ELWOOD HERRING'S MUSIC CATALOGUE

This page is best viewed using Opera - a better browser than Internet Exploder any day! ELWOOD HERRING'S MUSIC CATALOGUE
All music and noises © Copyright Paul A. Williams aka Elwood Herring - Please read these notes before downloading
Right-click on the links and select "Save" (MIDI files play immediately)
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!
= Full MP3, = short MP3 clip, = MIDI file (Instant music!)

D/L Mins Planetary op.62

49:00 A large-scale work comprising a set of abstract electronic pieces depicting each of the planets in the Solar System. For the titles of the pieces I've used adjectives instead of nouns, since this work has nothing to do with Holst's famous orchestral suite. (Not that I am disparaging Holst's work in any way - it's a C20th masterpiece. But we have now moved on 100 years from when it was written, and nowadays the planets are seen less as mysterious entities or ancient gods and more as curious astronomical wonders.) I don't want to reinforce the ancient idea of the planets as having personalities; instead I am trying to depict the alien-ness of them. This is abstract music that is in absolutely no hurry to depict the awesomeness and individuality of each world as the listener is aurally conveyed past each one. Listen to the pieces free on Musicane below. (If you want to actually simulate the journey on screen, download the free astronomy simulation program Celestia. Highly recommended!)

Mercurial 2:15 The shortest piece for the smallest planet (unless you count Pluto, which I do.) Created on the Waldorf Micro Q synthesiser, it is an attempt to depict a hot but fast moving planet where a day is almost as long as a year.

Venusian 7:25 Venus the goddess was beautiful as we all know, but Venus the planet is the closest thing to the biblical Hell imaginable. Unrelenting pressure and suffocating heat persist eternally on the surface where nothing of the outside Universe can ever be seen through its inpenetrable clouds. If Venusian life exists at all, it would be totally unaware of anything but its own world.

Martial 2:50 Another fairly short piece depicts Mars, the planet we arguably know most about (apart from our own Earth of course). Tantalisingly inviting but nevertheless harsh and bleak, Mars beckons us like nowhere else in the Solar System. Is there life there? Probably not. Is there even water there? Maybe. Can we survive there? Yes, eventually. But it will be hard work. I am certain that there will be Martians one day, but they will be us. Who will be the first Human to be born there? And will his name be Valentine Michael Smith? (In homage to Robert Heinlein's novel "Stranger in a Strang Land", of course.)

Asteroidal 3:37 An aural depiction of a journey through the Asteroid Belt. Millions of tiny worlds between Mars and Jupiter. Were they once a whole planet? If so, it was a small one, smaller even than Mercury. What happened to it? Maybe Jupiter pulled it apart with its enormous gravitational pull. That's what my money's on, anyway. The music depicts a swarm of particles of all sizes which will forever be a hazard to future space missions.

Jovial/Jovian 19:15 Now we come to the big one. Isaac Asimov once said that the Solar System consisted of "Jupiter plus debris" - and he knew what he was talking about. Jupiter is enormous. If you take into account its magnetosphere too, it's actually bigger than the Sun! The music starts off with some actual "space sounds" recorded by the Voyager probes and others as they flew past the planet, including real Jovian lightning and the sounds Voyager 2 recorded while passing through Jupiter's magnetosphere in 1979. (Google "Jupiter Bow Shock" for more information, or go here.) The bulk of the music attempts to depict the sheer size and magnificence of the planet, including a look right into the eye of the Great Red Spot.

Saturnine 13:35 This piece also starts off with some real space sounds - here you can hear Saturn's lightning storms and other radio emissions from the planet. The rest of the piece was created without using any synthesisers at all - can you guess what I used? A free CD to anyone who can.

Uranian 0:00 To be completed sometime in 2008.

Neptunian 0:00 To be completed sometime in 2008.

Plutonian (and beyond) 0:00 To be completed sometime in 2008. (Yes, I remain adamant that Pluto IS a planet. I don't care what the so-called "experts" say! And so are Eris, Varuna, Quaoar, Orcus, Ixion and Sedna. As far as I'm concerned, if it goes round the Sun and it's been given a name, then it's a planet. So there! Of course that leaves open the possibility of such pieces as Erisian, Varunan, Quaorian, Orcusian, Ixionian and Sednan, but maybe that's going a bit too far...)

I've written a short article on the subject of planetary definition: go here to read it.

Previous work Next work

View my complete music catalog here

	*D/L*	*Mins*	Planetary op.62
		49:00	A large-scale work comprising a set of abstract electronic pieces depicting each of the planets in the Solar System. For the titles of the pieces I've used adjectives instead of nouns, since this work has nothing to do with Holst's famous orchestral suite. (Not that I am disparaging Holst's work in any way - it's a C20th masterpiece. But we have now moved on 100 years from when it was written, and nowadays the planets are seen less as mysterious entities or ancient gods and more as curious astronomical wonders.) I don't want to reinforce the ancient idea of the planets as having personalities; instead I am trying to depict the alien-ness of them. This is abstract music that is in absolutely no hurry to depict the awesomeness and individuality of each world as the listener is aurally conveyed past each one. Listen to the pieces free on Musicane below. (If you want to actually simulate the journey on screen, download the free astronomy simulation program Celestia. Highly recommended!)
Mercurial		2:15	The shortest piece for the smallest planet (unless you count Pluto, which I do.) Created on the Waldorf Micro Q synthesiser, it is an attempt to depict a hot but fast moving planet where a day is almost as long as a year.
Venusian		7:25	Venus the goddess was beautiful as we all know, but Venus the planet is the closest thing to the biblical Hell imaginable. Unrelenting pressure and suffocating heat persist eternally on the surface where nothing of the outside Universe can ever be seen through its inpenetrable clouds. If Venusian life exists at all, it would be totally unaware of anything but its own world.
Martial		2:50	Another fairly short piece depicts Mars, the planet we arguably know most about (apart from our own Earth of course). Tantalisingly inviting but nevertheless harsh and bleak, Mars beckons us like nowhere else in the Solar System. Is there life there? Probably not. Is there even water there? Maybe. Can we survive there? Yes, eventually. But it will be hard work. I am certain that there will be Martians one day, but they will be us. Who will be the first Human to be born there? And will his name be Valentine Michael Smith? (In homage to Robert Heinlein's novel "Stranger in a Strang Land", of course.)
Asteroidal		3:37	An aural depiction of a journey through the Asteroid Belt. Millions of tiny worlds between Mars and Jupiter. Were they once a whole planet? If so, it was a small one, smaller even than Mercury. What happened to it? Maybe Jupiter pulled it apart with its enormous gravitational pull. That's what my money's on, anyway. The music depicts a swarm of particles of all sizes which will forever be a hazard to future space missions.
Jovial/Jovian		19:15	Now we come to the big one. Isaac Asimov once said that the Solar System consisted of "Jupiter plus debris" - and he knew what he was talking about. Jupiter is enormous. If you take into account its magnetosphere too, it's actually bigger than the Sun! The music starts off with some actual "space sounds" recorded by the Voyager probes and others as they flew past the planet, including real Jovian lightning and the sounds Voyager 2 recorded while passing through Jupiter's magnetosphere in 1979. (Google "Jupiter Bow Shock" for more information, or go here.) The bulk of the music attempts to depict the sheer size and magnificence of the planet, including a look right into the eye of the Great Red Spot.
Saturnine		13:35	This piece also starts off with some real space sounds - here you can hear Saturn's lightning storms and other radio emissions from the planet. The rest of the piece was created without using any synthesisers at all - can you guess what I used? A free CD to anyone who can.
Uranian		0:00	To be completed sometime in 2008.
Neptunian		0:00	To be completed sometime in 2008.
Plutonian (and beyond)		0:00	To be completed sometime in 2008. (Yes, I remain adamant that Pluto IS a planet. I don't care what the so-called "experts" say! And so are Eris, Varuna, Quaoar, Orcus, Ixion and Sedna. As far as I'm concerned, if it goes round the Sun and it's been given a name, then it's a planet. So there! Of course that leaves open the possibility of such pieces as Erisian, Varunan, Quaorian, Orcusian, Ixionian and Sednan, but maybe that's going a bit too far...) I've written a short article on the subject of planetary definition: go here to read it.