Prayer Project Launch and Birthday Celebration

This Tuesday 25th is Eposide 17 of my livestream and also my birthday on the 27th so I decided it would be the perfect time to have the launch for my new project ‘Prayers of The Isolated’

It came about as a way to connect with other musicians I have worked with previously in Australia and internationally. During this extended period of isolation I have really missed playing live with others and reacting to their sounds and ideas. Jamming live over the internet is almost impossible due to bandwidth issues etc.. This seemed like a relative simple way to get a feel of connecting, as I can see and hear them making their sounds in front of me while I play. (even though it is on a screen)

I composed a short guide track that everyone has used to sing or play over. Each musician filmed themselves performing with the track in their headphones and sent me the raw footage. It has been a very moving, surprising and humbling experience to receive each contribution as they come in.

I have cut the raw footage up into smaller clips and loaded them into a video instrument I designed using VDMX5. Each clip can be triggered at random from a remote control interface I created using Lemur, with up to 4 players at any one time. This will allow me to play my instruments live and be able to trigger the clips in any order, depending where the music takes us on the night!

I hope you can join me for the launch this Tuesday on the LIVE FACEBOOK STREAM

Prayers from the isolated

This was an idea that came to me during the first COVID lockdown. It was really strange to have all live shows cancelled until further notice.I had just started presenting live streams from my studio via Facebook as a way to stay creatively active and connect with an audience. I was really enjoying it even though it is not quite the same as playing to people in the same space.

Not connecting with musicians in a live situation is one of the things I miss most. We all tried various ways of trying ‘iso performances’ and jam sessions but the technology is not quite there yet.

Then I came up with this idea of asking some of the musicians I have worked with over the years to record a video of themselves performing with a simple backing track I composed in their headphones. The only direction I have each one was to play or sing whatever you feel.

I have created a video instrument using VDMX5 and Ableton LIVE that allows me to trigger the various video clips at will while I play live on my instruments. Even though they are not technically live with me I can see them and hear them and each performance will be unique.

I plan to launch the first performance on August 25th on the Amanaska Facebook Live Page so I hope you can join me.

Isolation of the Soul

Just when we thought things were going to slowly return to normal we have another spike here in Melbourne that could set us back even more with a return to live music. I haven’t played a gig since March and really miss it. I realised just how much last Friday.

Fortunately I have been able to pick up some work doing relief teaching at a local high school and on Friday morning my first lesson of the day was to supervise an ensemble rehearsal. The line up was euphonium, trombone, trumpet, cello and oboe. Their teacher was attempting to conduct the rehearsal remotely via WebEx and getting very frustrated with the drop outs and delays and poor audio quality.

The students got themselves organised and began to play an arrangement of Gabriel’s Oboe by Ennio Morriconne from the film The Mission. First run through was a bit rough and then after a few attempts they got it. This is when an overwhelming sense of emotion came over me and I struggled to hold it together. I could see the anguish and frustration on the face of their teacher on the screen as he struggled to hear what was going in. He was missing out on such a beautiful moment.

Then they started playing a Chorale that was slow and very beautiful and they played it well. This one really set me off and the tears came flooding in. At that moment I realised how much we are all missing out on by being cut off from live music and the sounds of live instruments working together in a space. It is such a magical experience for everyone involved.

I have been very grateful for the support I have received through the Facebook live sessions on Tuesdays evenings and can’t wait to present some ‘in the flesh’ live shows again. Until then, I hope you can join me again on Tuesday and stay safe. Simon

https://www.facebook.com/amanaskamusic/live/

More Live Action Episode 8

The last ‘real’ gig I did was back in March so this has been a wonderful outlet to play live and work on some new material and revisit older tunes and play around with them. I hope you can join me.

https://www.facebook.com/amanaskamusic/live/

Going Live again soon

I hope you can join me tonight for Episode 5 of Live in the Studio

Going Live and Remixing

Yep, definitely a strange time for all, especially those of us in the arts.

To help feed the need to perform live I have started doing regular live streams from my studio where I perform some tracks live and try some sonic experimenting at the same time. Tune in here

https://www.facebook.com/amanaskamusic/videos/3235616806490832/

New Remixes Available for FREE

Just go to www.amanaska.com and sign in or click on the FREE MUSIC logo to get access to the downloads area where there are 2 brand new remixes ready and waiting for you.

Enjoy, Simon

Amanaska

live from the Studio

Live from the Studio

What a strange year it has been in 2020! It has been especially strange as a musician to have all live work instantly cancelled until…..

Just like many other musicians I have decided to nourish the need to play live with some streaming sessions from my studio. You can tune in on Facebook on Tuesdays at 9pm AEST. (1pm Paris. 7am New York, 4.30pm Chennai)

Let me know if there is an Amanaska track you would like me to play as I like to mix it up and have fun with the music. Hope to see you there!

Simon

Power Down making an impact

I had the pleasure recently of composing some music for the short Australian film POWER DOWN by Bradley Murray. It is a drama about the implications of digital addiction. The film follows five friends as they wrestle with themselves and each other yearning for something that has been lost behind a wall of technology. You can see the trailer here. The film has been gaining some international recognition lately so congratulation to all the team!