Thursday, October 9, 2008

"Meditations" FLAC version now available

A new, higher quality version of the album is now available! I have posted a FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) torrent on mininova and I'm seeding it as often as I can. So go download it, and seed it, and spread it around!

Why should you care about a FLAC version? If you prefer your music/audio to be at least CD quality, then this is for you. Other audio compression algorithms (mp3, aac, ogg vorbis) throw away audio data in order to make the files smaller. FLAC does not. The decoded FLAC file is identical to the original. In the case of Meditations, that means CD quality: 44.1 kHz, 16 bit. How do they do it? I don't exactly know, but the codec is free and open source. So if you're really interested, you could find out for yourself!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Meditations Track List and Notes

Perhaps those of you have heard the album have wondered about the the background of each song. (I like to read liner notes to learn more about what I listen to, also!) In this post I'll put up the notes (brief as they are) for each song on the album:

1. Introduction: This track was originally written to accompany a short video clip of my then-three-month-old son.
2. Reverie: A calm piano improvisation, that was later tweaked a bit to make it a little more coherent. Simple piano figures accompanied by a sustained synthesizer.
3. Farewell: Guitar and piano interlock with string and light percussion accompaniment. If you have ever said farewell to a loved one, perhaps this song feels similar.
4. Remembrances: Memories of happy times accompanied by a calming background of nature.
5. Anniversary: This was written for my spouse on the occasion of our 11th wedding anniversary.
6. In Motion: The oldest song on the album, this was written when my middle son was 3-4 years old, and is a reflection on his seemingly never-ending supply of energy.
7. Elegy: A thinly textured bittersweet reminder of the past, with a hint of optimism.
8. Homecoming: started as an improvisation, which I later cleaned up, and made more coherent. The joyful return of a loved one who has been gone a long time. Quiet joy.
9. Happily Ever After: Who knows what the future will bring? Perhaps the joyful mood of this song will help us face it with less trepidation.

Track listing:

01 Introduction 0:55
02 Reverie 3:06
03 Farewell 3:25
04 Remembrances 2:55
05 Anniversary 3:46
06 In Motion 4:28
07 Elegy 4:29
08 Homecoming 5:41
09 Happily Ever After 3:26

total duration 32:11

Monday, September 1, 2008

"Meditations" now officially released!

Jamendo has officially released the album "Meditations" now. It is available here.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Meditations License

Full official license text: Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

In short, I have chosen to distribute this album free of charge. That means you can stream and/or download it from Jamendo.com (see previous post), and distribute and make copies it as long as it remains free. You may not, however: 1. Make derivative works, or alter the original in any way; 2. Use the work for commercial purposes. If you would like to use part or all of the work in a non-commercial project (e.g. as the sountrack to a film, or as background music on your website, etc.), I must be attributed as the author.

If you would like to use part or all of the work in a commercial project you must contact me first, and we will negotiate the terms of use.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Release of "Meditations"

The album "Meditations" is going to be released on Jamendo.com. Nine tracks of relaxing, stress-free listening. Check it out!
Jamendo : Free music