Ambient Highways: Volume 2–Issue 3

What’s New

Behind the Music – La famille du solénoïde

Yesterday I posted what may become a new series of “Behind the Music” styled articles about the various albums I have released. The first in this series is simply called Behind the Music – The Story of La famille du solénoïde.

What started as a simple draft of a post to send to the various facebook music groups I’m a member of, turned into a laong blog post where I take the reader through an audio tour of my album La famille du solénoïde. I detail what was going through my head as each song was created, and what my hopes and desires where when I set out to create it. I also share a bit of personal information that details how that particular project was delayed, and how the mood was changed over time. I think it’s an interesting read, so click here to read it AND listen along to each song. Let me know if you would like to see other posts of this nature.

Final update on my Kickstarter Campaign for the Physical copy of Ambient Highways

As most of you are already aware, the goal of my Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a physical CD of Ambient Highways was not met, and the project was not funded.

However, this doesn’t mean I’m giving up on eventually bringing a physical autographed CD of Ambient Highways to market. I am unsure at this time if it will be just a short run of CDRs or glass mastered CDs.

The music industry has changed over time. These days most consumers are more than happy with the streaming services that are available and are less likely to purchase music outside of streaming services and are even less likely to purchase physical music. Yet most don’t understand that without a label, an indie artist has to work extremely hard to

self promote themselves.
Convince music bloggers and zines to review their music, who most still want a physical copy of the music.
Find their audience amongst the plethora of content that exists these days.

Over the last year as I have decided to finally “REALLY give it a go.. and promote my music” I’ve seen

Just how difficult this can be.
Seen other artists I respect face the same struggles.
Watched the effects of their social campaigns looking for what works and what doesn’t.
Seen MANY just pushing content out left and right, with most of their catalog just not being completely unique, just more of the same.

Yet the bottom line boils down to the music. I for one don’t want to fall in the line of just releasing something nearly every day that isn’t anywhere different than what was released the day before, just to get a high volume of content. That may work for some, just not for me. I like to take pride in everything I put out there.

As most of you know, I do this for fun first and foremost. Obviously I want to make a career in the music / soundtrack industry, but I’m constantly reminding myself that I do it because I like to do it. Even if it all amounts to just a long time hobby of mine. And the bottom line is I’m still having fun.

This also remains a constant learning experience for me. I’ve hit a few bumps along the way, and have even made some regrettable mistakes, but I just have to take everything with a grain of salt just like anything else in life and just keep pushing forward, and looking to the future. Not the now, but the future.

I truly appreciate those who backed this project. I want to make sure that you are informed if a physical CD for Ambient Highways does come to fruition, or if other releases are produced in physical form. Therefore, if you have not done so already, I would highly encourage you to sign up to my newsletter at http://music.krichie.com

Skylines Phase I Complete!

Over the weekend of January 20th, 2016, I completed Phase I of my next album Skylines!

What this means is:

I have selected all the tracks that will be on the final album….
I have finished complete drafts of each song that will be included. By complete drafts, I mean the overall structure is there, yet more tweaks and polishing need to occur.

The next step is for me to listen to each and every track and jot down my notes on things I believe need to change, if any, and notes on producing the final mixes. An additional important step (That I’ll update you on in a future post), and then final mastering and song order selection.

The final set of tracks (Not in the final order that they will be presented on the album) and the city skylines they represent are as follows:

Big Dreams (Dallas, Texas Skyline)
City of Angels (L.A., California Skyline)
Goodbye Dubai (Dubai, UAE Skyline)
Lost in Beijing (Beijing, China Skyline)
Manhattan Nights (Manhattan, NY Skyline)
Seattle Walk (Seattle, WA Skyline)
Seven Hills (Edinburgh, Scottland Skyline)
Sun in Central Park (Manhattan, NY Skyline. Different variation)
Windy City (Chicago, IL Skyline)

Want to hear select samples from the track selection? Take a listen here on Soundcloud!
https://soundcloud.com/keithrichie/sets/skylines

I have released 3 singles leading up to the release of Skylines. In case you have not had the chance to listen to them yet, here are their respective links on Bandcamp.

Oh yeah, and by the way…. did I mention Goodbye Dubai is a free download?! You can download it directly from my official site at music.krichie.com . Just visit there and look for the Free Downloads Section.

What’s Next

Finalizing work on Skylines

As noted above, I have completed Phase I, and I have outlined the remaining tasks I need to finish this album. I’m still planning a release timeframe within the month of February 2015.

Musical Interpretation of The Dark Tower Series.

I have long loved The Dark Tower series of novels by Stephen King. I have considered many times doing a “Musical Interpretation” of the series, and therefore I plan on starting this project soon after I release Skylines. This would be part of a “Symphonic Electronica” series of releases utilizing mostly Orchestral sounds.

My first step in this process is to read through all the novels again, taking detailed notes and envisioning what the common themes might sound like.

It’s also interesting to note, that once I finally made the decision to work on this, they announced that the FIRST Dark Tower movie is FINALLY going to be made with a release date in early 2017!

If you are unfamiliar with this series, please be sure to check it out!

Project Ideas for 2016 and beyond

Here’s a recap of the project Ideas I have for 2016 and beyond.

Once I complete the Skylines project I have many ideas I want to finally push forth with. At least one or two of these will make it to release during 2016. Here is the current list of project ideas.

10 Year anniversary release of The Maestoso Interstellar Suite

June 2016 will mark the 10 year anniversary release of my album The Maestoso Interstellar Suite. It has proven to be one of my more popular releases, but it certainly has some places in it I’d like to polish up. I plan on releasing an updated version of it, and possibly extended slightly. It also provides a perfect placement to utilize the Moog Theremini I received as a gift a couple of years ago.

Equipment / Sound library investments

After getting the above projects completed, I plan on doing another large investment in my studio equipment and sound library. It’s going to be largely important for some of the other project ideas I have lined up.

Untitled Ambient styled release

I started work on new music that is more on the pure Ambient side of things. You can hear a sample of it via this link to Candles on Soundcloud. Ambient Highways has proven to be a very popular release, and while I’m sure my next push towards an ambient styled album will not be purely ambient, it will align well to the styles included in Ambient Highways.

Follow up to March of the Inanimate

I want to produce and have ready a follow up to March of the Inanimate ready for the 2016 Halloween season. My inner dark ambient feelings surface from time to time, and I’d love to get another horror / Halloween themed release ready in time. It would also fall in line with my Original “N”otion Picture Soundtrack series.

Musical Interpretation of The Dark Tower Series.

I have long loved The Dark Tower series of novels by Stephen King. I have considered many times doing a “Musical Interpretation” of the series. Of course this goes hand in hand with my ideas for the following two releases as well. This would be part of a “Symphonic Electronica” series of releases. Utilizing mostly Orchestral sounds. If you are unfamiliar with this series, please be sure to check it out!

Musical Interpretation of The Dune Series

The spice must flow. The music must flow. Along with a musical interpretation of The Dark Tower Series, I’d love to do one on the Dune Series as well. Along with The Dark Tower Series, I want to be sure my equipment and sound library are up to date, as these will both be epic projects I want to surely shine.

Musical Interpretation of Liliths’ Brood

For me, this is one of the greatest sci-fi related works of fiction, and I’m constantly re-reading it over the years. Lilith’s Brood is collection of three works by Octavia Butler originally released as the Xenogenesis series. I would love for this to be turned into a movie or set of films if done right. This would be another release in my “Symphonic Electronica” / Original “N”otion picture soundtrack series.

I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter, and if so please leave me your comments!

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I’m just Keeping the Dream Alive!

– Keith Richie

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