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Progressive Classical Music
Composed and Performed by Paul Lloyd Warner
HOW THIS MUSIC IS MADE
Click CD Button below to listen to a 14 minute compositions
from EARTH, Track 1, MOTHER EARTH for Violin and Orchestra. This piece is a good example
of Progressive Classical Music and LIVE performance on multiple keyboards simultaneously.
Music made in the moment where all the orchestral forces are in balance, takes training, practice, discipline patience and talent. Just imagine what it is like to perform on four keyboards at once, each keyboard faithfully recreating the instrument(s) and keeping it all together. Beyond technique and technology, imagine what it is like to make music OUTDOORS IN NATURE, in the wilderness. Having the instruments of the world at the artist’s disposal in places of unimaginable beauty.
Here is how it is done:
Paul Lloyd Warner assembled a digital recording studio in wilderness locations, including four electronic keyboards, a digital recorder (DAT), mixing board, amplifier and speakers. Power used to run this high-tech equipment was an inverter that was connected to an array of truck batteries. Going from DC to AC power was entirely a silent operation and three or four fully charged truck batteries silently powered the entire portable recording studio for eight or more hours.
Getting this equipment to these locations required a four wheel drive Toyota van. With all this technology carefully packed into foam containers, the composer, along with an assistant, drove on paved roads to specific areas, then went off-road, usually on dirt roads to a scenic location far away from civilization. Once the equipment was all set up and working, Paul Lloyd Warner would choose the patches on each of the four keyboards he would use for the recording, balancing the sounds and prepare for the recording session.
On hot days, a ten foot square canopy was placed over the artist and his equipment. It usually took several hours to set up all the equipment and some more time to “tweak” the sound. Once all this work was completed, it was now time to play music.
Imagine what it is like for a keyboard artist to be fully set up in nature, in a true wilderness location. In the silence of a natural setting, the beauty of the location, clear blue skies, everything seems to sparkle in the sunlight. The artist might practice a few runs or phrases on the keyboards and at a certain point, he is prepared and ready to begin playing and recording.
Here is the decisive moment when everything is set up and together. The equipment is working perfectly. The artist takes some time to meditate and clarify his mind. The time is now. A prayer to God, the Creator of all, a humble thank you to the wilderness location, a sweep of the eyes all around the wilderness and emotions surge with the creative force. Press the record button, place the hands on the keyboards and the music begins.
Most of the time, the pieces played are improvisational, sometimes utilizing previously composed musical ideas or themes. Sometimes one is in a place where there is only the creativity power that drives the music in an exploratory journey into the unknown. With a recording studio set up in a desert canyon near Sedona, Arizona, with the afternoon sun lighting up purple and rose colored rocks, flecked with gold highlights; with an intensely blue sky, the beauty is so intense, nature is awesomely inspiring, one feels the Creator at work here. And then it occurs to the artist that he is probably the first person doing this on such a complex scale – four keyboards way out in the backcountry, making music where no one ever made music, and the music itself is soaring, reaching out, bridging the heavens and earth, the spirit world and earth. It is purely a spiritual experience. The music is a reflection of the surroundings, a chord here represents that mountain crest; another chord there depicts a gigantic rock! Nature is making the music through the artist who is both in full control of his fingers and is simultaneously being inspired by the indwelling spirit of Creation.
On this edge is where the music is made. With the Great Outdoors as the composer’s inspiration, one is limited only by his, or her, imagination. The Divine Intelligence takes over and works of art are birthed into creation.
THE FOUR DISCIPLINES
When creating music in this way, there are four disciplines at work, with several sub-systems at pla.
- The Composer
- The Performing Artist(s)
- The Conductor
- The Recording Engineer
The composer might perform an already created composition, or improvising in the moment. Improvisation is where the musician undertakes an exploration into unknown music. Improvisation does not mean to show off one’s music prowess but to create something authentically original and exciting. Much of the music in The Six Symphonic Suites is improvisatory but not all. It is music made in the moment, but with other, more subtle, elements taking place simultaneously.
The Creative Mind is at work during improvisation and when there are outside influences such as making music in nature with all its beauty, various levels of visual, mental, emotional, spiritual, auditory and musical awareness is at work consciously. There may be unconscious elements going on in the background such as the source of inspiration, or the multifold components of nature impacting the artist. However, the truth is that creative artistry depends on factors that only exist at that time. The musical artist who is sensitive to almost all the factors at play.
For example, when this artist was playing a piece entitled AN AMERICA SYMPHONY at the edge of the Grand Canyon at sunset in a place where no tourists were watching, I was immensely impacted by the awe-inspiring beauty surrounding me and at the same time, conscious of each one of the four keyboards. Each one was set up to play various sections of the orchestra. One keyboard was patched to play the string section, another, the horns and woodwinds, another was overlaying the string section with an even richer texture of strings. The fourth keyboard gave me orchestral overtones which blended the other three.
Additionally, each keyboard was midi-interfaced with its own smaller synthesizer. The palette of sounds I had had my disposal was so orchestral, that I felt that I could re-create the essence of an orchestra. But, I had to play each section and move seamlessly from one keyboard to another, holding the pedals down as I transitioned so as not to create a break in the sound.
Beyond performing the parts of the orchestra, I was composing, improvising, keeping the whole composition together as gazed out into the great canyon, drinking in its beauty at sunset, the colors glowing all around me. I was so inspired that tears came to my eyes, it was so majestic, so incredibly beautiful to have the privilege of being there, at that moment, playing a symphony outdoors which I was conducting with my fingers on keyboard instruments.
The conductor is that part of the mind which takes control over the musician, or in this case, the musicians who are playing through my fingers, violins, cellos, horns, etc. As I compose or improvise, the conductor holds it all together, the tempo, emphasis, interpretation.
The mind is concentrating on playing this complex music, conducting it, making sure the recording is going along well without saturating the tape and at the same time, maintains focus on the place where I am performing, taking in the beauty, being magnificently inspired, feeling the goose bumps, treasuring the experience, the presence of Spirit which drives me to do such a crazy thing as this and GET RESULTS.
It’s all so amazing and when one compounds this experience with hundreds of others such as recording on the Oregon Coast, or the High Sierras, on top of the Carlsbad Caverns, or by a waterfall in the Cascade Range of Washington. As I look back upon these experiences, I realize I am the first to take multiple keyboards into the wilderness and record LIVE in nature. I am so fortunate to be alive at a time when the third generation synthesizers were invented and brought to market in the 1990s when true sampling of instruments became an art form in itself.
The earlier keyboards sounded too electronic, metallic and artificial and could not be utilized to effectively record the kind of music I prefer. Then KORG company began marketing the KORG T1 Keyboard. When I first played it, I could not believe my ears. The time has come, I can now transition from pure piano to electronic music. I purchased that keyboard and brought it into my brand new motor home which I drove throughout the western United States to market my music at art shows, fairs and festivals from the Great Northwest throughout California, to Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.
With my earnings from these art shows, I financed every one of my journeys to wilderness locations as I traveled from one state to another. Yes, it was hard work to set up and sell my music at art shows, but then to take everything down and travel to another location and in between, go out to nature, set up the keyboards and make more music. This is how the Six Symphonic Suites were created. Going from place to place, recording on the way, or on the way back. The very best creative years of my life took place in the decade of my 50s.
There were other albums during this time, a couple of solo piano albums, a solo harp album performed on the Korg T1 keyboard entitled RAIN FOREST. CRY OF THE TURTLE, is another Symphonic Suite that celebrates the life cycle of the Leatherback Turtle.
These Symphonic Suites could not be created without a lifelong grounding in solo piano playing. Over the years, I had developed a style in piano playing that has its own signature. WATERFALL MUSIC for Solo Piano is a good example of this style. A strong piano technique with even stronger interpretive talent is required to make music like this on keyboards. The challenge for me is creating music in a solo environment. Surely, most keyboard music today is multi-tracked. One can record over a track if they do not like the performance, or correct a mistake, enhance a phrase, etc. In solo multiple keyboard performance, there is no going back. Yes, technology gives me the opportunity to “Midi” the performance and goes back to a note and correct it, if necessary. All this is to the good and I celebrate the keyboard artists who use this method. A great majority of film music is made this way.
Yet the challenge to this artist is to make the music all at one time, utilizing all the powers given to me as a man and artist. This is the challenge: to be artistically free enough to make miracles happen effortlessly. When we attend a symphony concert, we hear all the various sections of the orchestra playing in unison and harmony. We listen to the performance as a whole, made up of many beautiful parts.
In conclusion, “Live” performance, utilizing multiple keyboards, is this composer’s method of choice to make complex instrumental music. When I improvise, it becomes a journey, an exploration into the unknown, but under constant awareness and control. When I play my compositions, I am always looking for new ways to improve performance and often allow a small degree of improvisation to allow exploration into fresh ways of performing a piece. This way, the composition remains fresh, original and exciting to play.
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