autumn... by Mark Nelson

A stunning collection of instrumental solos for MIDI dulcimer and acoustic MIDI-guitar, autumn invokes the peaceful spirit of a late fall afternoon in Oregon’s beautiful Siskiyou Mountains.

“You’ll quickly feel a sense of tranquility as if the mountains themselves were singing. Ancient and modern voices are tastefully blended to provide a texture as smooth as an Autumn mountain lake at dawn.” NAIRD Notes

autumn… is like a series of postcards or snapshots showing the musical ideas and techniques I was exploring over a period of about ten years. The impetus was converting one of my dulcimers into a MIDI controller. This at-the-time cutting edge technology allowed me to trigger sounds on electronic keyboards using an instrument I was quite familiar with. MIDI — or Musical Instrument Digital Interface — opened up a whole new musical pallet.

Although my keyboard chops are practically nonexistent I started using rudimentary drum machines and multitrack sequencers as soon as they were available. But I wanted something that I could use live. So I had Steve Spaulding, a noted Ashland luthier, graft a Shadow GTM6 pitch-to-MIDI converted onto my trusty Blue Lion dulcimer. I later had him do the same thing to a classical guitar.

The GTM6, with its simple, real-time sequencer and hold pedals, allowed me to build multiple layers of sound in real time. I could then layer the sound of the acoustic dulcimer or guitar over that ground. I used the system extensively in performances with my trio, Southern Light, as well as regular gigs at an Ashland street market. At the same time, I began recording my improvisations to a DAT machine in my home studio.

At some point I realized that I had something interesting. I guess some other folks agreed; as with “The Faery Hills,” the New York independent label Wizmak released "autumn..." in 1996.

If you are curious to hear a couple of these compositions in a different setting, check out “Waves of Light.”

I'm a multi-instrumentalist & author with a solo recording career going back to 1979.

Here are some samples of music I've written, recorded or performed over the years.

Happy listening!

mark-o.com
YouTube