The guru of symphonic electronica, Vangelis, demonstrates his approach to virtual orchestration in this video, Vangelis and the Journey to Ithaca.

If anyone has more information on this video, leave a comment!

This video captures a symphonic electronica synth jam by Karel Post.

via karelpostthuis:

In the studio testing my revived Emulator 2.

It gave me such an inspirational sound that I created this “grande” musical piece. If you like this music, mail me to get your own FREE high quality copy of a first mixdown. It will NOT be available on CD or other medium, so if you like it you can only obtain your copy by contacting me personally.

I like comments too!

Vangelis Tribute – To The Unknown Man

via mik300z:

Another of my Vangelis improvs.

Nothing to do with the original vangelis track by the same name.

Big use of the Cs80 brass sound from the ESQ1 , hope you like it! My own composition, has a theme running through it, very scattered but hopefully his style with my awful piano skills lol

Mirabile Mysterium – a operatic electronica performance by mael & Elena Doytcheva-Dragomir.

via maelmusician:

Music by: mael. Soprano: Elena Doytcheva-Dragomir (Bulgaria).

All orchestral parts are synth sounds played by: mael.

Recorded at Christmas concert 2008 in Elisabetin Church, Timisoara.

Debussy – Danse in an Isao Tomita Style

via paulshillitomusic:

Electronically created version of Debussy’s Dance or Danse as it is also known as, in a Isao Tomita style.

Another one of the pieces I created about 10 years ago, the video is a bit more abstract, again playing around with After Effects CS3, no meaning to the video just something show.

Synths used making this include Roland JV1080, Korg Prophecy, Waldorf wave, Yamaha AN1x , Waldorf Pulse and sequenced on Cubase.

Let me know what you think of this switched-on piece. Do you think it captures Tomita’s style?

Vangelis performs Chung Kuo, from China, live at the Concert in Rotterdam. 18th June 1991.

Unfortunately, according to Vangelis Movement, “most of the concert came from pre-recorded tapes, and Vangelis just played along with the tape during the concert.”

‘Event of Excellence’ (Eureka)
—————————
Intro
Chariots of Fire
Spiral
Other Side of Antarctica
Chung Kuo
Glorianna (Markella Hatziano)
Pulstar
Mask ?ovement 2
Italian Song (Jon Anderson)
Kinematic
Mask ?ovement 5
Hymne

This series captures a rare French 1992 interview with Vangelis – Musiques Au Coeur.

You can preview them below:

Official Wim Bio

Ketil Lien, aka Wim, was born in the Viking City of Trondheim, Norway in 1972. He started listening to the electronic music of Jean Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream in the 80’s and they quickly became his biggest early influences. He also has a great liking for Kitaro, Vangelis and Mike Oldfield and the warmth and depth of their music is clearly evident in Wim’s emotive style.Wim focused his efforts in the 1990’s on compositional skills, learning to compose in the manner required to create his own unique style of structured melodic instrumental music with warmth and emotion. The advent of virtual synths and more powerful computers in the new millennium meant he was at last able to create the musical visions he wanted.

Wim looks upon his music as paintings where the instruments are substitutes for the colour palette. He says; “I treat each song as a different landscape of sound and try to paint an expressive, emotional soundscape using warm, enveloping sounds that capture the listeners imagination.

This video captures Vangelis at what is probably his bombastic peak – performing Mythodea: Music for the NASA Mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey at the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens on June 28, 2001.

Mythodea was made the official theme music of the mission involving the NASA unmanned spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars.

I prefer Vangelis’s more electronic work – partially because it seems like a waste to have an orchestra of hundreds performing such simple stuff and partially because Vangelis has such a great ear for symphonic electronic orchestration. 

Let me know what you think!

Music Composed, Arranged and Produced by Vangelis.
Electronic Keyboards by Vangelis.
The London Metropolitan Orchestra
Blake Neely, Conductor
The National Opera of Greece Choir

The lyrics that are allegedly sung by the choir are:

Dia Ela (Come Zeus)
Esy Pe Di (Almighty,you must)
Dia Erota,Zito Sy Ela (Zeus Eros,I call for you to come)
Dia Sy Thee Mou (Zeus my God)
Eso Men Sy,Esy Pe Thee (You’re inside us,you Almighty God)
En Zi Theos (God lives inside)
Zito Te Tin Mitera Thee(I call for the Mother,God)
Men I Ek Tou Dia Men (Coming from Zeus)
Moni Ek Tou Dia Men (Only from Zeus)
Pe Zef,Pe Di (Zeus Almighty you must)
Deomeni Arhontos Dii (We pray to Lord Zeus)
Deomeni Deomen Si (Praying we call for you)
Deomen Deomen Deomeni (We call praying)

[source: www.geocities.com/ehetlaios/]

IK Multimedia Sonik Synth 2 Composition – The Darkside

via WizardsMagic007:

Very neat piece i created with Sonik Synth 2, it was a fun project to work on and sounds very original.

In this short video, Vangelis demonstrates his method of improvising in the symphonic electronica style that he pioneered.

via Nusonica

Arnaud van Beek doing some Vangelis-style live improv, using a Yamaha HS7 as master keyboard, Roland D70 synthesizer and a computer with V-stack, Hypersonic 2, Nexus, The Grand.

van Beek’s music is retro-esque synth music. You can preview some of his tracks below. More info at van Beek’s site.

The stunning music of Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (Vangelis) for Blade Runner.

This video is for the well-known Love Theme.

via Ingersh

While the music is primarily electronic, Williams uses a lot of imitative synthesis. At its best, this gives the music a massive orchestral sense. On tracks like Where Worlds Collide, Williams makes effective use of percussion, virtual strings & choir to create powerful virtual orchestrations. In addition, Williams uses flute and guitar to expand her palette and give her arrangements more of a live feel.

The album makes a lot of stylistic jumps, which might make it feel disjointed to some, but that also showcase Williams’ range. For example, Ever-Changing Calm leaves the world of orchestral electronica behind and takes the CD into more of a dance electronica territory. The track features a driving pace, percussion that dances from the left channel to the right, steady four on the floor kick and a collage of synth sequences. It’s a fun mix of later Berlin-school synth music and trance music.

On a few tracks, Williams uses sampled virtual orchestral instruments for solos. These tracks are less effective, because virtual wind and brass instruments tend to sound cheesy when used as replacements for real instruments. It’s difficult to reproduce the expression and lyricism that a good player brings to these instruments when playing virtual imitations. On Amber Dawn, Williams uses a sound palette that sometimes sounds like an imitation of an orchestra, rather than either a traditional orchestra or an electronic orchestra. The climax of the piece is rousing symphonic electronica, but in the quieter sections, Williams lyrical melodies would have been better served by either bringing in some traditional instrumentalists or by using purely electronic sounds expressively.

Edge of Human demonstrates Williams’ strengths in several styles, and features several great tracks. The best tracks on the album are very good, but the fact that the CD jumps from style to style and a presence of a few weaker tracks give the CD a bit of a disjointed feeling.

Tracks:

• Amber Dawn (Twilight Mix)
• First Light (The Awakening)
• Firewalk
• Ephemeris
• Where Times Collide
• The Azmara Variations
• Ever-Changing Calm
• Xanthe’s Garden
• The Human Edge
• Amber Dawn (Original)

Neodrone is Magnus Tak, the composer/producer; Johanna E Martell, vocalist; and Brent Swarthout, lyricist. The three make music with a neoclassical symphonic electronica feel. Martell is classically trained and brings an operatic style to her vocals; Tak seems to be as comfortable exploring the Vangelis-style world of orchestral electronica as he is making techno grooves; even Swarthout’s lyrics have a classical quality about them.

Opera and electronica have a long history, ranging from the music of Philip Glass to Operatica to Malcolm McLaren’s take on Madam Butterfly to Eric Serra’s score for The Fifth Element. When done well, the mix can work stunningly, but locking an opera singer to a rigid beat can also deprive a vocalist of one of opera’s most important expressive elements – a fluid, rubato approach to rhythm.

Fortunately, Neodrone largely avoids the potential pitfalls of the combination and creates some attractive, expressive music on Extended Horizon. At its best, the electronic orchestrations and classical vocals play off each other perfectly, creating a blend that seems to extend the worlds of electronica and classical music both.

The music on the CD is a mix of classical pieces arranged for synth orchestra and orginals. The CD gets off to a mixed start. Solar Storm features some lovely arranging, but strays a bit too far into lite new age territory.

Neodrone seems to hit its stride, though, with Aurora Borealis. The track features an attractive neo-classical melody, gorgeous symphonic electronica arrangement, and ethereal wordless vocals. It also doesn’t shy away from mixing more traditional-sounding imitative synthesis with some more bizarre electronica sounds, which gives the track an expanded orchestral feel.

The highlight of the CD is Lascia Ch’io Pianga, a classical aria by G.F. Händel. Tak’s arrangement is fairly traditional, but he doesn’t shy away from introducing some unexpected elements. Tak also makes great use of dynamics, dropping from full synth orchestration to simple accompaniment in a beat. Martell seems most comfortable with the more classical pieces, and this arrangement very effectively showcases her vocal performance.

Another highlight is I’ll Find You, a fairly straight-ahead trance track that sounds huge because of Tak’s combination of symphonic electronic orchestration with trance beats. Enjoy The Ride is a solid minimal techno/trance track, and Vengence Aria answers the question of what Mozart might have done if he’d had a TB303.

Overall, Extended Horizon is an interesting mix of electronica and classical vocals. Martell’s vocals throughout are throughout and the arrangements are often gorgeous.

You can preview the music at the Neodrone site.

Tracklist

• Solar Storm
• Chasing Shadows
• Extended Horizon
• Aurora Borealis
• Lascia Ch´io Pianga
• Used To Be
• I´ll Find You
• Vengeance Aria
• Enjoy The Ride
• What They Want

Bogaert is one of the leading artists working in the symphonic electronica style pioneered by the likes of Vangelis and Jean-Michelle Jarre. Bogaert is carving out his own territory, though, using his own unique palette of synth orchestral sounds and effects. Previously, we’ve reviewed Bogaert’s One Out Of Five, a compilation that is a great introduction to his style.

Nomads is themed around the idea that we are travellers, not just from one place to another, but from one world to another. The music is often expansive and grand, but also features sections of real subtlety, suggesting that Bogaert could easily make the move to soundtracks.

The CD makes clear that Bogaert is a skillful orchestrator of electronic sounds; he creates powerful symphonic textures with an electronic palette that ranges from imitative samples to classic synth sounds to creative sound synthesis. He also carries over instrumentation from one track to another, giving the music the feel that it is performed by a virtual orchestra.

Nomads starts off with a great track, Overture, a symphonic electronica anthem, combining a variety of orchestral percussion, synth strings and synth horns.

One of the highlights of the CD is Furious Jam, a sequencer-driven synthfest. The track combines the improvisation of prog with the huge electronic soundscapes of classic synth music. Bogaert layers sequences with huge acoustic percussion effects & live drums. The track is full of tasty keyboard work, jumping rapidly from one lead voice to another.

Aquatopia seems to take its inspiration from Vangelis’ Oceanic, combining surf sounds, sequenced orchestral instruments and a wordless chorus. The track starts very quietly and builds to a rousing choral climax.

Another nice track is Mont Blanc. It starts with ambient drone effects, and then builds slowly, introducing a melody on piano. Bogaert takes his time developing this, adding synth strings, wordless vocals and other effects to bring the piece to a peak before returning to the ambient effects at the end.

A truly gorgeous track is Blue Down There. On this track, Bogaert cuts loose his synth chops and creates a soundscape that evokes the weightlessness and strange beauty of space. He weaves samples of astronauts being interviewed in space by earth-bound children, to beautiful and moving effect. Subtlety reigns on the track, from the wonderful selection of spoken word texts to the slowly evolving synth orchestration. It’s a great track on its own, but it also brings to mind classic 70’s space music.

The last track, Beneath The Ice, is another really evocative track. It’s essentially a drone-based piece, with deep bass sounds, washes of synth strings, bell-like keyboards and drifting noise effects. It establishes a lovely, haunting mood that leaves you wanting more.

Frank Van Bogaert’s Nomads is a great collection of symphonic electronica. It explores a wide range of moods and textures, ranging from the grand and bombastic to subtle, reflective soundscapes. We’ve only heard two of Bogaert’s releases – Nomads & his greatest hits collection – but based on these, it’s clear that Bogaert is not just standing on the shoulders of the first generation of synth music giants, but he’s becoming one of the current leading artists in the genre.

Tracks:

• Ouverture
• Crack the Blue Sky
• Nomads
• Furious Jam
• Aquatopia
• High
• Mont Blanc
• Drive
• Blue Down There
• Ritual
• Heat
• Beneath the Ice

Vangelis – Mythodea – for the NASA Mission Mars Odyssey 2001

via kataigida21:

Music for the Nasa mission 2001 Mars Odyssey.

Concert conceived and designed by Vangelis at the Temple of Zeus in Athens Hellas ( Greece)

The Chariots Of Fire theme performed by Vangelis as an encore of the Mythodea Concert at the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens on June 28, 2001.

The soundtrack of “Chariots of Fire” won the Oscar for Best Original Music Score back in 1981. It spent 5 months in the US Billboard and it was the biggest-selling single of the year in Japan. It was also used by the BBC as the opening theme for the coverage of the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games.

Mythodea: Music for the NASA Mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey is a choral symphony composed by Vangelis. It was made the official theme music of the 2001 NASA mission to Mars, involving an unmanned spacecraft orbiting the planet.

Music Composed, Arranged and Produced by Vangelis.

Electronic Keyboards by Vangelis.

The London Metropolitan Orchestra

Blake Neely, Conductor.

via babylonianman

Bogaert’s music is in the symphonic electronica tradition of synth artists like Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre and Deep Forest. Bogaert uses primarily synth sounds, augmented with samples and some traditional instrumentation, and layers them to give his music symphonic variety and scope. In particular, his use of CS-80 style sounds and timpani build on Vangelis’ idea of a synth orchestral palette.

Bogaert’s music also draws upon world influences. Bogaert uses the sound of instruments from around the world, world-music samples and even does a version of Rorogwela, a traditional folk melody of the Solomon Islands that was made popular by Deep Forest as Sweet Lullaby.

Highlights of One Out of Five include Human, a grooving synth-jam reminiscent of Vangelis’ Soil Festivities; Deserts, a melodic track that starts with a simple string melody and builds to a climax that combines world vocal snippets and bagpipe-like synthwork; Home by the Sea, a new age piece that starts with the sound of a penny-whistle over surf and then takes a tour of world instruments and sounds; and Geographic, a piece that starts with hymn-like grandeur and then moves to a driving world-music second section;

One Out of Five showcases Bogaert’s flair for tasteful arrangement of folk-like melodies and also his ear for synth orchestration. Though the CD clocks in at over an hour, it manages to be full of variety and will probably inspire many listeners to want to dig into his back catalog.

In addition to the music, it’s worth noting that Bogaert provides an elegant package for the CD, with an 8-page booklet full of beautiful images.

As far as I could tell, the CD doesn’t include any unreleased tracks, so Bogaert fans will have to wait for his next release to get a fix of new music. We’ll be looking forward to it.

Frank Van Bogaert’s CD, One Out of Five, is an excellent introduction to his music, and Bogaert has chosen his tracks and sequenced them to make a satisfying stand-alone CD, too.

Tracks:

• Human
• Closer
• Deserts
• Rorogwela
• Home By The Sea
• Ballet
• Falling Leaves
• Violet
• Docking
• Geographic
• Blue
• Atmospheric Conditions
• A State Of Mind
• Earth