ELWOOD HERRING'S MUSIC CATALOGUE

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All music and noises © Copyright Paul A. Williams aka Elwood Herring - Please read these notes before downloading
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EXPLORING NEW DIRECTIONS AND NEW POSSIBILITIES IN MUSIC COMPOSITION.
LOTS OF DIFFERENT STYLES AND APPROACHES, EVERY PIECE A MUSICAL EXPLORATION. GIVE YOUR EARS A TREAT!
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Play Size Mins Electronic Symphony "Son of Man" op.12 (1980)

66:00 A synth excursion based on Robert Silverberg's book. There are seven areas which the Hero has to traverse. The music is appropriate for each area, and ranges from fairly melodic ("Ice" & "Fire") to extremely dense ("Old" & "Heavy") to solo instrument ("Empty" & "Dark"). Challenging stuff - as is the book. The sound quality is not as good as I would like, but it was originally recorded on cassette tape in 1980.

1. Old (Original)   7Mb 10:05 Lumpy arrogant primitive sounds with an emergent marching rhythm towards the end. Quite a harsh piece, which it was meant to be from the start. (This track, along with "Ice" and "Heavy" are just too weird to be turned into MIDI files.)

1. Old (new version)   7Mb 10:10 I recently took another look at this piece, and decided to modify it a bit. This version sounds even more "old" to me, so here it is.

2. Ice   6Mb 09:22 High tinkly sounds using a whole-tone scale (one of my favourites) which gets progressively less hospitable and more threatening.

3. Fire

  6Mb 08:45 Fiery brass fanfares striding raucously about, with accompanying screeching fireworks overhead. This piece along with "Slow" are the most tuneful sections of the whole symphony. The MIDI version is simplified and doesn't really do the "fireworks" justice, but is otherwise note for note identical.

4. Heavy   8Mb 12:21 Music that can't bear its own weight; it is totally formless and chaotic, its only purpose is to keep going at all costs. After ten minutes of painful struggling it runs out of energy and crumples slowly into the dust.

5. Slow

  8Mb

  7kb 12:22

15:30 A ponderous organ solo which was improvised and recorded entirely in one sitting. Hymnlike and contemplative, this is music that's in no hurry and should be listened to on those terms.

The MIDI version was made in 2006 but doesn't quite have the same effect as the original. It is about 3 minutes longer however.

5a. Intermezzo
(The Fall)   2Mb 03:00 Basically the "Heavy" movement sped up and reversed.

6. Empty / Dark
  5Mb 08:30 A solo instrument contemplates its own navel, coming to the conclusion that it doesn't even know what it's supposed to be. Eventually lies down in the dark and gives up. Maybe not the most exciting music in the world, but when in context with the rest of the piece it makes perfect sense. You hear the various themes from earlier movements explored and rejected one by one before the character tries in vain to keep his spirits up and stay awake in a totally blank landcape.

7. Reunion
  2Mb 02:42

01:50 Exactly as described in the book (as closely as I could manage) - you hear the wailing of Wrong mingled with thunder which starts off the general festivities. I quite like the peculiar harmonies when the brass fanfare comes in - made up of whole major chords moving in parallel to produce the odd effect.

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View my complete music catalog here

	*Play*	*Size*	*Mins*	Electronic Symphony "Son of Man" op.12 (1980)
			66:00	A synth excursion based on Robert Silverberg's book. There are seven areas which the Hero has to traverse. The music is appropriate for each area, and ranges from fairly melodic ("Ice" & "Fire") to extremely dense ("Old" & "Heavy") to solo instrument ("Empty" & "Dark"). Challenging stuff - as is the book. The sound quality is not as good as I would like, but it was originally recorded on cassette tape in 1980.
1. Old (Original)		7Mb	10:05	Lumpy arrogant primitive sounds with an emergent marching rhythm towards the end. Quite a harsh piece, which it was meant to be from the start. (This track, along with "Ice" and "Heavy" are just too weird to be turned into MIDI files.)
1. Old (new version)		7Mb	10:10	I recently took another look at this piece, and decided to modify it a bit. This version sounds even more "old" to me, so here it is.
2. Ice		6Mb	09:22	High tinkly sounds using a whole-tone scale (one of my favourites) which gets progressively less hospitable and more threatening.
3. Fire		6Mb	08:45	Fiery brass fanfares striding raucously about, with accompanying screeching fireworks overhead. This piece along with "Slow" are the most tuneful sections of the whole symphony. The MIDI version is simplified and doesn't really do the "fireworks" justice, but is otherwise note for note identical.
4. Heavy		8Mb	12:21	Music that can't bear its own weight; it is totally formless and chaotic, its only purpose is to keep going at all costs. After ten minutes of painful struggling it runs out of energy and crumples slowly into the dust.
5. Slow		8Mb 7kb	12:22 15:30	A ponderous organ solo which was improvised and recorded entirely in one sitting. Hymnlike and contemplative, this is music that's in no hurry and should be listened to on those terms. The MIDI version was made in 2006 but doesn't quite have the same effect as the original. It is about 3 minutes longer however.
5a. Intermezzo (The Fall)		2Mb	03:00	Basically the "Heavy" movement sped up and reversed.
6. Empty / Dark		5Mb	08:30	A solo instrument contemplates its own navel, coming to the conclusion that it doesn't even know what it's supposed to be. Eventually lies down in the dark and gives up. Maybe not the most exciting music in the world, but when in context with the rest of the piece it makes perfect sense. You hear the various themes from earlier movements explored and rejected one by one before the character tries in vain to keep his spirits up and stay awake in a totally blank landcape.
7. Reunion		2Mb	02:42 01:50	Exactly as described in the book (as closely as I could manage) - you hear the wailing of Wrong mingled with thunder which starts off the general festivities. I quite like the peculiar harmonies when the brass fanfare comes in - made up of whole major chords moving in parallel to produce the odd effect.