https://soundcloud.com/lawrence-olivier/charon

In the summer of 1997 I went on a four-week retreat to north Louisiana. I was five hours from home, so I brought my Korg X-3 along. I composed this song while there, but as sometimes happens I lost the original tracks to a computer crash.

I found a stereo mp3, but the production was rough. And although I did not use any BIAB on this song, I did use some of the production techniques that I have learned while working with BIAB.

The title was chosen to represent contrasts and parallels. Charon ferries people between two worlds. This song has two meters 7/4 and 4/4. The main melody is repeated once by flute and then by saxophone and then the whole “verse” is repeated after a bridge. The “solo” section has an urban, city-at-night feel with the bass, drums and saxophone; while the rest of the song has a more ominous atmosphere.

Very neat intro Lawrence. Would be very cool to see you sitting on a big hill in he backwoods of Louisiana playing this song the wilderness..

Lawrence,

I like this a lot - a very subtle undercurrent of swirling and perfectly timed changes really keeps this moving along...

Excellent!

Bob

Epic! Held my attention right to the end, very hypnotic. Excellent composition and mix!

Wow - what an interesting and captivating tune! It reminds me of certain stuff by Art of Noise in the 80's, or some video game music from the early 90's. I loved the change ups through it - the whole tune just flows so magnificently. It changes so delicately and you almost don't catch unless you are paying close attention.

You should be very proud of this one - thanks so much for sharing

Lawrence,
This is a surprise - a style I haven`t heard from you before- and you`ve done a really good job on rescuing your original mp3.
Very smooth progressions and subtle changes in the rhythm - and a great atmososphere which reminds me of the best electronic bands like Kraftwerk.


Robert

Lawrence, I love stuff like this and you did it justice. Great instrumentation and song construction. Plus a super mix of synth and acoustic sounds.

Two thumbs up.

Hi, Lawrence !

This is just a wonderful
tune ! Am so impressed
by everything from playing
to mix !:)))

...and the river is Styx !!

Cheers
Dani

Lawrence,

Excellent.

Great listen. Solid mix.

Engaging.

fj

Hi Lawrence this is something engagingly different.

The unusual meters sound very easy on the ear.
Which I found a bit of a surprise.
Good one.

Cheers.

Lawrence

That was very impressive indeed! A really excellent composition.

Peter

I'm loving the pads!

Cheers
Kent
PG Music

Man, this is cool. What a production! I loved this!

Thank you. and that's where I was!lol

Thank you Bob. Glad you liked it.

Dave, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks for listening and for the nice comments.

Robert thank you. I haven't written anything like this in quite sometime but hope to not only get back to it but to see how BIAB will fit in.

Great work on this Gruverider! Nice use of synths!

Such an interesting musical tapestry you've woven here. Made me think of the Rick Wakeman and Yes AOR days when candles incense and certain other aromas filled the air. Great job.

Hello, Lawrence

The riff of the intro and flute melody are excellent.
The two meters 7/4 and 4/4 are very cool and effective.
The way to use the change of rhythm is splendid.
It is a very ambitious work.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

The multifaceted mr gruve.

It’s very cinematic in scope and would fit so many different scenarios. It would seem to be a good fit for the music libraries.

We are clueless as to how you put all this together but the sound for an mp3 of a 20 year old production is amazing. And so are you!

J&B

Great sounding stuff Lawrence! It was pretty obvious that you put a lot of work into that tune I appreciate the effort! But it’s odd to listen to a song of yours without that great voice of yours doing some singing! Thanks, Torrey

Great song. I'm glad you were able to recover the stereo mix.

When I saw Charon in the title of this post, I was really hoping it was the Charon of mythology and I was definitely not disappointed! I think the way you described your song really suits Charon and the myths surrounding them. Really cool inspiration you found from such a well-known mythological figure. Thanks for sharing!

Ejnoyed the pallet of musical colors offered here. Very artistic.

Hi Lawrence,

I love this kind of slightly outside the lines production. The seamless flow between the two time signatures is so smooth and well-executed.

An engaging, cinematic sound that just holds the listener's attention from beginning to end. the choice of tracks is so well executed and the mix - well, it's fabulous. Thanks for a great listen. A tip of the hat for a great song and listen!

Alan

The time signature change is very inventive and effective. A great sounding outside the box instrumental piece, Tom

Thank you Mario.

Glad you enjoyed it.

Thank you Floyd.

Richard, thank you.

Thanks Peter. Glad you liked it Kent.

Glad you enjoyed it David.

Thanks Joe.

I am a big fan of Yes for sure. Thank you Josie.

Thank you Shigeki.

I used some a bit of alchemy on the production lol. Thank you.

Thank you Torrey. That is part of the reason I moved away from instrumentals, my friends kept asking "the songs with words" lol!

Thank you Charlie.

Thank you Ember. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks for having a listen and for your comments.

Thank you very much Alan.

Thank you Tom.

TWO MORE THUMBS UP!!! The sound is rich and thick, and the rhythm and melody are hypnotic!! This is a fabulous composition and production!! Take care. Greg

Greg, thank you so much. Glad you enjoyed it!

Lawrence,

Firstly, my sincere apologies for taking so long to get to this.

The intro is spectacular! And the song that follows is incredible... I love the way you've created a synth-based excursion in the realm of instrumentals. Very, very enjoyable from start to end.

Without any hesitation it's two excited and enthusiastic thumbs up from me, too!

All the best,
Noel

Noel, thanks for the encouragement. I hope to find my way back to this realm of music soon.

Cinematic Excellence, nothing less.

This has everything, it is vibrant, soulful and dynamic.

Impressive, impressive, impressive.

You've really shined with this production.

Thank you. I'm glad that you enjoyed it.

As others have said, there's a wealth of interesting musical ideas that move this along. It does the "musical journey" that so few instrumentals pull off well, and it does it in spades!