Hugh Carson Music

September 2020:

This Month’s Audio Uploads:

FORGIVE ME – FULL VERSION – 1997:

©HughCarsonMusic

Forgive Me - SONG - Lyrics

A song that laments the end of one of my long-term relationships. I forget who laid down the guitar parts. Possibly Nick Rundall? It’s a song that I’ve occasionally revisited over the years, and thankfully one that continues to please despite its various mix frailties. All vocals are courtesy of me. A brief summary of Forgive Me can be found in the A-Z section of the site.

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HERE COMES THE RETRO HAMMER – FULL VERSION – 2010:

©HughCarsonMusic

A full-length, upbeat ‘swirling’ instrumental.

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HOME – SONG SAMPLE & OUTRO – DEMO – 2011:

©Bublé / Chang / Foster-Gillies

Michael Bublé’s silky tones on his smash hit, Home, are a seriously tough act to follow when it comes to cover versions. And although my own version limps along somewhat feebly some way back in the distance, there are still some elements of it that were pleasing, including a new outro section that I devised and tagged onto the song’s end.

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BROKEN – SKETCH – 1994:

©HughCarsonMusic

A moody theme entirely composed and realised via the Yamaha SY85 Workstation‘s own internal sequencer.

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SPEAK TO ME – FULL VERSION – 1995:

©HughCarsonMusic

A ‘chilled-out’ instrumental from the mid-90s sessions, featuring a brief sneaky Toto sample, taken from their Tambu album.

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NEWSBEAT – SKETCH – 1990:

©HughCarsonMusic

Another Yamaha SY85 Workstation sketch. This was a sort of current-affairs TV programme theme that I cobbled together back in my late teen years. Probably inspired by any number of news programmes over the years. Maybe even John Craven’s Newsround, or some other such kids’ show from my childhood.

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PAINT ME A PICTURE – FULL VERSION – 2010:

©CGNSongs

This was a second, strange CGN Songs pitch for a light-hearted scene in a U.S TV show. It was shelved in favour of my CGN Songs partner, Peter Godfrey‘s offering. Sadly, neither was ultimately used, if memory serves correctly.

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GLACIAL – SECTIONS – 2009:

©HughCarsonMusic

Sections taken from an instrumental that was loosely inspired by the majestic, ever-so-slow-moving Perito Moreno Glacier in Patagonia, Argentina. I recall staying in a tiny neighbouring town whose bars were all packed full of locals staring at TV coverage of the glacier, waiting for a section of it to crumble away and fall into the water below. Riveting stuff down that way, apparently.

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TELL ME MORE – SKETCH – 2010:

©HughCarsonMusic

A brief snippet from a mid-tempo library track from the Wayward Wolf years.

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THREE TIME THEME – SECTION – 2005:

©HughCarsonMusic

A theme with percussive and jazz elements to it.

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August 2020: Mid-Month

Mid-Month Audio Uploads:

Something a little different this time. Five versions of the same track, giving you the opportunity to trace this song from its humble origins and through its many incarnations.

Never Knew Love was a song that started life as one of Peter Godfrey’s short instrumentals. I always liked this one of his for its relaxed country feel fused with what I’ve always thought was a touch of that old magical Mike Post theme, “Hill Street Blues”. A great combination.

It gave me an idea for a country-style song which I had initially intended to offer to the excellent Benn Sisters. For the demo recording, Rebecca Saxton once again did a wonderful job for me on lead vocals, whilst Jim Thomas somehow defied all of the odds to record the guitar parts in one of the most ridiculous recording sessions I’ve ever been involved in.

Never Knew Love - SONG - Lyrics

NEVER KNEW LOVE (LATE STAGE VERSION) – FULL VERSION – DEMO – 2012:

Carson/Godfrey

©HughCarsonMusic

This late stage version is probably as close to how I had originally envisioned this song to be. It’s only a temporary mix, so forgive the occasional issues with that.

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NEVER KNEW LOVE (REIMAGINED) – FULL VERSION – DEMO – 2014:

Carson/Godfrey

©HughCarsonMusic

A departure from the song’s original country feel with this altogether more mellow version, complete with occasional bird song.

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NEVER KNEW LOVE (RAW VERSION) – SONG SAMPLE – DEMO – 2013:

Carson/Godfrey

©HughCarsonMusic

In an attempt to try and ‘beef up’ the mix a bit, I opted for less harmonic movement, dirtier percussive samples and feeding the guitar parts through a touch of distortion. It was an interesting idea, but one which I ultimately aborted. If you’re going to go with something a little edgier, it’s always far more effective to record a track with that in mind rather than trying to achieve such a sound purely through the mixdown process.

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NEVER KNEW LOVE (ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTAL) – FULL VERSION – 2012:

Godfrey

©PeterGodfrey

I’ve called this instrumental ‘Never Knew Love‘ for the sake of continuity here, but Peter Godfrey’s instrumental was actually known as ‘Country & Western Track’ or something along those lines. Whether it was intended or not, listen out for the “Hill Street Blues’ gliding synth influence that really gives this track its old-school charm.

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NEVER KNEW LOVE (ORIGINAL ROUGH DEMO) – FULL VERSION – 2012:

Carson/Godfrey

©HughCarsonMusic

A very rough skeletal demo version, and the basis for all further work that was to be done on this song. It’s also the only version that was ever recorded incorporating the extended coda section towards the end.

August 2020:

THIS MONTH’S AUDIO UPLOADS:

DANCING TO THE TUNE – FULL VERSION – 2012:

©CGNSongs

Dancing To The Tune began life as an obscure demo sent to my CGN Songs partner, Peter Godfrey, by Nat Nollid. Peter extracted what he could from Nat’s fusion of free-style spoken lyrics and steam locomotive whistles (among other things), and brought the backing track firmly into the mainstream turning it into a pop-style dance track. I then fleshed out the lyrics, and set to work on the melodies and harmonies, bringing in Rebecca Saxton to join me on vocals. Tony As added an excellent rap – recorded remotely – and after much wrestling with the mix-down process, we finally got it where we wanted it. Cheesy dance music. A bit of fun.

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NOW I KNOW MY ABB – FULL VERSION – 2010:

©HughCarsonMusic

This was a fast turn-around commission whilst I was based out in Sweden, to write a piece to be used in conjunction with an ABB promotional video for a compact indoor substation with disconnecting circuit breakers! The video version was, through necessity, far more sparse in its arrangement than the final stand-alone audio version, below.

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HYPNOTIC – SKETCH – 2011:

©HughCarsonMusic

A brief snippet from an idea that I had for a track depicting the fuzzy dream-like state of consciousness of a man, spaced-out on narcotics of some description.

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RAIN DANCE – SECTIONS – 1995:

©HughCarsonMusic

Whilst going through a ‘long and epic instrumentals’ phase during the mid-90s, I conjured up Rain Dance, a sort of plea to the Gods above to bring rains to the failing crops of some Native people in some fictional land. Or something. In fairness, I’ve just significantly embellished the track’s back story there for the benefit of this little write-up. Rain Dance is a bit of high-energy fun, and full of unashamed wildly inaccurate sonic Native American cultural appropriation – so stick that up your pipes, Progressives!

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WAYWARD WOLF THEME (THIRD VERSION) – FULL VERSION – 2014:

©HughCarsonMusic

A shorter, alternative podcast version of this track was devised for my Wayward Wolf Film Review project, but this is the extended third version which ultimately came to be the principal version. A reggae-infused track intended for use as a stand alone theme, or to be used in parts for library music purposes.

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BLIZZARD – SECTION – DEMO – 2010:

©HughCarsonMusic

Written whilst walking in the snow during a Dalarna Swedish winter, this track is intended to conjure up images of great icy hardship as intrepid Arctic explorers battle their way through a Blizzard on the frozen tundra. My own journey was more about walking a poodle through a pine forest in January, so you’ll probably want to allow for a little artistic licence there.

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NOW THE SUMMER’S GONE – SECTION – ROUGH DEMO – 2013:

©HughCarsonMusic

2011 and 2012 were pretty rough years for me on a personal level, and partially inspired by the events of those years I wrote this song as a part of the cathartic process of coming to terms with things. It wasn’t until a couple of years later that I finally had the chance to record it (albeit only in a rough demo form), at Specific Media‘s swanky studios in central London, where Rebecca Saxton once again joined me on vocals. I plan to flesh this demo out some day into something a bit more polished and complete, if the opportunity ever arises.

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FLEXIBLE FILMS PROJECT 4 – SAMPLE – 2010:

©HughCarsonMusic

A slow, atmospheric theme intended primarily for library use.

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SY85 THEME (THEN & NOW) – SECTIONS – 1990/2011:

©HughCarsonMusic

A little number from way back “when I were just a lad,” fused together with a more recent take on the same theme. A minute or so of the former and the entirety of the latter. Nothing spectacular but just one of those little tunes that has somehow stayed with me over time.

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PAINCOTT – SECTIONS – 2004:

©HughCarsonMusic

One of the first tracks that I wrote using an Apple Mac G4 + Logic Pro Silver combination. It’s incredible to think that you get change out of £200.00 these days for the latest top-of the-range incarnation of Apple’s Logic production software, whereas the crusty bug-ridden lowly ‘Silver’ version that I bought, back in 2004, set me back something eye-watering in the region of £800.00!

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July 2020:

Mid July: NEW PAGE LAUNCH!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am extremely proud to announce the launch of:

Over the last couple of months I’ve been busy, painstakingly compiling an A-Z guide of the people, the equipment, the music, places and things that have all come to shape my musical journey over the years.

It’s very much a work in progress, and I’ll be adding to it as and when either my failing grey matter, or you the people, choose to remind me of things that I’ve forgotten.

And who knows, maybe YOU even feature in it?

There’s certainly only one way to find out…

The A-Z of HughCarsonMusic

NB: Whilst your inclusion in this A-Z is undoubtedly a sign of my undying appreciation of both you and your contributions, I also fully appreciate that some might prefer to swerve the spotlight of inevitable fame and adulation that comes from featuring on a prestigious and revered website such as this. Do therefore let me know if you’d prefer that I change / remove any content or pictures on the page, and I will be more than happy to do so.

July 2020:

July Audio Uploads:

Ten more tracks for your summer listening pleasure!

CONTEMPORARY IRISH JIG – Full Version – 2012:

©HughCarsonMusic

The Contemporary Irish Gig was created, in its earliest form, as a piece to be used in parts for a Flexible Films documentary relating to Irish Travellers. This, however, is a more extended version intended for use as an entire piece in itself, as well as for library music purposes.

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THE INFINITE – Full Version – 2010:

©CGNSongs

Another song from the CGN Songs stable. A thoughtful piece with a similar feel, I’ve always thought, to the Mike and the Mechanics hit, The Living Years.

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THE NEURAL EXCHANGE – Song Samples – 1995:

©Jim Mason

On the basis of me being the vocalist on this song, I’ve included it on my site, but the ever quirky The Neural Exchange is entirely the work of Jim Mason. Sadly, the restrictions of us recording all vocals on a cassette-based Tascam 644 Midistudio, meant that there was little scope for getting them tweaked, bolstered, polished and essentially how I’d actually have liked them. A shame really as Jim’s excellent Yamaha SY85 programming on this song deserved a better vocal result, I think.

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ZZiZZL (Tv Ident) – Full Version – 2010:

Music: ©HughCarsonMusic

This Zzizzl TV ident was a commission that I competed for via the now defunct Humtoo site. Though ultimately unused by the company, they did at least inform me that they had enjoyed it. Scant consolation of course, but there you go.

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MARY CELESTA – Sections – 2005:

©HughCarsonMusic

My old friend, Rachael Elliott, played some excellent violin parts on this instrumental – some fifteen years ago – which I then layered together with additional sampled violin parts to form a forceful cohesive string sound which very much drives this piece forward. That, and the use of a virtual Celesta instrument, the name of which clearly inspired the track title. Note the use of ‘delayed’ heavy breathing as a sort of percussive device, something that I was quite into doing at the time – using percussive devices that is, not heavy breathing. Besides, those cases were all thrown out of court and my name cleared.

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FLEXIBLE FILMS (Project 3) – Sample – 2008:

©HughCarsonMusic

Not sure whether this one was ever used by Flexible Films, though it was written at a time when a few of my tracks had been used as incidental music on Sybil and Russ’s excellent film projects.

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SPIRIT WALTZ (Alternative Version) – Full Version – DEMO – 2010:

©HughCarsonMusic

The ‘official’ version of this track was uploaded as part of the June 2020 Monthly Uploads, and whilst that is my favourite version, there are elements of this slightly less polished, alternative demo version that I really love too. I’ll leave you to make up your own minds.

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LAY DAYS – Section – SKETCH – 2012:

©HughCarsonMusic

Incidental music to accompany time lapse photography of the loading and unloading of cargo at busy coastal docks.

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EVERYTHING & ANYTHING AT ALL – Song Sample – DEMO – 2008:

©HughCarsonMusic

A snippet taken from the very skeletal rough demo of a song which dates back to 2008. Though I didn’t realise it until later, there’s a bit of a Howard Jones influence in the track’s sound, I’ve always thought.

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WARP – Sections – SKETCH – 2012:

©HughCarsonMusic

A library track with a slightly warped sound to it. That’s about all.

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June 2020: Midsummer Madness

Midsummer Audio Uploads:

A very happy Midsummer to you all!

And here are five bonus tracks to celebrate, including the first from the University College Salford era.

Enjoy.

NOW IS THE TIME (Tech Cut 2) – FULL VERSION – 1995:

©HughCarsonMusic

Now Is The Time - SONG - Lyrics

This song was actually conceived in about 1991 or so, though was never properly recorded until 1995 in the studios at University College Salford. That said, there probably exists a QY10 backing / my own vocals version on cassette somewhere in the vaults. But it wasn’t until I got P.J (vocals) and Phil Mayers (guitar / rap) on board that I could do the track any sort of justice. It’s a little raw in places, but it remains one of the tracks from this era that I can happily return to without cringing my spine loose.

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THE WEDDING RECEPTION – FULL VERSION – 2013:

©HughCarsonMusic

This is a little ditty that I wrote back in the Wayward Wolf Years intended for use as the accompaniment to wedding videos or slide shows. And judging by the number of times it got downloaded from an old Sound Cloud account of mine, it appears to have got plenty of use over time! And I’m glad to have contributed to people’s happy memories over the years. The pictures in the video are from Peter and Sandra’s lovely Swedish wedding all those many years ago.

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CHOCOLATE BAR ADVERT IDENT – FULL VERSION – 2011:

©CGNSongs

Think Charlie and The Chocolate Factory here. I’d completely forgotten about this little track actually. But I love the way it turned out, although I can barely remember having worked on it at all. The backing is the work of Peter Godfrey, and all melodies, vocals and lyrics are my handy work. Another of our many CGN Songs collaborations. Couldn’t tell you which chocolate bar this was written for though, or if anything ever came of it.

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SLIPPERY – SECTIONS – 2013:

©HughCarsonMusic

Slippery was a general use library track written back in the Wayward Wolf Years. I’ve blended a number of sections together here.

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THEY WERE THE TIMES – SONG SAMPLE – SKETCH – 2011:

©HughCarsonMusic

This sample is of the main chorus idea for a song that was written at the time of (though not necessarily about) the London Riots of 2011. Incredible to think that they were so long ago now. It’s very much a rough cut, but hopefully you’ll get the idea of where this track was ultimately going. I performed all vocals and wrote all lyrics.

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June 2020

THIS MONTH’S AUDIO UPLOADS:

HIGH RISE – FULL VERSION – 2012

The first version of a track written for an ambitious charity video. A fusion of piano, strings, synths and samples with orchestral overtones. Ultimately it was not used although my next attempt was.

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CGN SONGS SHOWREEL – 2010

A quick 3 minutes and 34 seconds taster of Hugh Carson and Peter Godfrey’s songs-for-media project, CGN Songs. Songs for any and all media.

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NIGHT LIGHTS – SECTION – SKETCH – 2014

A brief snippet from a library track.

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RESTRAINT (Three Themes) – SECTIONS – 2009

One of a few soundtracks composed for Flexible Films. This one was also in conjunction with CanDo Films, a well-being community film group, working in partnership with the Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust.

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THE RIVER – SECTIONS – SKETCH – 2007

Sections taken from an idea that I had for an elaborate musical ‘voyage’ down a thundering river. Probably somewhere on the continent of Africa.

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SPIRIT WALTZ – FULL VERSION – 2014

A theme inspired by the idea of a ghostly swirling waltz of the spirits. This was one of two main versions that I ultimately completed.

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THE END OF THE INNOCENCE – SONG SAMPLE – 2012

A rather easy-going cover version I made of this Don Henley / Bruce Hornsby classic. No particular reason.

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ORBITALESQUE – SECTIONS – SKETCH – 2013

Some sections taken from a rough sketch of a library track that borrows heavily from the kind of sound that Orbital might use.

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CARERS (Main Theme) – 2009

Music composed for another Flexible Films project in association with The Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

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AND YOU KNOW IT – SECTIONS – DEMO – 2006

A ‘hopeful’ 6/8 theme from back in the day.

May 2020

THIS MONTH’S AUDIO UPLOADS:

WAYWARD WOLF PODCAST THEME – FULL VERSION – 2015

In 2014 or so, I switched the Wayward Wolf brand from audio and media into film reviews, with a little success here and there. The Wayward Wolf Podcast was an idea that I mulled over for a while but ultimately abandoned. Just reading film reviews is effort enough without having to listen to me drone on about them too! Lauren Wentzel provided the introductory voice over.

Incidentally: The film review site ran from March 2014 until July 2019 and can still be found here: Wayward Wolf Film Reviews

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NHS LOVE THEME – 2010

Ahead of its time perhaps, considering the current predicament facing us all with Covid-19 and so on. This was a theme written to accompany one of Flexible Films‘ NHS-related offerings.

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AROUND WE GO – 2010

©CGNSongs

In 2009 or so I started a collaboration (CGN Songs) with Peter Godfrey, writing songs for media purposes. Around We Go was written as a commission for a short film, The Best In The Business

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EVANS’ SHANTY – SECTIONS – 2003

Sections taken from this rather reflective, moody instrumental with vocal overdubs.

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AIR RESCUE – SECTION – SKETCH – 2011

A section of a sketch for a dramatic library track.

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UNRELENTING HEART – LONG SONG SAMPLE – 1997

Unrelenting Heart - SONG

A long sample of a song written and recorded back in the last century! All music and lyrics: Hugh Carson. And that’s me on lead and all backing vocals.

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SASSY QUEEN (ORIGINAL VERSION) – 2011

This was a track written for use on the website of a designer clothes accessories site, owned by a Turkish friend of mine, hence its (hopefully) slightly exotic and mystical sound?

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AFRICAN THEME – SECTION – 2005

Untold versions and mixes exist of this track but this is probably the most coherent of them all. It’s a library track with a contemporary twist on an African groove.

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DETECTIVE THEME – SECTION – 2004

A theme written and inspired by the idea of a TV detective series.

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HEAVY THEME – SECTION – SKETCH – 2012

A section of a sketch for a heavy guitar-driven library track.