First of all - G - I WISH I'd come across this site years ago (if it had been around then!) I didn't know anyone else was having the same sound probs. with Kontakt and GPO, because I kept going to the GPO site, hearing lots of tracks sounding great and bashing my head - figuratively speaking - against the 'Why the heck can't I make MINE sound like that!' barrier. That killed me for ages - I was never writing anything new because I was grimly determined to track down the cause of the problems I was having.Right now, I've got a new notation package - I wish I didn't have this crummy disability, but there you go - I can read music fluently, but.... If you imagine trying to play a keyboard with a marionette - I don't know if they're called that in the States, one of those puppets on strings - you'll get the general idea. That's how come I stick to notation! This package is GREAT. I'm going to be getting a few lessons in using it from a guy who's mixed hit albums for British bands in his time, so I should be up to speed with it fairly soon.I don't know how - or even if you can - put music tracks directly onto this site, so what I've done is put them on a legal file-sharing site - 4Shared - and I'm including the links in this new blog. They were written on the sounds that came on a Soundblaster Live 5.1 and mixed - if you can call it that - just using the various bits and pieces that came with Windows 98. You will also hear, abundantly I'm afraid, the clicks that have always happened whenever I've tried to record anything as a sound file. I have no idea what to do about them, they've bedevilled me through 2 soundcards - Soundblaster Live 5.1 on Windows 98 and an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 on WinXP SP3 - and I still can't make them stop. Lack of knowledge and finding people who KNOW anything in England is like striking oil on the Moon - so I happily accept they don't sound anywhere near as good as your pieces. But I'm putting the links anyway and if anyone feels like leaving feedback I'll be happy to hear what you think. I'm always 'up for' criticism - without it, you can't develop.The links are:-http://www.4shared.com/file/93383135/8189d839/03_Track_03.htmlhttp://www.4shared.com/file/93383310/c0519a5a/04_Track_04.htmlAll help/criticism gratefully received.Yours respectfullyChristopher Burke
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Posted by Mary-Kathryn on March 27, 2009 at 10:21pm
A few nights ago I had a dream. It began with me being the last person up to jump out of a plane, and as I looked down and saw all the others who'd jumped before me, I took the plunge.It was such a warm and beautiful, moonlit night; everything glowing with a kind of soft blue hue as I fell through the air with an amazing peace. All I could think was that this wasn't scary at all. It was fantastic! There wasn't any sound or pressure of the wind, but instead it was quiet and felt like a gentle breeze.Suddenly I thought, "This is my first time to skydive. Shouldn't I have an experienced partner?" At that moment I saw a guy below and off to my left. Moving toward him I said, "Am I supposed to be diving with you?" "Yes!" he said. And as we fell together I had the greatest sense of peace, safety; what an amazing experience this was. Getting nearer the ground I said, "Shouldn't we open our parachute?" The guy said kind of non-chalantly, "Yeah . . ." and before I knew it we had landed softly on the ground without it.When I awoke from this dream I felt so happy. I'll have to write a song about it without using the words "free falling."
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Not sure who might end up reading this, but I thought I'd throw it out into the world.I'm performing this Wednesday, the 25th of March at the UN. Pretty exciting.I wrote a song that Akon collaborated on. He had added some vocals and lyrics to another song of mine last year so we thought we would do something again. I was asked to compose a song about human trafficking - something I've been learning about, but never considered as a starting point for a composition..But it was in conjunction with the UN event and it was a request I couldn't say no to.Since this song doesn't really fall into the category of New Age, I thought this site might not be the place to post this. But if music is about community and the possibility of connecting, healing and/or changing things for the better - then the work I'm doing with Akon fits the bill.Here's a link to the song with the video. The images are difficult to watch. But they are happening as we speak.Peter
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Gerald Jay Markoe (composer/musician, founder of AstroMusic) has been part of the New Age Music scene for over 20 years. He studied classical music at both Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music. He played a major role in the beginnings of New Age music. Music from the Pleiades, inspired by the famous poster of the constellation, quickly became a best-seller in the late 1980s. He and his music will be remembered and cherished for years to come.
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NAR would like to congratulate all of this years award winners!We would also like to thanks all of the Broadcasters who participated in the voting process this year! We could not do this without your participation and participation was outstanding this year.The 2008 NAR Music Award - Album of the Year goes to:Rainshadow Sky by Jeff Pearce!To view the rest of this years winners, go to:NAR 2008 Award Winners at NewAgeReporter.com!Congratulations to all the category finalist!Daryl Portier and Ben DugasNewAgeReporter.com
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Posted by Sleepwalker on March 12, 2009 at 12:25pm
Hello folks,Just added few new tunes from my upcoming album which is in post production at the moment. Hope you enjoy the music and have a nice time with Sleepwalker's world of creation.Thanks for listening!
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Dear Everybody.I've got an ASUS ASROCK motherboard, 1GIG RAM, AMD Sempron processor, Windows XP PRO SP3 and an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 Soundcard. I also have Kontakt, Garritan Personal Orchestra, Reason 4 and I can't make ANY of them play ball properly.Yes, the sliders on the soundcard control panel ARE on full!The main problem is keeping sounds SOFT yet LOUD. If I'm using Reason 4 and I turn Volume to 127 (for arguments sake here!) and put Velocity to about 55-60 to try to get some lovely New Age softness out of the sound, it goes so quiet you can hardly hear it. So I bung maximisers at the virtual instrument and keep Volume on 127 and it becomes a LITTLE louder, but not much, you're still having to press your ear to the speaker. If I up the Velocity, yes, it gets louder, it also starts screeching like a stuck banshee again.If I'm using Kontakt or Garritan (which is a modified Kontakt!) the numbers won't play ball at all. Everything plays on full 127 no matter what you turn or twist or change. You can even slide the sliders on the soundcard control panel down to zero, nothing takes any notice of that, every sound STILL blares out on max. Yes, they're lovely and loud, they're just totally uncontrollable.For speakers, for the moment, I'm just feeding the signal out from the soundcard into a fairly good quality hi-fi, the idea being that if I get it sounding great on my hi-fi, it'll sound passable on most other people's. Of course if I turn the knobs on the external hi-fi things get quieter but that's immaterial for this - I can't get any of the Kontakt/GPO quiet in relation to eachother. Like I said, changing the numbers/sliders (and Kontakt doesn't have much in the way of controls!) don't do nuffin!I'm not using an external keyboard, I'm disabled, can't play one. I use a notation package, Voyetra Music Maestro, put all the notes in with the mouse, save it as a MIDI Type 1 file and import it into one of the packages. If you think that's a contributory factor to these problems, feel free to say.Please, ONE of you must use the above, or similar music software. I'm willing to try anything short of buying a new computer - can't afford that right now. These problems have been stopping me from making proper music for the last 5 years or so, I can't find anyone to teach me what I'm doing wrong. And the Internet Training videos ASSUME I can control the sounds (ASSUME = ASS of U and ME!!)Annoyingly enough, the Windows GM sounds work like a dream. I use them all the time. I just wish they were better quality, if they were I'd dump the software and just stick with the GM sounds! I can't even record their output because the moment I click RECORD on anything, the output sounds develop a bad case of frying eggs and fireworks! (I've upped the samples to max on the soundcard and you've STILL never heard a case of crackles'n'pops like it. It's only when I try to record. Just playing the windows sounds works fine.) Of course I've never tried recording the posh software sounds - I can't even control them.HELP!!Yours hopefullyChristopher Burke.
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Posted by jim brenholts on March 11, 2009 at 11:42pm
while i absolutely love electronic music, i am equally enamored of great acoustic ambient music as well. i always find it a tad pretentious, however, when the liner notes in a cd state "no electronics were used" or "no sequencers" or "no synthesizers." to me that would be like saying "i made this really great cake but i did not use all the ingredients." electronics enhance the acoustic sound or add new dimensions to the atmospheres when used properly. acoustic music is excellent and always will be. bragging about it is not necessary.just my two cents! this comes, of course, from someone who makes music by warping the s%^& out of samples, found sounds and acoustic instruments.(when someone offers you a penny for your thoughts and you throw in your two cents - where did you get the extra penny?)
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Posted by Mary-Kathryn on March 11, 2009 at 8:10pm
Something I've learned over the years about God is, He really just wants us to be faithful with the small things. I remember, once a long time ago, when I'd vowed to start jogging every day I thought, "If I can just get the right outfit, the right shoes, it'll be great! I'll be even more motivated to get in shape." I'm certain it's that attitude among so many people that gave Nike the idea to birth the slogan "Just do it!" With their shoes on, of course.But what God has shown me is that we need to use what we already have. Look around you. See what you already have. You'll probably find that you already have everything you need to get started on living out your dreams and callings in life. In the book of Exodus God asked Moses, "What's that in your hand?" I've heard Him ask me that so many times. It's the simple things, the small things, the things that you already have that He can use to show His power through you to the whole world."Moses answered, 'What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, "The Lord did not appear to you"?' Then the Lord said to him, 'What is that in your hand?' 'A staff,' he replied. The Lord said, 'Throw it on the ground.' Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, 'Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.' So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 'This', said the Lord, 'is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has appeared to you." (Exodus 4:1-5)" . . . 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things." (Matthew 25:21)
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The heart-opening continues as we move into Springtime!All archived shows and links to our guests and sponsors are at www.livingmusicradio.com You may have missed the inspirational interviews with Deva Premal & Miten, Nassim Haramein, Snatam Kaur & Guruganesh, Krishna Das, Karen Drucker or Jonathan & Andi Goldman. You'll find them there along with many others. Here are our scheduled guest on Living Music Radio in March:March 2, 4, 7Artist TIMOTHY COOPER’S goal of calling attention to today’s problems, and offering solace and solutions, is evident in his latest endeavor, the new age solo piano recording East Wind. He is Executive Director of the human rights advocacy organization, Worldrights.During her career as a physician, researcher, professor and inspirational speaker "A Blessing in Disguise" author Dr. ANDREA JOY COHEN has helped thousands get their health and life on track by providing information and inspiration.March 9, 11, 14DON MIGUEL RUIZ - Combining new insights with old wisdom, don , author of the Four Agreements has dedicated his life to sharing the ancient Toltec wisdom by translating it into practical concepts that promote transformation through truth and common sense.JEANETTE ALEXANDER is a composer/pianist and recording artist in the Seattle area. Her compositions have been featured in commercials, films, radio, as well as the airlines. Her first CD, Still Point, has found national and international distribution, as well as licensing in Japan, Korea, and other Asian countries with her subsequent releases.March 16, 18, 23 (1 pm)Recently transplanted from Northern England to Los Angeles, STELLA DAVIES career began as a community drama worker in prisons, psychiatric hospitals and schools. Now, through sound, song and the spoken word she supports people to unlock their greatest gift - the wisdom, passion, creativity and joy of their own authentic voice.Author and teacher TONI ELIZABETH SAR’H PETRINOVICH is a mystic and quantum physicist with a ministerial doctorate in metaphysics. She is the owner of Sacred Spaces in the beautiful San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington State.March 23, 25, 28SUZANNE DOUCET founded the International New Age Music Network in 1987. She produced and directed three International Conferences and the first New Age/World Music Festival Suzanne is an international recording and performing artist whose background encompasses being a prime time TV "Pop Show" host, a songwriter & composer, script writer, sound designer, producer, A&R record label executive, publisher, label owner & manager, marketing consultant, and retailer.MARK HOLLAND has described his project Autumn’s Child as Global Chamber Music; a hybrid of world, jazz, classical and folk styles. Through Autumn’s Child, Holland showcases the versatility of the Native American Flute, creating a new acoustic instrumental fusion. Mark began his publishing and record label, Cedar n Sage Music in 1997 and has recorded 12 CDs to date.March 30 April 1, 4,DEBRA GANO is an internationally known model and actress and has also worked as a newspaper fashion columnist, fashion show producer, fashion merchandising college instructor, public speaker, and modeling school and agency director. Taking a leap of faith, she abandoned her fashion career to pursue her passion to deliver what she feels is a much-needed message into the world through her speaking and books. As founder and CEO of Heartlight Girls, she conducts workshops and speaking engagements for youth and adults, teaching empowerment, self-esteem principles, awareness of inner beauty and strength, and motivates others to connect to one’s true self.THE COYOTE POETS weave spoken-word with original jazz and rock compositions Instrumentation includes: electric and acoustic guitars, violins, electric fretless bass, flutes, oboe, clarinet, English horn, banjo, keyboards, congas ,percussion with male and female vocalists creating a lush and diverse sound. They call it 'FolkaDelic'! Their first three CDs received worldwide airplay on hundreds of radio stations, Their latest CD is called - 'Callin' You Home' .Joy & Harmony,Narayan & Janet
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hello all.just a note here on my radio program, Night Vision Classical and Film Soundtracks. I started this station at Live365 to stream selected works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gerald Finzi, Erik Satie and some less known composers. I added some ambient new age pieces and film scores I thought fit the format, and now I have a dedicated little following from across the globe (the wonders of the internet). Some of these listeners are enjoying modern classical music for the first time (so I'm told), and are amazed by the beauty of some of these works. What they seem to enjoy however, is the mixture of selected ambient new age and film scores (a lot of the artists here are on the playlists). So I'll close by saying 'just keep producing great music. Someone is listening for you somewhere in the world'. Also don't forget to check out Renee on KCUR, Night Tides Sunday evenings.Peace,Ken Myers
Choices•May 28, 2008 •In today’s blog I will begin to go over choices. Choices pertaining to what I use and recommend and how a personal situation can affects these.In the past, 10 years or so I would do performing and recording gigs with various amount of instruments such as Roland, Moog, Oberheim and various other synthesisers and processors. Many of these were time to time unwieldy and had minds of their own. (which is the beauty of these technologies) but could prove to be disastrous in a live situation.EARLY SOFTWARE SYNTHESIS...to read more please go to:http://mirazmusik.wordpress.com/
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THE COLOR OF RAINHealing SoundscapeThe Color of Rain is Healing Soundscape music for soothing one's jangled nerves. Light background music with nature's soothing sounds of gentle rain, distant thunder and wind are most relaxing in the title track, The Color of Rain. After a stressful day, one can sit back and release all the tension while experiencing the healing powers of this collection.Ideal for supporting the practices of massage therapists, reflexologists, and other holistic healthcare providers.1. Gathering into One2. Sprinkling3. A Puddle's Color4. A Light Rain5. The Color of Rain6. The Wind through the RainA PORTION OF THE OVERALL SALES OF EACH CD WILL BE GIVEN TO CHARITY.Listen to sample tracks and/or purchase cd at CD Baby.Special Note: Both Sandia Dreams and The Color of Rain are available at iTunes.
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Psychic power. We use it every day. We cause things to happen; we shape events with our mind. We can do this, because every thought is a prayer.Thoughts are a powerful form of energy. They are very real and very potent. Look for their energy not just in deep meditation or altered states of mind, but any time! In fact, your life is more likely to be shaped by what goes through your mind during your daily shower, than during meditation.When we first discover magic and spirituality, we tend to clearly define when we are "doing it" and when we are not. We draw nice little lines that clearly separate religion from the rest of our thoughts and deeds. "Now I'm in Circle." (But afterwards, we're not?) "Now I'm working magic." (But otherwise our actions are merely mundane?) Over time, we might erase those lines and discover that we are always in Circle; we are always working magic! Erasing the dividers between religion and the rest of your life makes even simple events special -- and very, very powerful.If you believe in the power of positive thinking, you can see that thoughts and words have real significance. Phrases like "with my luck" usually tend to focus on how we might fail. They actually add energy to the failure side of the equation. Sometimes we even begin planning what we'll do after this failure occurs. And thus, the possibility of failure becomes more real.A very basic magical technique involves discussing what you want as if it has already happened. Think about what you will do now that you already have your new job, your good health, your happy mate. Doing so adds energy to the side of the equation that brings you success.Remember that other people's thoughts are just as real as your own. When you hope for the best, tell someone who will sincerely hope along with you. This person becomes a sort of magical partner, adding their own energy to your wish. Your magical wishes are like great big balloons, filled with energy from your thoughts and deeds. Someone supportive helps fill your magical balloons by adding not just energy, but very tangible aid such as wise advice, experience, networking contacts, or other tools they might offer to help you succeed. Often magic occurs through truly ordinary actions. But choose wisely who you confide in. Your loving family might truly want to see you succeed, but would your jealous co-workers? This is one valid basis for magical secrecy. Some help fill your balloons, while others might poke leaks.Do you believe in visualization? Is the apple in your mind as real as the apple in your fruit basket? If you can conceive it, and believe it, then you truly can achieve it! Visualization isn't limited to some complex yoga-style ritual. It can be as simple as making an analogy in conversation, because an analogy is like a canvass -- it helps people see the picture you are trying to paint with your words. Visualization can also be a simple daydream before you climb out of bed. In fact, what we do during that crucial snooze alarm period may set the tone for the rest of the day. Ever hear a song from your clock radio that sticks in your head all day? Can the same principal apply to other forms of thought energy besides music?Be careful what you visualize. If every thought is a prayer, then what happens when you spend time thinking about crime and war and hate and violence? Now multiply the thoughts of one person times millions -- all visualizing the same thing at the same time. Sound powerful? Well, I've just described what happens each day when America watches the six o'clock news! Mass media helps millions to all visualize a common image. And what does TV news tend to dwell on -- the happy, or the sad aspects of life? (Perhaps in some cases, ignorance truly is bliss.)We often say that Divinity resides within ourselves. If so, then when we talk to ourselves, we talk to the Divine. Living your everyday life is like having a constant conversation with the Goddess and God. Within your own mind, within your own heart, every thought is a prayer.
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The star-breatherThe universe-makerThe creator of all thingsThe one who transcends all things and holds all things togetherHe has become man's saviorAnd He sees you right where you areAnd He cares about every detail of your life.Psalm 33Isaiah 40Matthew 6:25-34
