November: Midnight Glade

Doug Somers

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Description

It's November, and the spruce trees sway gently in the midnight wind that speaks of winter's coming. Dried oak leaves cling to bare branches and rattle. Here and there in the moonlit clearing small rodents hunt amongst the frosted grasses for the last of the fall berries and seeds, oblivious to the nearby lumbering of the hunched forms of bears. The forest stream will soon be frozen. but for now its voice can be heard burbling between the gusts of wind creaking and groaning through the wood.

This piece is a rework of sorts, as it is based on the new age style piano of my satire "Nature Sounds". I thought that I would give this music a more serious treatment someday, and that day has come sooner than I expected! I planned that it would be just an extension to the new age feel of Nature Sounds but what I consider a modern classical quality arose in composition, with its dissonances, repetition, and somewhat free form, that got blended into the project.

Hope you enjoy it! (And keep warm!!!)

PS - I would really have liked to had a better piano synth. Any recommendations for a GB/Logic compatible high quality sampled piano?

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Song Stats

Hits: 1474
Comments: 44
Fans: 14
Plays: 123
Downloads: 75
Votes: 7
Uploaded: Oct 27, 2007 - 01:16:20 AM
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2007 - 01:16:20 AM Last Played: Oct 29, 2009 - 09:06:58 PM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Song Actions

Keywords:

forest (18), bare (4), trees (10), moon (44), november (2), wind (44), classical (456), new age (128), piano (715), cello (64), oboe (25), flute (147)

Hardware:

MacBook Pro

Software:

GB 8

Comments

gail60	gail60 said 761 days ago (October 27th, 2007)
	gorgeous This is a beautiful song. Heard it this morning before leaving for work and did not want to turn it off. Very pleasant piece from a very talented musician! Serene, peaceful, and imagining the picture you described. Great job - Thanks for sharing. Check out my latest song called Sweet September

Doug Somers

Doug Somers said 761 days ago (October 27th, 2007)

Thanks so much Gail
I have seen your name in other comments but have not been over to hear your work until today - and I've been missing out on some fine fine music. Your comments mean all the more in context.

I find there is so much music to hear on MJ and so little time. But then the discovery of new 'nuggets' is part of the fun too.

I'm glad you liked this work and that it started your day with the feelings I intended. I appreciate your taking the time and being so generous with your encouragement, and I hope to hear more from your repertoire soon!

Keep well,
Doug

Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

Feter	Feter said 761 days ago (October 27th, 2007)
	November: Midnight Glade Impressive piano work here , and the sence of the insteruments all around give that emotion fills the air of Nov .its like a deep thought .great piece my friend anorher gem here ! Check out my latest song called A Night With Feter feat'(Roxylee sloparts crissew johnwhitehead and Yamin AL Yamani )

Doug Somers	Doug Somers said 761 days ago (October 27th, 2007)
	I'm so happy that you liked this new piece. As with the others, some instruments are loops, but more and more I'm laying down my own MIDI tracks. This one in particular I spent a lot of time on the dynamics which helped a lot. Thanks for stopping by with your kind remarks, and as always, keep well! Doug Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

drakonis

drakonis said 761 days ago (October 27th, 2007)

funny how things grow
I remember your original satire piece, but this is so delightful and serious, that it really does stand on its own... (listening again to original nature piece for comparison...) You pulled the great bits out and put together a very nice piece. I enjoyed the unusual sequencing in spots, and the dissonances that so nicely resolved. Good pacing and lead-ins. It does have a bit of that "George Winston-December" cold stark winter feel. Luckily my wife is making me wool socks so I can warm up... where's my hot cocoa? Great photo (yours?) and description of the busy winter nature scene.
ttfn,
Drakonis

Check out my latest song called Lullaby for the Inner Child

Doug Somers

Doug Somers said 761 days ago (October 27th, 2007)

Hey Eduard,
Great to hear from you again! Yes, it's funny how things grow. I just felt that there was too much possibility in the core of the satire music to leave it alone forever. The George Winston reference is rather generous, but that is the kind of effect I was trying to capture.

I hope your socks are keeping you nice and toasty!

Thanks again for the supportive comments,
Keep well,
Doug

Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

Moviz	Moviz said 761 days ago (October 27th, 2007)
	Nice work Doug and very descriptive of the poetic words you wrote above. Loved it, M Check out my latest song called Come Back Billie

Doug Somers	Doug Somers said 761 days ago (October 27th, 2007)
	Hi Maurice I guess we're both in the mood for creating seasonally inspired music. Thanks so much for having a listen and the ever kind remarks. Cheers mate! Doug Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

peacepiano

peacepiano said 760 days ago (October 28th, 2007)

Enjoyed
I've been talking to John Steebe and Paul Page about piano software and there are two excellent products: Ivory by Synthology which Paul uses sometimes and I believe Tobin also uses; and Akoustik Piano by Native Instruments which John seems to prefer (he has both). I'm a slow mover, so I only recently got enough ram to buy one, I am thinking of getting the Akoustic Piano. Both products sound a lot better than the gb pianos, but require lots of ram and fast hard drives for best performance.

Thanks
Bill

Check out my latest song called I Should Have Known

Doug Somers

Doug Somers said 760 days ago (October 28th, 2007)

Bill,
Thanks for the pointers with respect to piano software. I will go check out their system requirements. I have reasonable RAM (2Gb) but since it's a laptop the internal disk is SLOW and the external ones I have at the moment are USB 2.0 - probably should move to Firewire 800 at some point.

Glad you liked the piece and thanks again for the info!

Doug

Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

John Stebbe

John Stebbe said 754 days ago (November 3rd, 2007)

Ram
Lots of ram and fast hard drive? Well, I am still using my 2004 eMac, 1.25 ghz, 7200 rpm hard drive, and until recently only had 768 megs of Ram. Ivory was never too happy with my config, but it did work, though you could never really hear a song in GB using Ivory without some clicks, pops, and dropouts. When exported to iTunes, however, all was well.

But Akoustic Piano seems to be a much more efficient user of my old eMac's resources. Much smoother performance, hardly any dropouts noticeable while working in GB, and the export to iTunes is, like Ivory, smooth as glass.

One warning. Stay away from a piano plugin called iPianos. That was 50 bucks down the drain for me. Completely unusable. The song samples on their site might sound OK, but the human interaction with that program was just particularly crummy.

Check out my latest song called NECAP Test song

Doug Somers

Doug Somers said 754 days ago (November 3rd, 2007)

Nothing like the experience
of those who have actually been there. I just started looking at the information on various sites about Akoustic Piano. I haven't heard of iPiano (although it is no surprise that someone would use that name) and I shall give it a wide berth now if I do come across it.

Thanks so much for taking the time to pass on your findings with these 3 programs. It is going to make my purchase decision a lot easier (and less risky). Much appreciated John!!
All the best,
Doug

Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

John Stebbe

John Stebbe said 753 days ago (November 4th, 2007)

One more thing
Just one more thing, Doug. You said you needed to get a FireWire external hard drive. Not necessarily. I use Western Digital MyBook with a USB 2.0 interface on my old eMac. It works just fine. The only drawback is that is uses up another of my USB ports, and I don't have an abundance of them, even with a breakout box I bought. But my piano plugins are very happy with my external hard drive on USB 2.0. As long as your RPM is 7200 or better, and you've got USB 2.0, you should be OK.

Check out my latest song called NECAP Test song

Doug Somers	Doug Somers said 753 days ago (November 4th, 2007)
	Great! I have a couple of 7200 RPM USB 2.0 drives off a powered hub so I should be OK. That will save a few bucks vs. buying a new firewire 800 enclosure - more money for music software :o). Thanks John, Doug Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

	said 759 days ago (October 29th, 2007)
	Awesome A very enjoyable tune simply love it. Thanks for sharing... D-load for sure. Take care -- Kenta

Doug Somers	Doug Somers said 759 days ago (October 29th, 2007)
	Hey thanks Kenta Glad you have you stop by for a listen. Just came back from your site and was impressed by your latest work. Thanks again for the comments! Keep well, Doug Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

	said 758 days ago (October 30th, 2007)
	Starkly Beautiful ...you've really got that feel of winter's cold, merciless beauty. I can see the huge banks of grey clouds on the horizon, the stillness of the final days of autumn surrendering to what's about to come. I'm shivering already. Very, very evocative piece of music, delicate and beautiful with just a hint of something ominous. Kudoes.

Doug Somers

Doug Somers said 758 days ago (October 30th, 2007)

Very kind of you to say so!
The bare piano with the simple harmonies do seem to empty out the listening space like a forest of bare trees. One thing that surprised me was the effect of the strings about 1/4 the way in - it makes me feel like the heat is leaving my body every time I hear that section, although that was not the original inspiration for that part. Funny how things work out!

Given your description you also seem talented as a writer in addition to an accomplished musician!!

Thanks again Rik, and keep well!
Doug

Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

composerclark

composerclark said 758 days ago (October 30th, 2007)

Evocative
To repeat what others have said, this is beautiful music, evoking the image and feeling of a cold winter night. I like the stark opening, and my only suggestion there is that you could actually space things out more... I like the way you build your texture up at the beginning, but this build up could possibly be even more drawn out... Maybe

Really fine submission, and I look forward to hearing more!

Check out my latest song called Scarlet Nightfall

Doug Somers

Doug Somers said 758 days ago (October 30th, 2007)

Clark it's great
to have you stop by and offer your comments (particularly welcome from another Atlantic Canadian!). I admit that the build up of complexity could have been drawn out more in its development, leaving more space to help frame what is going on - in fact, talking to my dad this weekend he made a similar comment around the piece being too short! I did find on listening after posting that the layering, particularly toward the 2/3 point, seemed to be a bit rushed without the chance for the music to catch a breath. In any event, I will take the lessons for what worked well and what could improve onto the next work!

Thank you again for leaving your kind and encouraging remarks,
All the best,
Doug

Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

damiengh	damiengh said 757 days ago (October 31st, 2007)
	wonderful You certainly have accomplished your scenic objectives with this tune. I really enjoyed this wonderful piano mood piece. Like others have said, you got the Winston thing down. Keep em coming. Check out my latest song called Tea and Scones

Doug Somers

Doug Somers said 757 days ago (October 31st, 2007)

Just got
back from checking out your tunes. Great stuff!

I'm glad you liked this piece and that the imagery worked for you. When I put it together I was not at all thinking even remotely of Winston and yet after the first mention I certainly recognise the stylistic similarities. I hear so much stuff that I hope that I can combine all of the influences appropriately in a way that brings a fresh perspective to a mood or setting. In any event, it's all good fun!!

Thanks for leaving your kind comments and here's to your next work...

Cheers,
Doug

Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

guitapick	guitapick said 756 days ago (November 1st, 2007)
	~ Beautiful... ...very happy to have found you... ...there are many fine, fine pianists on this site (now I've found another one). Here's a performance with what I feel is a really nice piano patch: http://www.macjams.com/song/35598 Cool piece, too... Check out my latest song called Outside the Corral

Doug Somers

Doug Somers said 756 days ago (November 1st, 2007)

Bob, thanks for your
personal note of welcome and your kind remarks. I quite enjoyed hearing Paul's piece you referenced - thanks for the pointer! I'll admit I am more of a composer than a performer as my piano on the pieces on this site come either from keyboard (MIDI) with edits, loops, or edited loops. The particular irony with this piece is that the piano tracks were thrown together very hastily in order to provide a foundation for the bird calls etc. used in Nature Sounds. There was no thought given to those piano tracks as a serious piece of music - they were meant to support the joke. Of course the rework here played with those tracks, but not as much as you might think.

I'm glad you liked the music and thanks again!!
Doug
PS You and Paul have quite the treasure trove to explore. As I've said in many posts, so much to hear..so little time.....

Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

Ibstrat	Ibstrat said 756 days ago (November 1st, 2007)
	Beautiful music Very nice-I like the dissonance here and there.I get frustrated by new age music sometimes because it sounds like someone playing only the white keys of a piano.I don't know how you did this with just a computer-I really thought it was actual playing.Nice job! Check out my latest song called Blues in Bm

Doug Somers	Doug Somers said 755 days ago (November 2nd, 2007)
	Hi Mark, So glad you liked the piece. There are some black notes in there for sure - maybe blue and purple too! I really appreciate the encouraging feedback. Thanks for stopping by, and for sharing your thoughts. Doug PS - Boulder CO is a lovely piece. Glad you brought it into being. Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

John Stebbe

John Stebbe said 754 days ago (November 3rd, 2007)

Great
Doug, this is a beautiful piece. I played it just now, and my 14-year-old violinist daughter's ears perked up, and said, "What's that, Dad?" So I told her that it was a piece by a MacJams member. She was impressed.

There is a unity to the piece, brought about by the piano sounds throughout. The orchestra 'icing' is well-thought-out, and nicely executed.

Your piano sounds just great to my ears. Is that the Steinway from Jam Pak Symphony Orchestra?

I have used Synthogy Ivory, and now I use Native Instrumets Akoustic Piano. Both are fine programs. My preference at the moment is Akoustic Piano, the Steinway. I got mine with an academic price.

You've got great computer chops, Doug, and even better composing instincts.

Check out my latest song called NECAP Test song

Doug Somers

Doug Somers said 754 days ago (November 4th, 2007)

John, I'm touched
by your kind comments and the story about your daughter. The resulting encouragement and motivation that this provides me toward creating future works is hard to fully express and I am most grateful.

The piano sounds are a mix of a few Bösendorfer aiff loops, and a lot of MIDI controlled sounds using, as you said, the Steinway from JP SO. The other instruments are all from the same JP - some of which don't sound too bad, and some of which I would like to get a better set of samples for (and I have looked into a few of these orchestral packages but a purchase can wait for now since I will probably get a better piano package first. Further down the road I would love a good choral package as well.)

Thanks again John. I am so pleased you and your daughter enjoyed this music.

May you both be well,
Doug

Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

Char	Char said 752 days ago (November 5th, 2007)
	November, your piano piece This came as I listened: The chill creeps in. The forest stirs. Creatures scamper. The moonlight blurs. From dusk to dawn, The race is on. To gather in And wait, anon. Lovely. Thanks, Char Check out my latest song called Break Away (Mark Holbrook & Awigze)

Doug Somers	Doug Somers said 752 days ago (November 5th, 2007)
	Nicely said! A welcome footnote to the music. Thanks. Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

Doadars Uncle	Doadars Uncle said 750 days ago (November 7th, 2007)
	To Char's I would add Crunch, crisp leaves and needles. Quiet step shouts now faded. Wisp of breath rise to dissolve with the starlight. Nice piece, man! Doug (oh yes, another Doug!) Check out my latest song called Capitalist's Drag

Doug Somers	Doug Somers said 750 days ago (November 7th, 2007)
	Another Doug! Great to have a namesake drop by. Thanks for the listen and vote of encouragement. Been over to check out your work as well and I really like what you do. Will have to get back when I have more time. Thanks, and keep well, Doug Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

davisamerica	davisamerica said 672 days ago (January 24th, 2008)
	hello doug needed a break from the wacky end of the fence where i live and came by for some refreshing sounds and here they are..... thank goodness for LSP...I know where to go...... very nice doug...very nice Check out my latest song called No Son(egobandit band)

Doug Somers	Doug Somers said 668 days ago (January 28th, 2008)
	And here I thought that this tune was played out! Hey thanks for your kind remarks and for stopping by to listen to the oldies. Glad you liked it!! Take care, Doug Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

magnatone

magnatone said 656 days ago (February 10th, 2008)

Ooh
That's just beautiful, haunting, captivating. Just when you think a song's played out, it finds new life! I'm new here, so just finding you. If you find a good piano synth let me know - I'm using MAudio 61es, challenged by the shorter keyboard and the weighting isn't really quite right. Whatever you're using here, it sure sounds good to my ears. Your composition skill shines. Thanks

Check out my latest song called Symphonic Smackdown

Doug Somers

Doug Somers said 655 days ago (February 10th, 2008)

Hi magnatone!
Thanks for your note and so very kind words. I have just listened to one of your own pieces and I am most grateful for what you have said, and it's all the more meaningful that you liked this piece.

I was looking to get the same keyboard you have but elected intstead to go for the smaller 49 key Akai since I'm in no sense of the word a trained pianist, so weighting and a full set of keys was no issue for me. I didn't want a synth since I wanted to be able to get a good quality set of samples instead. I am now using Ivory, but a the time of this composition I was using the standard Mac pianos from JP Orchestra. Since you are such an accomplished pianist you may want to consider getting a package like Ivory or Akoustik Piano some day to give more realism to your work.

Also, this piece was composed before I got the Akai so it was done by musical typing on my Mac keyboard, the pencil tool, and loops. For this piece, all of the piano is from loops I strung together (I may have edited the MIDI loops, but I can't remember) - all the other instruments like strings, cello, oboe, I added myself.

Thanks again!
and all the best,
Doug

Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

	said 634 days ago (March 2nd, 2008)
	November: Midnight Glade I like the sense of musical space in the beginning. Nice quiet orchestration, and some of the melodies are very pretty. Are you using quarter tones or a glissando in the solo cello and later the electric bass? Nifty. Very nice stuff. Was left hoping for a new section or some contrasting music material, but the piece certainly has impact none-the-less! Well done!

Doug Somers

Doug Somers said 602 days ago (April 3rd, 2008)

Wow - thanks for the comments
Glad you liked this piece. As you may have seen from the comments above its genesis was as a comedic piece where the music was thrown together quickly to support the joke. It is therefore ironic to me that many listeners quite like what became of the music after a little more serious treatment.

As far as the solo cello goes, I didn't use quarter tones (cool idea tho'). I think the plugin was the free Fitch cello in GB, and one of the qualities was a very slow attack. The other quality was that to me it sometimes sounds a little detuned - I'm not sure where that comes from. Maybe it has an in-built portamento that glides between notes when played, but that doesn't explain the detuning when a long note is sounded.

As to the electric bass, it was GB standard bass from what I remember.

As a person who often catches the 'too-short' virus, I have thought that this could be expanded and some day might (as I did with Deliberating the Call).

Thanks again for the feedback!
Be well,
Doug

Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

dirigent	dirigent said 604 days ago (April 2nd, 2008)
	Midnight Glade A beautiful song full of fantasy, touching soundcolors, great piano, bravo!! Check out my latest song called Autumn

Doug Somers	Doug Somers said 602 days ago (April 3rd, 2008)
	So glad you liked this I can take credit for many of the soundcolours but most of the piano was ready made loops I'm afraid. Even so, assembling them in the order you hear did give the inspiration to fill in the rest of the music that made the piece complete. Thanks again, Best wishes, Doug Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

chikoppi	chikoppi said 413 days ago (October 9th, 2008)
	Great Composition! Really nice work. I thought the pace and orchestration were top notch. Wonderful sense of solitude and detachment without ever losing direction or motion. Check out my latest song called Loop It or Lose It 9

Doug Somers	Doug Somers said 270 days ago (March 2nd, 2009)
	Sorry for the late reply, and Thank You! I was away from MJ for a while (as it seems you are now too). Your kind comments are really appreciated. Many thanks, Doug Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

Bowman

Bowman said 276 days ago (February 23rd, 2009)

Exquisite
This floats on delicate currents of cool night air.
Such an exquisite work Doug. Love the interplay of your instruments - wonderful separation - especially enjoyed your subtle strings. Like Mark I also enjoyed the occasional dissonance.
Sorry I missed this but very glad I found it this morning.
Best,
Charlie

Check out my latest song called The Orion Express - MJ Space Race 2009 by Bowman

Doug Somers

Doug Somers said 270 days ago (March 2nd, 2009)

Charlie thanks for your thoughtful comments
You are a careful listener with a poetic way to express yourself. I appreciate you taking the time to look up older works too.

I'm so glad you enjoyed this piece. I was particularly careful in laying in (and surprised by) the effect of the high strings in conveying the frost-laden air. It was an experiment that seemed to work as you commented.

Be well my friend,
Doug

Check out my latest song called Desiree (MJ Space Race 2009)

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Artist Info

Name: Doug Somers

I make music for pleasure, usually on my own. I do sometimes jam with a local celtic group, playing bodhran and 12 string guitar. In my 4th year of university I had a project with some friends to make a synthesizer which produced chords by detecti... [see more]

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