Ambient electronic soundscapes created with highly processed synthesizers and guitars create an emotionally deep experience. Inspired by traveling up California's Highway 1.

6 MP3 Songs
ELECTRONIC: Ambient, NEW AGE: Ambient



Details:
Highway 1 is an ambient / electronic / soundscapes album that was conceived with highly processed synthesizers and guitars. This is a professionally produced CD-R with laser printing on the CD, insert, and traycard. It is my hope to create an emotionally deep experience for listeners. The album was inspired by traveling up California's Highway 1. The highway is located on the coast of California (US). The area I most frequent is between San Simeon and Big Sur but have traveled much of its length. It's a known getaway for travelers.

What really intrigues me is how ancient the place really is. The rocks are prehistoric (as I guess everything is) and they sit out in the ocean as they did a million years ago. The crags of granite jet up through the low lying hills in San Simeon and create rugged canyons and steep sea cliffs on up into Big Sur (North some 65 miles) . The cypress trees have a very ancient look to them as does the ocean. At times hiking through some of these areas you can forget which physical time you are in :)

Most of the songs are remembrances of places along this highway. Tall Shadows for instance is actually from an experience I had while at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park in Big Sur. There is a cabin there, called Homestead Cabin, which was built by John Pfeiffer in 1890s sometime. I've visited this cabin 4 times so far and each time have always felt a presence. I have taken some photos of the cabin which should be up sometime soon. It ends up that an Indian couple Manuel and Francesca Innocente that owned a cabin nearby are buried nearby the homestead cabin.

I had the hair on the back of my neck stand up while visiting. It isn't a scary thing and when I went back with other people none felt anything. This has happened 3 times and felt that Tall Shadows was inspired or a result of visiting this area. The song Currents is about an experience while trying to take pictures of whales. I got taken up by the way the ocean looks at different times of day (See photos for the Current Ocean pictures). FYI: You can see Humpback, Gray, and Blue Whales as well as Killer Whales out in the ocean along Highway 1. For more info on whales see: Monterey Bay Whalewatch

I'd like to mention that the images I get while listening to this song are many times quite different than the inspired experience. With Tall Shadows I usually get formations of rocks in deep blue water. They are sparely connected to other formations via rock bridges. This is only to show that the public image of an album isn't necessarily what it's actually about. The sound on the DVD-A version has a transparent 3d quality that moves around and above you. This really helps to create an all encompassing sound that is the foundation of any imagery you create when your eyes are closed. For deep listeners that have a DVD-Audio 5.1 surround system I would recommend getting the DVD-A version of this album as opposed to the stereo only version.

For more info on Highway 1: http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/