Friday 10 February 2023

Saint Catherine of Siena - New Film!

 After a much needed break, we decided to catch up on outstanding productions as well as new ones in the pipeline so really knuckled down to it and tried to finish St. Catherine of Siena.  In preparation, I decided to write some tracks that I could draw upon using my new samples from DARK ERA, NADA and ANCIENT ERA PERSIA.  They were perfect and so inspiring!

I decided to work specifically on Holy Spirit of Compassion album, then draw upon these album tracks if needed for the film.  I got writing whilst my sister finished the script and started editing the film.  What a lot of work!  This film was supposed to be 25 minutes but it expanded into an hour long film with the whole history of the papacy.  This gave me a lot to draw upon.  Some of the new samples have not just soundscapes but pulsing and rhythmic ones which were so handy.  One of my favourites was the instrument "Ancient Lyre".  I used this fused with piano, fiddle and cello.


It was not until I started actual work on the music score this week that I realized just how perfect these tracks were!  I started the score with a build up with strings and soundscapes, we also decided to have a lot of scenery breaks and scenery with text from St. Catherine's letters.  This gave me lots of opportunities to really get into the music.  Some breaks I used moving cello and strings, others soundscapes with Cantus monks singing, others with some nice Irish flute.  There is real variety in this film.  I was especially inspired by the sequences of modern people, works of charity, I used a track from Holy Spirit of Solitude where I got the Nykelharpa to work very well and the whole passage builds to an inspiring climax which made me love the Church and be so honoured to be writing music for projects that promote the work of the Church and the saints.

This film is now available on DVD and Instant video and I shall be writing the last 4 tracks for Spirit of Compassion to share on CD.

Saint Catherine of Siena DVD
Available from www.marysdowryproductions.org 

You can watch this trailer and listen to some of the music:

Wednesday 10 August 2022

Holy Spirit of Hope

 I got so distracted with various things that I realized I never posted a picture or track listing for my latest album "Spirit of Hope".  I finished Spirit of Hope and Autumn albums several months ago and have since then been taking a break.  The next music project I have been working on is Mary's Dowry Productions' Margery Kempe film and I managed to find some PERFECT tracks for the film from Spirit of Hope, freshly prepared with the film in mind and it worked out really well, I tried a lot of different things and I also used a very old track from KINGDOMS album which is great and so perfect.  Here is the finished album:


The album is available on CD and also the usual Digital Outlets like Spotify and iTunes.

No trailer as yet but I hope to put something together to give some samples of the tracks in this particular album.

Here is the track listing:

Track 1 - Those who hope in the LORD will Renew their Strength (4:25)
Track 2 - Everything is possible for one who Believes (3:53)
Track 3 - The hope of the Afflicted Will Never Perish (4:52)
Track 4 - May Your Unfailing Love Be With Us, LORD, Even As We Put Our Hope In You (4:30)
Track 5 - As For Me, I Will Always Have Hope (4:23)
Track 6 - In His Word I Put My Hope (3:56)
Track 7 - May You Overflow With Hope By The Power Of The Holy Spirit (6:01)
Track 8 - I Press On Toward The Goal To Win The Prize For Which God Has Called Me Heavenward (5:17)
Track 9 - Do Not Fear, For I Have Redeemed You; I Have Summoned You By Name; You Are Mine (4:28)
Track 10 - You Will Be Secure, Because There Is Hope; You Will Look About You And Take Your Rest In Safety (4:05)

Visit www.marysdowryproductions.org for more info! 

Thursday 3 February 2022

Holy Spirit of Hope Music Album

 For several months I have been writing tracks with a view to using them in music scores for upcoming productions.  I have used them for the past three films and that has given me 8 tracks which I have set aside for Holy Spirit of Hope music album.  Today I took time out especially to write 2 more tracks so that I could finish this album and was very excited about it.  Halfway through I remembered that I will soon be writing the music for Margery Kempe so for track 10 I loaded some very ancient instruments such as Koblikzek, Nykelharpa, Lute, Psalter and used these as inspiration for the final track with a view to being able to use it in the film.  I am pleased to say that I have completed yet another album and also designed some of the artwork!  Once I hand the tracks over to my sister she will make me a nice trailer with music samples so watch this space.  It's nice coming right after the release of AUTUMN.

Wednesday 2 February 2022

Music to Chill by - AUTUMN ALBUM now on Digital Outlets

Today my latest music album AUTUMN is available on all digital outlets.  Watch this trailer to be inspired and then head on over to Spotify, iTunes, Pandora, TikTok, Deezer and more! 



Thursday 20 January 2022

AUTUMN instrumental music album

 Yesterday, after a big break, I got back onto writing my AUTUMN music album with the final 2 tracks and I managed to complete them in an afternoon, thus finishing the album!  Today I have been working on the artwork and managed to release this new album on CD.

Autumn is a magical time of year when the leaves fall in an array of beautiful colours and mushrooms and toadstools spring up in the most unexpected places. The air is filled with the sounds of crunching leaves, crackling campfires and diverse new birds visiting for a short while. This new instrumental album captures these sounds and atmospheres through ten original tracks using instruments such as Celtic harp, guitar, erhu, ancient flutes, soundscapes, piano and so many more as well as subtly incorporating sound effects such as crackling fires, forest birds and thunder and rain to really encapsulate this wonderful time of year.


Track Listing:

1. Ode to the Fungi
2. The Forbidden Forest Trail
3. Smoking Campfires
4. Garlands of Forest Fruits
5. Rain on the Pumpkin Patch
6. Eddies of Autumn Leaves
7. Walking the Dark Woodland Pathways
8. Whispers Through the Decaying Trees
9. The Scent of Burning Pinecones
10. Toadstools and Earthstars


AUTUMN is the first in a NEW series beginning 2021 trying out something slightly different, something more free where I could incorporate more sound effects and freedom of style.  The titles were the inspiration for the pieces and I tried to make the tracks warm and atmospheric, encapsulating the many visual delights of autumn as well as the unique seasonal quirks such as pinecones, campfires, pumpkins and mushrooms.  It gave me a lot of ideas to work with, I've always been fascinated by mushrooms and saw this year some puffball earthstars for the first time and they were so otherworldly I used soundscapes and 'faery sounds' in this final track.  NOW AVAILABLE ON CD through www.marysdowryproductions.org 

Monday 29 November 2021

AUTUMN Music Album & St. Ralph Sherwin

 The past couple of weeks I decided that I needed to write something completely new and without pressure, something completely free.  My sister suggested that I write a seasonal album called "Autumn". This really inspired me as I love the idea of falling leaves with their colours, mushrooms etc.  I asked her to write me 10 track title names and I would use these as the basis for my writing.


When I write, I start with a picture or an idea and set up my basic project in Cubase.  I have some standard instruments like harp, piano, strings, soundscapes, guitar.  Mostly I briefly decided on a 4/4 or 3/4 time or something else and tempo and then I'll hit record and play in starting with usually either harp or piano or strings and record in something for about 30 seconds.  I will go back to this, quantize it and normalize any velocity that's been played in way to loud or quiet, get it sounding nice, then I'll hit record again, change instrument and play in another tune or accompaniment over the top of what I have recorded.  I do this about 5 times with bass, strings, voices or whatever I feel the piece needs and I gradually build it up.


When I started AUTUMN the first title was "Ode to the Fungi" so I used mostly guitars and stringed instruments which I switched about.  I like to change instruments or bring in new ones after a minute or so.  I was told once by my college tutor "overkill on the oboe" and he suggested switching the lead instrument regularly.  This really helped and I am always aware of the need to bring in something new.  My favourite samples are by Eduardo Tarilonte and I draw upon his soundscapes a lot.  For this album I was able to use Forest Kingdoms more as it's not a "Holy Spirit" album or a religious contemplative track or film.  I felt I could do what I wanted so I used forest soundscapes with subtle sounds of fantasy beasts and birds.  I used sound effects like crackling fires and rain.  It's been really fun and this album captures the atmosphere of the season well.


I certainly enjoyed the last 2 tracks, tracks 7 and 8 that I have written this past week "Walking the dark woodland pathways" as I was able to write something darker and more sinister using the piano and strings and some creaking trees soundscapes and wind.  

I am gearing up to work on "St. Ralph Sherwin" music score, it's been a few weeks since I finished Anna Maria Taigi film score which was so epic I have not been able to go back to it through sheer exhaustion.  I decided to write a couple of "pre-tracks" for St. Ralph Sherwin and ended up writing 3 in a row yesterday which was great.  Finally I was inspired to use Highland Pipes which, if used well, can be so moving - like in Braveheart film.  


I started with subtle soundscapes to give an atmosphere of depth and expanse, then I used the pipes with a lot of reverb to "call out" over the "landscape" that I was picturing.  To this I added a fidule and it gradually built up from there with strings and bass and a bit of subtle nylon guitar to keep in moving.  I fell in love with this piece but had to stop for dinner and just managed to finish it.  Every hal hour or so I would record 30 seconds of video and music and tweet it on my Twitter account.  There was a lot of response to this and people got to hear what I was working on.  Today I've set up the St. Ralph Sherwin film and hope to incorporate this piece into the film as it hit that emotional spot.  It will mean at some point in the score, introducing the pipes and bringing the themes around to this kind of epic thought - probably towards the end where you know the character is going to prison and be executed.

Tuesday 9 November 2021

Elizabeth Prout and Edel Quinn Music Scores

This summer has seen me not doing any blog posts at all!  I can't believe how fast it has gone.  Earlier this year I started to write some tracks for my next album "Holy Spirit of Hope" which were also for me to draw upon when writing the music soundtrack for our next film on Elizabeth Prout.  When it came to writing the score I had two tracks previously written and this made the music so much easier to write.  When I had written the introduction, opening titles and beginning, it was mostly underscore but when it came to needing something new or different, it meant I could drop in a track without composing it there and then.  This method works really well.

Sadly, once I've written a score I go onto the next project and don't really remember what took place.  As I've not been posting for months I can't honestly remember the Elizabeth Prout music score or the film other than that I was very pleased with it, it's frustrating that I didn't post any blogs about the process as I did it as I have now completely forgotten.  The film has met with a good reception and it's great to have finished it along with John Henry Newman and Dominic Barberi.  

You can watch a trailer for the film here:



The film is available to purchase from our website, Amazon or Etsy or Instant Video on Vimeo too.


Elizabeth Prout DVD

Also over the summer we decided that we desperately needed to finish our film on Edel Quinn and the Legion of Mary as it had been nearly 2 years since we started it!  This was exciting as it finally gave me an opportunity to use some African sounds that I've had on my computer but never found the opportunity to use.  I really enjoyed writing this music score and every time I used the African voices or drums it really enhanced it!.  A trailer for this film can be viewed here:



The film is now available too on DVD and Instant Video from all the usual places.  


Once these 2 films were completed it left us with 5 more outstanding, St. Ralph Sherwin, St. David Lewis, Margery Kempe, Ignatius Spencer and Bl. Anna Maria Taigi which had been requested.  After a short break we decided to work on Bl. Anna Maria Taigi which we knew was going to be a big film.  We filmed everything we needed in the Spring as well as some Ignatius Spencer footage for use in Elizabeth Prout film but also for his own film.  Editing on Bl. Anna Maria Taigi began and I started to write some interesting, mystical music tracks that I could draw upon - 3 in total and also an "Epic Track" for her trailer.