ELWOOD HERRING'S MUSIC CATALOGUE
All music and noises © Copyright Paul A. Williams aka Elwood Herring - Please read these notes before downloading
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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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
 

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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