Soundbite

Please click on either link below

The Blacksmaith - High Quality MP3 - 410K (approx. 80 second download)

or

The Blacksmith - Med Quality MP3 - 70K (approx. 14 second download)

News

ABC Classics has released two new CDs on which I and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra feature. These are actually tracks which will make up part of a complete "Classic Pops" CD to be released later. I am only adding one of the new discs to the website as the one called "Contented Rest" only contains the Bach "Air On A G String", which is on the the other disc as well. This is called "Tarkine - The Forgotten Wilderness" and includes five tracks of mine. The Ravel Pavane and Rachmaninoff Vocalise are best. There is another release due this month by Sydney Alpha Ensemble (also on ABC Classics) which I think is called "Silbury Air" - more on this next newsletter. The US commissions are progressing. The Symphony will be the first to come through. Dwight Satterwhite, who is Director of Bands at the University Of Georgia, is organising a consortium to come up with the money! One thing about the Aussie dollar's low state is the favourable exchange rate for such a commission. I have just bought a new G4 powermac. As I make my own master scores and parts (with Mark Of The Unicorn's Composer's Mosaic) I feel the need of a real powerhouse machine so that I can make and edit large files without sluggish response. By the way, I don't have any midi devices attached - all the real composing work is done in the old way, with pencil and manuscript. I only work out the finer details of orchestration at the computer. The trouble with midi devices for a composer is that they promote laziness - too many pieces doodled into computers these days, which is the reason there is a greater proportion of rubbish being written today than at any other time in history. I put it at 99% rubbish, but that may be too generous!