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D/L | Mins | Concentric Circles Opus: 19 Length: 57 minutes Instruments: Korg micro-preset synthesiser, farfisa organ, Crumar Stratus synthesiser, electronic percussion, tape effects Composed: 1983 |
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27:55 29:20 |
As a contrast to most of my earlier work, this was an attempt to do something accessible and easy to listen to. Part 1 certainly is, but part 2 is a bit heavier going and more experimental (I jut can't help veering off that well-trodden path.) |
| Mins | Descriptions of individual movements | Incantation / Midnight Expression |
07:00 | A slow tentative start leads into an expansive theme called "Midnight Expression" with a motoring bass line. This gives way eventually to...
| Unfanfare / |
Middle of November / Autopilot 10:15 |
the quirky "Un-fanfare" (Unfair/Funfair/Fanfare... take your pick) theme with its duelling synth solos, then a tune from my old Interface song "November" takes centre stage for a while with lots of added "Jarre"-ish whooshes and whistles (the only time I've really done this sort of thing, just to show how easy it is!). Then the mood relaxes a bit for the quiter "Autpilot" section with its syncopated rhythm and bell-like tones, which gradually dies away into silence. This is abruptly shattered by... | Cat's Cradle |
02:37 |
a hesitant jumpy tune which won't sit still, just like a fussy cat! Then after a brief clash of car horns we find ourselves... | City Limits |
02:49 |
motoring along in "City Limits" which is based on the Cradle theme. This repeats annoyingly a couple of times without really getting anywhere (must be a traffic jam), then quotes another theme from November before cutting off, then... | Name that Tune |
00:30 |
A wistful tune wafts over the scene, as if lost (which it is - it doesn't really belong in this piece.) | A Farewell Wave |
04:35 |
Then a return to the expansive Midnight theme to finish off this section. | Almost Archaic |
04:40 |
Part 2 is a totally different beast to part 1. It opens with a melancholy harpsichord-like solo called "Almost Archaic" (a nod to the late Tim Souster who wrote pieces with titles like "Arcane Artefacts" and "Arboreal Antecedents" etc. Why? I have no idea. I made my own compilation of Souster's best AA pieces and called it "Accumulated Anthology"! But I digress...), before sequeing into... | Preramble |
06:22 |
"Preramble" and then... | Lazy Haze |
01:35 |
"Lazy Haze"; strange electronically described landscapes with some weird off-key bass noises from the Korg permeating the calm like an angry insect. This eventually self-destructs violently, and in the clearing that it leaves behind... | Built Up Logically |
06:55 |
a huge construction gets going: "Built Up Logically" is a musical jigsaw comprising small segments attempting to interlock into a cohesive rhythm. I never quite got this right and it goes on just a bit too long, but I still like the idea. It turns out to be more like a musical Tower of Babel. It shows basically that my ideas were way ahead of the instruments and technology I could afford at the time. The shaky tower eventually collapses like a house of cards, bringing us back to... | Pulsar |
06:05 |
the serene but slightly disturbing scenery similar to what's already been heard. This fades into silence, and we hear a muted clip from "Midnight Expression" as if playing on a distant horizon. | Childhood's End |
04:40 |
There is ultimately no escape from the melancholy as the work ends with "Childhood's End"; a nostalgic piece that ties into the opening Midnight section by interweaving its bass line into the tune, and brings the whole work to a wistful close. (NOTE: The tune I called "Childhood's End" is NOT the Pink Floyd one or any other copyrighted work; it is my own composition, as is the entire work.) | November Odyssey |
27:30 |
This is a huge MIDI suite that reworks some of the material I composed for "Concentric"; in particular November, Autopilot, Midnight Expression and Childhood's End (arguably the best bits!) Don't write off simple MIDI files - this shows what can be done with them if you have the patience. | |
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