Oh this one was an adventure - so many first times! The source cried out to be poured into some jazz lounge type track, so I tried my best.

First time doing some serious jazz arrangement, first time writing a complete bass and drum track from scratch (taking huge inspiration from TVQ's last entry but I'll probably need a lot more practise!) and first time really getting into mixing this kind of music, trying to use EQ, compression and automation for good.

I'm pretty satisfied with the result, though as always there's probably large headroom for improvement everywhere :D

Special thanks to my good friend Markus for providing the flute and sax parts.

I don't think this one needs description of the music. For those of you who like to read I'll give one anyway. ;)

Even though I liked the uplifting style of the original I felt that the melody supplied enough weight for a very melancholic interpretation. Playing around with musical forms I decided on a short recitative with a some kind of passacaglia afterwards, that used my first ever composed counterpoint as a side-theme. To round things off I supplied some spoken words to precede the music. Enjoy. :)

One IMPORTANT NOTE about the mixing: I went a very puristic approach with this arrangement. An organ has an impressive dynamic scale and in my opinion it loses a big deal of what makes it an organ if one tampers with this. Therefore, to give the organ the headroom it needs that it really can become the queen of instruments in the loud part, most of this mix is very quiet and soft. This is not an arrangement to be played from a mobile phone or a radio, but rather good headphones or loud speakers if your neighbors don't mind. If you can understand the voice at the beginning as a soft voice you'll get the acoustics I intended.

Words:

A ruin; ashes that once were bright shining fire; a memory - distant, yet familiar, shattered to pieces. Drowning in all the world's melancholy we walk amidst the ruin, following those echoes of times long past. And for just a tiny moment, we can glimpse a shade of all the glory that once has been.

...only to find ourselves wandering in circles.