Clearly
 Released April 2006 |
| “A sonic oasis for getting away from it all, this CD is a delightful cross section of superbly performed, insightful acoustic guitar based instrumental music.”
|
Track Listing: 1. Canyon Serenade 2. Joy 3. Moonlight Sands 4. Love’s Way 5. UniVerse (One Song) 6. Cloud Shadows 7. (It Feels) Timeless 8. In The Temple 9. Healer 10. Sunlit Mesas 11. Gone For A Walk 12. Vibrant Aire
Latest Review…
From Amazon.com
Delightful in every way! Great while working, reading, or driving. It has a happy, calming effect without being boring. Michael’s music will put you in a great mood. Don’t hesitate to buy this one – you’ll LOVE IT!!
~ S. Watson (North Carolina)
About the Music…
Inspirations
Canyon Serenade – My wife and I once took a side trip to Sedona, Arizona, while on our way to New Mexico. Well, just as everyone says…it’s a beautiful place…breathtaking! We spent a couple of days there driving around trying to take in everything we could in that short time. As this song took shape I began thinking about Sedona and the near unbelievable beauty. Yes, that canyon serenaded me!
Joy – This song is a my musical definition of joy. I think joy is not simply an emotion but actually part of our character, and an aspect of our being that can steadily be relied upon.
Moonlight Sands – One of my most favorite scenes is a night when the moon is full and it lights up the desert around me in which I live. It’s simply beautiful; I can sit under the moonlight for hours just perusing the scenery.
Love’s Way – There are times when God expresses His love for us in a more gentle way…He is comforting and wooing us. When I began writing the lead melody line for this song it began to feel like I myself was being reminded of how gentle God’s love has been toward me. I’m very thankful for those times.
Uni•Verse (One Song) – The word universe is a combination of two other words – uni, defined as “one”, and verse, defined as “song”. I think that’s very interesting because most of us consider planets, stars and space to be the universe when we here the word used in a sentance. I think God considers it to mean everything harmonizing together – that all His creation is as One Song.
Cloud Shadows – Clouds are very distinct entities in the desert because of the clear blue sky. When they are moving slowly and gently above the earth their shadows are cast upon the ground, hills and mountains. It can be mezmerizing to watch those shadows slowly make their way along.
(It Feels) Timeless – On one of the yearly trips my wife and I make to New Mexico, we were on the road heading toward Amboy. As one travels North and looks to the West there is a mini dormant volcano, with the ancient lava flow heading East to meet the highway. The sun was setting on this particular trip and the orange, yellow and red horizon made me feel as though I could live in that moment forever.
In The Temple – This is a worship or meditation song of sorts. This song actually began with a different title, but once it was fully recorded and I listened to it several times while mixing it it took on a different meaning. I found myself closing my eyes and being in a quiet place within – and at times pictured myself being in a temple of God.
Healer – About Christ as healer. Once in a while healing comes to us in a ostentatious way, but most of the time healing is quiet, gentle, calm and tender. These also being some of the traits of Christ’s character.
Sunlit Mesas – Almost as much as I like a moonlit desert night, I like the desert mesa lit up by the sun with the clear blue sky above. Another scene that I can sit and enjoy for hours on end.
Gone For A Walk – I wrote this song while I was still in high school…that’s quite a while back now! I wrote it in an attempt to better the guitar mentor I had at that time. Don’t know if I did, being that I was too nervous or shy to show it to him. It also went untitled until about 1996 when I began performing it on a regular basis.
Vibrant Aire – Driving down a long stretch of desert road on a wonderfully gorgeous sunny day in a convertible with the top down. That’s what this song makes me think of. The air is vibrant…alive. And so am I!
Instrumentation
Guitars – On the fingerstyle songs (1, 2, 5, 6, 7 & 11) I used a 1997 Breedlove SC/R model which is made of all solid woods – a Spruce top with Rosewood back and sides. I also used it on the rhythm and lead tracks on Vibrant Aire. The classical guitar played on songs 3, 4, 5, 8 & 9 is a Cort CEC-1 which was recorded direct in. It sounded much better recording it that way than with a mic. I used a Jay Turser big box Jazz style electric guitar to do the solo work on songs 3, 4 & 8. And finally, a Cort M-520 solid body electric was used to lay down the rhythm track on song 8, In The Temple.
Bass – The only songs that have bass tracks are 3, 4, 10 & 12. I used a Jay Turser, model unknown – it was bought at a NAMM show by the owner of the studio in which I recorded. I liked the sound of it, which I think is due to it having two humbucker style pickups. Originally, I wasn’t going to do the bass tracks, but Jon, the albums main producer, encouraged me a lot to be the one to do it. And I’m glad he did.
Piano & Synth – A Korg Triton was used to create all piano and synth tracks. We used original unmodified patches. I think the piano patch was Grand Piano. The only synth track, used on Uni•Verse, was some sort of fat strings patch – I tend to like that sound quite a lot.
Percussion – Korg Triton and some real stuff like tamborine, shaker and claves. The percussion tracks were laid down in real time since my music usually moves about in varying time signatures. Vibrant Aire was the only song for which the percussion track was laid down first – because it keeps the same tempo all the way through.
Oboe – Once again, the Korg Triton.
