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[ellll]

Hello Friends!,

This song for my May offering, called, The San Rafael, was conceived for orchestra. However, I fell back on piano to give me the harmonic setting I wanted for it. Perhaps we could call it a very short, no solos, piano concerto, ad lib .... One thing at least, is O.K.; the orchestra members are located in their correct placement.

It is intended to evoke the San Rafael Swell area in central Utah, USA... which is a huge eroded upwelling of lava, and overlying stone, and has some of the United States most amazing escarpments, canyons and pinnacles. It is always a shock to approach from the east.. after leaving the town of Green River...

I wanted to try to record in music .., the heat, the desolation, yet the heartbreaking beauty of this amazing canyon and pinnacle area.

http://www.korgforums.com/mp3/canyons.mp3

Turn it up... John (ellll)

[georgeinar]

John, in my good headphones that was amazing. I had the windows media player visualizer going along with your concerto and it fit perfectly what you were doing there. I was struck with how you just slightly hold back from allowing everything to gush harmony, there's just that hint of desolation in the beautiful notes, but it's unmistakeable, its almost as if you are really looking on something grand yet with a slightly darker underside. The only thing I would like in this piece is the piano solo you mentioned. I do believe that to break up the strings with a piano part doing something solo and then bringing in the strings again would round this off nicely. As is, it's really amazingly beautiful and one i could listen to over and over. I love this romantic style, it's always been my favorite, I have some trouble with the more abstract classical, and the baroque etc is nice but doesn't deliver emotionally like this stuff does. I don't know how much time this took to compose and execute and record but it sounds like it took a very long time. I'm like all "bravo bravissimo" sir. You made my night once again.
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[Dee]

Hi John

This is very beautiful! Again I am amazed at how well you paint pictures with your music. I agree with everything George said.....but will also mention the beautiful singing of the french horns and the flute, and some very special moments in the string lines too.

Your placement of the orchestra seems very 'right' to me and I would be interested to know how you did this.... ........

Looks like you are achieving very great heights with this year's Osam - I am quite blown away by each new song you are putting on.

Regards from
Dee

[GrahamBanks]

I like the sonic quality, all the instruments are very clear, and you also get a good dynamic range from soft to loud. Rhythmically and harmonically it reminds me of maybe stravinsky, which is good. It's not strict, but it keeps moving and has its own momentum. It definitely has a storyline and evoked pictures in my head. If I hadn't read your description first, I don't know if I would have pictured lava etc, but that's what I saw. Very good!

[pwmccredie]

what a complex and moody work. What a joy to listen to the lost art of actually changing melodic disposition within a song.

[joet63]

Hi ellll, very atmospheric song, good though I liked the keys and piano parts a lot, the whole piece flows very well through each other, my only thing would be is, is it recorded loud enough. I had to turn my speakers up quite a bit to hear all the parts, but ellll it's a wonderful song, well done!

Joe
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[Stephen]

Wow!!!!
Wow!!!!



This is so good...I'm speechless!

The emotion, and drama, is so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Just superb, John, I absolutely love this.

Regards,
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[ellll]

Hi, my Friends,

Sorry I have been absent a bit, but it will become even more necessary...I fear.

In the meantime, I want to thank all who wrote and commented rather kindly, on this construction, and it is just that; a difficult undertaking that a "few" others are attempting now, and that I HOPE we hear a finished example of soon.....

That is, a keyboard based.... and often today, a soft synth based full orchestral composition; difficult because we now try to honestly place the instrumentation correctly..., instead of just playing a string voice, and a harp and a trumpet etc....

In this, I lack the equipment for heavy metal 'tis true..., but this is even HARDER..., for it requires the sound be auditorial (if such a word exists...), and yet not terribly loud... so Joet and others, sorry, you are right !!

I could NOT get the "sonics" up to sound full, and yet not too loud; it just didn't work on what I have to work with....

This is really a bit terrible, but it was a start for me in the trying to BRING OUT , the kind of orchestral comps. I have written in my younger years... ; on the KEYBOARD in correct form.

Another member will yet bring you the same, I hope... A SELF WORKED, complete composition...and with MUCH better sound!

Again, thanks for the kind words!!

My sincere regards.... John (Johnny) (ellll)