William Blake’s The Chimney Sweeper from Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience recorded in Tucson Arizona. Link above to YouTube. Click on picture for another link to Blake’s work.

Recently been short of breath.  So did the best I could for now.

Hope you enjoy them.

The album “Ode on a Grecian Urn” now includes Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale.” Click here to link to lulu.com. It’s also available at amazon.com in the Ode to a Grecian Urn II album.

Thanks for your support.

Ode to a Nightingale is finally pulling together.  I’m getting very close to beginning the recording process.  My first reaction to putting this great work to music was a bit overwhelming. But patient, inching progress has led to something I think will be very nice and fitting of the great sentiments.

My favorite part: “Was it a vision or a waking dream? Fled is that music-do I wake or sleep?”  (The very last lines)

Of course I love the whole poem. I hope you will like what I’m doing with it.

William Blake self-portrait

Just posted a video of William Blake‘s Introduction piece in the collection Songs of Innocence. The audio is taken from an old cassette tape which include several ideas for musical versions of Blake’s famous collection.  I’ve managed to score several of these on Finale and would love to perform them someday once I’ve tested them and feel they are ready for prime time!

My Youtube Channel

Thanks for listening!

One guitar, three voices and some bass at the end.

My hope is that the music fits the poem and that I’ve done well enough for now with this first version. It’s been a long time coming!

[podcast]http://www.michaelemmanuel.com/uploads/WaitingBurroughs.mp3[/podcast]

He shared his poem about his daughters one night and I promised to write some music to it. With a little revision to make it more rhythmic I hope I have something that he will like. So far Buck likes it and says it is his favorite after Morning Sun. (wow!)

Recording songs is a fun process. I start with guitar, usually, then add bass, (not always),next lead vocals,  then strings and other instruments and in this case possibly harmony vocals…we’ll see. I’ve added a piano track which I don’t usually use, but it sounds pretty good if I do say so myself.

Hoping this will fit on the new CD coming out soon called “SINGular mOMent.” I have plenty of stuff for it now but I want this to get “out there” so that Alex can use it if he wants.

Join us on Shaman’s Hand. We’re on every Sunday night 8pm MST. I never know who I might meet up with on the air. So far,  some pretty nice people!

Here’s a little clip of one of the musical messages that we receive from Captain and Maestro Stuart Pidman and the first ever inter-galactic orchestral explorers, “The Cosmic Eye” via my mystical glowing pine cone at Shaman’s Hand:

[podcast]http://michaelemmanuel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/letsdance-segway.mp3[/podcast]