Relax Track 4

This is the 4th edition of the BGM (Background music) series.
Perfect for studying late into the night. Procrastinate no more! Study hard and don't give up! Believe in yourself, you can do it!

Photographs by Randall Borell
http://borrellphotography.smugmug.com/

I  hope you guys find this track more relaxing, calming and peaceful than previous background music tracks. I learnt something new over the past few weeks. Setting reverb and chorus to high, and lowering attack can create the calming effect, and this certainly brings up the mood. It isn't really difficult to do so, I should have done that for previous background tracks.

There are actually two different yet similar tracks playing at the same time. One is the grand piano sound, the other is 'swirling electric piano', according to Garageband. I simply copied and paste the notes and played them at the exact same time. You can hear 'swirling electric piano' from 23:45. It has a calming feel by itself, but I feel that it lacks the percussive sound. So for the other parts of the track, I added to grand piano to create that percussive sound. Think it sounds better?

Oh and by the way, I also added some nature sounds like birds singing, water dropping, waves etc. I feel it certainly complements the mood of this track.

Lastly, hope you enjoy this track! For more of such tracks, don't forget to subscribe!

John

One Cup Of Tea (Long Version)

The long awaited Song, One Cup Of Tea (Extended version) is finally here! That was four months after releasing the short version. Basically, the song was repeated twice so you guys can fully enjoy this instrumental. Hope you guys like it. And don't forget to drink this with your cup of tea/coffee! Now you can enjoy this song to its fullest!

The pictures were almost the same as the previous video so there's no need to post them here. If you want to view them, you can view them here. Photos were all taken from the Botanical Gardens Singapore.

John

Relax Track 3

Preparing yourself for the day ahead? Too many notes to memorize for the upcoming examinations? Work piling up one after another?
Whatever the situation, with a calm, steady, and firm mind, you are at your best when tackling the situation.
Take in the tune of the instruments, take a breath and show your best performance today!

Credits to Florentcourty for his breathtaking pictures!
Florentcourty: http://florentcourty.deviantart.com

Instead of an exact hour long music track, this time, it's a half and hour track. I might continue to post more half an hour tracks instead of a one hour track instead in future. I found out that people don't really listen to the full hour anyway. On average, about 20 minutes in, they would close the browser. So I figured half and hour would be best. I'll still see how it goes though.

One benefit for shortening the length by half is the quality. With the shortened time, I'll be able to spend more effort in improving a part compared to an hour long track! So basically it means more interesting tune and smooth flow!

By the way, I don't expect anyone to watch the full hour tracks as..it isn't really meant for watching that long though. I encourage it to be heard when you are doing a task, or working. The beautiful photographs are there for those moments when you decide to take a break from your task, you can switch to the browser and admire them! That's how I intend for them to work. :)

I hope you enjoy this relaxing track. Similar to the last two relaxing tracks, they're taken from florent courty!
http://florentcourty.deviantart.com

Memorial

We all need an object of focus to remember somebody who has passed on, something that we can hold on to.

Think about the war heroes who died for their country, freedom fighters who made an impact to the world, or simply your loved ones, who made a difference in your life, as you hear the memorial song.

This song was made using a Garageband loop, it's in the beginning (0:00 - 0:53) of the song and at the end (4:23 - 5:52). The rest is a product of Prozano Productions.

Photographs by Randall Borell
http://borrellphotography.smugmug.com/

This time, we made a mini collaboration with a photographer- Randall Borell! He is an amazing photographer and has made splendid shots in different parts of the world. You may view his prints here or click the link above.
I decided to work with him mainly because many of his shots fits the mood of the song. I'm sure you can see why just by looking at them. Those amazing sunset shots (0:00) that I can never seem to get them right (Yeah, I tried), simple photos like pathways , all seems to come alive in the picture. Oh, by the way, you should really take a look at 2:27, simply stunning- like Avatar!

That's for the photographs. I never tried composing an orchestral piece so this is my first time. I always thought that composing an orchestral piece is boring and time consuming. Apparently I was wrong! about the boring part anyway! I enjoyed composing it and I loved how an orchestral piece can be include many types of ideas, instruments, phrases and combinations. It gives the composer freedom to interpret the piece. I took quite a while to complete the song. It's because I always felt that there is room for improvement so I just keep changing the chords, voicing, adding instruments, adding more notes, adjusting the volume, shortening the notes..I think you get the idea.

Once again, the song will be released for downloading on soundcloud once the YouTube video has reached 20 likes. So don't forget to share it with your friends!

Btw, I'm going to remake two songs Soft Dew and One Cup Of Tea, just to do some touch up! So watch out for them! (Soft Dew just sounds terrible :P)

Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this piece. I'll take a break from orchestral composing for a while. Lookout for our next hour long music publishing next week!

John