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The Complete Mike Oldfield Reference Guide

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Quotes
1. Chord sequence from Tubular Bells part 2 during the Piltdown Man section is used as riff in fuzz guitar section of Hergest Ridge part 2.	`14'29 - TB Part 2 11'58 - HR Part 2`
2. Opening sequence for Tubular Bells is heard in opening of song Five Miles Out.	`0'00 - TB Part 1 0'10 - FMO`
3. During solo in live Tubular Bells part 1 from album Exposed solo quotes Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn.	`10'53 to 11'17 (solo) - Live TB 11'23 - HR 6'11 - O (amongst other times)`
4. Tubular Bells end bass riff quoted in Charleston from Platinum album. Thanks to Adam Cohen.	`17'23 - TB 2'07 - Charleston`
5. The "Horseback" theme used in the song at the end of Ommadawn part 2 which Mike once referred to as his "walking theme" appears many times in his music.	`(0'00)- The Horse song 13'56 - O part 2 4'40 - First Excursion 7'24 & 7'43 - Taurus 1 OTHERS ??? (I know there are - sorry haven't found them yet)`
6. Bass line in Incantations part 4 under the Marimba section is used again in Taurus 1 (QE2). This idea of this bass line however, is obvious also in Hergest Ridge.	`1300 - I part 4 334 - Taurus 1 238 - HR`
7. Conflict (QE2) synth solo is used at beginning of Orabidoo (Five Miles Out)	`2'02 - Conflict 0'54 to 1'20 - Orabidoo`
8. One of the many themes from Amarok is heard quite clearly in She Moves Through the Fair (Voyager). It is played on a violin on the right hand side.	`37'54 - A, is a good example 3'15 - She Moves Through the Fair`
9. Another theme from Amarok is used as the basis for "Let there be light" melody (TSODE).	`8'37 - A, on a pipe 9'44 - A, on Electric guitar. 0'10 - LTBL, though it appears many times throughout the album.`
10. The theme from The Wind Chimes (Islands) is quoted in Amarok.	`013 - TWC part 1 1245 - A, though the harmony is different`
11. During Conflict (QE2) the synth quotes the last movement (called Badinerie) from the Suite No. 2 in B Minor, BWV 1067, written by J.S. Bach.	`107 - Conflict`
12. Incantations part 3, over the long guitar solo can be heard the theme from Hergest Ridge part 2 being played very slowly on high strings. Though not identical it follows the same updown movements.	`3'15 - HR part, on voices 2'34 - I part 3`
13. Part of the guitar solo in Incantations part 3 is used again as the intro to Punkadiddle (Platinum)	`3'54 - I part 3 0'00 - Punkadiddle`
14. Pipe tune (B-Side to Cuckoo song) quotes a theme from Incantations.	`2'38 - I part 1 2'48 to fade - Pipe Tune (it also ends I part 1)`
15. During solo in live Guilty (Exposed), two sections of Incantations are quoted.	`4'05 to 4'27 - Guilty 11'24 - I part 3 9'41 - I part 4`
16. Music for the video wall (B-side to Magic Touch) quotes the beginning of Evacuation from the Killing Fields - using the same Fairlight sound.	`2'26 - MFTVW 0'00 - Evacuation`
17. Well if we are talking of quotes, in the lyrics of No Dream from Heavens Open, two of Mikes previous songs - Shadow on the Wall (Crises) and The Time Has Come (Islands). After SOTW we even get a similar heavy guitar sound to the original song.	`1'49 - No Dream (SOTW) 2'00 - No Dream (TTHC)`

Links
This section is where Mike has used an idea again rather than a direct quote. It might for example just be a similarity but I thought it worth pointing out. I could have included TB / TB2 but that would have been too obvious - so I didnt!
1. Not note perfect but a reference to Crises in The Wind Chimes part 2	`0'37 - Crises, which itself is TB in style. 15'42 - TWC`
2. Almost direct quote of Tubular Bells end section riff used in The Wind Chimes part 2.	`17'23 - TB 17'44 - TWC`
3. Same rhythmic idea is used in Sentinel (Tubular Bells 2) as was used in Crises.	`0'37 - Crises 0'34 - Sentinel Rhythm being 0-0-00-0-0-00-0-`
4. Group of 5 ascending notes features in Incantations, Pipe Tune and Only Time Will Tell (The Songs of Distant Earth)	`0'00 - I part 2 1''5 - I part 1, for example. 0'27 - Pipe tune 2'12 - Only Time Will Tell`
5. Chord sequence appears many times in Mikes music which could be in any given key eg. Em, D, Bm7, (sometimes C), Em.	Examples: `TB part 2 - Guitar solo before hornpipe` (this is almost exactly taken from a Kevin Ayres album track called "Why are we sleeping?" - more on this later!) `HR, Oboe solo Guilty is also based on this though he misses out the D chord and ends on B major. 9'18 - Orabidoo Only Time Will Tell Northpoint Jungle Gardenia` There are more examples which I will add in due course.
6. The Incantations theme is pre-empted in "First Excursion" (Boxed)	`4'05 - First Excursion I, everywhere !` It is also used a lot on the Platinum album, for example: `1'05 to 1'38 - Charleston, on piano` This is also repeated during the TB quote (see Quotes 4) so he is quoting two pieces at once !!
7. Now heres an extraordinary one. Though this is not strictly a Mike Oldfield release, the track Why are we Sleeping from the Kevin Ayres album "BBC Radio 1 Live in concert Kevin Ayres" pre-empts both the end section to Tubular Bells, and the harmonic content on Incantations. I can only assume that Mike wrote these parts of the Ayres songs or Kevin would have complained!	`TB part 2, guitar solo section (before hornpipe) 5'07 to 8'48 - Why are we sleeping` and the very opening of WAWS sounds just like Incantations.
8. Orabidoo and Taurus 2 are of course very similar - being on the same album - but it is unusual for Mike to copy himself so exactly on the in two different pieces.	The "fugue" section, `7'00 - Orabidoo 2'00 - Taurus 2` and the section from 7'50 to 8'33 in Orabidoo is practically identical to 2'18 to 3'03 in Taurus 2 (though Taurus 2 is a bit slower and of course shorter !)

Mistakes
This section is a reference of places where something has gone wrong! Mike is of course very careful in the studio but occasionally things go astray. Here I have pointed out where I think there are mistakes either in performance or more likely in mixing / editing.
1. In Hergest Ridge part 1 it sounds like a dodgy splice to me (where they stick two sections of mixed material together) The give-away is the loss of definition in the guitar run.	`11'26 - HR`
2. During Incantations part 2 there is a wobble which sounds like the master tape stuck very briefly when mastering.	`0'58 - I part 2`
3. In Tubular Bells part 1, during the low growly bit, the double bass on the left side disappears for a bit - comes back - and disappears again. This is probably due to the "overcrowding" of the tracks as they were trying to record as much as they could on the tape and someone pressed record too early!	`7'37 - TB part 1 (left side)`
4. A couple of bogus blips can be heard in Taurus 2 (Five Miles Out) and also on Wild Goose flaps its wings (Voyager)	`7'14 - Taurus 2` (thanks Paddy!) `3'32 - Wild Goose flaps its wings`
5. The Hi-Hat part in Taurus 2 (Five Miles Out) has what sounds like a dodgy "punch-in" (when a recording is started during a previous take)	`8'25 - Taurus 2`
6. Sounds to me like a wrong note in "Double Speed Guitar" during the Viv Stanshall section of Tubular Bells part 1.	`21'37 - TB part 1`
7. A case of print through Im afraid (when information on tape leaks onto the adjoining layer) affects Incantations part 2. The result is that you hear the music before it starts - a sort of pre-echo.	`7'15 - I part 2`
8. Another messy splice in Hergest Ridge where we loose almost half a beat. Thanks to David Porter.	`19'40 - HR`
9. The Five Miles out album suffers again during Orabidoo when a string part appears to disappear and re-appear rather clumsily. Thanks to Marcus for reminding me!	`Orabidoo - string part on left side cuts off at 10'37 and bumps back in at 10'50`
10. Funny digital edit in the song Gimme Back (Heaven's Open). I can only assume that MO had to mix 2 takes together, but it does sound a bit wrong. Thanks to Rory Ewins.	`1'53 - Gimme Back (I want my b-eat)`

Other Points Of Interest
1. During Amarok, "Fuck off RB" is played in morse code!	`48'05 to 48'42 - A, played on a high brass sound`
2. At the very end of In Dulci Jubilo there is a cat miaowing! This has been verified by Lesslie Penning. Thanks to David Porter.	`2'48 - In Dulci Jubilo`
3. Another animal features on Taurus 2!	`7'05 to 7'10 - Taurus 2 (Geese clucking)`

Chris Kimber created The Complete Mike Oldfield Reference Guide. Do not hesitate to contact Chris and let him know your comments or suggestions.

Quotes

Links

Mistakes

Other Points of Interest

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to the Complete Mike Oldfield Music Reference Guide. V1.6
Compiled by Chris Kimber G.G.S.M.

This guide is a musical reference of interesting moments in Mikes music and includes several sections covering quotes of himself and other composers, links between pieces, mistakes and points of interest not easily heard.

Where appropriate, times from the CD versions have been used for the listener to find sections referred to quickly and easily. The music covered in this guide is only what has been officially released by Mike Oldfield and does not include Videos, Bootlegs or rare promos etc.

Though some of these points may be debatable, this guide is meant as a way of finding the points and then deciding for yourself whether they are relevant or not. If you know of anything which you think should be included in this guide please do send it to me. Please feel free to comment on any of these points either privately or on the Amarok mailing list. I have credited listeners other than myself when they spotted it before me!

Chris K.


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