ELWOOD'S MUSIC CATALOGUE - CLASSICAL PIECES

ELWOOD'S MUSIC CATALOGUE
My takes on famous classical pieces
All arrangements Š Copyright Paul A. Williams aka Elwood Herring - Please read these notes before downloading
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HERRCD26 ELWOOD'S CLASSICS

Opus: N/A
Length: 42:30
Instruments: Korg & Crumar Synthesisers, Yamaha CX5M Music Computer
Composed: Various

Here's a compilation of the best classical works that I have desecrated over the years. I'm truly sorry, I don't know what I was thinking, and I promise I won't do it again. Probably.

Download the whole albumwrapped album free from MegaUpload.

Title Composer MIDI Year Mins Description of individual pieces on CD.

Sinfonia to Cantata no.29 Bach 1984 03:45 A reworking of one of my Switched-On Bach pieces - The MIDI here isn't as good as the CX5M original on the CD, but it'll do for starters. A good piece for keyboard practice!

Air on a G String Bach 1984 04:30 Another Switched-On Bach piece. Who doesn't know this one?

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring Bach 1984 03:30 Another classic Bach tune. The CX5M really handled these pieces well, even if the tempos were tricky to get right in places.

Danse Antique Gounod 1983 02:00 From Gounod's "Faust". I used the Crumar Stratus polyphonic and the Korg micro combined for this piece.

William Tell Overture (Finale) Rossini 1984 02:52 The first piece I sequenced on the Yamaha CX5M computer. I was amazed at the superb digital sound that came out. Not an easy music editor to use though - slow, cumbersome and extremely frustrating!
I added some reverb to this piece which made it sound a bit muddy. I need to go back to the original recording and remaster it without the reverb.

Hall of the Mountain King Grieg 1979 02:22 My first attempt at a classical piece - using the Korg Micro-Preset synthesiser and multi-tracking. Tricky, but I pulled it off. Remember this was a MONOPHONIC synthesiser!

Adagio from Organ Symphony Saint-Saens 1984 01:02 Just a short clip played on the CX5M. I might get around to finishing this off some day.

Marche Militaire from Suite Algerienne Saint-Saens 1984 04:20 A bit of a cheat, this one - basically a MIDI file with all the instruments changed. Sounds good though.

March Past of the Kitchen Utensils Vaughan Williams 1983 03:40 From the title it sounds like something Frank Zappa might have dreamed up, but actually it's from the suite "The Wasps" by Vaughan-Williams. Same set-up as the Gounod piece.

I had a lot of trouble keeping the hiss down with all the multi-tracking in the middle section, as you will no doubt hear.

The Rite of Spring (Opening section) Stravinsky 1983 01:25 Back in 1983 I had this crazy idea of recreating Stravinsky's Rite of Spring entirely on synthesisers. This is as far as I got.

Albatross Fleetwood Mac 1983 04:10 Fleetwood Mac's Albatross on synthesisers? Say it ain't so! OK, guilty as charged. I deserve a good kicking for doing this.

The Crumar only had a four octave keyboard (C to C), and unfortunately the highest note in Albatross is a D. I had to cheat a bit and "bend" the note. It sounds odd when you first hear it, so be prepared!

The Left Bank (arr. Elwood) Gambit/Hill 2008 04:50 I recently decided to have a go at revamping the old "Vision On" gallery theme. It was never heard fully on the programme, and the original is only two minutes long anyway. So I added some improvisations of my own. Try the MIDI version here (and see if you can spot another famous and quite relevant tune I sneaked in at one point!)

here i go Syd Barrett 1980 03:00 Take Syd Barrett's moody post-Floyd song, strip off the vocals (sorry, Syd), raise the pitch by about a fifth, speed the whole thing up, then add a couple of bubbly synths and this is what you get.

Tribute to Mike Oldfield Traditional 1980 01:20 The Sailor's Hornpipe, of course. With a bit of computer manipulation this speeds up at the end to an impossible degree.

Bach on a Yamaha Description & comments

Okay so maybe it isn't up to Wendy Carlos's standard, but mine's a lot cheaper and was made 15 years later.

NOTE: These files have now been replaced on my server after having being accidentally deleted a long time ago; thanks to an anonymous web surfer who spotted this and notified me. Moral, if you find something missing or incomplete or just plain wrong anywhere on my site, PLEASE TELL ME! Email me at elwoodherringŠblueyonder.co.uk (replacing the Š with the @ sign). Then I can put it right!

BACH ON A YAMAHA! A recreation of Wendy Carlos's album all done on the Yamaha CX5M. Download the whole album free from this MegaUpload link.

Bach on a Yamaha (again!) Description & comments

Some more Bach pieces which I made on the CX5M that have been unavailable until now.
1: The first nine WTC Preludes & Fugues: Click here to download.
2: The complete 2 part inventions: Click here to download.
3: The complete 3 part inventions: Click here to download.

BACH ON A YAMAHA PART 2 Technically the Yamaha had the capability to recreate just about all of Carlos's subtle phrasing and so on, but as it was such a pain to program it to that level of complexity, I basically didn't bother. So, don't complain if it's not up to Carlos's standard (as one anally retentive e-mailer did recently. It's free. Stop whingeing.)

Some more info on these pieces: Bach wrote a total of 48 Preludes and Fugues and called the whole set the "Well-Tempered Clavier" or WTC for short. I arranged the first nine for the CX5M. I intended to do all 48, but it was taking far too long so I gave up after nine.

For the two part inventions I went through all the default voice settings on the CX5M one by one. Then in the three part ones I created some new sounds for each piece, with some quite startling results. One sounds like a group of people whistling, another is like a musical box (I also tried to create the sound of the box being "wound up" at one point, but it wasn't convincing so I left it out eventually.)

	HERRCD26 ELWOOD'S CLASSICS Opus: N/A Length: 42:30 Instruments: Korg & Crumar Synthesisers, Yamaha CX5M Music Computer Composed: Various
	Here's a compilation of the best classical works that I have desecrated over the years. I'm truly sorry, I don't know what I was thinking, and I promise I won't do it again. Probably. Download the whole albumwrapped album free from MegaUpload.

Title	Composer	MIDI	Year	Mins	Description of individual pieces on CD.
Sinfonia to Cantata no.29	Bach		1984	03:45	A reworking of one of my Switched-On Bach pieces - The MIDI here isn't as good as the CX5M original on the CD, but it'll do for starters. A good piece for keyboard practice!
Air on a G String	Bach		1984	04:30	Another Switched-On Bach piece. Who doesn't know this one?
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring	Bach		1984	03:30	Another classic Bach tune. The CX5M really handled these pieces well, even if the tempos were tricky to get right in places.
Danse Antique	Gounod		1983	02:00	From Gounod's "Faust". I used the Crumar Stratus polyphonic and the Korg micro combined for this piece.
William Tell Overture (Finale)	Rossini		1984	02:52	The first piece I sequenced on the Yamaha CX5M computer. I was amazed at the superb digital sound that came out. Not an easy music editor to use though - slow, cumbersome and extremely frustrating! I added some reverb to this piece which made it sound a bit muddy. I need to go back to the original recording and remaster it without the reverb.
Hall of the Mountain King	Grieg		1979	02:22	My first attempt at a classical piece - using the Korg Micro-Preset synthesiser and multi-tracking. Tricky, but I pulled it off. Remember this was a MONOPHONIC synthesiser!
Adagio from Organ Symphony	Saint-Saens		1984	01:02	Just a short clip played on the CX5M. I might get around to finishing this off some day.
Marche Militaire from Suite Algerienne	Saint-Saens		1984	04:20	A bit of a cheat, this one - basically a MIDI file with all the instruments changed. Sounds good though.
March Past of the Kitchen Utensils	Vaughan Williams		1983	03:40	From the title it sounds like something Frank Zappa might have dreamed up, but actually it's from the suite "The Wasps" by Vaughan-Williams. Same set-up as the Gounod piece. I had a lot of trouble keeping the hiss down with all the multi-tracking in the middle section, as you will no doubt hear.
The Rite of Spring (Opening section)	Stravinsky		1983	01:25	Back in 1983 I had this crazy idea of recreating Stravinsky's Rite of Spring entirely on synthesisers. This is as far as I got.
Albatross	Fleetwood Mac		1983	04:10	Fleetwood Mac's Albatross on synthesisers? Say it ain't so! OK, guilty as charged. I deserve a good kicking for doing this. The Crumar only had a four octave keyboard (C to C), and unfortunately the highest note in Albatross is a D. I had to cheat a bit and "bend" the note. It sounds odd when you first hear it, so be prepared!
The Left Bank (arr. Elwood)	Gambit/Hill		2008	04:50	I recently decided to have a go at revamping the old "Vision On" gallery theme. It was never heard fully on the programme, and the original is only two minutes long anyway. So I added some improvisations of my own. Try the MIDI version here (and see if you can spot another famous and quite relevant tune I sneaked in at one point!)
here i go	Syd Barrett		1980	03:00	Take Syd Barrett's moody post-Floyd song, strip off the vocals (sorry, Syd), raise the pitch by about a fifth, speed the whole thing up, then add a couple of bubbly synths and this is what you get.
Tribute to Mike Oldfield	Traditional		1980	01:20	The Sailor's Hornpipe, of course. With a bit of computer manipulation this speeds up at the end to an impossible degree.

*Bach on a Yamaha*	*Description & comments*
	*Okay so maybe it isn't up to Wendy Carlos's standard, but mine's a lot cheaper and was made 15 years later.* NOTE: These files have now been replaced on my server after having being accidentally deleted a long time ago; thanks to an anonymous web surfer who spotted this and notified me. Moral, if you find something missing or incomplete or just plain wrong anywhere on my site, PLEASE TELL ME! Email me at elwoodherringŠblueyonder.co.uk (replacing the Š with the @ sign). Then I can put it right!
BACH ON A YAMAHA!	A recreation of Wendy Carlos's album all done on the Yamaha CX5M. Download the whole album free from this MegaUpload link.

*Bach on a Yamaha (again!)*	*Description & comments*
	Some more Bach pieces which I made on the CX5M that have been unavailable until now. 1: The first nine WTC Preludes & Fugues: Click here to download. 2: The complete 2 part inventions: Click here to download. 3: The complete 3 part inventions: Click here to download.
BACH ON A YAMAHA PART 2	Technically the Yamaha had the capability to recreate just about all of Carlos's subtle phrasing and so on, but as it was such a pain to program it to that level of complexity, I basically didn't bother. So, don't complain if it's not up to Carlos's standard (as one anally retentive e-mailer did recently. It's free. Stop whingeing.) Some more info on these pieces: Bach wrote a total of 48 Preludes and Fugues and called the whole set the "Well-Tempered Clavier" or WTC for short. I arranged the first nine for the CX5M. I intended to do all 48, but it was taking far too long so I gave up after nine. For the two part inventions I went through all the default voice settings on the CX5M one by one. Then in the three part ones I created some new sounds for each piece, with some quite startling results. One sounds like a group of people whistling, another is like a musical box (I also tried to create the sound of the box being "wound up" at one point, but it wasn't convincing so I left it out eventually.)