Writing the Instrumental Music Album "JOURNEYS"

The Idea Behind Journeys

 

With WORLDS and DREAMS under my belt and both transcribed for multiple instruments, I embarked upon JOURNEYS.

 

The Piano Solo Tracks:

 

1. Weeping By The Hearth (2:31)
2. Swift Horses (2:59)
3. A Mound of Treasure (2:12)
4. The Ice Vessel (3:06)
5. In the Shade of the Teasel (2:56)
6. Beowulf's Tomb (2:13)
7. Crumbling Wine Halls (2:52)
8. Silver Island (2:53)
9. Squinancywort Pie (2:40)
10. The Marsh Queen (2:53)
11. Summers' Snowflakes (2:32)
12. Azarole (3:03)

  

 

With these first albums, each instrument is listed inside the CD jacket.  The instruments I chose for these pieces were interesting and I started to embark upon 'soundscapes' for the first time, something that has become quite important and exciting to me more recently.

 

1. Weeping by the Hearth  - Spanish guitar, Classical Flute, Gothic Choir

2. Swift Horses - Nylon Guitar, Classical Flute, Dunes Effect

3. A Mound of Treasures - Grand Piano, Slow Strings, Stardust Effect, Gothic Choir

4. The Ice Vessel - Harp, Classical Flute, Gothic Choir, Tremolo Vibes

5. In the Shade of the Teasel - Classical Guitar solo

6. Beowulf's Tomb -Nylon Guitar, Pan flute, Drum & Tambourine, Harp, Gothic Choir

7. Crumbling Wine Halls - Spanish guitar, Slow Strings, Tambourine, Mandolin

8. Silver Island: - Grand Piano, Classical Flute, Drum and Tambourine

9. Squinancywort Pie - Folk Guitar, Modern Harp, Banjo

10.  The Marsh Queen - Smooth Nylon Guitar, Gothic Choir, Clarinet, French Horn

11. Summers Snowflakes - Grand Piano, Classical Flute

12.  Azarole  - Grand Piano, Ocarina, Drum, Cymbal, Harp, Synth Strings

 

The moods and style of each piece in JOURNEYS are quite emotive, really taking the listener to many different places in their imagination.  Also, whereas "Weeping by the Hearth" is reflective, "Swift Horses" is uplifting, you also have on here 'Beowulf's Tomb' and 'Azarole' which are more severe and dominant, so there are certainly a lot of moods on this album.  'Crumbling Wine Halls' gave me the opportunity to think Spanish and I really enjoyed taking the piano solo and using Mandolins and stuff to transform it into a Spanish feel.   I really like this album, it's nice, fresh, interesting, peaceful and really does take you on a journey with every piece.

This is the finished album today:

 

For my first 5 albums: Worlds, Dreams, Journeys, Lands and Realms I used a Clavinova system so the digital instruments are Clavinova sounds which have since been re-mastered and made up to date.  For 'Journeys' I took 12 piano solos that I had written over the years and expanded them as instrumental tracks on the Clavinova.  For sound examples from this album visit my You Tube Channel for a 'Journeys' trailer!

For more information and to purchase this album please visit www.marysdowryproductions.org