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Emerald Path by TobinMueller [Email]
Genre: Piano

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SONG STATS:
Hits: 849
Comments: 33
Votes: 9
Plays: 121
Last Played: Sep 10, 2008 - 09:01:37 AM
Downloads: 37
Fans: 19
Uploaded: Jan 04, 2008 - 08:49:29 AM
Last Updated: Feb 26, 2008 - 01:10:06 PM
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Keywords:
jazz (386), new age (93), celtic (62), classical (372), neoclassical (7), acoustic (476), piano (605), solo piano (18), instrumental (418), Morning Whispers (7), keyboard (41), keyboards (34), Ivory (10)
Description:
I have always loved New Age Celtic music. I tried to combine Chopin and a little boogie-woogie (see sections 2 and 3, respectively) with this tradition. I tried to balance different styles. I thought it was a nice pre-spring (winter) kind of song to share. It's kind of a spring moment bounding up amid mid-winter bleakness, like a crocus.

I was trying to play with register changes, to show the various sounds all up and down the keyboard, dancing between octaves. Also, I wrote this after seeing Riverdance. Maybe you can tell.

Artwork is by an ArtsForge friend of mine from Madison WI, David Camp, "Forest of Mirrors."

The Morning Whispers CD can be purchased from Simig Media, all proceeds from online sales go to Macjams.

Other songs from from this album (most are pre-mastered drafts) include:
Just Above Ground
Under A Western Sky
Morning Whispers
Eruption of Previous Life (tribute to Oscar Peterson)
I Sail On (I recorded a new improved version of this for 13 Masks)
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Nice Listen &mdash 01/04/08 - 09:02:36 AM
The beginning is very compelling with all those staccato runs, and I like the middle a lot (Chopin AND Boogie-Woogie? Who would have ever thought it?) And toward the end, where the music is very tonally rich, the whole thing is just swell. But.... this piano sound has a plastic-y quality that grates after a while (to my ears, anyway). Is this a software instrument?

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Ivory &mdash 01/04/08 - 09:10:42 AM
Yes, its the Ivory plugin, Yamaha Grand setting. (I noticed the software info is not registering on the page for some reason.) I know what you mean about the sound, like I'm pounding too much in places. Funny how the ear can desensitize to that sort of things after hundred playings... I mix my own emotions with what is coming out of the speakers, what is playing in my headphones, and hear something mixed with imagination. The bass is rich, the grand doesn't have the roundness of the Steinway patch, but has wonderful crystalline high end, which is why I used that setting for this song.

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Emerald Path &mdash 01/04/08 - 01:46:04 PM
just Incedible facets of too many emotions and
feelings ...its like a diamond with too much
rainbow reflection .such awesome piece thnx for
sharin !!

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wow tobin &mdash 01/04/08 - 09:22:59 PM
very cool and all there brother

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This is great - &mdash 01/05/08 - 03:41:05 PM
thanks so much for sharing your tremendous talent. Great composition and performance.

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Piano &mdash 01/05/08 - 06:35:37 PM
Fine composition and piano playing. Always a pleasure to hear your playing.

Thanks
Bill

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I think they call this... &mdash 01/06/08 - 11:35:49 AM
..."remarkable"...

Just a fantastic composition and performance, Tobin.

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This is so cool &mdash 01/06/08 - 05:52:39 PM
Tobin, if I could play like that I would never get anything else done cause all I would ever do is play.

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So Irish... &mdash 01/06/08 - 08:33:25 PM
Well paint me green & buy me a Guiness!!!

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Lovely stuff Tobin! &mdash 01/06/08 - 11:18:45 PM
Sounds a little loud in the mid/upper ranges on my phones, but that may be their problem rather than the eq.

Fantastic playing too - saw Jon Cleary (plays piano with Bonnie Raitt) on TV the other night and realised how much I'd love to play keyboards in my next life.

Thanks for posting this Tobin.
Neil

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Wonderful playing &mdash 01/09/08 - 03:14:18 AM
and you do all that with just 2 hands?

Nice to hear the full range of the piano used. I bet this is also a great piece visually with as much physical movement as there is musical.

Cheers

Dick

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Liberace &mdash 01/11/08 - 09:37:48 AM
Yes, one of my showmanship pieces. Liberace was one of my early heroes, when I was 6 or 7 years old. (He was from Wisconsin, as was I.) I could never believe such precise excellent playing came from a guy who smiled that much... Then I saw Chico Marx, as an early teen, and he became my fav. Then I saw Victor Borge and he eclipsed them all. I wish I had a better sense of humor.... Once I got into jazz and all the smiling was internalized.

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i felt as if i was &mdash 01/09/08 - 02:05:15 PM
walking - and later dancing - barefoot on the emerald grass through that glade and amongst the trees - thank you x

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Really nice &mdash 01/15/08 - 12:22:55 AM
I totally envision a snow fall. One of those real nice ones where the soft snow accumulates, and then the thunder, and huge blasts of wind swirl to lift the storm to the next level. Returning back to the quite calm that comes with the fresh fallen blanket of endless white
peace comes
Thanks for this beautiful beautiful piano
nice playing

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Snowfall &mdash 02/12/08 - 09:38:06 AM
What a cool image. With the green hiding beneath. Thanks for that...

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So impressive &mdash 01/17/08 - 10:42:47 PM
Brings reality to the doorstep, I wish I could even attemp to play something so grand on piano! Great achievement Excellent!

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Wow again. &mdash 01/22/08 - 04:09:24 PM
This is gorgeous. You are amazing as always.

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Brilliant &mdash 01/23/08 - 03:04:20 AM
Complete. Kind of a Bruce Hornsby sound mix with classical.
Great sound here.
Bravo,
Dave

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Bruce Hornsby &mdash 02/12/08 - 09:28:38 AM
I am a big Hornsby fan. Thanks for mentioning him. Isn't it great how everything we listen to, we appreciate, can come through in what we do? The synthesis of creation. We stand on so many shoulders...

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Enjoyed &mdash 02/13/08 - 12:23:54 AM
I have been hearing a lot of different piano styles. But it seems like you have a style all your own. I get the feel of big city sounds in most of your tunes. I guess it's the broadway work you do professionally. But it seems to come out in a lot of your wonderful music. I enjoy typing away as I listen to your music. But as the tunes continues I think it further substantiates what I say. Broadway, big city, busy, a lot of that comes out in your music somehow.

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Broadway sound &mdash 02/14/08 - 11:22:31 AM
Sometimes I wish I could do something without a hint of Broadway coming thru. Then again, when I think of Broadway's roots, which include early jazz, popular songwriting from the 30-50s (a great era), music that brings characters to life, that tries to create a context for storytelling, I guess I can't really shake most of those roots either. I often get criticized by theatre critics for not writing music that sounds enough like Broadway (becuz I bring in so many other elements and always try to make it sound my own), I guess I can't win. At this point in my life, I just like writing/performing whatever it is I hear and try not to put too much of a spin on whatever that happens to be. Thanks for continuing to listen. I keep trying to grow as a composer.

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wow &mdash 02/19/08 - 12:19:13 PM
ive discovered some great new (to me) music! this one in particular is quite moving. some unorthodox but extremely creative and cool improv going on here. thanks!

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Fabulosity. &mdash 02/20/08 - 08:18:03 AM
Great playing and fine artwork. I was looking forward to the 'boogie-woogie' section and kinda deflated when it arrived - I like the auld boogie a la Pinetops or Albert Ammonds and I get the feeling that Chopin would've preferred a more traditional stride bass 12 bar take on this section. However a quality listen and aw the best to you Mr M.

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Chopin's perspective &mdash 03/06/08 - 09:18:45 AM
Your line "Chopin would've preferred a more traditional stride bass 12 bar take" made me smile. You are right, of course. But just the thought is such a fun place to go. Thanks.

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Tobin &mdash 02/22/08 - 11:32:02 AM
Captivating keyboard playing. Someone earlier complained about the Yamaha sound. That is typical of the Yamaha I think even in the real thing. But the crispness does show well when clarity counts. Your playing is just masterful and it works wonders.

Stephen

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Wow &mdash 02/26/08 - 10:52:37 AM
Wow- this blows me away. Keith Jarrett and Frederic Chopin en concert ...
Magic playing, amazing track. Kudos to you!!

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Keith Jarrett meets Frederic Chopin &mdash 02/29/08 - 08:26:51 AM
Very cool explanation. I love them both. Both are huge influences, not only technically, but as embedded emotional gurus who always live inside me. Thanks for the comment.

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Great &mdash 03/05/08 - 03:40:58 AM
I really like piano music... This sounds great... Beautiful played... A great piece of music.... Fantastic... I like your music... Thanks for sharing it....

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Very Nice! &mdash 03/06/08 - 08:11:52 AM
Very nice piano composition, I loved the sound of this piano. Enjoyed!

Thanks for sharing ...

Take Care
- Yeman A. Al-Rawi

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WOW &mdash 03/14/08 - 06:34:22 PM
You are FABULOUS! I'm just hearing you for the first time - don't know how I've missed you up till now. As a pianist, I'm really really impressed with your dynamics, control with simultaneous expansiveness, and wonderful compositional style. Oh dear - now I'm going to have to stop everything and see what else you've got! Thanks

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Rowayton &mdash 04/07/08 - 08:27:59 AM
Than you. And now I find out your lived in Rowayton 40 years ago. How cool is that. I look forward to exchanging stories. Can't believe that you and Suzanne had the same piano teacher in the 1960s!

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I have to be careful... &mdash 04/05/08 - 12:56:48 PM
With your music as I may not get my jaw off the floor. Everything in moderation I guess. Amazing piece Tobin.

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Riverdance... &mdash 05/31/08 - 12:44:49 PM
...indeed! I don't know exactly why, Tobin, but I think I like this piano number just about the best of all the things I've heard you write. Maybe it's because there is a certainly clarity with the counterpoint even when you go two against threes (or whatever that is). I just enjoyed this very very much. It is so accessible. My only critical [in an academic sense] comment is that I think there are two distinct numbers here. I personally find that disconcerting, though you very adroitly bring back the original feeing in such a smooth manner. You are a real in your conceptualization of this. And your performance is par excellance. Nice.
Peace.
Paul

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