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Topic: Ommadawn Analysis< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
Olivier Offline




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Posted: May 10 2007, 21:32

Ryan Yard has updated his analysis of Ommadawn: Towards Ommadawn: A Critical Study of Mike Oldfield's Third Studio Album.
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Markus K. Offline




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Posted: May 13 2007, 16:05

That's some interesting reading. I haven't gone trought it yet. It's great to have the main themes in notation for all us piano/guitar/name-your-instrument wannabes. ;)  

But what are the CD tracks referring to?


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Markus K.
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moonchildhippy Offline




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Posted: May 13 2007, 17:38

Thank you for that Ommadawn analysis Ryan. I try and play a guitar, try being the operative word, but I get confused by notes on a scale, guitar tab I can read however.  I just try and put chords together tunefully, I've no formal training in music, so I got a bit lost in places   :/ .

Isn't the Phrygrian mode used alot in Indian music, didn't George Harrison write many  of his Beatles/solo compositions using it" With Or Without You from the Sgt Pepper album perhaps one of the most obvious.

You say that the chord pattern used for the climatic ending of Ommadawn Part 1  is "unsettling" , but that's not the impression I get. I think how you react to music depends upon how you feel when you play it. Yep  i've cried bucket loads whilst listening to Ommadawn, but by the end I reach the ending of Part 1 I find it so theraputic, so uplifting  :D.  This has often lead me to wonder if Part 1 is an expression of Mike's pain , frustration how can I derive so much happiness from it , unless maybe Mike had meant it as a catharsis for himself. If Part 1 is the storm , then Part 2 I'd describe as the calm after the storm. I'm wondering about the inclusion of On Horseback, to me this concludes the album  perfectly (I've had some strange looks when I've On Horseback pumping out of my car stereo :p).  Thinking about On Horseback is it a happy song or one that Mike conveys a sadness for a lost childhood??? To me it's so happy, but given what I've read about Mike's early years here was a kid/teenager who was forced to grow up fast. To me before I knew Mike's real age I thougth he was about 25/26 when Tubular Bells was released. To me his first three  albums show a writing maturity of someone  older than 19-22.


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I'm going slightly mad,
It finally happened, I'm slightly mad , just very slightly mad

If you feel a little glum to Hergest Ridge you should come.


I'm challenging  taboos surrounding mental health


"Part time hippy"

I'M SUPPORTING OUR SOLDIERS

BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!!
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ThisName Offline




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Posted: May 21 2007, 10:21

Hey, I didn't realise the analysis was up and running so sorry for my delayed response. What I was hinting at with regards the unsettling harmony near the end of part one is to do with the tritone interval which is present and which was not present in the opening. It gives the melody that we have become familiar with a slightly unnerving quality and is very unexpected.

I hope everybody has enjoyed it, would be interested to get others views as I know it is rare for these things to exist on mikes music.

Of course, more than anything, I would like mike to read it....and then commission me to write a book! :)


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ThisName Offline




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Posted: May 21 2007, 10:22

Quote (Markus K. @ May 13 2007, 16:05)
That's some interesting reading. I haven't gone trought it yet. It's great to have the main themes in notation for all us piano/guitar/name-your-instrument wannabes. ;)  

But what are the CD tracks referring to?

Hey, the CD tracks refer to the accompanying CD I made of all the audio split into the relevant tracks to correspond with the musical examples. Sadly that is not available on this version but only in the hard copy.

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moonchildhippy Offline




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Posted: May 21 2007, 17:54

Quote (ThisName @ May 21 2007, 14:21)
Hey, I didn't realise the analysis was up and running so sorry for my delayed response. What I was hinting at with regards the unsettling harmony near the end of part one is to do with the tritone interval which is present and which was not present in the opening. It gives the melody that we have become familiar with a slightly unnerving quality and is very unexpected.

I'm don't find Ommadawn unnerving at all, Amarok yes, no matter  how hard I try I can't seem to get into it  :O, maybe as I'd just bought it and tried playing it, hearing it for the first time  whilst  driving, and in all honesty it scared the crap out of me.

Anyway back to Ommadawn, there's no way I find the Part 1 ending unnerving, it doesn't make me feel anxious or frightened in anyway. Yep It might cause me to shed a few tears occasionally, but  gone out for a drive, following an argument ( there used to be a few with my ex husband). I've parked upsomewhere scenic (or as scenic as I'll get round here) and have blasted Ommadawn from the car stereo. That to me is so thereaputic, to release all of that anger :). However if I'm  with my boyfriend , (he also likes Mike's music) I feel so happy so peaceful. The ending of part 1 often suggests orgasms to me. Yep I know the mixing desk being covered with Mayfair magazines as Mike was recording it is Rock and Roll history   :)  :D . Maybe the point I'm trying to get accross is maybe the same piece of music causes different reactions in different people, this can also be affected by a persons mood at the time.

As regards the music theory, it's not something I really understand, I try and play my guitar, but if I try and work out the theory too much I get a bit confused, I know my major chords from my minors, crochets from my minims, quavers and semi quavers, and the notes on the stave read "Every good  boy deserves football) and the notes in the spaces spell FACE.


--------------
I'm going slightly mad,
It finally happened, I'm slightly mad , just very slightly mad

If you feel a little glum to Hergest Ridge you should come.


I'm challenging  taboos surrounding mental health


"Part time hippy"

I'M SUPPORTING OUR SOLDIERS

BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!!
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backwoodsman Offline




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Posted: May 22 2007, 04:19

Thanks Ryan. I really enjoyed reading that. Have you ever considered writing a similar analysis of Hergest Ridge or Incantations? That would be interesting as those are his best albums along with Ommadawn (in my opinion, that is :) ).
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ThisName Offline




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Posted: May 22 2007, 09:42

Hey there. Yes I started work on an analysis of HR but it got stopped due to college demands. I wanted to see what the response was to this before contemplating embarking on a new essay.

I wish I knew how to bring it to the attention of Mike, or if, in fact he would even want to read it at all?


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ThisName Offline




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Posted: May 22 2007, 09:44

Quote (moonchildhippy @ May 21 2007, 17:54)
Quote (ThisName @ May 21 2007, 14:21)
Hey, I didn't realise the analysis was up and running so sorry for my delayed response. What I was hinting at with regards the unsettling harmony near the end of part one is to do with the tritone interval which is present and which was not present in the opening. It gives the melody that we have become familiar with a slightly unnerving quality and is very unexpected.

I'm don't find Ommadawn unnerving at all, Amarok yes, no matter  how hard I try I can't seem to get into it  :O, maybe as I'd just bought it and tried playing it, hearing it for the first time  whilst  driving, and in all honesty it scared the crap out of me.

Anyway back to Ommadawn, there's no way I find the Part 1 ending unnerving, it doesn't make me feel anxious or frightened in anyway. Yep It might cause me to shed a few tears occasionally, but  gone out for a drive, following an argument ( there used to be a few with my ex husband). I've parked upsomewhere scenic (or as scenic as I'll get round here) and have blasted Ommadawn from the car stereo. That to me is so thereaputic, to release all of that anger :). However if I'm  with my boyfriend , (he also likes Mike's music) I feel so happy so peaceful. The ending of part 1 often suggests orgasms to me. Yep I know the mixing desk being covered with Mayfair magazines as Mike was recording it is Rock and Roll history   :)  :D . Maybe the point I'm trying to get accross is maybe the same piece of music causes different reactions in different people, this can also be affected by a persons mood at the time.

As regards the music theory, it's not something I really understand, I try and play my guitar, but if I try and work out the theory too much I get a bit confused, I know my major chords from my minors, crochets from my minims, quavers and semi quavers, and the notes on the stave read "Every good  boy deserves football) and the notes in the spaces spell FACE.

Yes people do hear things in different ways, and of course, if it is not unsettling to you then that's fine. I think I was also trying to refer to what mike had said about composing it as he has made it clear that it was a really intense time for him emotionally. Perhaps unsettling was too graphic a term, but just a suggestion as to the intention of that ending.

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ThisName Offline




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Posted: May 30 2007, 06:30

Just wanted to bump this thread as I would have liked some more opinions and feedback if at all possible.

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