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All music and noises © Copyright Paul A. Williams aka Elwood Herring - Please read these notes before downloading
NOTE ON PLAYING MIDI FILES: All my MIDI works are meant to be played using the standard Microsoft GS Wavetable. Usage of any other wavetable will give unintended results. By all means experiment if you have the capability, but please be aware that what you end up with will not be what I intended!
Also, some MIDI files played on Winamp before version 5.3 (and it appears, after 5.541) will not play correctly. If you use Winamp, please up/downgrade to a version between 5.3 and 5.541 (incl), or alternatively, download this version or go here where you can download ANY version of Winamp.
| D/L | Mins | Symphony #6 "The Hitch-Hiker symphony" Opus: 28/54 Length: 62:20 Instruments: Computer enhanced Microsoft GS MIDI sounds Composed: December 2006 (some material composed in 1985) Inspired by Douglas Adams' original radio series of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. A symphonic convulsion in four fits, dedicated to a family of Dents that I happen to know. |
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62:20 | Originally conceived on the Yamaha CX5M computer in 1985 and expanded and reworked in 2006 (This music has nothing to do thematically with any music used for the TV or radio series or even the crappy recent film of Hitch-Hiker.) The music doesn't follow the plot, but I used the original radio series; its characters and plot devices in particular, as an inspirational base on which to construct the music. My intention is to throw lots of mad ideas at the listener in the same way that Douglas Adams did in his writing. Download the whole finished album as an Albumwrapped mp3 from MegaUpload. (The MIDI files below give you a good idea of the music, but are not the finished mp3's.) | |
| Deep Thought Fanfare Beeblebrox Rides Again Bistromathics Gratuity Error Hotblack's Farewell Performance Somebody Else's Problem Campaign for Real Common Time "Oh no, not again" |
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14:10 | Fit the First (I thought I'd name the sections "fits" after Douglas Adams's titles for the radio series episodes. Adams of course in turn stole the idea from Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark - An Agony in Eight Fits) The first 5 minutes or so of this section were reworked from my 1986 mini-suite, then the instruments were re-assigned as closely as I could to the sounds of the original piece. The remainder of the movement was written in March 2006, with a short reprise at the end utilising two of the original themes played simultaneously on two pianos to bring the movement to an abrupt stop - similar to hanging by your fingernails to the lip of a giant cup-shaped cave, perhaps? |
| Don't Panic! Hagunemnon Evolution A Paranoid Android Infinite Improbability Arthur Dent throws the Nutrimatic Cup |
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06:40 | Fit the Second (After a lot of consideration I have decided to reverse the order of the middle two "fits" - I think the piece sounds better this way round): Watch out for the "Infinite Improbability" section, and Marvin's happy tune with a grumbling off-key bass line - and of course Arthur throwing the Nutrimatic Cup at the end! |
| The Heart of Gold Gargravarr hums Milliways Menu "No, it's just the lift" Magrathean Dreams White Mice Slartibartfast reminisces March to the Total Perspective Vortex The Fairy Cake Universe A couple of Pan Galactic Gargleblasters |
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17:10 | Fit the Third (originally second). Lots of things happening in this - watch out for some odd time signatures. Also see if you can spot the relevant sections according to the titles on the left. The White Mice should be easy to spot at least, as is the March to the Total Perspective Vortex. Some of the best music I've ever written here, I reckon. Another point to note is that certain characters are asociated with specific recurring themes or "leitmotifs" to use the proper term. Originally invented by Berlioz, developed by Wagner in Tristan & Isolde, and also used to great effect in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and subsequent films. Remember that tune you hear whenever Darth Vader is on the screen? Everyone knows that one; "Da, Da, Da, Dum-ti-da, dum-ti-da..." well that's a leitmotif. In this piece you can hear similar tunes denoting Arthur, Zaphod, Marvin and others. See if you can spot them. |
| Close to the Owner of a Lonely Heart of Gold "And now a word from our President" Mostly Harmless Eddies in the space time continuum The Earth Mark II The Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Factory FloorVogon Poetry Two to the power of Infinity minus oneThe statue of Arthur The man in the shack I, (Manically Depressed) Robot and more... |
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24:20 | In this final apocalyptic "fit", expect to come across such wonders as polyrhythms, polytonality, complex counterpoint with up to eight themes running simultaneously, dramatic tempo changes, jazz-style syncopation, literally dozens of time signature changes, fugal sections, and also a musical style I invented myself; something I call "Pointillistic Instrumentation". Some themes also utilize all twelve notes of the chromatic scale, so in a way it is also "twelve-tone" music in places. Schoenberg would almost certainly have approved. Plus the leitmotifs mentioned earlier are all over the place. And for good measure I've also added some brief homages to a few famous 70's Rock albums for you to find. You don't need to understand what all that means to appreciate the music however. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. |
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