ALBEDO To Release Forgotten Lands Video Game Soundtrack

The Artist ALBEDO will be releasing their latest album “Forgotten Lands”, the full orchestral soundtrack to the video game “Forgotten Lands VIII: The Legend of Shadow Lake” by TBC Productions.

ALBEDO “Forgotten Lands”

http://www.albedomusic.com/albedomusic.html

         The Classical/New Age Artist ALBEDO will be releasing their latest album titled “Forgotten Lands” on CD by this Thanksgiving. It features music from the brand new video game “Forgotten Lands VIII: The Legend of Shadow Lake” by TBC Productions. The video game itself was created in the old 2-D 8-bit style of the mid 1980's and is a Medieval Fantasy Role Playing Game. It's designed for Windows PCs and can currently be downloaded from their website at the link above.

        The music for the video game is a full orchestral epic soundtrack similar to The Lord of the Rings movies or the Zelda and Final Fantasy video games. The music comes in a variety of styles ranging from ragtime to fiddle music to big classical orchestrations. Doug Clyde composer of Forgotten Lands stated “I've always wanted to write music for a video game and I finally got the chance!”

        ALBEDO can not only be heard on CD, but in live performances as well. Several songs from their last album “Digital Fingers”, a collection of orchestral works by Utah composers, have been performed by several Bands and Symphonies around the country. The song “The Battle of Shiloh” by Kelly Richardson from the album was performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City just last April. “Classical & Scores Suite” by Doug Clyde, “Gaelic Warrior” by Kelly Richardson and “Creaturehouse” by Steven Grames & Eric Kartchner also from the album were all performed by the Davis County Symphony back in March at the same concert.

        Pre-Orders of the “Forgotten Lands” CD are available with free shipping and will ship by November 26th, but according to their website the low price will only last until the end of the month. MP3 downloads of the album are already available on sites like iTunes and Amazon, along with the songs from “Digital Fingers”. More information about both albums can be found at the link below.

The 5 Best Mannheim Steamroller Songs From Fresh Aire I

The 5 Best Mannheim Steamroller Songs From Fresh Aire I

Mannheim Steamroller is a pioneer of the new age music genre, and has continuously been producing albums for the last several decades. I am a huge fan and have picked out, in my opinion, the 5 best Mannheim Steamroller songs from their Fresh Aire I album released in 1975. This album was actually used to demo hi-fi equipment, and customers would say "I like this stereo system, but I really love the record you're playing. Who is that?" So, that's how the Fresh Aire series got its start. Each of the first four Fresh Aire albums are based on a season, and Spring is the theme for Fresh Aire I. Chip Davis said the following about it: "Vivaldi did a nice piece called the "Seasons", and this sounded like a good idea for an overall concept (since Fresh Aire I seemed very "Springish") for any albums that would come later in the series. Of course, at the onset there were no plans for a whole series. We felt we'd be doing well to get one album off the ground. In fact it was the listening public's request for "Fresh Aire II" that spurred the idea to start a series." Several of the song names on this album are word plays of musical terms, like "Fresh Aire" is an air, "Ron Doe" is a rondo and "Pass the Keg, Lia" is a passacaglia.

Here are my top 5 picks in track listing order...

1. Chocolate Fudge

What's most amazing to me about this song is that it was released in 1975 on vinyl! Synthetic music was in its infancy, and this song still measures up to anything created synthetically today. It's probably my most favorite song on the album.

2. Interlude I

I love the use of the simple piano track set to the sounds of a thunderstorm in the background. It's very relaxing. I especially love the pause in the music to allow the loud clap of thunder to sound. Very ingenious.

3. Ron Doe

This song is written in the odd time signature of 5/8. The beginning piano interlude helps to build the power of this song, then it kicks into full gear using the uniqueness of this odd beat. Very fun to listen to.

4. Interlude III

Again, I love the use of the simple piano track set to the sounds of a forest with birds chirping in the background. This is the Interlude I love to play on the piano the most. This song was later used on the album "Yellowstone: The Music of Nature", and it was very fitting.

5. Pass the Keg, Lia

Using the Harpsichord in a rock 'n roll style makes this song very unique. It's no wonder that Chip Davis of Mannheim Steamroller describes their signature sound as "18th Century Classical Rock". Very original and nice to hear.
I also recommend listening to Interlude II with headphones on, very cool. Honestly, every song on this album is good, and I highly recommend getting the whole thing.

Whether you agree with my picks or not, there is no disputing that Chip Davis of Mannheim Steamroller is the best contemporary composer of our time.

If you like New Age music than you might like ALBEDO: a New Age / Classical Artist that has been heavily influenced by Mannheim Steamroller.

Click Here to download 3 of his hit tracks for free!

ALBEDO 7th Heaven 3-year Anniversary

        November 7th was the 3-year anniversary of the album “7^th Heaven”. To date, it's still our most popular. So, to celebrate, We're offering the CD for only $7.11 for the next month with free shipping! The offer will expire at 11:59pm on Wednesday December 7, 2011. There are only 18 copies left, so get one now before they go out of print. For any reason if you don't enjoy it, just send it back for a full refund within 30 days of your purchase. Downloads of mp3s and ringtones will still be the same price and will be available on iTunes, Amazon, Zune, Reverb Nation, etc., even after the CDs are gone.

         Enjoy the music and have a Happy Veteran's Day!

http://www.albedomusic.com/albedomusic.html#7thheaven

ALBEDO

http://www.albedomusic.com

ALBEDO Forgotten Lands now on iTunes, Amazon, Zune, plus many more!

Digital mp3 downloads of ALBEDO's new album “Forgotten Lands” are now available on: iTunes, Amazon, Zune, plus many more! Just click on the link below.

http://www.albedomusic.com/albedomusic.html#forgottenlands

Pre-Order your CD now for only $5 at the link above! This is a limited time price.

      “Forgotten Lands” is now available for download on major and minor retailer websites. You can find it on: iTunes, Amazon, Zune, Rhapsody, Napster, plus many more including: Bandcamp and Reverb Nation.

      The physical CD is still being worked on, and will be available by Thanksgiving 2011. You can pre-order a CD right now at the link above and only pay $5. The price will increase by at least 50% once the CD has been released. Sheet music is also being worked on, and will be available by Christmas 2011.

      The album was released back on October 7, 2011 and is called “Forgotten Lands”. It is the soundtrack to a video game called "Forgotten Lands VIII: The Legend of Shadow Lake" by TBC Productions. You can currently download the video game for Windows PCs at the link below.

      Hope you had a Happy Halloween Holiday. Enjoy!

Forgotten Lands VIII: The Legend of Shadow Lake" the video game by TBC Productions

http://sanitystudios.com/row/products.html

ALBEDO

http://www.albedomusic.com/albedo.html

ALBEDO Forgotten Lands, New Album!

New Album "Forgotten Lands" by ALBEDO! 

http://www.albedomusic.com/albedomusic.html#forgottenlands 

Pre-Order now for only $5! 

      This one has been almost a year in the making! A new album was released on October 7, 2011 titled “Forgotten Lands”. It is the soundtrack to the soon to be released video game "Forgotten Lands: The Legend of Shadow Lake". If you pre-order a CD now, it will only be $5.00. The price will go up as soon as the physical CDs have been released by Thanksgiving 2011.

      This has been an exciting project! I've always wanted to write the music for a video game and I final got the chance. The maker of the game wanted a full orchestral score, which made it even better. The game itself is what I like to call a new classic video game. It's a 2-D role playing game similar to the 8-bit era of video games released in the mid 80's. Like the original Zelda and Final Fantasy. When it's released, It will be available for Windows PC computers. There has been talk about releasing a version for Mac, but I'm not sure if or when it'll happen.

      Currently there are mp3 downloads available on Reverb Nation and Bandcamp. More will be coming soon. Mp3 downloads from major retailers like iTunes and Amazon will be available by Thanksgiving 2011. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

ALBEDO

http://www.albedomusic.com/albedo.html

ALBEDO Facebook Fan Page & New Album Coming Soon!

ALBEDO now has a new and improved Facebook Fan Page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/ALBEDO/136188775570

      I've added two new tabs: “Free Streaming” and “Albums”. The Free Streaming tab (on the left under our picture) has links to where you can listen to our music online for free. It has has a few songs to listen to farther down the page. Under the “My Band” tab there are a lot more songs available to listen to without having to leave the safety and security that Facebook brings to all of us (Alright, maybe I won't go that far, but you can listen to a lot of songs without having to go to another website). The Albums tab features our latest two albums “Digital Fingers” and “7^th Heaven” along with links to iTunes, Amazon, Zune, etc. There is also a “Store” tab where you can find merchandise items like Ringtones, T-Shirts, and things of that nature.

      Here's some very exciting news. There will be a new ALBEDO album coming out soon! The project is called “Forgotten Lands” and will have select songs that I have written for a video game of the same name that will also be released soon. It was requested that I write a full orchestral score for the game, so that's what I've done. Like most video game music it will have a variety of different styles mixed in with the main orchestral works.

http://www.albedomusic.com/albedomusic.html

      If you would like to hear one of the songs from the soon to be released album, it's currently being featured on the “FREE MP3” page of the website. Just click on the link that says “Forgotten Lands”. It's a low quality mp3 of one of the first drafts of the song, but it gives you a basic idea of what the album will sound like. I will definitely be giving you more information about this album when it gets closer to being available. It's currently scheduled to be released by Thanksgiving of 2011. Which means I better get back to work, so that I can release it on schedule. Until next time!

http://www.albedomusic.com/freemp3.html

ALBEDO

http://albedomusic.com/albedo.html

Top Selling Indie Music

      I've recently added a new page to my website called “Top Selling Indie Music”. It's a list of the best selling music by Independent Artists, plus a few editor's picks. It features various genres and has links to their music on CD Baby's website. It currently has the top 5 of each genre, and will be expanded in the future to feature the top 10 and will have more genres added to it.

http://www.albedomusic.com/indiemusic.html

      I've also added a bunch more eBooks to my website. They're currently featured on the “Ebooks” page, and are only $1.99 each. You can download classic literature in PDF or EPUB format. You will be redirected after your payment to immediately download the file, and there is a 30-day money back guarantee if you buy it directly from us. There are also links to find them on Lulu's website. 

http://www.albedomusic.com/eBooks.html

      I would also like to inform you of a few collaboration projects I'm currently working on that will be available some time in the near future. First, I'm writing music for a computer video game for TBC Productions. They have requested the music to be written in the style of Final Fantasy, so the compositions will be for full orchestra. The title song from the project is available to listen to. It's currently on the “Free MP3” page of my website, and is called “Forgotten Lands”. The link is listed below. Second, I'm also currently working on a collaboration between ALBEDO and Lillywhite. Steven Grames has made a poetry CD and has asked me to write some background music for it. You can listen to one of them “Surrender at Sea” on his website at the link below. He has requested that the music be electronic, so I've written it in a New Age/Ambience style. Both collaborations are currently being worked on from both ends, and I will definitely let you know when they are finished. Enjoy!

http://www.albedomusic.com/freemp3.html

http://www.stevengrames.com

ALBEDO

http://www.albedomusic.com/albedo.html

Transposed Parts & Classic eBooks

      I found a nice website that sells sheet music in PDF format that you can download immediately. The website is called Load CD. I've added some transposed parts for Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker and Fourth Symphony (will come in handy if you play Bb Trumpet or Bb Clarinet and don't own one in A), some well know classical pieces in full score plus parts, and sheet music from our latest classical album “Digital Fingers” for Symphony, Concert Band, String Orchestra, String Quintet, and Woodwind Quintet.

http://albedomusic.load.cd/sheetmusic

      Lately, I've been working on something a little different. I don't always contain myself to just music and sometimes branch out to different forms of media like books or videos. So, I've been formatting and creating eBooks of classic literature. They're available on our website and on a website called Lulu in PDF and EPUB format for immediate download. They're only $1.99 and more will be coming soon. If you have any special requests that you would like me to do, please let me know. Eventually, I would also like to make some audio book versions for CD and mp3 download. I'll keep you updated on that project when it gets closer to completion.

http://www.albedomusic.com/eBooks.html

      I'm also working on a special “How To” book for those of you who are musicians out there. It'll explain how to record your music, how to get it online, plus more. More details will be coming soon about that, and I'll keep you posted about it. In the meantime, you'll just to have to wait with baited breath, and try to enjoy yourselves while you're at it. Talk to you later!

ALBEDO

http://www.albedomusic.com/albedo.html

Free MP3s and Royalty Free Music!

I've added a few new pages to my website. “Free MP3” and “Royalty Free Music”!

http://www.albedomusic.com/freemp3.html

http://www.albedomusic.com/royaltyfree.html

The Free mp3 page has free downloads of various songs I've written over the past 7 years. Including songs from the albums “7^th Heaven” and “Digital Fingers”. It even has a few songs that haven't been released yet.

The Royalty Free page also has free downloads, but these has been designed specifically for film makers to use in their films. It includes some of my songs and also some well known classical pieces. 

No e-mail required, no registration, just follow the link and download all you want!

For those of you who missed the performance of Kelly Richardson's “Battle of Shiloh” at Carnegie Hall last month, you will get a second chance to hear it. The American West Symphony will be performing it on Wednesday June 29^th. It will be at the Sandy Amphitheater 9400 S. 1300 E. in Salt Lake City, UT and will start at 8:00pm. And the best part is...it's free admission! If you miss it you can still hear it on the album “Digital Fingers” by ALBEDO.

http://www.albedomusic.com/albedomusic.html#digitalfingers

ALBEDO

http://www.albedomusic.com/albedo.html

New and improved website with lots of FREE stuff!

New and improved website with lots of FREE stuff!

http://www.albedomusic.com

We've improved the picture quality of our website, along with adding two new pages full of free downloads.

The first is our FREE MP3 page. This page has free downloads of ALBEDO's discography in low quality mp3 format.

If you want high quality mp3s, then you'll have to follow the links to iTunes, Amazon, Zune, etc.

The second is our ROYALTY FREE page, which features free high quality mp3 downloads of ALBEDO songs and classical music that are all royalty free.

All the ALBEDO songs on this page are less than 120 seconds long which were designed specifically for filmmakers to use in their films. All of the classical music songs are full length.

No registration required, no e-mail required, just come on over and download all you want. Enjoy!


- ALBEDO
http://www.albedomusic.com

ALBEDO Free Online Streaming

        I've been spending a lot of time lately putting my music up on several websites for online streaming. My favorites include:

Reverb Nation- http://www.reverbnation.com/albedo
Bandcamp- http://albedomusic.bandcamp.com
Soundcloud- http://soundcloud.com/albedomusic


        There are many others including: MySpace, Facebook (My Band) & You Tube. You can find links to the rest of them on my website: http://albedomusic.com/albedolinks.html

http://youtu.be/bNSHd1nKI24


        Two months ago the Davis County Symphony performed several songs from the Digital Fingers album. The song Creaturehouse by Steven Grames & Eric Kartchner is currently available to view on You Tube. It wasn't a perfect performance, but they did really well for a community group that's never heard the song before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pljvODeX_f8



        There are more albums looming on the horizon, including a collection of scores I've written for video games and a New Age album based on Astronomy. Also, ideas are in the works for a possible sequel to Digital Fingers, and a Christmas album may not be too far off as well. I'll keep you updated once more information becomes available.


- ALBEDO
http://albedomusic.com/albedo.html

The 8 Best Mannheim Steamroller Songs From Their “Other” Albums

The 8 Best Mannheim Steamroller Songs From Their “Other” Albums

The Mannheim Steamroller “other” albums are considered to be everything but their Christmas and Fresh Aire CDs. Mannheim Steamroller is a pioneer of the new age music genre, and has continuously been producing original and arranged music for the last several decades. I am a huge fan, and have picked out, in my opinion, the 8 best Mannheim Steamroller songs from their other albums besides the Christmas and Fresh Aire series.

Here are my top 8 picks, in chronological order….

1. Tigers & Lions- Saving the Wildlife, 1986

I’ve been listening to this song for almost my entire life, and it’s always been a favorite of mine. The ethnic sound makes you feel that you’re in India surrounded by Tigers. This song plus several others were written for the soundtrack of a PBS special about saving the wildlife. Wolves is another excellent song from the album, and if you’ve never seen the music video for Wolfgang Amadeus Penguin it’s hilarious.

2. Fugue- Impressions, 1993

When Chip Davis first met his very good friend Arnie Roth (Mannheim’s violinist) he thought he was a really classical guy. But later found out that when he was in college he played in a heavy metal bad. So, Chip wrote this song for Arnie, which is why it’s on the album Impressions (an album made up entirely of gifts that Chip Davis wrote for various friends and family members). He describes this song as a “Gothic Concerto Sounding Dooda Something or Other”, and it’s quite en excellent piece.

3. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious- Mannheim Meets the Mouse, 1999

I hope I spelled that right! I love most of the songs on this album, and was especially pleased with this arrangement of my favorite Mary Poppin’s tune, which recently had a successful run on Broadway. This album is an excellent collection of arranged Disney tunes and should be in your collection along with their Christmas albums.

4. You’ve Got a Friend In Me- Mannheim Meets the Mouse, 1999

I love the synthetic bass line of this song! Not only is this a classic Disney movie and a great Randy Newman song, but it’s a brilliant Mannheim Steamroller arrangement. When this album was released I drove down to the music store during my lunch break in order to get it. I first heard about it when they performed Under the Sea at their live show during the Christmas in the Aire tour.

5. Slo Dancin' in the Living Room- Romantic Melodies, 2001

This song is quite different from all the others I have picked. For me, it just paints a very quaint little story about a loving married couple spending a few minutes of their busy day to be romantic and slow dance together in the living room. With, most likely, screaming children and burning food on the stove in the other room.

6. Mt. McKinley- Spirit, 2003

The feel of this piece is very American, which is why it blends so well into Mannheim’s patriotic album- Spirit. It’s an original composition by Chip Davis and channels Aaron Copland and other great American composers. It’s short, but sweet. The Star-Spangled Banner is another wonderful arrangement on this album which also appears on the albums Impressions and To Russia With Love.

7. All Hallow’s Eve- Halloween, 2003

This Halloween piece, an original composition by Chip Davis, fits perfectly into the season. It’s always well received at Halloween parties. I wish they had thought to do Halloween albums back when they first started. I wouldn’t mind if they released a few more. I’ve always thought it was funny that they put “Deranged by Chip Davis” on the album credits.

8. Creatures of the Night- Halloween 2, 2006

This creation was designed for dance clubs, and was the first time that Mannheim Steamroller did something for the Dance/Techno genre. In the music video you get to see Chip Davis play the Theremin creating all sorts of eerie sounds. They even went as far as to create a line dance specifically for this song for people to dance to in clubs.

Whether you agree with my picks or not, there is no disputing that Chip Davis of Mannheim Steamroller is the best contemporary composer/arranger of our time.

If you like New Age music than you might like ALBEDO: a New Age / Classical Artist that has been heavily influenced by Mannheim Steamroller.

Click Here to download 3 of his hit tracks for free!

The 8 Best Mannheim Steamroller Songs From Their Fresh Aire Albums

The 8 Best Mannheim Steamroller Songs From Their Fresh Aire Albums

Mannheim Steamroller is a pioneer of the new age music genre, and has continuously been producing albums for the last several decades. I am a huge fan, and have picked out, in my opinion, the 8 best Mannheim Steamroller songs from their Fresh Aire series. You’ll notice that a lot of my top picks are mainly Chip Davis’ big orchestral songs. Being a composer of symphonic works myself, I guess I’m just partial to full orchestral scores. I also write synthetic music too, so that’s probably why Mannheim Steamroller is so appealing to me. You’ll also notice that a lot of these appear on the Yellowstone album, which is a great compilation of classical music and Mannheim Steamroller, which also includes my two favorite Interludes: III & VI.

Here are my top 8 picks, in chronological order….

1. Chocolate Fudge- Fresh Aire I

What’s most amazing to me about this song is that it was released in 1975 on vinyl! Synthetic music was in its infancy, and this song still measures up to anything created synthetically today.

2. Toccata- Fresh Aire III

By far, my most favorite Mannheim Steamroller song of all time! I’ve always loved songs in 5/4 time (Mars, Mission Impossible, etc.), and this song is no exception. You need to listen to this song with headphones on, the stereo mix of live instruments and synthetics are amazing.

3. G Major Toccata- Fresh Aire IV

I’m always a sucker for organ toccatas, especially those written by J.S. Bach, and this song is definitely on that list. I love how the organ is mixed with the drum set. You don’t hear that every day.

4. Earthrise/Return to the Earth- Fresh Aire V

I’m counting this as one song, because it appears as one track on the album. For me this song sounds like a soundtrack to an Old Testament story. It has that nice ancient feel to it, with a choir crescendo at the end. I guess I’ve always loved the songs that start off small and quiet then build to a large and loud ending (the final movements of the Firebird by Stravinsky & the Pines of Rome by Respighi for example).

5. Come Home to the Sea- Fresh Aire VI

The structure of this song as it goes from small to huge is brilliant. The sound effects are subtle and not overpowering. The mixture of piano and recorder at the beginning is wonderful, and builds to a powerful full orchestra by the end.

6. Rhodes Suite: Sunrise at Rhodes- Fresh Aire VI

Another song from the Fresh Aire VI album, which is very underrated and should be intensely more popular. The sounds at the beginning of horses running make this song even more stunning than it already is. It’s short, but very well put together.

7. Chakra 7- Fresh Aire 7

I’ve always enjoyed songs that have very fast notes in them, and this song takes advantage of that. It represents the Intellect which is a very busy place. The live version of this song with the orchestra backup has to be my favorite, but can only be heard on their PBS special. 

8. The Big Bang- Fresh Aire 8

I’m a big fan of Astronomy, so there’s no surprise that I picked this one. This song is mainly sound effects, which is why I like it. It symbolizes the progression of the universe after the Big Bang, moving from sound effects to structured music. I almost picked fractals as my final pick, since it was very cleverly done, but I ultimately picked this one instead.

Whether you agree with my picks or not, there is no disputing that Chip Davis of Mannheim Steamroller is the best contemporary composer of our time.

If you like New Age music than you might like ALBEDO: a New Age / Classical Artist that has been heavily influenced by Mannheim Steamroller.

Click Here to download 3 of his hit tracks for free!

ALBEDO Carnegie Hall

The "Battle of Shiloh" by Kelly Richardson 

will be performed at Carnegie Hall!
http://www.carnegiehall.org/Event.aspx?id=4040
Tues, Apr. 26, 1:00pm, $10, New York, NY
Performed by the College Park HS Symphony Orchestra
Featured in the album: Digital Fingers by ALBEDO

ALBEDO is also now on Sound Cloud
http://soundcloud.com/albedomusic

- ALBEDO
http://www.albedomusic.com/albedo.html