Trying something different

 It's been a while since I posted, I was so focused on writing music for Mary's Dowry Productions, we had a backlog of films which we wanted to finish and release and we finally did it!  I wrote three film scores in a row for Hildegard of Bingen, Saint David Lewis and Saint Dymphna.  They gave me three opportunities for different styles of music and I was taken back 19 years to my first semester of college where we were asked to compose something in the style of Hildegard of Bingen!

In 2005 when I started my degree in music composition for professional media at Northbrook College, I had not heard of Hildegard of Bingen but we started right at the beginning before covering all styles and progressions of music and it was my favourite class.  I was just getting to grips with Cubase for the first time and doing a crash course in VST sounds.  With my student loan and grant I purchased Symphonic Choirs and I was the only one in my class to really study how to make the choirs speak.  I used the choirs to realistically speak words and for my piece I had them sing in plainchant one of Hildegard of Bingen's poems.  It was this that I dug out recently to use in my music score for the film after all these years!

Saint David Lewis gave me an opportunity to fuse some Welsh and Historical styles and Dymphna was something simple and uplifting.  The films are now available on DVD and Instant Video.

MUSIC CD ALBUMS

After all of this and 18 years of Mary's Dowry Productions I realised that I was drawing a lot upon similar styles and sounds and had become entrenched in writing music as an underscore for film.  My last album was VALLEYS which was 10 years ago.  I have produced a lot of Holy Spirit calming tracks which are easy for me to do but what I started out with at aged 14 is folklore, folk, Celtic style which I would compose at the piano and later on the Clavinova.  I miss these days.  I wrote 3 tracks for VALLEYS at the piano, transcribed them and then worked then into multiple instrumental scores on the computer.  They are so much more layered and interesting.

A few months ago I put everything away and decided that I wouldn't compose anymore, I was completely worn out.  However, this week I have turned everything back on and gone for something completely new.  I am into wildlife, conservation, climate right now and so I asked my sister for some nature titles and am going for a more fairy tale, nature style and really utilise my Forest Kingdom sounds.  Furthermore, I have dug out my manuscript paper and I shall be writing them at the clavinova so as to go back to my roots!

GOING DIGITAL

I still send out CD albums regularly but I am hot on making everything available digitally.  Yesterday I counted which albums are on Spotify, iTunes etc and am making the rest available.  I am not making music soundtracks available digitally but the Holy Spirit series, the Ancient Fusion series and the "others" such as Autumn, Christmas and future ones.  I'm very excited about this new direction! Check out my music on #Spotify 

Saint Catherine of Siena - New Film!

 After a much needed break, we decided to catch up on outstanding productions as well as new ones in the pipeline so really knuckled down to it and tried to finish St. Catherine of Siena.  In preparation, I decided to write some tracks that I could draw upon using my new samples from DARK ERA, NADA and ANCIENT ERA PERSIA.  They were perfect and so inspiring!

I decided to work specifically on Holy Spirit of Compassion album, then draw upon these album tracks if needed for the film.  I got writing whilst my sister finished the script and started editing the film.  What a lot of work!  This film was supposed to be 25 minutes but it expanded into an hour long film with the whole history of the papacy.  This gave me a lot to draw upon.  Some of the new samples have not just soundscapes but pulsing and rhythmic ones which were so handy.  One of my favourites was the instrument "Ancient Lyre".  I used this fused with piano, fiddle and cello.

It was not until I started actual work on the music score this week that I realized just how perfect these tracks were!  I started the score with a build up with strings and soundscapes, we also decided to have a lot of scenery breaks and scenery with text from St. Catherine's letters.  This gave me lots of opportunities to really get into the music.  Some breaks I used moving cello and strings, others soundscapes with Cantus monks singing, others with some nice Irish flute.  There is real variety in this film.  I was especially inspired by the sequences of modern people, works of charity, I used a track from Holy Spirit of Solitude where I got the Nykelharpa to work very well and the whole passage builds to an inspiring climax which made me love the Church and be so honoured to be writing music for projects that promote the work of the Church and the saints.

This film is now available on DVD and Instant video and I shall be writing the last 4 tracks for Spirit of Compassion to share on CD.

Saint Catherine of Siena DVD
Available from www.marysdowryproductions.org 

You can watch this trailer and listen to some of the music:

Holy Spirit of Hope

 I got so distracted with various things that I realized I never posted a picture or track listing for my latest album "Spirit of Hope".  I finished Spirit of Hope and Autumn albums several months ago and have since then been taking a break.  The next music project I have been working on is Mary's Dowry Productions' Margery Kempe film and I managed to find some PERFECT tracks for the film from Spirit of Hope, freshly prepared with the film in mind and it worked out really well, I tried a lot of different things and I also used a very old track from KINGDOMS album which is great and so perfect.  Here is the finished album:

The album is available on CD and also the usual Digital Outlets like Spotify and iTunes.

No trailer as yet but I hope to put something together to give some samples of the tracks in this particular album.

Here is the track listing:

Track 1 - Those who hope in the LORD will Renew their Strength (4:25)

Track 2 - Everything is possible for one who Believes (3:53)

Track 3 - The hope of the Afflicted Will Never Perish (4:52)

Track 4 - May Your Unfailing Love Be With Us, LORD, Even As We Put Our Hope In You (4:30)

Track 5 - As For Me, I Will Always Have Hope (4:23)

Track 6 - In His Word I Put My Hope (3:56)

Track 7 - May You Overflow With Hope By The Power Of The Holy Spirit (6:01)

Track 8 - I Press On Toward The Goal To Win The Prize For Which God Has Called Me Heavenward (5:17)

Track 9 - Do Not Fear, For I Have Redeemed You; I Have Summoned You By Name; You Are Mine (4:28)

Track 10 - You Will Be Secure, Because There Is Hope; You Will Look About You And Take Your Rest In Safety (4:05)

Visit www.marysdowryproductions.org for more info! 

Holy Spirit of Hope Music Album

 For several months I have been writing tracks with a view to using them in music scores for upcoming productions.  I have used them for the past three films and that has given me 8 tracks which I have set aside for Holy Spirit of Hope music album.  Today I took time out especially to write 2 more tracks so that I could finish this album and was very excited about it.  Halfway through I remembered that I will soon be writing the music for Margery Kempe so for track 10 I loaded some very ancient instruments such as Koblikzek, Nykelharpa, Lute, Psalter and used these as inspiration for the final track with a view to being able to use it in the film.  I am pleased to say that I have completed yet another album and also designed some of the artwork!  Once I hand the tracks over to my sister she will make me a nice trailer with music samples so watch this space.  It's nice coming right after the release of AUTUMN.

Music to Chill by - AUTUMN ALBUM now on Digital Outlets

Today my latest music album AUTUMN is available on all digital outlets.  Watch this trailer to be inspired and then head on over to Spotify, iTunes, Pandora, TikTok, Deezer and more! 

AUTUMN instrumental music album

 Yesterday, after a big break, I got back onto writing my AUTUMN music album with the final 2 tracks and I managed to complete them in an afternoon, thus finishing the album!  Today I have been working on the artwork and managed to release this new album on CD.

Autumn is a magical time of year when the leaves fall in an array of beautiful colours and mushrooms and toadstools spring up in the most unexpected places. The air is filled with the sounds of crunching leaves, crackling campfires and diverse new birds visiting for a short while. This new instrumental album captures these sounds and atmospheres through ten original tracks using instruments such as Celtic harp, guitar, erhu, ancient flutes, soundscapes, piano and so many more as well as subtly incorporating sound effects such as crackling fires, forest birds and thunder and rain to really encapsulate this wonderful time of year.

Track Listing:

1. Ode to the Fungi

2. The Forbidden Forest Trail

3. Smoking Campfires

4. Garlands of Forest Fruits

5. Rain on the Pumpkin Patch

6. Eddies of Autumn Leaves

7. Walking the Dark Woodland Pathways

8. Whispers Through the Decaying Trees

9. The Scent of Burning Pinecones

10. Toadstools and Earthstars

AUTUMN is the first in a NEW series beginning 2021 trying out something slightly different, something more free where I could incorporate more sound effects and freedom of style.  The titles were the inspiration for the pieces and I tried to make the tracks warm and atmospheric, encapsulating the many visual delights of autumn as well as the unique seasonal quirks such as pinecones, campfires, pumpkins and mushrooms.  It gave me a lot of ideas to work with, I've always been fascinated by mushrooms and saw this year some puffball earthstars for the first time and they were so otherworldly I used soundscapes and 'faery sounds' in this final track.  NOW AVAILABLE ON CD through www.marysdowryproductions.org 

AUTUMN Music Album & St. Ralph Sherwin

 The past couple of weeks I decided that I needed to write something completely new and without pressure, something completely free.  My sister suggested that I write a seasonal album called "Autumn". This really inspired me as I love the idea of falling leaves with their colours, mushrooms etc.  I asked her to write me 10 track title names and I would use these as the basis for my writing.

When I write, I start with a picture or an idea and set up my basic project in Cubase.  I have some standard instruments like harp, piano, strings, soundscapes, guitar.  Mostly I briefly decided on a 4/4 or 3/4 time or something else and tempo and then I'll hit record and play in starting with usually either harp or piano or strings and record in something for about 30 seconds.  I will go back to this, quantize it and normalize any velocity that's been played in way to loud or quiet, get it sounding nice, then I'll hit record again, change instrument and play in another tune or accompaniment over the top of what I have recorded.  I do this about 5 times with bass, strings, voices or whatever I feel the piece needs and I gradually build it up.

When I started AUTUMN the first title was "Ode to the Fungi" so I used mostly guitars and stringed instruments which I switched about.  I like to change instruments or bring in new ones after a minute or so.  I was told once by my college tutor "overkill on the oboe" and he suggested switching the lead instrument regularly.  This really helped and I am always aware of the need to bring in something new.  My favourite samples are by Eduardo Tarilonte and I draw upon his soundscapes a lot.  For this album I was able to use Forest Kingdoms more as it's not a "Holy Spirit" album or a religious contemplative track or film.  I felt I could do what I wanted so I used forest soundscapes with subtle sounds of fantasy beasts and birds.  I used sound effects like crackling fires and rain.  It's been really fun and this album captures the atmosphere of the season well.

I certainly enjoyed the last 2 tracks, tracks 7 and 8 that I have written this past week "Walking the dark woodland pathways" as I was able to write something darker and more sinister using the piano and strings and some creaking trees soundscapes and wind.  

I am gearing up to work on "St. Ralph Sherwin" music score, it's been a few weeks since I finished Anna Maria Taigi film score which was so epic I have not been able to go back to it through sheer exhaustion.  I decided to write a couple of "pre-tracks" for St. Ralph Sherwin and ended up writing 3 in a row yesterday which was great.  Finally I was inspired to use Highland Pipes which, if used well, can be so moving - like in Braveheart film.  

I started with subtle soundscapes to give an atmosphere of depth and expanse, then I used the pipes with a lot of reverb to "call out" over the "landscape" that I was picturing.  To this I added a fidule and it gradually built up from there with strings and bass and a bit of subtle nylon guitar to keep in moving.  I fell in love with this piece but had to stop for dinner and just managed to finish it.  Every hal hour or so I would record 30 seconds of video and music and tweet it on my Twitter account.  There was a lot of response to this and people got to hear what I was working on.  Today I've set up the St. Ralph Sherwin film and hope to incorporate this piece into the film as it hit that emotional spot.  It will mean at some point in the score, introducing the pipes and bringing the themes around to this kind of epic thought - probably towards the end where you know the character is going to prison and be executed.

Elizabeth Prout and Edel Quinn Music Scores

This summer has seen me not doing any blog posts at all!  I can't believe how fast it has gone.  Earlier this year I started to write some tracks for my next album "Holy Spirit of Hope" which were also for me to draw upon when writing the music soundtrack for our next film on Elizabeth Prout.  When it came to writing the score I had two tracks previously written and this made the music so much easier to write.  When I had written the introduction, opening titles and beginning, it was mostly underscore but when it came to needing something new or different, it meant I could drop in a track without composing it there and then.  This method works really well.

Sadly, once I've written a score I go onto the next project and don't really remember what took place.  As I've not been posting for months I can't honestly remember the Elizabeth Prout music score or the film other than that I was very pleased with it, it's frustrating that I didn't post any blogs about the process as I did it as I have now completely forgotten.  The film has met with a good reception and it's great to have finished it along with John Henry Newman and Dominic Barberi.  

You can watch a trailer for the film here:

The film is available to purchase from our website, Amazon or Etsy or Instant Video on Vimeo too.

Elizabeth Prout DVD

Also over the summer we decided that we desperately needed to finish our film on Edel Quinn and the Legion of Mary as it had been nearly 2 years since we started it!  This was exciting as it finally gave me an opportunity to use some African sounds that I've had on my computer but never found the opportunity to use.  I really enjoyed writing this music score and every time I used the African voices or drums it really enhanced it!.  A trailer for this film can be viewed here:

The film is now available too on DVD and Instant Video from all the usual places.  

Once these 2 films were completed it left us with 5 more outstanding, St. Ralph Sherwin, St. David Lewis, Margery Kempe, Ignatius Spencer and Bl. Anna Maria Taigi which had been requested.  After a short break we decided to work on Bl. Anna Maria Taigi which we knew was going to be a big film.  We filmed everything we needed in the Spring as well as some Ignatius Spencer footage for use in Elizabeth Prout film but also for his own film.  Editing on Bl. Anna Maria Taigi began and I started to write some interesting, mystical music tracks that I could draw upon - 3 in total and also an "Epic Track" for her trailer.

I am so pleased to have finished my album "Holy Spirit of Love"!  It took a while and the lockdown, although having more free time and being near the computer, unfortunately didn't seem to help with motivation.  Still, I have written all the tracks now and am so pleased with the album!  It's available currently on CD from all the usual outlets, website, Amazon, Ebay, and I am currently making it available for Digital Download on Spotify, iTunes etc.

The final themes of the album are very thought provoking, a lot of use of ancient instruments and voices as well as a real Celtic feel with my new Bodhran drum.  The track titles are as follows:

Track 1- Love Never Gives Up (3:48)

Track 2 - A Friend Loves At All times (4:28)

Track 3 - Greater Love Has No One Than This, That Someone Lay Down

His Life For His Friends (5:11)

Track 4 - Let All That You Do Be Done in Love (4:00)

Track 5 - Love Is Patient (5:51)

Track 6 - Love Never Fails (3:37)

Track 7 - I Found the One My Heart Loves (3:29)

Track 8 - Perfect Love Drives Out Fear (4:29)

Track 9 - I Am My Beloved's and my Beloved is Mine (5:17)

Track 10 - Love Covers a Multitude of Sins (5:03)

When designing the artwork I ended up going for snow and wolves which is completely different to my previous album which was a lot of desert and I had the idea all along for a lonely tree being on the album cover.  In "Spirit of Love" I was not sure what I would do but when I saw the wolves it really opened up the imagination for me and the depth that I wanted to convey through these pieces.  It was also the perfect difference needed when you put all the albums together.

I did actually complete this album a couple of months ago and it is slowly gaining interest.  Since then I have not written much music at all, I have been having a break after managing to complete all the tracks for this new one.  We have almost finished  the editing phases for our new upcoming film release "Edel Quinn and the Legion of Mary" so I am gearing up back into film score mode for when I begin writing the music score for this hopefully in a few weeks.  I have not actually written a film score since St. John Kemble film last year. 

Please head on over to our website to find out more about the NEW album at www.marysdowryproductions.org or look it up on Amazon or Ebay.

Holy Spirit of Love Music CD Album Update

Since April I have been working on my next instrumental album "Holy Spirit of Love".  For this album I took a different approach; for each track I thought about various people's stories and used their stories to inspire me.  It was interesting to focus on different aspects of love.  For example for track 1 I thought about two characters, a mother and daughter and the bond of love between them.  I also drew upon ancient instruments such as Tenor viola de Gamba, harps and soundscapes with subtle pianos, my usual choice of instruments but with added Celtic and ancient instruments.  

Other stories I used for inspiration were Tungdil and Balyndis from the Dwarves novel I am reading, capturing their story of adventure and then not being able to be together because Tungdil was from the wrong clan.  Also, Captain Lance and his daughter Laurel from the series Arrow, how he loved his daughters so much but Laurel died.  In this album there are all types of love; between father and daughter, friends, friends in hardship, mother and son.  It's been a really interesting journey. 

The past few days I have worked on track 9 for this album and I really made it difficult for myself by using a Bodhran drum rhythm which was very complicated.  I can usually write a track pretty quickly but this was rather difficult and took me longer to get everything in time with the beat.  In the end I was so pleased with the result! Because of this I decided that track 10 would be much simpler so this morning I have written track 10 with simple piano, harp, cello and strings, with a bit of a Celtic soundscape for atmosphere.  

Here are my current notes for working out the titles of each track.  The notebook is all I had to go on for this album and I've been adding names of people's stories as I write them as a reminder of what each track is based on.  Now I am taking these simple names and matching up a suitable title.

I am so pleased to have finished this album!  I am currently working out the titles.  I like to use titles from scripture but it's been a challenge to encapsulate the stories of each track with a simple line.  I have however pulled together some relevant simple titles such as "Love Never Gives Up" to represent the first track.  My next job will be to design the artwork for this next album.  

The previous album in this series is "Spirit of Solitude" which was very different and possibly my favourite one, although this new one might top it.  I will keep updating this blog with the progress and release of Spirit of Love.  All of my albums are available on CD through Amazon or from our website www.marysdowryproductions.org.  Many of them are available through Spotify, iTunes etc too.  Just search for "Bernadette Bevans". 

Saint John Kemble Film Music Score

 I recently worked on the music score for Mary's Dowry Productions latest release - St. John Kemble.  We had not had a film release for a while and it was great to work on something from the era of the English Martyrs again.  I was able to use my lovely base of instruments from ERA and ERA II as well as some beautiful old wind instruments from CELTIC ERA.  I am always so inspired by the stories of the martyrs and was particularly inspired by St. John Kemble because he was martyred at age 80.

St. John Kemble in Prison

Because I am halfway through Holy Spirit of Love album I decided to incorporate one of the tracks from this album into this film so towards the end of the film I dropped in a track which uses a lot of Tenor Viola da Gamba and the sound of this old stringed instrument was immediately atmospheric and moving.  I was able to repeat this tune for St. John Kemble's time in prison.  

I've said it before, it's not until I work on a music score that I really "meet" a saint and I felt that I met St. John Kemble, connected with him when working on this score.  I used a lot of sound effects throughout this production which really lifted the film up, horses galloping, battles, crackling fires.  I think it's one of our best productions on an English Martyr.  The film is now available in all territories on DVD and instant download and I am back to trying to finish Holy Spirit of Love album.

Here is the finished DVD cover and you can watch the trailer above to hear some of the music and watch some of the film.  You can purchase the film from our website https://www.marysdowryproductions.org/

Holy Spirit of Solitude Digital Distribution Update

This weekend I have started the process for "Holy Spirit of Solitude" album, my latest album in the Holy Spirit music series, to be available for Digital Distribution.  This completes the Holy Spirit series making them available in both digital and audio CD formats.  I have also submitted "Journeys" for digital distribution.  I'm not sure how this will go as these first albums are quite old and were all performed and recorded using a Clavinova system.  I have since re-mastered them so it should be okay, I'm not sure how fussy they are with the submission process.  It will be great to have my Ancient Fusion Music albums available online.  I was just listening to JOURNEYS and it's so different!  I remember taking a theme for each track like "The Ice Vessel" and using the limited instruments to capture the feel and create an entire atmosphere and story.  Switching to my current album "Holy Spirit of Love" I see now why I feel so spoiled for choice with my delicious soundscapes not to mention the lead instruments I have now.  What makes JOURNEYS so great though is the feel of the clavinova, I love playing the clavinova.  Amazing the different compositions 20 years apart.

I have now written 7 tracks for Holy Spirit of Love and this album too has it's own unique atmosphere.  I have been enjoying contemplating characters and stories for each track, usually I focus on landscapes and peoples and imagine all kinds of stories, but for this I have taken just one or two people in my mind and composed pieces representing their love.  This is not something I've done before and it's been quite fun and new.  I hope to finish this album soon, I began round about April 2020 so not too bad so far. 

Holy Spirit of Love - Music Album Update

Being at home during the lockdown I thought that I would be able to write a tonne of music, however I just have not been able to for some reason, granted we have still been popping in to work each day and now that the schools are open we are going in extra to clean so have had even less time.  I also have been suffering from scar tissue pain in my side from surgery I had almost 7 years ago.  If I sit at the computer for too long it takes its toll.  Therefore, my upcoming album "Holy Spirit of Love" is taking a while!

I have to date written 6 tracks which is great, only 4 more to write, but they have been written over time.  This album has no titles as yet but for it I have allowed myself to sit and think, be inspired, by particular characters from series, films and books and then write and improvise and really feel a piece of music based on this.  For example track 5 focuses on the love for a particular mother and her son, track 2 the kinship and love between a group of friends in trouble, it's been a very interesting approach!  I'm really pleased with it so far and a couple of tracks have been used for trailers for Mary's Dowry Productions, sparking interest in the album and its release date.  It should not take me too long to write the remaining 4 tracks and it will be great to have a new album release.  I am still drawing upon my new sound samples, the Nyckelharpa from Soniccouture and the Eduardo Tarilonte's Celtic Era beautiful leading instruments like Irish Flute.

We are currently at the "end credits" stage for upcoming film "St. John Kemble" so I am looking forward to writing a score about an English Martyr again, if I have not written for Holy Spirit of Love before then this will hopefully get me back in the mood.  Until then, check out GOOGLE PLAY as I am making more and more albums available digitally there as well as of course Spotify, Napster, iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon etc.

Screenshot from upcoming film "St. John Kemble"

Holy Spirit of Calm - Album Now Digitally Available

I'm very pleased to announce that I've added another of my albums digitally, Holy Spirit of Calm is now available to purchase individual tracks or as an entire album on MP3, through CD BABY or through outlets such as YouTube, Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, Napster and tonnes more.  Also available for FREE through Amazon Music Unlimited.  

Here is a NEW trailer for the Album:

Click here to visit the Holy Spirit of Calm page for CD or Digital Information, tracks etc.

Saint Alban Roe, English Martyr

At long last I have been able to immerse myself in the life of another English Martyr with our upcoming latest film "Saint Alban Roe: High Stakes".  We filmed for this in March 2018, almost two years ago, when we shot imagery for St. Gemma Galgani, Our Lady of Knock, St. Francis de Sales and St. Alban Roe.  The other three films have gradually been put together and released but poor St. Alban Roe was left behind for a while.  Until now!

St. Alban Roe Screenshot, filmed in March 2018

I love the English Martyrs, I am also a big fan of Eduardo Tarilonte, he seems to release sound sample packages right up my alley.  He brought out Era Medieval and then Era II, both of which I have.  Then he released the Vocal Codex which has the most beautiful voices!  

In my early days of college I acquired some soundfonts which my friend kindly converted into Kontakt samples for me to use more easily.  In our first films, St. Edmund Campion, St. Philip Howard and other martyrs I used a lot of Koblikzek, like a very old recorder.  Now I have access to so many more as well with the Era Medieval sounds. 

Saint Philip Howard film, released 2008

 It's been a while since we focused on this era so I have been itching to use them once more to their potential.  I love all the clothes, props, backgrounds, candles from this era that we include in our films and I used the visuals to inspire my music.

Saint Alban Roe Film Screenshot

A couple of weeks ago I finished my album "Holy Spirit of Serenity" and I have 10 tracks there to draw upon if needed.  As it happened I managed to work in my favourite track - track 3, into the St. Alban Roe film and it became part of the theme, particularly for his whole arrest.  There is a moving scene in the film where people touch the hands of the priests as they are led to the gallows, then gather up the bloodied straw.  

People gathering straw at the gallows, Screenshot

We captured these moments and the emotional track from Holy Spirit of Serenity was very moving for this part of the film. It's always a good sign when I am emotionally moved by the music I am writing as I know that the film has struck a chord with me and should hopefully strike a chord with others too.  Our aim has always been to bring the martyrs to life, the take their unknown stories and help people today connect with them.  We all share the same faith and these priests, these martyrs, sacrificed all for the same faith.

Everything else in the music score I wrote directly to picture and I was also using my new Celtic Era which I have fallen in love with.  

Celtic Era - new Sounds by Eduardo Tarilonte

I used "Burial Ground" soundscape to start the film which has a nice old bell sound; this immediately created the atmosphere of the past and tension.  I briefly used soundscapes from Cantus, the voices of monks as St. Alban Roe was a Benedictine.  I have now finished the score having spent the whole day yesterday adding SFX and levelling everything out.  I have passed it over to my sister and we now have a created master for the PAL version of the film for DVD.  This film will be released next week!

Alongside this I am making more of my CD albums available digitally and have been working on converting Holy Spirit of Calm album for digital download.

Holy Spirit of Solitude - New CD!

Last week I wrote several tracks and completed my latest CD album "Holy Spirit of Solitude" I have been working on it since November.  I am very pleased with this album, it has several varying moods and was inspired by several different things such as Japan, Jesus in the Wilderness, Celtic Era sounds, the Irish Flute and so many more!  It might be up there with one of my favourite albums.

Holy Spirit of Solitude CD

This CD is available now through our website www.marysdowryproductions.org. I have been taking samples from the various tracks and sharing them so as to give explanations of the pieces and the inspiration behind them.  So far I have shared track 1 and track 9 in video through my YouTube channel.  Track 1 starts the whole album off and you can listen to part of it here:

For Track 1 I based the mood on similar track styles from my album "Spirit of Gentleness" keep the guitar with a simple rhythmic play, adding strings, bass and the piano with gentle soundscapes.  It's quite catchy and peaceful, I really like it.  It changes slightly but is a good way to open the album up.  I have tried to keep this album quite spacious but it does have a lot of different moods, some of the pieces I have really fallen in love with!

This album is number 7 in my Holy Spirit music series.

Holy Spirit of Solitude

Just before Christmas, we managed to complete our 2019 work on "England: The Dowry of Mary" and release this new film on DVD and Instant Video.  After writing the music score for this I was still inspired so I immediately began work on a new instrumental album entitled "Holy Spirit of Solitude".  In the Black Friday sale "CELTIC ERA" came out and I was able to use this to complete my album "VALLEYS" which I had been working on since about 2014.

I have realized that I draw a lot upon the atmosphere of what I am currently watching or reading when I write my music.  Over Christmas we managed to finish "The Man in the High Castle" and I was so inspired by the sounds, the instruments but it seems even more so the drama and the story that I was able to write several tracks for this new album.  

Unfortunately I then had a lot of time away from the computer and went on to different things.  I find myself now without inspiration once more but wishing to write more tracks for Holy Spirit of Solitude.

This morning I wrote track 5 and I realize now that it is completely Japanese themed.  This is probably because for the past week and especially over the weekend we watched "James May: Our Man in Japan" so my mind was filled with the snow, the scenery, the beauty and the culture of this place and I subconsciously represented this in my music.  

As I write my music over time the tracks are representative it seems of various moods and it makes it very interesting.  I like that I experiment and do not allow my music to be restricted.  I used an Irish Flute today from Celtic Era but with a Japanese style, the result is something very original.

I hope to finish Holy Spirit of Solitude soon.  We are currently working on St. Alban Roe, English Martyr so I know I will be embarking on the music score for this probably this week.  

St. Alban Roe - our first 2020 production

Our 2020 goal is to release one film a month.  Too long we have filmed for a new production only to have it delayed sometimes for up to 2 years!!  St. Alban Roe was actually started and filmed for in March 2018 so we are going to finish it this January come rain or shine.  Music projects this year will also include St. Dominic Barberi and also Edel Quin.  

Screenshot from Edel Quin, representing her time in Africa

I am looking forward to writing the music for Edel Quin and the Legion of Mary film as she spent time in Africa so this will give me an opportunity to write African themed music too.

England: The Dowry of Mary - New Film out Now!

As we draw near to the end of 2019 I am pleased to post a blog on the completion and release of Mary's Dowry Productions latest film "England: The Dowry of Mary".  

England: The Dowry of Mary DVD

It took the better part of 2019 to come together but we managed to get it done and available here.  The music is really interesting, drawing up older tracks from films, new tracks from my album VALLEYS as well as a lot of brand new music I wrote to picture.  This film is already going well across the world and we have sent out several copies.  We also have it available via ON DEMAND instant video as of this week too.  To find out more about this latest film visit www.marysdowryproductions.org 

Writing the Music for "England: The Dowry of Mary" film

Last week, Thursday and Friday, I sat myself down with the huge task of beginning the music score for "England: The Dowry of Mary" - the latest film release, and biggest project so far, from Mary's Dowry Productions.  I had previously written several tracks in advance because this film is over an hour in length and I did not want the pressure of an entirely raw file, I wanted to be able to draw upon some audio tracks to ease the pressure and save time.  Many of these tracks became tracks in my latest album release VALLEYS.  

First of all, I loaded the track I had written to start the film called "Mary's Dowry track 1" but because the film starts after just a minute of titles, straight into presentation, I felt that the piece needed to finalize rather than just fade out, when the presentation starts.  I decided at this point to write something new lasting about 55 seconds.  I loaded in instruments from my new CELTIC ERA and was immediately inspired by my new Irish Flute.  

I was able to quickly write a piece which has become the theme and mood for "England: The Dowry of Mary" and actually captured the atmosphere of what is talked about in the film.  I have had this tune going round in my head ever since!  

 The film score encompasses several parts of music from other film scores such as Alexander Briant, Thomas Cromwell, Bega of Bees and more but I also wrote several new tracks throughout and used a mix of low flute and Irish flute for interludes.  

It took me one day to compose the first 4 and a half minutes of the film and then one more day to tie it all in together, choosing which tracks to draw upon, working them in, writing new parts and finalize it.  I then spent another morning on the narration audio and levels, adding SFX where necessary and I am very pleased with it.  I also used about 3 tracks from my album VALLEYS.  We are now on the final stages of this film and I have to say, I was very inspired and also felt it was a great privilege to write the music for this latest production.

Holy Spirit of Solitude CD Album - Beginning

Following on from my release of "VALLEYS" after so many years, I still felt very inspired to write!  I immediately began to write "Holy Spirit of Solitude".  My last Holy Spirit Album was Holy Spirit of Serenity which I completed in 2017 although it feels as if I only just released it!  

Holy Spirit of Solitude CD

I was going to finish the series there but they are so popular I thought, a I am inspired, I will write another album.  My sister has been using the tracks a lot for film trailers and says that she is always in need of new tracks like this.   I began by writing two tracks similar to the style of the tracks on Spirit of Gentleness album.  Last week I purchased CELTIC ERA, it came on offer for Black Friday and it's something I have been after. 

 Immediately the first soundscape I loaded in to try out 'Burial Ground' inspired me to write a whole new track.  This track is moving, emotional and really inspired me so much!  I now have already 3 whole tracks completed for this new album which I hope to finish over a short amount of time.