Month: September 2016

Studio Tomorrow

Going into Boston tomorrow to begin recording Aberfan with Michael. Almost hard to believe. Excited!

Here is a demo excerpt from the initial “Rain Sequence”, written for seven pianos on the same part at different tempos. Seven is representative of Tip No. 7, the one that collapsed:

Aberfan is a sponsored project of New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), a 501 (c)(3), tax-exempt organization. Contributions are tax deductible. Please become a part of this endeavor by making a donation. One specific, immediate need is payment for the piano tuner: $125

Photo Aberfan Memorial Garden

Meet Michael Farquharson

Michael Farquharson will be producing Aberfan.

We met several years ago while recording my last album, Talon of the Blackwater. He played fretless bass — I loved it! Out of all of his incredible playing, here’s one of my favorite clips:

“I Was Once a Sailor” LYRICS

Little did I know then that producing was one of his passions, too. In fact, last year I had a dream of the most fabulous rhythms being played during a recording session of one of my songs. Michael was producing. He was saying “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Even inside the dream, I knew of it’s providential message.

We’ll be working at his studio in Boston, Mix One.

Aberfan is a sponsored project of New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), a 501 (c)(3), tax-exempt organization. Contributions are tax deductible. This recording cannot happen without your support. Every donation helps!

Recording Aberfan September 26th

Practicing!

We go into the studio September 26th for the first of the recording. On a 7 foot grand piano.

Immersed, reviewing, listening, remembering. I’ll do my best.

Here is a sample, “Trauma”:

Sunrise on “Aberfan”

Friday morning at 7:30am, October 21st, 1966, was ironically “calm and sunny”.

Though there had been “over a week of heavy rainfall”, there were “no reports of rain [on the morning of the landslide]…the images all seem to show dry but dull conditions”.

Demo excerpt “Sunrise”:

Aberfan is a sponsored project of New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), a 501 (c)(3), tax-exempt organization. Contributions are tax deductible and will go towards the studio recording, which begins later this month.

Thank you to Dave Petley, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom for all his help providing facts during my time of research. American Geophysical Union Blogosphere

Photo of Pantglas School courtesy of Alan George.

Recording “Aberfan” to Begin!

We will begin recording piano parts for Aberfan in September!

One of the piano sequences, “Interlude”, represents the children walking to school on the morning of the disaster. Following those schoolchildren on their walk over the school’s threshold, this musical section uses eighth-note triplets according to a randomized sequence. To achieve that, I cut out each of the notes of the original and reassembled them— with eyes closed — to convey the element of chance that is part of everyday life and every catastrophe.

Each Interlude contains 144 beats, one for each person who died. “Altered Interlude” accents shift among first, second and third beats. Here is “2nd Altered Interlude”

I am very honored to be working with producer and engineer Michael Farquharson. This is going to be a tremendous experience.

More news and updates to follow soon.

Funding made possible in part by the Puffin Foundation and Puffin Foundation West.

Aberfan is a sponsored project of New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), a 501 (c)(3), tax-exempt organization. Contributions are tax deductible.