Tag: Library Music

January 2021

This Month’s Audio Uploads:

Up And At ‘Em – 2012:

A brief high energy snippet to get the New Year underway. Blink and you’ll miss it!

Twist It Off – 2009:

This bit of fun got me and my CGN Songs partner, Peter Godfrey, embroiled in a very frustrating waiting game. Having had this track selected – with great enthusiasm, it should be added- by our man in the U.S, for use in a cleaning products commercial, there followed endless in-house politics and company restructuring State-side, which left us with an interminable wait for the final sign-off on this project. These two minutes of dubiously-titled nonsense were great fun to work on though, and I think with regards to hitting the mark, this is probably one of the best things we ever did at CGN Songs. A particular shout out to Mr Justin Carroll for his help in ramping up the lyric-writing nonsense levels whilst we were out in Sweden. “Granny’s got the hang of it…” indeed!

River Of Illusion (Anlg) – Section – 1998:

A third take from the Carson/ Nick Rundall 1998 demo tapes. River of Illusion was by and large one of Nick’s tracks, though I had a strong hand in fleshing out some of Nick’s ideas, re-shaping melodies and lyrics, adding backing vocal ideas and so on. This is just a short section taken from the track’s early stages, and it builds considerably from this point on. Apologies for any hiss and occasional tape warping issues. The digital master copy of this song is sadly corrupted beyond salvation.

The Light (Anlg) – Section – 1992:

Owing to its desperately bad verse sections, one of the tracks that missed the cut from my first ‘album’ Just Enough, was The Light. Bad verses or not, I always rather liked the choruses and indeed the track’s later stages, including a rather poor impression of the kind of spoken monologue Vincent Price did so well in Michael Jackson’s classic, Thriller. Written and recorded during the days of my trusty yet rather limited little effect-less travel companion, the Yamaha QY10, the sounds and production in general is terrible, but thanks to some Korg synth overdubs and some phase-like reverb, the whole thing is made a little more presentable.

First Time Last Time – Sketch – 2012:

The early working stages of a little up-beat country number that I was working on. Though intended for a sassy female lead vocal, you’ll have to endure my ‘place-holding’ falsetto offering in this version. I like to think that this track has some legs though, were I ever to turn my attentions to it properly in the future.

End in Sight (Anlg) – Rough Demo – 1996:

One of the many short instrumental track demos I did in the mid-nineties. Incomplete, but some nice ideas to work with here.

Because Of You – SKETCH – 2012:

Another track in its early working stages, and another track with my vocals purely as a guide. Nothing more. Because of You is a song intended for either a female lead voice or perhaps a kind of soulful El DeBarge style vocal. You’ll note a general lack of lyrics. Just one of the many elements of this track that was never completed. It is just a sketch of an idea, after all.

Mellow Guitar Track – Full Version – 2010:

A sparsely produced, thoughtful instrumental intended for use as library music. NB: No actual guitars were used or indeed harmed in the making of this track.

Death To The Pop World (Anlg) – Section – 1992:

This song was taken from my 1992 ‘Festive E.P’ and features the guitar work of Jim Thomas. One of a number of ‘albums’ we messed about on back in the early ’90s. Not so much me wishing death on the pop world, more a lament that pop music was not now (in 1992) what it once had been. Christ, if the pop world was indeed experiencing a crisis of identity and quality back then, what the hell kind of barrel-scraped diseased entity would I be bemoaning nowadays in 2020! The mind boggles.

In Honour (Anlg) – SKETCH – 1996:

I rediscovered this orchestral number recently on an old analogue cassette. Some nice ideas scattered around in here, but I have little to no recollection of ever having written it.

October 2020

This Month’s Audio Uploads:

Spring Town – Full Version – 2010:

Spring Town, despite never being used for any particularly major project, remains the song from my CGN Songs days that has proven to be most popular with most people over time.

Itchin’ Powder – DEMO – 2012:

An upbeat library track that has been used, in parts, by a number of different creators, a number of times over the years.

Elegy – Section – 2005:

It would be nice to return to this piece and re-do the unconvincing synthetic, delay-heavy acoustic guitar part with actual acoustic guitar. As it stands, as much as I like aspects of this orchestral and light-synth piece, the synthetic acoustic parts can be a little grating and distracting. Sadly, the original working files for this piece have yet to be found and even if they were, I no longer possess the software that I’d need to make the necessary edits. Bummer.

Faroes ’08 Theme (Heading East) – Full Version – 2009:

Following a brilliant second holiday in the wonderful Faroe Islands, in 2008, I set about the gargantuan task of editing the hours and hours of footage that had been recorded, into one approximately half-hour video. Having done so, the project was in need of a theme tune and incidental music, and thus was born this simple theme. In 2009, I packed a van, drove it onto a freight ship at Tilbury port in Essex, and we set sail across the North Sea to Gothenburg, Sweden, where I would then spend the best part of the next two years of my life. It was aboard this vessel – one of the most memorable experiences of my life – that I set about writing this theme tune. It conjures up such fond memories for me of the Faroes trip and of the future adventures that lay ahead of me (in Sweden), and though it may be a rather unspectacular low-key track, it remains one of my favourite pieces of work to this day.

Hide Away – Song Sample – DEMO – 2007:

Hide Away – excuse the slightly out-of-tune vocals in the verse – started its life as an attempt at a ‘thoughtful’ Christmas song. Whilst never having been an atheist, myself, I’ve always been mightily sceptical of those who unwaveringly live and die by the words of ancient religious manuscripts. That said, ‘The West’s’ seemingly hell-bent insistance upon killing off God and Christianity, in recent years – and the wholesome code of morality that it has traditionally offered healthy societies – seems to be having a hugely negative impact upon the rudderless, ‘progressive’ society that has grown in its increasing absence.

Sports Theme – SKETCH – 1991:

I’ve always been fascinated by Sports Themes – a lost art and thing of the past in today’s superficial throw-away media – and almost certainly inspired by the magnificent ITV World Cup theme of 1986 – Aztec Gold – I cobbled together this little ditty, using only the onboard sounds and features of my Yamaha SY85 Workstation. Excuse the awful synth sax sound which takes on the main melody in the second half of the track. Where was David Sanborn when I needed him? That said, there’s a pretty ropey synth guitar solo during the full length version of the aforementioned, Aztec Gold. Just saying…

Around the World – Sections – SKETCH – 2012:

Another library track, with hints of ‘world music’ about it.

Realisation – SKETCH – 1991:

An orchestral sketch of an idea from way back when, using only my Yamaha SY85 Workstation. A project to be developed and ‘fleshed out’ another day.

Happy 70s TV Theme – Section – 2005:

A real laid-back easy listening track perhaps suitable for all of those hugely unfunny, yet strangely nostalgia-inducing sitcoms of the 1970s and early 1980s.

On the Jersey Circular – Section – SKETCH – 2010:

This unfinished provisional sketch was written to be used as occasional incidental music to accompany video footage I’d taken of a memorable holiday we’d had as a family, celebrating my Mum’s 70th birthday. Sadly, this trip was soon followed by big personal upheaval in my life which completely de-railed the project.