Search - Steve Haun :: Music With Nature: Impressions of the Rocky Mountains

"Steve's music paints pictures" Michael Moryc, MATRIX M U S I C W I T H N A T U R E: Impressions of the Rocky Mountains Steve Haun's new album, MUSIC WITH NATURE: IMPRESSIONS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, is his most acoustic and symphonic effort to date, as well as a perfect opportunity for him to compose music about a particular region of the country he knows intimately. He explains, "The theme of the album is simply to capture the beauty and essence of the Rocky Mountains. I decided that I wanted to compose the music utilizing symphonic players and orchestrations. I tried making the album eclectic, but at the same time cohesive." The result is a sound as big as the great outdoors, which manages to retain a sense of warmth, intimacy and delicacy. The music transforms effortlessly from heroic themes to reflective interludes, sweeping across vast flower-studded alpine meadows to lofty snow-capped glacier peaks. Interspersed with nature soundscapes, the project uses state-of-the-art Wave Dance spatial audio technology to take the listener on a multi-dimensional journey for unsurpassed realism. "Performance-wise, the album differs from my previous recordings because I played more acoustic piano, thus the music was fairly demanding and there was less margin for error. Compositionally, the album was a breakthrough because the music is more sophisticated than my previous recordings. I utilized compositional techniques that I learned in graduate school, such as impressionistic and neoclassical styles, melding them with the feelings that the scenic landscapes evoked inside me for an intricately balanced and harmonious presentation." Every day that Steve spent in the studio saw something unusual happening, sometimes a soul-stirring solo performance, other times a quieter but still important mixing innovation. He notes "For example, Nelson Rangell was recording flute on a track and, in the middle of a very inspired performance, he quit playing and instead sang his own melody with the lyrics, It's all about me, just about me, just about me. To this day, I can't listen to that piece without hearing his voice in my head and laughing!" Haun's own favorite track on the album is the spacious, pastoral splendor of "Visions of Paradise," of which he says, "this track has an "Out of Africa" feel to it and, for one of the few times, I feel like the finished piece is exactly the way I initially conceived it. The piece is symphonic, visual, cinematic, dynamic and represents one of my favorite styles of music, in other words, music I enjoy listening to again and again." Summing up, he says "I feel that Music with Nature: Impressions of the Rocky Mountains is my best recording to date, both musically and compositionally and that I am improving as both a composer and performer. It feels like I'm moving in the right direction, as my ultimate dream is to compose music for film." After listening to the lavish score of this exciting new album, Steve Haun's dream may be closer to realization than he thinks, as this music is nothing less than the score to one of the most spectacular soundtracks of nature itself: America's majestic Rocky Mountains. NOTE- purchase of this album helps protect and preserve the National Parks.