” and the pounding overlays of “Monkey Down”, paying tribute to Janet Jackson’s late 1980s and early 1990s body of work.  “Janet is one of my favorite characters.  She’s almost the whole backbone of this musical place I’ve created on both albums.”

“BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS has a lot more Rock & Roll on it than MARSTROPOLIS,” Rob says.  “There were a lot of things I wanted to explore, including how to create even more hip shaking, head bobbing, fist pumping tracks.”

Most of the second CD is filled with just such compositions.  Driving Electric Guitar placed against a Dance Beat forms the backbone of “Monkey Down”, moving with the speed of a jungle hunt chase.  The big Drums of Led Zeppelin combine with the dreamy Guitar of Pink Floyd to come up with the pounding “Raion Kapella”.  “Get Vertical!” takes the best of Dance, Club Music, and Rock & Roll to bring it into soaring action.  And if you’re ready to really rock, take on the wild buzz of “Skyboarding”, the convulsive “Reka Persei”, and total spastic jam of “Chocotopia”.

<>Never fear, BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS also includes a good sampling of video game music.  Sit back, relax, and watch the world go by in fast forward while listening to “East Kinsei Kaigan”.  Sample some World Fusion in “Aphrodite’s Belly Dance”, “Neon City”, and “Quadrahedron Matrix”.  And, if you want drug induced, Rob has that, too!  “I started working on ‘Candy Hearts Moon Kid’ right after having my appendix out while I was still on Vicodin.

<>Whatever your pleasure may be, BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS has them all.  Be sure to pick up your copy of Rob Astor’s latest masterpiece!

<>Rob Astor’s new CD, BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS, is now available at CDBaby.com, Apple’s iTunes, Mindawn.com, and through MyRealTalent.com.

<>BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS Track List

<>-- CD 1 --

<>Red Awakening

<>Scorpio Inversion

<>694 Beta Central

<>Tau Kinematic

<>Glyph Obelisk

<>Aphrodite’s Belly Dance

<>Halcyon Dreams

<>East Kinsei Kaigan

<>Neon City

<>Candy Hearts Moon Kid

<>1.21 Jiggowatts (Remix)

<>Radial Cybernet 3 (Remix)

<>Wet Socks Dance

<>Project Delphinus

<>Ocean Of Red

<>-- CD 2 --

<>Monkey Down

<>Rikku

<>Endor-9 Aviary

<>Flight In Ursa Minor

<>Quadrahedron Matrix

<>Dream Of The Amber Guitar

<>Sagittarius Proxima

<>Chocotopia

<>Reka Persei

<>Skyboarding

<>Raion Kapella

<>Get Vertical!

<>A Dream For The Sake Of Dreaming

In my last blog, there was a list of tunes I wanted to work on to include in my INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION next year.  This was where all of my focus was, starting with a song originally recorded by i-Ten (Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg) back in 1983.  In 1987, Heart released it as a single which went on to become a number one hit for three weeks in July of that year.  The song is “Alone”, a sort of Rock & Roll standard twenty years later.  Such notables as Carrie Underwood and Celine Dion have recorded their own versions.  For those of you who watched Rock Star Supernova a few years ago, the song was performed then as well, much like Heart performs it these days; stripped right down to the barest of essentials to build up the emotional theme.

Why did I pick this song?  Well, when Heart’s album Bad Animals came out, every track on that disc resonated with me.  It was as if someone had taken pages right out of my life at that point in time and wrote a song.  Bad Animals was my own personal little soundtrack.  I had never identified so strongly (or since that time) with any single album.  “Alone” is powerful, no matter what way it is played.  Ann’s vocals simply make it bone chilling.  I’ve seen it evolve in Heart’s live sets over the years, and I’ve heard it sung better than ever each and every time.  I still connect with that song very much.

What I wanted to do was pay tribute to the Heart version of the track by recording it very similar to how it has been played for the last four summers.  Phased Piano with Acoustic guitar, some Bass, and a Keyboard.  Sounds easy, right?  Not entirely!  I had a few problems getting the Harmony parts to sound just right.  In using an Electric Guitar to stand in for vocals, this presented a unique problem.  Out of a dozen or so sounds I tried, only one sounded perfect.  Getting the Harmony layer to work from there was a process of trial and error.  The only other variation I chose to do was include Orchestra Bass instead of Guitar.  This lends a slight Classical feel.  Also, in keeping with Ann’s vocal performance, I duplicated some of her little added parts to the end.  Once finished, I really liked how well the track turned out.

There’s really no way to top Heart.  I couldn’t even begin to try.  So, the next song I worked on has a lot of great New Age flavorings built into it, something right up my alley.

Another 1980s lady I really liked was Sheena Easton.  The song I picked is the one she will be forever remembered by.  Yes, the James Bond track “For Your Eyes Only”.  This one was a pure joy to do.  New Age Keyboard layers, Classical instruments; nothing but the very best!  This track sounds much more Classical in my arrangement because I used Strings for the Vocal part.  The end result is beautiful.  I really can’t wait for everyone to be able to hear it.

By this point, I was off and running, filled with some force greater than myself to add things to a collection that could very well turn into three CDs.  One of the tracks I could hardly wait to work on is the title track to an album released by Olivia Newton-John in 1985, “Soul Kiss”.  “Somewhere there is a fire burning, somewhere inside…”  You really have no idea how much I identify with that line.

Why on Earth would I pick this particular song?  Well, two reasons really.  Remember when I said it has a great R & B feel to it?  The song was so different than anything she’d done before.  Sometimes it’s good to see artists expand into uncharted territory.  Unfortunately, the song was a mediocre hit in its day, even though I must have saw it at least a million times on VH-1.  It was one on my favorite songs for a long time.  Everyone I knew was tired of hearing it!  LOL

The other reason?  Okay, story time.  In my senior year of high school, there were tryouts for a talent show in the first few months.  So, the timing was September or early October, while the weather was still fairly nice.  I remember the timing because all of my grandparents were still alive and I wanted them to be there, if I could pass the audition phase.

In the mid-1980s, bands were always releasing extended versions of their songs on 12” LP records.  Sometimes, there were instrumental versions of those songs included.  “Soul Kiss” came with an extended instrumental version.  When I heard about this talent show, I thought it might be something I’d like to try.  One of my friends, Kevin, was very supportive of my musical aspirations and really like to hear me sing.  He was also my co-conspirator in trying to form bands at the time.

I can’t remember the reason I settled on this particular song, except that I knew it by heart.  I recorded the record to a tape and Kevin and I went off with my great big boom box to the audition one school day afternoon.  Another one of the guys we’d wrangled as a band member met us there.  His name was Ace.  I can’t tell you anymore if that was a nick name or his real name.  What I remember most about him is he always looked as if he was a member of Prince & The Revolution.  Our Drummer was a guy named David who was also there.  (We had a an African-American guy name Andrew as a Keyboard player.  He wasn’t there that day.)

So I get to the audition and I tell the judges what song I’d picked and that it was instrumental music.  I stand there as terrified as can be.  My heart was racing and my face was flushed.  Everyone was all in this little group right in front of me.  I didn’t want to move!

Well, I turned the tape on and I sang.  I remember my right leg shaking, but, in time with the beat.  I just sang.  I reached down inside of myself and found my voice and just sang.  I don’t know if it sounded good.  When I was done, Kevin, Ace, and David all applauded and looked as if they genuinely liked what they heard.  Kevin and I walked back home.  The next day, Ace and David did congratulate me and I remember Ace say I looked scared as hell until I really got into the music.

I wasn’t picked to be part of the show and I was okay with it.  No ill feelings at all.  I went there and did what I set out to do.  I wanted to get in front of people and sing.  (This was in the days before karaoke, which I’ve also been known to do, pretty badly, especially after a few drinks!  ;-)  Or that New Year’s Eve I got on stage to do “Auld Lang Syne”.  But, those are stories for another time.)

I don’t think of myself as a singer anymore.  I have a different musical voice.  The true joy of music is creating these wonderful instrumentals I record.  I still sing along with stuff.  Don’t we all?  It would take a lot of time and training for me to be a good vocalist now.

When I went to work on “Soul Kiss”, I set out to recreate it as best I could against the original version.  Keep in mind, these are all songs that I hold very close.  It’s not my intent to get too far away from the originals, unless I feel I have a good enough idea or arrangement in mind.  Only a few problems came up.  One was the big Pipe Organ spots in the Chorus.  Using an Organ sound didn’t really bring up the volume or the feel of the track.  Instead, I relied on an Keyboard sound.  Worked perfectly.  The other trouble spot I had was with what to use for the Vocal part.  With a little playing around, a really nice sounding Electric Guitar sound presented itself.  As I sat and listened to the track over and over before the final mixdown, I was amazed at how closely I did get the music to sound like the original.

So, I have twenty-five tracks up over at mood.myrealtalent.com, and many more scattered across cyberspace.  But, it’s just not enough, right?  LOL  There’s a Christmas music contest going on over at iCompositions.com.  If you visit my page there, you can hear three Christmas themed tracks that aren’t on my holiday CD.  They are “Deâm Ñoâng (Winter Night)”, “O Magnum Mysterium (For String & Woodwind)”, and “E la don don, Verges María”.

With all the musical inspiration swirling around me, two brand new ideas have presented themselves as possible tracks for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX.  One of them is called “Mind Bender”.  The other is “Parallax”.  Look for further details on these tracks as the weeks progress.

So, I said there were no holes in my scope for INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION.  I did find a hold.  Nothing there by my single biggest influence, Tangerine Dream.  When musical research took over for a few days, I went off after some of their music.  No easy task considering how much of it I really like.

Originally, when I recorded the first set of tracks, I did intend to do something by this seminal band.  The track I’d considered is one of the finest pieces of music recorded for all time, “Song Of The Whale, Part 1 (From Dawn)” from their Underwater Sunlight album.  I passed it over, thinking it was much too difficult.  Now, I think I’m going to give it a try after all.  I think my confidence level went up while doing some of Gustov Holst’s music.  And, as long as “Song Of The Whale” is one of my very favorites, why not give it a try?

The other hole I discovered revolves around Spencer Nilsen, or, more specifically, some of the music he’s recorded that influenced me as an artist far beyond anything else.

Spencer has a fine body of work condensed down to three albums (that I’m aware of) along side video game soundtracks from the early 1990s.  You see, he was head of the music division at Sega here in the United States and recorded (the American) soundtracks to such notables as the CDs Sonic The Hedgehog, Ecco The Dolphin, and Ecco 2: The Tides Of Time.  I think it was in 1993 when I bought one of the Sega CD game systems and was introduced to Spencer’s music through Sonic and then the first Ecco game.  I remember very clearly playing for the first time and just soaking up the music because it was so incredibly soothing, not to mention beautiful.  There were moments like that on the Sonic CD as well.

Back then, if you popped Sega game CDs into your CD player, the music tracks would play.  So, I listened to the soundtracks over and over again, more than I ever played the games!

In 2000, a new Ecco game was released, entitled Defender Of The Future.  I think it was on the Dreamcast platform by Sega.  I didn’t know it at the time, but, Spencer didn’t write the music for this game.  (The new soundtrack was composed by Tim Follin and Attila Heger.)  Even though I didn’t have the platform, I wanted to get the game just to hear the soundtrack.  I asked everyone if it was still possible to pop a disc into the stereo and hear the music.  By then, it was no longer possible.  I didn’t get to hear the music until years later.  But, I’m so glad I did.  The score for Defender Of The Future is every bit as beautiful and Spencer Nilsen’s work.

One of the tracks from Defender Of The Future I found music for is called “Dolphin’s Intrigue” (more on that in a few minutes) from the level I think was called Pathways to Nowhere.  Even though it’s not Spencer’s music, it is Ecco music.  Ecco The Dolphin soundtracks shaped a lot of the New Age stuff on my first album QUADRANGULAR OSCILLATIONS, most notably in the track “Swimming Between Galaxies”.  Naturally, this track fell under my consideration to be included on my INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION.

The next track I worked on is by the Electric Light Orchestra from the 1980 movie Xanadu.  It’s the big opening sequence number “I’m Alive”.  I had wanted to do this in the first set of tracks recorded.  Fortunately, I found the music to do it now!  The song is all about waking up and discovering there’s a whole wide world for you out there, a feeling of coming alive and realizing your dreams.  (I think the movie Xanadu itself didn’t do well because there’s no real conflict going on.  No protagonist to shake things up.  It’s a very pure kind of movie.)

One of the things I did to my version was start it more like a live track, opening with Drums.  Then a Keyboard builds up to the start of the music.  From there, it was all about bringing out the right balance of textures.  An Electric Guitar worked perfectly for the Vocal and Harmony parts.  It’s another one I feel turned out perfectly.  I can’t wait for you to hear it!

Another E.L.O. track fell in line right after “I’m Alive”, also from Xanadu, called “All Over The World”.  In the movie, this track is a big dance number in a department store featuring Gene Kelly trying on various outfits for the opening night of the club.

Going against my own norm, I did something very different with this track.  The Lead Vocal part is all Saxophone while Harmonies are split between Keyboards and Piano.  In fact, I was kind of worried that it would sound too much like muzak.  LOL  Harry made me feel better about it, however.  Whatever anyone thinks of the end result, the track turned out great!

One of the places I’d sent poetry to last month, Raving Dove, returned three of my works.  I haven’t taken the time yet to figure out where to send them next.  You can be sure they will get out there once again when there’s a break in the musical action.

You might find I’m going to be on another T.S. Klugh Studio Christmas CD this year.  I submitted three tracks in consideration for that project.  Two of them are on my Christmas CD (“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, “O Come All Ye Faithful”).  The third is “Tempus Adest Floridum (Spring Has Unwrapped Her Flowers)” which is best known by the title “Good King Wenceslas”.  Again, I’ll keep you posted on details as they become available.

Unsteady Freddie included my track “Forest Of The Black Moon” from XENOPHOBIA in show number thirty-nine of Your Space Radio (yourspaceradio.com - a part of myrealtalent.com).  He also had some very nice things to say about me.  :-)  Freddie, where ever you happen to be reading this, thanks so much for the kind words!  Expect some new music soon.

The next track I tackled is another by Olivia Newton-John, also from Xanadu, her number one hit “Magic”.  (No, I’m really not trying to record the whole Xanadu soundtrack!  LOL  ;-)  )  I had an idea in mind for a very specific Electric Guitar sound I wanted to try for this music.  I didn’t know the final outcome would be something that sounds much more Rock & Roll, but, in a very good way!

The reason being, I put that guitar in as the Rhythm part, which sounded fantastic.  The same sound worked even better for the Solo part.  Then, just on a whim, I recorded the Vocal line using an Electric Guitar.  Wow!  The sounds all fell together so well, my ears couldn’t believe it.  There’s a special “Magic” (pun intended) that went into and with this track, making it work so well.  I did have to keep jumping back and forth between my work and the original to make sure I had the Solo part just right.  For some reason, I remembered the music going up, however, the Guitar part actually comes down.  So, I needed to correct that part.  Otherwise, it’s so perfect.  Just wait until can hear it!  (That’s my theme today.  I can’t wait until you will be able to hear it!)  All the stuff I’ve recorded for the BELLATRIX project has begun to rub off on this new selection of songs.

Since Friday, I’ve been working on the music for “Dolphin’s Intrigue”.  I can tell you it will be gorgeous when it’s finished.  In fact, it’s just like the old days back in 1999 when I would record for eight hours and get just a few minutes of stuff I could use.  The first two and a half minutes of a track well over seven in length have taken a total of six hours to get just right.  Who says you can’t go home again?  LOL

The perfectionist side of me has a lot to do with that.  I want to make the music really good, to really pay tribute to these fantastic artists.  The other part of the reason is my experimentation with varying instrument sounds.  Part of “Dolphin’s Intrigue” has an Organ part.  I wanted to hear what that part would sound like as a Guitar.  Guess what?  I went ahead and tried it both ways and liked the Guitar much better.  There’s also a lot of mixing involved with the Orchestra parts.  The Violins and Basses start low and rise up to Crescendos at specific points.  There’s also a very distinct Acoustic Guitar layer I wanted to get just right.  I’m about three minutes into the music at the minute.  Give me a few more days and the track will be finished.

So, Halloween is this week.  Anyone dressing up and going out with the younger ghouls to collect candy?  I’d like to go out, but, I have no costume, or even any idea what I’d want to dress up as.  I keep a playlist of music perfect for Halloween, which I will listen to that night, I’m sure.  It includes some givens, like Ray Parker’s “Ghostbusters”, and classics like “Witch Doctor” and “The Purple People Eater”.  There’s also a few other tracks I’ve tacked on over the years.  Some of them you might want to check out for yourselves.  Here’s a few of them:

“Night Moves” and “Beauty Or The Beast” by Marilyn Martin

“Sisters Of The Moon” and “The Nightmare” by Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks

“Summon The Devil” by Lana Lane

“Electric Chair” by Prince

“Black Cat” by Janet Jackson

“Masquerade” by Berlin

“Enter Sandman” by Metallica

“Shadows Of The Night” by Pat Benatar

“Dream Warriors” by Dokken

“Union Of The Snake” by Duran Duran

“Voodoo Doll” by Heart

“Blackhole Sun” by Soundgarden

What’s your Halloween soundtrack?

Safe trick-or-treating, everyone!  See you here next week.

Rob

BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS and RAHU both went out to CDBaby early last week.  It will not be long before they are ready.  I’m really excited.  People at MySpace know I’m notorious for posting bulletins and event invitations to announce stuff.  Keep watching where ever you happen to be reading this blog for upcoming details.

All the musical ideas I had for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX saw completion this past week.  This doesn’t mean new ideas won’t come up later.  I wasn’t planning to release this CD until late 2008 or early 2009.  There’s stuff coming up before that I want to get out into the world.

The first track finished was “The Velt”, a second African influenced track for the album.  Most of the track was structured fairly well.  A little reorganization went into the end to create the music’s finale.  Overall, “The Velt” is mellow.  There’s two countering Electric Guitars laid against Strings.  In a reversal of traditional orchestral arranging, those parts were positioned backward to help balance the low and high tones.  Otherwise, all the high and low parts had no separation and the music felt lopsided, like listening with your head tilted way over to one side.  Trying this trick created a perfect balance and offset those individual parts, making it very well balanced and my neck very comfortable.  ;-)

The next track is a bit more aggressive in execution.  Perfect feel for something called “Conquest”.  The music is something like a victory theme or march, played in the part of the story where the hero or heroine has overcome every obstacle and has won the big prize, whatever that prize may be.  In all likelihood, it will be the last track on the album as I try to structure a story around all the great music for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX.  “Conquest” is a blend of Neo-Classical and Electric Guitar.  In some ways, this track and the next one I tell you about, could almost have been a part of XENOPHOBIA.  (I’m starting to influence myself!  LOL)  The only real work needed was to the length.  The ending was much too short.  Doubling its length and playing it in another key solved the problem of feel.

Really going back into Neo-Classical territory, the very last track (at this point in time) for the BELLATRIX sessions is something called “Olympiad”.  In many ways, this optimistic and cheerful piece almost sounds like something you might expect during Olympic Games ceremonies.  Just the right touch of Electric Guitar sets it into the framework of the album while pulsing happily along on bouncing Rhythm and String sections.  This one will probably be near the beginning of the CD.  (Story ideas are forming, but, nothing solid at the present.)

Busy work is all that happened for the rest of the week, right up into today.  I created four additional webpages, each one consuming more time that I had expected.  (About a day or so far each.)  They are at Virb.com, hi5.com, imeem.com, and reverbnation.com.  Three of the four have twenty tracks for your listening pleasure in the following:

Raion Kapella

Chocotopia

Flight In Ursa Minor

Skyboarding

Get Vertical!

Walking In The Garden At 3 AM

Six Moons Of Pluto

Aurora On Planet Rahu

Summer Rain On Ganymede

Es Ist Eine Ros’ (Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming)

Bring A Torch, Jeanette Isabella

Tropic Of Antarctica

Forest Of The Black Moon

Xenophobia

Kutulu

Copernicus Museum

New Pompeii (Extended Version)

Holographic Nightclub (Dance Of The Boytaurs)

Trappings Of Time

Blue Sunset

This brings a grand total of fifteen pages where I post this blog entry.  And you wondered why I have so much busy work!  ;-)  LOL

As for late last night into today, I found more music I might want to do for my INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION.  Not really hard to imagine, right?  This burst of inspiration started when I found the music for one of my favorite tracks by the Electric Light Orchestra, “I’m Alive” from the movie XANADU.  (I was looking for that one before.)  So, I searched for and found a few more things I’d also like to try.  Not to fill up holes in the double disc, not by any means.  There’s no holes!  But, those thirty-eight tracks aren’t my only influences.  Those of you following this blog know there were some things I tried that just did not work.  (Possibly, this will be a three disc set when finished.)

Here’s a sampling of what else I want to attempt:

“All Over The World” by Electric Light Orchestra also from the movie XANADU

“For Your Eyes Only” by Sheena Easton (I really loved this song!)

“Soul Kiss” by Olivia Newton-John (Was very different than her previous music when released in 1985; a sort of slow R&B sound.)

“Twist Of Fate” by Olivia Newton-John from the 1983 movie TWO OF A KIND

“Xanadu” by Olivia Newton-John & Electric Light Orchestra

“Magic” by Olivia Newton-John from XANADU

“You’re The Voice” by John Farnham (Heart did a killer version of this in 1990.  It can be found on ROCK THE HOUSE LIVE and their GREATEST HITS 1985 - 1995.)

“Your Wildest Dreams” by the Moody Blues

A slowed down version of “Alone” by Heart (as they currently perform it)

“Brown Sugar” by the Rolling Stones

“Crimson & Clover” by Tommy James (I’m going to give it just one more try!)

“Snoopy Vs. The Red Barron” by the Royal Guardsmen (Totally as a lark!  Who knows if I can make it work.)

“When Doves Cry” by Prince & The Revolution (Prince single handedly defined the MTV generation in 1984 with the release of this song.  Love it for the great Rock Guitar put against that pounding back beat.)

“(Livin’ In) Desperate Times” by Olivia Newton-John (Also from TWO OF A KIND.  You can’t help but leap to your feet when this one starts up and takes off.)

So, that’s where I stand.  Gustov Holst on one side, popular music on the other.  It’s going to be a great week musically, I can tell!  Hope your week goes great.  And, be sure to share the details with me, okay?

See you next time!

Rob

As with the week prior, all the tracks finished this last week will be a part of BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX.  The first idea completed came from a joke at my niece’s birthday party last Sunday.  My brother, Scott, bought her an Acoustic Guitar.  He was playing around with it for a few minutes and I made this joke about playing in the key of K Minor.  Scott gave me this really funny look and said there was no K note.  We went back and forth for a second, just joking around.  Well, K Minor sounded good to me anyway.  When I got home, I started working on a cheerful, up-beat Piano Melody.  I wanted to imagine what something might sound like played in a key called K Minor.  One musical idea led to another.  Before I knew it, I had a bright Melody switching from Piano to Strings to Guitar.  Of course, the title “K-Minor” stuck.

Much like last week, there was an editing process going on as well.  Three times, the tempo changed.  The structure was switched around to create forward build and flow.  Otherwise, the track began at the Crescendo and worked it’s way down.  Some parts were written in double length for the sake of length.  Those were removed to improve progression.  In keeping with the live feel of the other tracks, a few pauses were added.  Lastly, a punctuated ending was created.  “K-Minor” evolved into a wonderful piece of music.

With a track record of success in getting musical ideas finished, the ebb and flow swung back in the direction of tried ideas that ultimately failed.  There were three to be exact, all newer ideas.  The first had a working title of either “Trance” or “Oracle”.  All that was accomplished was an unending, unchanging drone.  I’d somehow managed to write myself into a corner and couldn’t figure a way out of it.

The next track scrapped had the working title of “Daystar”, something I wanted to be bright, something with Symphonic layers to help build it up.  What I came up with was a mess of a Piano and Strings that sounded impossibly high.

The last was called “Quark Star”.  The effect I wanted here was a sort of glittering, stardust kind of track infused with a lower, rotating Rhythm section to act as a stand-in for a magnetic field.  Instead, what came through was the sound of a lawn mower slicing through metal objects at random.  In very little time, this track met its end.

Fourth time’s a charm, right?  It is in this case.  The next track worked!  LOL  “Lunar Rainbow” was fraught with a few problems of its own, but, nothing that couldn’t be fixed.  It began as a longer piece of music.  What it needed was to be something shorter.  This was a problem with the ending as well.  The progression throughout goes from ethereal Piano and Strings to aggressive Guitar and Rhythm, picking up instrument textures along the way.  Some of the feel is created by the Drums coming in late.  A pivotal key change makes this work as much as the flow changes.  Strings and Synth layers keep the switch-ups going equally as strong.  Fixing the ending was a matter of using some of the tricks used along the way to bring about a satisfying sonic conclusion.

The next track wanted to be longer, both in structure and length.  There was one basic part.  Repeating the part created the right length.  Coming up with the right sound effects took a bit more time, not only to write them, but to position them within the track to make everything sound good and create a certain mood.  Why?  The track is called “Stairway To The Fifth Dimension”.  By title alone, a certain level of science fiction complexity was already built into the sound I wanted to go for.  A lot of metallic sounding chimes open and close the music.  Electric Guitar and Strings build up the second half.  The track sounds mysterious and contemplative.  It’s almost like a piece for exploration, like a deliberate march right into the unknown.  Hence the title.

Another failed track came next.  “Sound Spiral” was envisioned to be something that turned around on itself in the sound field.  This effect did work.  However, the parts were written too long.  Trimming them up took too much away.  So, the music didn’t sound good long, and lost something when edited.  Even switching around the structure didn’t help.  With no good ideas on how to change what I’d done, “Sound Spiral” ended up scrapped.

“Universal Paradox” was the next completed track.  It’s part dreamy, part Electric Guitar, and all good.  The beginning and the ending have count-in and count-out Percussion.  Being very mellow, most of the Percussion is just a Bass Drum hit.  One effect I used was to pan the Guitar from the left to the right to the middle in the beginning.   The music is sort of thoughtful and reflective.

With an idea in mind for something Egyptian, I went to work on “Nile”.  A musical sunrise opens the track.  The feel of culture and heat is created by the Percussion for the most part.  Some of it is carried by an Acoustic Guitar.  Stings come into to give it the final layer of flavoring.

The ending was originally going to be a fade.  However, some of the Percussion parts sounded way too good.  Inspired to some extent, I went for a sort of Drum Solo ending.  Little did I know what I was getting into!  LOL  Trial and error prevailed, as well as my perseverance.  The ending, a bit different than I thought it would be, came out really well.  I’m very proud of it.

Another African themed track was began, something called “The Velt”.  I’m still working on it.  This was the point in the week when things got busy, as in busy work.

I finally reached the decision that maybe I should try to join ASCAP.  After all, I’ve got four CDs out, with two more coming very shortly.  So, I filled out the application.  They’ll let me know if I’m going to be a member in a few weeks.

The next three days were devoted to getting BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS and RAHU ready to launch.  I secured their barcodes and started working on the final versions of the booklets.  The font on the back of BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS was changed, and the back cover of RAHU was completely made over when discovering it didn’t print very well at all.  The words were all obliterated.  Then there was the matter of printing the liner notes, CD labels, and assembling them all into their plastic cases.  They’ll all be on their way to CDBaby tomorrow.  It just takes a lot of time and effort to do these things.  I really can’t wait to be able to hire out that part of the job!  LOL  (Hint, hint.  Download my tracks!)

That’s where I stand at the minute.  Getting over the hump of all the tedious little issues.  Where are all of you at on your week’s journey?  Let me know.

As for me, I’ll be back again next week!  There’s a good chance one of two albums will be finished.  Keep it here for all the details.

Rob

Before we discuss the new tracks, I have to take just a second to reflect.  Today is September 30th.  In the past, this day has been very good.  Here’s a few of my memories.

On this day in 1995, I had taken my brother and his girlfriend all the way to Pennsauken, New Jersey to see Ann Wilson (of Heart) at the 10th. Annual Be-In at Cooper River Park.  It was billed as a mini Woodstock with bands playing all day long.  Right before Ann’s set, The Fabulous Thunderbirds were on.  Anyway, it was a great night.  The crowd was huge, the energy was incredible and the set list was phenomenal!  The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” was the opener, setting the mood for the night.  It was also the first time in eight years where Ann had began performing “Magic Man” once again.  Some of the other highlights included Steve Winwood’s “Roll With It”, Gary Moore’s “Still Got The Blues”, Led Zeppelin’s “Moby Dick” and “What Is And What Should Never Be”, Sly & The Family Stones’ “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”, Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High”, and Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog”.  God, what a night!

Speaking of Ann, Heart was just on Q104.3 out of New York on a show called “Out Of The Box”.  They played two songs live; Paul Simon’s “American Tune”, and Ann & Nancy’s Lovemongers’ tune “Sand”.  Sort of a special connection to that night twelve years ago, don’t you think?

On this day in 2005, my second album MARSTROPOLIS was released.  The excitement I felt that day….  Wow.  Most of it was satisfaction of work well done.  Some of it was anticipation of anyone else hearing the music and liking it.  It is a day I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

Last year on this day, I went over to Chicago to audition for “Deal Or No Deal”.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay well into the night and sent in a video audition later in November.  No calls from Howie yet!  I don’t know how long anyone gets to be considered for a show, so, I’m still holding out hope.  LOL

Okay, onto this blogging business.  Seven tracks saw completion this week, all for the BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX project.  The first is something sort of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern influenced called “Ishtar”.  Ishtar was the Babylonian goddess of love.  Many scholars believe this figure was imported to the Greeks by way of Phoenician where she evolved into Aphrodite.  Keeping with the sounds of that part of the ancient world, the track is very basic.  The arrangement and the mix sound almost like an ancient track.  The electric instruments retain acoustic flavorings, backed by a pounding tribal beat.  The end result is a piece of music with the feeling where you might be watching a parade with the queen carried by on her gondola.  That’s what images this music evokes for me.

Getting to that point required my taking apart the structure I started with and extending the intro.  The Verse/Chorus parts also underwent some tampering.  Some of the instruments were put in different keys as well.  At the moment, there’s really no alternate versions of the BELLATRIX body of tracks.  I seem to be hammering them out into their final forms without keeping anything excessive, or anything I would consider using as an extended or alternate mix.  (The one exception so far is “Bellatrix” which I wanted to do as an acoustic version.)  For the most part, the original forms just were good enough to keep.

Next up is something called “Kullat Nunu”.  (No, I didn’t make up this tile.  ;-)  )  Kullat Nunu is the name of a star in the constellation of Pisces.  However, the name originates in Arabic as a name for the cord holding the two fish together.  The track begins with a very mellow Piano part with a little bit of Synth and Flute.  Later, an Electric Guitar adds some texture, but, takes nothing away from this very relaxed piece.  Stings build the track toward the center, leading into Electric Guitar, Harpsichord, and Synthesizer.  The orchestration is gorgeous, even if I do say so myself.

Again, the evolution of the music played a part in getting the final version.  “Kullat Nunu” actually started backwards in the sense that the build toward the end was originally at the beginning.  Turning it around turned “Kullat Nunu” into a perfect piece of music.

Unsteadie Freddie wrote to me this last week.  He’s going to use “Forest Of The Black Moon” from my XENOPHOBIA album in a Your Space Radio show.  Keep watch for it!

The next track finished is pure Rock & Roll, inspired by a line in a Heart song called “Voodoo Doll”.  The line goes, “You haunt my room in the dead of night, I see your face in the firelight….”  My track is called “Faces In Firelight”.  It starts out calling up scattered images before shifting into overdrive, the kind of overdrive where all the natives are dancing around the fire in full regalia.  Keeping with the feel of live material, there are a few key pauses for dramatic effect.

“Faces In Firelight” needed a little cosmetic surgery to reach its full potential.  The changes began with an increase in the tempo twice.  I wanted this track to be driven.  And, it is.  The opening part was too long.  Trimming it helped, but, didn’t create the feel I wanted.  This required pulling part of the music from a later section into the front and flanking around the original intended opening.  Having a few pauses also really drives the music up when the changes come along.

Timothy S. Klugh of Klugh Studios is doing another Christmas benefit CD this year.  I had sent him everything I recorded last year.  Three tracks he’s looking for are something I’d done.  You might say he already has my auditions in hand!  Stay tuned to see if I make the cut this time around.

My next track is something a little different.  It’s a kind of march, but the sort of march where it’s a prelude to foreboding things to come.  This one’s called “Xenomorphic”.  For those of you who don’t know, xenomorphic means something having a form not of its own.  Xenomorphic is sort of like shape shifting; something that can change its outer appearance.  It almost took an act of xenomorphing to get the music just right!

Structure breaks and key changes near the beginning set up a part of the music right before the march part begins.  In this way, “Xenomorphic” doesn’t just march right through without any character.  It makes more sense.  Seeing these things after the fact might help my writing process in the future.  Getting right into the work lends a perspective you can’t gain by just looking at written notes on a sheet of paper, for example.  You really have to get right in and not only hear the music, but feel it and move around within it, almost becoming a part of it.  A very intricate part.  Working on AD ASTRA and BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX has given me that invaluable perspective.

In the middle of recording this last week, I found a little time to set up still another webpage.  This one’s located at StreamItFree.com.  The six tracks (“Chocotopia”, “Reka Persei”, “Skyboarding”, “Raion Kapella”, “Get Vertical!”, “Six Moons Of Pluto”) are all tracks you’re familiar with, if you’ve visited my Mood.MyRealTalent.com page, or heard them on MySpace.  There’s a chance I’ll be setting up another page this coming week.

So, should I tell you a story about Pegasus?  No, it’s not really necessary.  LOL  (Everyone knows Pegasus!)  The next track completed is something called “Flying Stallion”, inspired by Pegasus.  This one, starting out soft and soaring, really required very little structural change compared to the previous tracks.  It has a nice mix of Keyboards, Guitars, Drums, and Acoustic Guitar.  The Bass part has a sort of gallop to it.  I think I must have taken pointers from working on the previous tracks to get the music for “Flying Stallion” to solidify so easily.  Whatever it was, there’re no complaints!

In 2001, I got my dog Tycho.  He’s a Beagle mix, white with chocolate brown spots.  Tycho has always been a very happy, very loving puppy.  At one point in time, I had even intended to write a piece of music for him, a simple little track born of pure innocence and love.  Tycho almost always sleeps in my bed.  Many mornings, he climbs right up on top of me and wakes me up with lots of loving puppy kisses.  This piece of music was conceived out of Tycho’s pure innocence and his unconditional devotion.  “Flying Stallion” had some similarities to my idea, so, I went ahead and decided to write and record this idea.  The music is something like waking from a dream; something bright, something without any dark undertones at all.  The final product is a short, simple track called “Tycho Says, ‘Good Morning, I Love You’”.  I once heard it told that all good musicians write music for their pets at some point.  Now I’m guilty.  LOL  This will probably be a bonus track on BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX.

The last track finished is something called “Yearning”.  Here’s how it evolved.  Think of a nice freshly baked loaf of bread.  You cut into nice neat little slices.  Then, take those slices and imagine shuffling them like a deck of cards.  Okay, now some of those slices just aren’t right.  Remove a few.  A few others would be better with butter or jam.  So, go ahead and add a little.  “Yearning” was born in this way.  Not exactly a c-section birth, but certainly a shuffle!

I had this idea for a piece of music.  Simple enough.  Then I discovered all the parts were just too long.  So, every part was trimmed in half, except the very last section because of an intended mood change.  Next, I changed keys in places and then took sections and shuffled them around.  This way, it wasn’t a simple keeps repeating type of track.  When I thought I had finished it, the realization dawned on me to make further changes to the Percussion.  You get the picture?  “Yearning” is relaxed, starting with Piano and Keyboards.  Guitar parts come in to make things interesting.  My little loaf of bread baked better during the recording work, and tasted better with the changes along the way.  The ingredients were all there.  I just needed to taste them in a different setting.  That seems to be the theme in my recording process lately.

Sonofon Production Studios sent an e-mail to let me know 7Seven will still go on as planned.  They’ve had some technical issues.  Look for word on that album soon!

What’s on your horizon for this coming week?  I see new musical ideas on mine, as well as the possibility of tackling some more of Gustov Holst.  All the details will be here next week.  See you then!

Rob

Thanks to MySpace, I was in contact with a D.J. over in the U.K. who dropped by my profile on Mood.MyRealTalent.com who may play some of my music on a future show.  Here’s a list of the tracks that were sent, many of which you can hear over there:

Raion Kapella

Six Moons Of Pluto

Trappings Of Time

Xenophobia

Flight In Ursa Minor

Sagittarius Proxima

Reka Persei

Skyboarding

Walking In The Garden At 3 AM

Kutulu

Summer Rain On Ganymede

Get Vertical!

Biohazard

Tropic Of Antarctica

Forest Of The Black Moon

Quasi-Satellites

Blue Sunset

Holographic Nightclub (Dance Of The Boytaurs)

Take The X Train

Copernicus Museum

New Pompeii (Extended Version)

Chocotopia

Deciding to take on the John Williams composition “The Asteroid Field” (from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK), my plan was fairly simple.  I wanted to connect the concert version to the ending as it is within the film.  This part wasn’t so bad.  Next, the sound to go for.  This was a little more tricky.

After creating a steamrolling version of “Mars - The Bringer Of War” the previous week, I was certain I could do the same for this piece of music.  Really amp it up with a lot of Guitars; go full throttle into Rock & Roll territory.  Many hours were spent going in this direction.  The lesson learned?  The best laid plans don’t always go according to plan.  ;-)

What was created was a lot of noise and distortion.  So, I needed to step back a bit and re-examine my plan for “The Asteroid Field”.  The answer to my dilemma presented itself in the form of another track already finished, “The Planet Krypton”.  This track has a very economical use of Rock instruments.

Applying this idea to “The Asteroid Field”, the Symphonic parts all fell into place with ease.  What I did from there was punch up the more powerful spots with the use of Electric Guitar.  Two Bass parts helped lend strength as well.  Even some touches of New Age are sprinkled throughout, giving me a perfect hybrid blend to fit on AD ASTRA.

The next three tracks completed are for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX, even though I did toy with the idea of two being on AD ASTRA.  However, their sound and structure are more compatible with the BELLATRIX tracks.

The first is a sort of New Age ballad called “Just Because”.  It’s simple in execution, very peaceful and relaxing, centered around Electric Guitar.  In the original form I’d written, there were spots adding nothing to the music.  When they were eliminated, the track pulled together very nicely.

Second of the three is “Singularity”, something inspired by “Venus” and “Mars”.  A Piano part kept playing in my head putting me in mind of stars and the Milky-Way Galaxy after working on those two pieces of music.  The evolution of the track took it into Rock & Roll territory as the Guitar parts and some shimmering effects were written.  In some ways, there are parts of this track that put me in mind of “Tiamat”.  Considering “Tiamat” is about a supernova, creating the “Singularity” was the next logical step.

My brother came by again today to record additional Guitar parts.  We also worked on music for a set of lyrics I have for a track called “The Long Run”.  The swaying give and take of collaborating is invigorating.  I have a lot of stuff to sift through.  With some luck and perseverance, we’ll get it to work.

Thirdly finished is another more recent musical idea called “Equinox”.  The music sounds very Halloween to me; like some sort of wild spirit dance or something.  Maybe a monster mash type of party.  LOL  Since today was the first day of Autumn, the title fit the feel of the music as well as the time of year.  The track went through a major metamorphosis to get there, though.

The music started as a Chorus, two part Verse, and a Bridge.  It repeated four times because the tempo was also much faster.  (Even then, I thought it was too long)  Then I got into the track and all changed rather quickly.  First up, I slowed the tempo drastically.  My punctuated opening fell away to Drums.  The structure then became Chorus, two part Verse, Chorus, two part Verse, Bridge, Chorus, Drums into final Bridge, and punctuated Drum outro.  Trust me, it works!  To get there was an adventure in of itself.  All experimentation and all good!

If you haven’t yet, go to RocklineRadio.com and check the archives for the show featuring Ann Wilson.  I’m the second caller in segment five, Rob from Jackson, Michigan.  The show will only be there for this week, so, you have to hurry!

Coming up this week?  Who knows.  I feel more Rock & Roll creeping in.  I’m also looking at two tracks called “Jupiter”.  One by Gustov Holst, one by Mozart.  Keep it tuned here to read all the details!

Rob

FINAL EXAM came back from Analog.  We’re having a new contest at Long Ridge Writers Group.  From September of this year until September of next year, the contest is now to see who can get the most stories or articles published.  In keeping with the spirit of continuing my writing pursuits, I began the search for the next potential publisher for my story.  This time, my search centered on e-book/books on demand channels.  Of course, the search led me in a few unexpected directions.

One of those is a publisher who make those kinds of books, but in CD-ROM format with two versions of each story.  The first contains music, to enhance the reading experience.  The second has no music.  Just a s a lark, I sent them links to my music samples, to if they would consider musical submissions.

As I had with THE MIRROR CRACK’D, I sent FINAL EXAM to Scrybe Press, hoping to find a home for both stories there.  It makes perfect sense.  They take place in the same universe and center on the same characters.  Perhaps I could have them both printed together?  It makes sense to me.  ;-)

MusicForte.com continues to be my best outlet for physical CD sales.  A few copies of my Christmas CD were sold, completely surprising me considering this is only September.  I keep joking that my SHINE A LITTLE LIGHT CHRISTMAS COLLECTION will be my ace in the hole this year.  I could very well be right.  Something tells me I better package up another box for them so they have extras on hand.  Better listen to that intuition!  (It’s only a little extra work.  LOL)

When I wrote to the one publisher about musical submissions, I also thought it might be a good idea to try and find a proper distributor for my Christmas album.  Many inquiries went out.  So far, most of the places I’ve been in touch with deal with artists either already on their label, that are a part of their company’s dealings circles, or are too small to do that kind of project.  You should know me well enough by now to know I never abandon hope.  The search continues.

Remember what I told you I was looking forward to this week?  Yes, “Mars - The Bringer Of War” from Gustov Holst’s THE PLANETS SUITE.  Most of my time this week was devoted to getting this track hammered out while jumping back and forth between everything else, including parts of my private life.  The final version happened at almost four in the morning Saturday.  But, it’s soo worth it!

As beautiful, peaceful, and relaxing as “Venus - The Bringer Of Peace” is, that’s how aggressive and powerful “Mars - The Bringer Of War” became.  I had this idea in mind as I set out to transform the music into something Rock & Roll.  (Don’t laugh!  Led Zeppelin music has been transformed into Symphonic settings.  There’s no reason Symphonic Music can’t sound great with Electric Guitars.)

The adventure began with getting all the parts just right.  “Mars” begins with one time signature, then changes to 5/4 later, and switches again to 3/4 toward the end.  The original version I have has a very subdued feel to the music, gaining power in a few key areas.  The version I created beings strong, stays powerful, and completely blows you away at the end.  How was this achieved?  The story is interesting and I don’t mind sharing it.

“Mars” opens with a Rhythm created by Timpani.  The instrument runs through only parts of the track in three places.  Later in the track, they get drowned out.  This Percussion layer had to be done as multiple tracks as well as gaining help from variant Rhythm sounds.  One of those was an Acoustic Guitar.  Another was a deep, pulsing Synth layer.  Combined with some Strings, there’s a rumbling to be heard, like the thunder of war, or the sound of the ancient Roman god of war.  It’s his anthem after all.

The majority of the melody and accompanying music was electrified.  This meant several Electric Guitars, ranging in texture from Lead to Bass.  Another trick that worked really well was Electric String layers for both Viola and Cello, and an Electric Clarinet.  No kidding!  Add in some really pounding Drums and some Piano and you have the basic soundscape.  Mixing, on the other hand, was more complex.  I couldn’t tell you with any degree of accuracy how many times I tweaked sound levels or played with various sound settings and instrument placements.  It really was a process of trial and error.  Many of the tracks needed duplicated, sometimes several times, to balance how the music flows through each channel.  In fact, “Mars” uses a total of 32 tracks, the most complex track (second only to the 33 I used for “Venus”) I have recorded.  It took that much to get it all just right.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t listen to the music itself while doing the mixing because of the complexity and processing power required.  What I had to do was create mixdown after mixdown in order to completely hear how things were meshing together.  (All of Saturday afternoon was spent giving my computer a complete hard drive diagnostic and repair, adding to the time it took to complete “Mars”.)  My journal notes every time I did something.  To just read it in that order is almost schizophrenic.  In this recreated blog format, things tend to make more sense.  I like organized logic compared to linear, almost scatter-brained chaos!  After about a dozen or so text mixes, everything fell into place.  “Mars” turned out perfect.  In some ways, this piece of music, next to my original “Tiamat”, represents a crowning jewel of my AD ASTRA project.  I can’t wait for everyone to hear it!

Harry gave me a really great compliment yesterday.  He’s been listening to what I have done so far for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX.  He said those tracks represent my best work.  I’m at a place in my writing where he was trying to imagine what I’d be doing now just over a year ago.  I’m right where he expected.  Thanks Harry!

Things to look forward to this week?  Well, I’m all set to take on John William’s “The Asteroid Field” from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.  After “Mars”, I can’t wait to hear how this one will turn out.  I’m also looking forward to another recording session with my brother Scott next weekend.  He has some more musical ideas.  Stay tuned!

Have a great week and see you here next time!

Rob

Early in the week, my brother stopped by to record some Electric Guitar parts for possible use in future projects/collaborations.  He certainly has a style of his own.  It’s up to me to come up with something that sounds good with it.  No pressure!

After a lot of instrument experimentation and arranging, “Dioskolis” eventually took shape.  Like molding a block of clay, this track required little touches here and there.  Increasing the tempo took out any drag.  Two longer parts, the intro and the middle, needed trimmed in half to shape up those spots.  Parts were written, re-written, put in or taken out, until a completed track emerged.  “Dioskolis” is another for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX.

From the near future to the ancient past, the next track originated in about 130 B.C.E.  It’s the “First Delphic Hymn”, something for AD ASTRA.  Sticking with mostly traditional instruments, the New Age edge becomes more clear through the use of a Keyboard.  This was combined with a Viola, Flute, and 12-String Acoustic Guitar to create the Vocal line.  There’s also a Drone part, one that worked best with deeper sounds; a Choir layer and Double Bass.  Orchestral Percussion gave the music a truly ancient feel.  In fact, the mix worked so well this way, I went back to “Hymn To The Sun” and reworked the Percussion for it using the Orchestral sounds.  Whatever I felt was missing before is certainly absent now.  AD ASTRA is really shaping up nicely in sound and feel at this point.

Holst’s “The Planets Suite” was compared to Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” when it was finished.  In coming up with a possible track list of music to go along with reworked versions of Holst’s music, Vivaldi’s “Spring” was one of my choices.  However…  Notice the past tense.

Strings and Electric Guitars sounded interesting together.  Something about the music just didn’t have the same feel as the other tracks.  And, it wasn’t without effort on my part playing with tones and textures.  What I think it was is something simple.  Vivaldi’s “Spring” was simply to bright.  One thought did occur to me.  This is a Violin piece, almost automatically making it a brighter toned work.  “Spring” was scrapped because it doesn’t really fit in the same musical context as Holst’s work, or the other tracks completed at this point.

Three of my poems came back, after only a few days of being gone.  They went on to another market.  There’ll be a sale someday soon!  Keep watching.

The next piece of music I worked on was another of my original compositions for AD ASTRA, a track I’m calling “Earth - The Home Planet”.  With a very definite idea of how to open this one, two effects were used.  The first is a recording of the Earth’s own magnetic field, a ‘chorus’ sound.  It’s a sweeping sound, rising and falling rhythmically.  A filter brought out more of the layer.  Then, I used a clip of someone searching for radio stations to lead right up to the opening of the track.

“Earth”, coincidentally, has a very specific feel, one that constantly put me in mind of water.  Well, Earth is a water world.  What better way to accentuate and punctuate the music than to have the sound of ocean waves rolling into the shore?  The sound is somewhat subdued, running the full length of the music, and closing the track itself.

Taking shape over the course of a few days, the music went through a metamorphosis, just like any of the other tracks.  Some parts demanded pauses.  Those worked very well at dividing the music into short movements, and to lend more to the ocean sound.  One spot pauses right before a wave sweeps in, right with a stronger part of music, as if the ocean itself was lending its power to my composition.  In another spot, holding the Electric Guitar had the same effect leading into the next movement.

When finished, “Earth” sounded more like a track for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX.  It has a very ‘live’ feel thanks to the count-ins and pauses.  However, it will be on AD ASTRA as planned.  Maybe my being able to pick up on the similarities of sound is because I’m noticing that I’m developing a distinct sound while recording these two projects.

Lastly for this past week, I began setting up pages at CDBaby.com for BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS and RAHU in anticipation of possibly releasing those discs sometime this month.  You’ll get the details as soon as I can pass them along!

Oh, one more quick thing.  The Sonic Remixed MySpace page has one of my tracks up, “Stardust Speedway Bad Future”.  If you haven’t already heard it at icompositions.com, be sure to head over and check it out.

What are you looking forward to this week?  I’m looking forward to sinking my teeth into “Mars - The Bringer Of War”.  More on that next time!

Rob

Some of you know about mood.myrealtalent.com.  A lot of time was spent sending out invitations to musicians to join the site.  Amazingly, the process is slow and time consuming.  And, I’m not even half way done sending these notes around!

The six poems sent to The Pedestal Magazine over a month ago were rejected.  That brings my rejection count up into the thirties.  I just don’t remember the exact number.  The immunity to those rejections is there, however, the whole point of the challenge to begin with.  At this point, some of my time was devoted to finding alternate poetry markets.  Also, I sent two stories off to e-book/books on demand publishers to see if there’s a chance for me in those markets.  One of them was “The Mirror Crack’d” now that all the rights have reverted back to me because of TwistedShift’s closing.  The other is “Persephone”, taking an alternate look at a Greek Myth.

The six poems were then split into two submission groups.  Three went to Raving Dove Online Literary Journal.  The other three were sent to Found Other Poetry.

The last productive thing I can tell you about this week is that I finally finished my review for Ann Wilson’s solo album HOPE & GLORY.  It should show up at My Real Talent first.  The other places will be through some press release services.

See?  We’re at the end already.  Short and sweet.  Next week will have better results to report.  See you then!

Rob