The Dartmoor Suite.
Symphony Number Two, for Orchestra and Electronic Instruments.
Track listing;
5. Leather Tor to Cuckoo Rock.
I tell you it is all as new to me as it is to Dr. Watson, and I’m as keen as possible to see the moor.”
“Are you? Then your wish is easily granted, for there is your first sight of the moor,” said Dr. Mortimer, pointing out of the carriage window.
Over the green squares of the fields and the low curve of a wood there rose in the distance a gray, melancholy hill, with a strange jagged summit, dim and vague in the distance, like some fantastic landscape in a dream. Baskerville sat for a long time his eyes fixed upon it, and I read upon his eager face how much it meant to him, this first sight of that strange spot where the men of his blood had held sway so long and left their mark so deep.
A.C. Doyle; “The Hound of the Baskervilles.”
Reviews:
“Very melancholy and haunting.”
Thomas. Classic FM (UK)
“I’ve been listening to your CD which I actually found quite moving; something of a love letter I think – but also a bit scary. It sounds like you’ve put on public view all the secret parts of yourself that you spend the rest of the time carefully hiding from people.”
Peter Clarke, a man of great taste and insight.
“What you have achieved on this CD is amazing.”
Wynn Phillips, a great musician, and man who knows what he is talking about.
“Serious stuff.”
Dr N.Rattenbury. BBC Radio; “Waiting rooms” programme.
“Impressive achievement for a wanker like you.”
Nicol. Wurzel FM
“Not my cuppa, but very well done.”
A Harness. Radio Barnstaple (ambulance freqency)
“You didn’t do this did you? Come on admit it! You ripped it off the net or something?”
Nearly everybody.
“I’ll get round to listening to it one day”
Nearly everybody else.
Yes, at last, it’s finished!
But is it any good? No, not really.
I had to stop though for two main reasons. One was that hearing the same bloody awful tunes day in and day out was doing my head in. The other was that, no matter how much more I was prepared to screw around with the final mixing stage, the tracks weren’t getting any better. If anything they were getting worse.
The learning process was useful though, and symphony number three is now well under way. This should take a damn sight less time to construct.
FAQ;
What sort of music is it? Symphonic orchestral, with electronic effects and washes. The title is a bit of a give away. Ambient. A bit melodramatic at times. Music for a mood, a sense of place, or a feeling, rather than for an end in itself. Very much like a movie score for a bleak, tragic, love story set on Dartmoor, one in which the heroine dies of consumption, so the hero commits suicide. And his dog dies..
Why is there a track on there named after an imaginary place? Grimpen Mire is known as a part of Dartmoor to Holmes fans world wide. It is as real as any physical place on the moor to many, myself included. No Homes fan can walk in a bog on Dartmoor and not imagine himself navigating Grimpen in search of the Hound’s lair. Or at least not worry he’s going to end up like Selden did, up to his eyes in shit.
How much does it cost? Sod all, if you want to drop a few bob to a Dartmoor Charity, or any charity for that matter, as a “thank you”, that would be nice.
Is it available as MP3? I’m working on that. At the moment I can send you the individual tracks via email. I’ll try to make them a MP3 download from here soon.
Why would I want to hear it? Why ask me?
Who designed the cover? Me, can’t you tell by teh spelling errors?
Why is this music so miserable? If you know me, then you’ll know I love miserable music. I was trying to aim for an “Dead Can Dance” or a “This Mortal Coil” type sound. I have a great yearning nostalgia for my days living on or near Dartmoor, the music reflects that.
If I take one, please will you stop doing them? Nope, got a pastoral CD in the same vein in the works. That one will be a lot better. Honest.
Where can I slag this alleged music off, and ridicule the pretentious twat who made it? There’s a comments box below. Mind you I have a veto on posting there, so you may not get through.
Anyone who wants a copy is welcome to one. Some of you are getting a copy whether you want one or not.
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