Music by Ben Barden
Album 5 now available for free online streaming and downloads
I'm pleased to announce the release of my fifth album!
You can hear the entire album and read the sleeve notes on the album page: A Change of Scenery.
Like it? Please feel free to share it. Thanks for listening!
Change of name for Album 5
Instead of "Sun, Moon and Stars", my fifth album will now be called "A Change of Scenery".
There isn't much else to report right now. We've tried to take some photos for the new album, but so far there hasn't been anything suitable. Also, until we move house, I'm without a music PC - so I'm not able to work on anything for the time being.
However, this means I am full of ideas and will probably have a lot of tracks on the go once my music stuff is set up fully! See you on the other side...
Album 5: Sun, Moon and Stars
My fifth album will be called Sun, Moon and Stars. It is slightly different from my previous albums, as it includes new tracks alongside rearranged versions of older tracks, along with a few unreleased tracks from previous albums. It is mostly piano-based, similar to "A World Beyond", but with better instruments.
Here's some info about each of the tracks.
1. Longing: This is a rearranged version of a section of Travelling Unravelled, from The Unravelling of Travelling. This is the original version prior to being incorporated into Travelling Unravelled.
2. Blanket of Snow: This is a new track, originally written for Landscapes. After the style of Twice Midnight, I wanted to get back to basics and write some simpler music. Blanket of Snow was the first track I wrote.
3. Silent Shore: This is a new track, originally written for Landscapes. I wrote this shortly after Blanket of Snow - the two tracks go hand in hand.
4. Sunwatching: This track has been around for a while. It was originally written for Citadel City, and then it moved to Forgotten Past. It's a short track whose title contributes to the title of this album.
5. Nebular Dreaming: A new version of Nebular Dreams from Besidewalk Plight. I've stripped the track down to its basic melodies and it's now primarily a piano-based track. There are some other tracks from previous albums that might benefit from a similar update. Let me know if you'd like to see more.
6. Deviance: This is a new track, originally written for Forgotten Past. At the time, the album was quite experimental, and this was the second track. The discordant, repetitive nature of the piece is mostly to do with my desire to break away from my previous style of composing - hence the title, Deviance.
7. Moonsurfing: This is a new track, originally written for Forgotten Past. An upbeat, catchy track that uses a much more powerful piano line than most of my previous piano-based melodies. It also contributes to the title of this album.
8. Stepping Stones: This track has been around for a while in various forms. Stepping Stones was originally written for Twice Midnight, but it was replaced at the last minute. It combines a few short tracks into a longer piece, something I used to do a lot more than I do now. The title refers to the link between various discarded side projects. In sequence, the sections are called: Begin Spring, Into the unknown, The Underdog, Into the unknown (Reprise), End Spring. Originally, an additional section was included before The Underdog, entitled Darkness Waterfalls, bringing the track to nearly 8 minutes in length. However, Darkness Waterfalls was removed from the final piece. It may be released under the Green Field Development name.
9. The Wilderness, Part 2: A new version of The Wilderness from Besidewalk Plight. As with Nebular Dreaming, I've stripped this down to its basic melodies. While it may sound a bit more empty than it did before, I think it works much better in this format as you can hear the melodies much more clearly.
10. Invisible in the Shadows: This is an unreleased track from The Unravelling of Travelling. It was originally much shorter, but it lacked depth. So, I added an intro, entitled Climbing the castle walls, and added a middle section to make it more interesting. The middle section was originally a standalone track called The Quiet Lake.
11. Pipes of the Hills: This is a new track, originally written either for Citadel City or Forgotten Past - I honestly can't remember which. It's an ambient track that seems to work quite well, particularly once it gets going.
12. Listen for the mountains: This is a new track, originally written for Citadel City. It was particularly suitable for that project as it really feels like a videogame theme (as Citadel City was going to be a videogame soundtrack).
13. The Spiral Staircase: This is a new track, originally written for Forgotten Past, and later moved to Landscapes. It progresses through a few different themes, but instead of being several shorter tracks slotted together (as I have done many times in the past), this piece was written as one track. It progresses nicely and you can feel the mood changing as each new section starts.
14. Starlining: This is a new track, originally written for Landscapes. The middle section is from an unreleased song entitled Frozen Grounds. I particularly like the end - it rounds off the album nicely. It is the last track linked to the album title.
Bonus Tracks
Following on from the three bonus tracks on Twice Midnight, I've included six bonus tracks on Sun, Moon and Stars. They are bonus tracks in the sense that they don't fit with the rest of the album, rather than only being on a re-released version of the album (which seems to be the norm with mainstream artists at the moment).
15. Model Railway: This was originally written for The Unravelling of Travelling, under the name Race Against Time. The title comes from the sound of the percussion. It's very catchy!
16. Climbing the Peak: This is an unreleased track from The Unravelling of Travelling, originally called Fortitude. The middle section was taken from another track, Deep Clouds, which was originally planned for Twice Midnight.
17. Lifeline II: A new version of Lifeline from The Unravelling of Travelling. Another version of this track was available online for a short period of time - it was called Lifeline (Ben's Flatline Refit). Lifeline II is very similar to Ben's Flatline Refit, but with a better piano sound.
18. Falling Leaves: This is a very old track, originally called Butterfly. It has not been released before. I've included it as a bonus track because while it may be of interest, it's not a great track.
19. Forgotten Past: Way back in 1999, this was called Unfriendly Proposition. I put it online in March 2005 when I was putting one track online every month, under the new name Forgotten Past. This is a stripped down version, focusing on the piano melody and ditching the mute guitar. It was going to appear on the album of the same name, although that album was mostly experimental, and this track is not.
20. The Sounds of Time: This was going to be the first track on Forgotten Past, and it's the most experimental of all. The idea was to write a track with sounds and brief snatches of melody. Inspired by the music in the SNES game Equinox.
Release Date
Depending on last minute changes in post-production, I'm hoping to get the music completed within the next few weeks. There's also the album artwork, which hasn't been started yet. I'll post more information as soon as I have it. This is going to be a great album!
New project: 15 minute melodies
It's been a long time since I wrote any new music, so I'm keen to get into it again. As a result, I have embarked on a new project - "15 minute melodies".
The idea is simple. Start writing a brand new piece of music with a totally clean slate. Keep an eye on how much time it takes to write the track. After working on the track for 15 minutes, save the track and start a new one.
I've found that there are several benefits of writing music in this way:
- It forces you to write quickly, which means you come up with more ideas.
- It's easier to be creative, writing in many different styles so as not to repeat an idea from a previous melody.
- Any tracks that don't turn out too well will not take up more than 15 minutes of your time, and can be shelved if nothing decent can be salvaged.
- The best tracks can be completed at a later date.
This project is working very well. I've already written 7 brand new melodies, and I think they all have potential. I've surprised myself with how quickly I write new tracks. Writing the melody, choosing the instruments, getting a few different tracks going at the same time - there's a lot to it, and I've still managed to write between 4 and 8 bars of music for most of the tracks.
I'm not sure if these tracks will become a future album or if they end up on other albums. Either way, there's plenty of new music being written at the moment!
A quick guide to the music software I use
If you're curious, here's a quick list of the music software I'm using at the moment:
That's really all I use! In the past, I have used other software and instruments, but this is where I'm at right now.
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