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Imagine making music on multiple keyboards, inspired by the beauty of nature all around me. This fascinates me.
Having many instruments of the world electronically encoded at my fingertips. My orchestration ability has grown tremendously over the years and at the same time making music in places of unimaginable beauty far away from civilization.
Music made in the moment where the artist, instruments and environment are balanced in harmony, takes training, practice, discipline, talent and patience.
Here is how it is done:
THE FOUR DISCIPLINES
When creating symphonic music on multiple keyboards at one time, there are four disciplines to consider, with subsets of variations.
These are the “hats” one must wear. Music created in the moment is what most excites Paul; it is a deeply moving experience to make music on a high mountain meadow, by a waterfall or late at night beneath the stars. No matter how prepared an artist may be, he or she never knows how far the music will take them and where it will end. Sometimes exquisite music is created. Not all recordings are successful.
In the 1990s Paul Lloyd Warner assembled a digital recording studio in wilderness locations throughout the Western United States. His equipment included four electronic keyboards with four additional outboard synthesizer connected to each keyboard, a digital recorder (DAT), mixing board, amplifier and speakers. Power used to run this high-tech studio was a series of electrical inverters which were networked to an array of truck batteries. Going from DC to AC power is a silent operation and three or four fully charged truck batteries adequately powered the entire portable recording studio for eight to twelve hours.
Getting this equipment to these sites required a nimble four wheel drive van. Everything was packed into foam containers, then Paul and his assistant drove on paved and dirt roads toward their destination, finally going off-road, usually to an exciting scenic location, well removed from civilization.
Once all the equipment was set up and functioning, Paul chose the sound patches for each keyboard and synthesizer, balancing the sounds, bringing in new ones, shaping the sound, practicing and prepare for the recording session in nature.
On hot days, a ten foot square canopy was placed over Paul and his equipment. It took several hours to set up all the sound and recording gear, then more time to “tweak” the sounds. Once the audio studio was operational, it was time to play music in nature.
Imagine what it is like for a keyboard artist to be fully set up in the wilderness. In the silence of nature, in stunning scenic beauty with clear blue skies, sky and a landscape sparkling in sunlight. The time is here, Now. A few riffs through the keyboards, a warm up of hands, a long gaze around the scenic beauty and it’s time to play. The audience is Nature and her creatures.
Here is the moment when one enters The Zone. The artist takes some time to meditate, pray, breathe and clear his mind. Now is the time for a gratitude prayer and personal alignment with soul and spirit. Paul gazes into the natural beauty all around him. He sweep his eyes around the wilderness while his emotions surge with happiness and creativity. What an honor it is to behold beauty in the Great Outdoors. His mind focussed, his heart is opened, nature is beautiful and enthralling. Press the tape Record Button, place the hands on the keyboards and the music soon soon begins.
“Most of the time, Paul improvises, sometimes using previously composed themes. Enter the zone, his creative energy surges as he immersed in the beauty surrounding him. It guides the music on an exploratory journey into fresh, new melodies and harmonies. With a recording studio set up in a desert canyon near Sedona, Arizona, with the afternoon sun lighting up purple rose colored rocks, flecked with gold highlights; intensely blazing indigo blue sky, the beauty enraptures, nature becomes even more awesomely inspiring, The artist feel the Creative Power within and around him. He feels the impact of that beauty. The music takes off, sounds awesome, evolves into something. These are the moments when the best music comes out - and it’s all being recorded professionally in the back country.
In the 1990s Paul was making music like this all the time. The keyboards, were networked to a digital recording system way in the outback, allowing the artist to make music where no one had made music ever before. When the music takes off and soars, Paul is in heaven, reaching farther, bridging earths and sky, it becomes purely a spiritual experience. The music begins to sound like echoes of the surroundings, a chord “here” represents that mountaintop; another chord “there” depicts a rocky promontory. Nature is making the music through the artist as he maintains awareness and remain in control of his fingers. The partnership between right and left brain continues on. One is simultaneously inspired by the beauty of nature and profoundly moved by the awe-inspiring power of nature. From 1990 to 1995 Paul traveled to Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, going place where music had never been heard before
Paul states: “On this edge of time and space is where music is made. With the Great Outdoors as my inspiration, I am limited only by my imagination and emotions. The creative force takes over and I instantly am exploring new musical territory. Putting this into spiritual language, I can safely say that the music is making itself through me and God is in control.”
As Paul traveled through the western United States to beauty spots like the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Jenny Lake in Grand Tetons National Park, the San Juan Islands in Puget Sound, Washington, by Oregon and California coastlines, to high and low deserts, above the Carlsbad Caverns, playing music inside a lava tube on the Big Island of Hawaii.
This is all extremely interesting. Paul explored and discovered new musical territory. Since music is a product of nature, it is only natural to head toward the source of beauty and re-create it in sound. Progressive Classical Music loosens a little bit of the structure to releasing the healing power and spiritual renewal that comes with making music in nature with all her poetry and beauty and all her glory. Top of Page
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