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about

above the horizon


track: 12

recorded: 20140712 - 20141010

mastered: 20141101



duration: 4.00

type: ambient pop


this unusual piece of music has a very straightforward brief, I simply wanted to make more use, and better use of, just a few of the very, very large collection of percussion instruments include d in Notion, and indeed, that is exactly what I did.

at first, that is. I started out with a 1:05 long section featuring percussion instruments only, at which point the song suddenly and magically transforms, into something unexpected, mutating into a sort-of very hooky, almost but not quite jangly, pop ditty, but, definitely, a rainstick-driven instrumental ambient pop ditty.

my carefully built up ambient / white noise percussion 'bed' was suddenly invaded by this odd pop song, with its funky muted descending guitar lead, it just fit right in there...nothing I could do would stop it - it HAD to be that way.

that was never the plan, the song will as really meant to be all about ambient percussion, which, it still is, but...there's that weird but wonderful descending bass line with the guitar following, the muting was a complete accident, to be honest, I kinda pushed the wrong button, which of course was the exactly RIGHT button, that passage had previously been a bit overcrowded, musically 'crowded', and doing that palm mute for those few guitar notes, really made the sequence perfect, the instrument balance is now good thanks to the muted notes; so often, it's the little details that can make or break a good tune!!

this piece, rather unusually, has a titular relationship with another piece made with another application, just as I was completing the other song in the korg gadget app; I began this one in the Notion app - so if you go to the album "music for apps: gadget - an eternal album" and listen to track 6, entitled "on the horizon", then, back to this album, "music for apps: notion - an eternal album" for it's companion, this piece, track 12, "above the horizon" - although musically the only attributes the two tracks share are that I composed them, and they are both made with apps: to me, they are related, as I completed "on the horizon" on July 12, 2014, on the same day, I began work on this track "above the horizon" in my beloved scoring application, Notion...

so "on the horizon" from the remarkable korg gadget app; and "above the horizon" from the remarkable notion app; a pair of tracks with related titles, but at the very least, playing those tracks in order will at least give you a good idea of what the two applications are capable of.

Meanwhile, I decided to just let the rainstick and sometimes, its various percussion pals, carry on pretty much through the rest of the tune, which alternates between that opening pop instrumental and a very nice chord sequence that oddly, for some unknown reason, brings to mind Jimi Hendrix, something vaguely Crosstown Traffic-like maybe, I don't know; perhaps it's the deep bass notes on the piano, or some other incidental sound or feeling, but it was a joy to score and build, and I am really pleased with the resulting traćk.

lyrics

instrumental

credits

from music for apps: notion - an eternal album, released April 17, 2014
dave stafford: notion application

instruments used:

rainstick *
wind machine *
thunder sheet *
water gong *
bell tree *
finger cymbals *
crash cymbals
drum set
electric bass
distorted electric guitar
piano
electric piano


* noted percussion instruments are shown in their actual 'order of appearance' within the introduction to the piece , which runs from 0:00:00 to approximately 0:01:05 .


composed, arranged, scored, mixed, mastered and produced by dave stafford for pureambient records

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about

dave stafford Stirling, UK

ambient loop guitarist dave stafford performed on stage with robert fripp and the orchestra of crafty guitarists in early 2009, and again with robert fripp and the symphony of crafty guitarists in 2015, and has worked with ambient music and looping for over twenty years. stafford has a rich back catalogue of ambient and loop music, +rock, prog or acoustic crafty guitar music: www.pureambient.com ... more

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