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Topic: The beauty of Maya Gold< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
ThisName Offline




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Posted: June 05 2006, 11:14

I am so struck by how beautiful maya gold is on TB2, and it has just dawned on me that it is one of the most beautiful passages mike has composed. Those gorgeous harmonics over the organ chords is so stunning! I was thinking of arranging it for string orchestra (now that i have the concert score yay!!!!;)

I think the beauty of the piece is actually magnified by the totally off beat and comical Altered states movement. I think the contrast is really very clever indeed.

Anyone agree?


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Sir Mustapha Offline




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Posted: June 05 2006, 12:32

It would have been a very good track for me, if it weren't for those ATROCIOUS "vocals" near the end. I don't understand why they have to be there.

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Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds.
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El Bosnia Offline




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Posted: June 05 2006, 13:17

Well, I agree. I think Maya gold is beautiful and the contrast with Altered State is very clever, endeed.
Although those vocals could be controversial the whole track is really good. (as a matter of fact, the whole album is excellent. I love TBII) :D


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"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering"
"Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny"
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jonnyw Offline




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Posted: June 05 2006, 14:53

This is the greatest track from the greatest album ever made to me.


There is not one flaw i find in my musical opinion of this album, because its too sentimental to me. I love it.


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Grand piano.
Reed and pipe organ.
Glockenspeil.
Bass guitar.
Vocal chords.
Two slightly sampled electric guitars.
The venitian effect.
Digital sound processor.
And Tubular bells.

Solo music - http://-terrapin-.bebo.com

Band music - http://www.rsimusic.com
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El Bosnia Offline




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Posted: June 06 2006, 08:14

TBII rules!  :D

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"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering"
"Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny"
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Mr_Brownstone Offline




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Posted: June 14 2006, 18:31

I may be on my own on this, but Maya Gold to me has a sort of "Pink Floyd" (especially the guitar) sorta feel. i can see david gilmour play that solo

TBII is on of Mike's best (TSODE just pips it)

Long live TBII!!!!
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Sweetpea Offline




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Posted: Nov. 03 2008, 00:52

Quote (ThisName @ June 05 2006, 11:14)
...it is one of the most beautiful passages mike has composed. Those gorgeous harmonics over the organ chords is so stunning!... I think the beauty of the piece is actually magnified by the totally off beat and comical Altered states movement. I think the contrast is really very clever indeed.

In all my years of listening to TBII, I can't say I'd consciously appreciated the contrast, there. Thinking on it now... I agree; the loveliness of "Maya Gold" is very welcome after the manic "Altered State". I'm not sure that's the case for the next contrast, though. I'd like to say the liveliness of "Moonshine" - after the sedateness of "Maya Gold" - works, but I'm still ambivalent about that closing piece.

PS: "Maya Gold" is supposed to be the equivalent of TBI's "Ambient Guitars", yes?

PPS: And the vocals at the end are not "ATROCIOUS" at all, Sir M. They are quite inoffensive. You probably hate the "Eeyah, eeyah, eeyah..." from "Pacha Mama" as, well.  :p


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"I'm no physicist, but technically couldn't Mike both be with the horse and be flying through space at the same time? (On account of the earth's orbit around the Sun and all that). So it seems he never had to make the choice after all. I bet he's kicking himself now." - clotty
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Holger Offline




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Posted: Nov. 03 2008, 04:47

Quote (Sweetpea @ Nov. 03 2008, 06:52)
PS: "Maya Gold" is supposed to be the equivalent of TBI's "Ambient Guitars", yes?

Yes.  :)
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nightspore Offline




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Posted: Nov. 03 2008, 07:02

Quote (Sweetpea @ Nov. 03 2008, 00:52)
PPS: And the vocals at the end are not "ATROCIOUS" at all, Sir M. They are quite inoffensive.

I agree, Sweetpea. Melodically, they're necessary: the motif needs to return to give the piece closure. Maybe Sir M dislikes the vocal style rather than the presence of the melody; I don't know. But even here they're arguably necessary, in that they balance the "vocal cords" section of "The Bell" on Part 1.

I look upon "Moonshine" as simply a bit of fun, a bit of light-hearted froth to counterbalance the emotional highs and lows earlier in the piece.
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The Caveman Offline




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Posted: Nov. 03 2008, 07:31

I absolutely love Maya Gold.To me it's the best bit of the whole CD.Over the years i'v lost my original enthusiasm for TBII as a whole but i always loved this little bit and always will.It'll never take the place of the original 'ambient guitars'section cos to me that's a damn near perfect solo (apart from the bit where the guitar sounds a bit farty when he goes down to play on the low E string)but this is still very beautifull with the use of harmonics.Moonshine though i can take or leave.It's there for the same reason that the hornpipe was at the end of TB,as a bit of fun.Now what would really make it for me is if an unreleased version of it with drunken walk around a house in the middle of the night over the top. :laugh:

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THE COMING OF THE GREAT WHITE HANDKERCHEIF IS NIGH.
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Sir Mustapha Offline




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Posted: Nov. 03 2008, 13:33

Quote (Sweetpea @ Nov. 03 2008, 00:52)
PPS: And the vocals at the end are not "ATROCIOUS" at all, Sir M. They are quite inoffensive. You probably hate the "Eeyah, eeyah, eeyah..." from "Pacha Mama" as, well.  :p

Yes, I do. But the "vocals" on Tubular Bells II are just beyond bad. In fact, all those synthetic sounds and samples on the album come straight from the time when you'd see a guy-in-a-suit before a big box filled with buttons and switches saying "And with this tiny machine, we're able to reproduce with perfection the real sounds of a living orchestra!", and then it proceeds to imitate a violin by sounding like a buzzing mosquito. This in itself is not necessarily atrocious, but there's so much focus on them, it's like the music is working for the machines - and not the opposite, as you'd see on a, say, Aphex Twin release from that time.

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Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds.
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nightspore Offline




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Posted: Nov. 03 2008, 17:44

Quote (Sir Mustapha @ Nov. 03 2008, 13:33)
it's like the music is working for the machines - and not the opposite, as you'd see on a, say, Aphex Twin release from that time.

That's one of the things I like about TB2. In "The Bell" we start with the old instruments - glockenspiel, etc - and then when we move to things like "The Venetian Effect" and "Digital Sound Processor", it's like a giant, joyous leap into the future, a celebration of the infinity of technology and all its possibilities. It's as though Mike has accepted Arthur Clarke's invitation and has leaped not only into space but into the space age. It makes TB1, Hergest Ridge etc seem terribly old-fashioned and earthbound, like a child that refuses to leave its mother.
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Bassman Offline




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Posted: Nov. 04 2008, 09:05

Or parents' basement?   :laugh:  :laugh:
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yanouch65 Offline




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Posted: Nov. 04 2008, 09:13

Maya Gold is one of my favourite tracks, especially in the DVD Live at Edinburgh Castle (Tubular Bells II World Premiere).
Mike playing his Pink Fender is a great moment.

:)


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Ray said : "it is a shame you don't play"

manintherain said: "You´d better ask Mr. Y who was first"

yanouch65 says: "I am in love with Scotland"
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The Caveman Offline




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Posted: Nov. 04 2008, 09:15

Good point but even the 'old fashioned' older stuff was still using cutting edge technology for the time.For once i must agree with Sir M as to me TBII actually sounds really quite dated in it's 'shinyness' while the older stuff doesn't sound as dated.I find the more Mike tries to sound new and hip with all the new 'toys' the quicker it starts to sound dated.To my ears it started around 1980 with QE2.Great album but it sounds very dated now with the Linn drums etc.Fast forward to say Islands.Good album(ish) but very dated late 80's production and so on.This is purely subjective of course but all that glitters ain't gold..... :laugh:

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Sir Mustapha Offline




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Posted: Nov. 04 2008, 10:30

Mike's flirts with technology come from a long time, indeed; Crises was filled with sounds from the Fairlight CMI, for example; Amarok was a fully digital recording (am I correct?) and also featured prominent synthesizer, and Music from the Balcony features samplers aplenty. However, even on the most sample-crazy moments of the last example, you could see the gadgets were fully integrated into the music, and they were just another part of it. On Tubular Bells II, there are times when Mike throws the spotlight full-on into the gleaming, sterile sounds as if they were gonna CHANGE THE WAY MUSIC IS MADE - Dark Star, for example, sounds like a demo tune that's built in on the cheesiest electronic keyboards from the 90's. The production is so exaggerated that even the "vocal chords" sound fake, and nobody could fully convince me that the massively amplified moaning on Maya Gold is produced by humans.

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Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds.
Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com
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Sweetpea Offline




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Posted: Nov. 04 2008, 13:41

I guess I just don't hear this techno-hijacking that you do, Sir M. I can understand there may be moments when the sound-fiddling could be viewed as questionable, but the entire album? *shrug* To me, the application of technology doesn't compromise the art, here.

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"I'm no physicist, but technically couldn't Mike both be with the horse and be flying through space at the same time? (On account of the earth's orbit around the Sun and all that). So it seems he never had to make the choice after all. I bet he's kicking himself now." - clotty
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Sir Mustapha Offline




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Posted: Nov. 04 2008, 14:52

Quote (Sweetpea @ Nov. 04 2008, 13:41)
I guess I just don't hear this techno-hijacking that you do, Sir M. I can understand there may be moments when the sound-fiddling could be viewed as questionable, but the entire album?

True, I can't say all parts of the album suffer from that problem. I didn't mean to say that. I'll refrain from listing all my complaints against the album here because, clearly, this is not the point of the thread and I'm already stretching it. I'll reserve it for another moment. Besides, I'm in a good mood right now. :)

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Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds.
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Sweetpea Offline




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Posted: Nov. 04 2008, 15:23

Quote (Sir Mustapha @ Nov. 04 2008, 14:52)
I can't say all parts of the album suffer from that problem. I didn't mean to say that.

And you didn't, of course. I made an erroneous assumption. Can I blame old age? Just the other day I was looking at one of my own previous posts, elsewhere, and wondering 'What the heck was I talking about, there??'

In any case, Sir M, I look forward to reading your evisceratio - errr... analysis of TBII.  :D


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"I'm no physicist, but technically couldn't Mike both be with the horse and be flying through space at the same time? (On account of the earth's orbit around the Sun and all that). So it seems he never had to make the choice after all. I bet he's kicking himself now." - clotty
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wiga Offline




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Posted: Nov. 04 2008, 15:28

Wow Sir Mustapha - your delivery of "art criticism" is something else.

To think - if you had expressed this opinion at an early stage of the work's development, and if that point of view had been taken seriously by Mike Oldield, TBII might never have seen the light of day !!

Now that would have been devastating.


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Barn's burnt down - now I can see the moon.
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65 replies since June 05 2006, 11:14 < Next Oldest | Next Newest >

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