Morning Jewel - Remaster 2024

by Michael Stearns

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Beyond Chaos, Morning Jewel - Remaster 2024, Planetary Unfolding 2022 Remaster, Beyond Earth & Sky, Convergence, Music for the Dome, The Soft Touch of Morning Light, Ancient Leaves, and 8 more. , and , .

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	1.	Morning - Remaster 2024 25:55	info	buy track
	2.	Jewel - Remaster 2024 21:49	info	buy track

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"Reflecting back, the creation of the Morning Jewel album in 1978 came about from my curiosity and exploration of recording organic sounds in nature as well as an interest in microtonal tunings. Capturing the environmental sounds became a meditation and inspiration. Intertwining those sources with my music contributed a literal 'organic' quality to 'Morning' Working with a microtonal scale and instrument brought the mathematics inherent in the natural world to 'Jewel,' lending it a more 'organic' feeling."

"While visiting my parents in Tucson, I walked out into the desert with a stereo microphone pair to record the sunrise songs of the desert birds. Just before dawn they came alive with their vocalizations. When I played back the recording in my Los Angeles studio, I was taken by the clarity and variety of the desert sunrise bird song. The birds were singing together weaving a fabric of organic music, familiar sounds from my youth growing up in Tucson."

"This recording marked the beginning of my travels with portable recording systems, collecting music and ambient sounds from around the world. That same year I traveled to Mexico for the November Saint Cecilia celebration in Puerto Vallarta. Saint Cecilia is the patron saint of musicians, and the city is filled with the sound of traditional Mexican music. After recording in Vallarta I traveled south by boat to visit the village of Yelapa. I took my recording gear into the jungle on a path that led from the village to the school house. Just after dawn I recorded the sounds of young children passing by on their way to the school with their melodious voices, a burro clopping along, village roosters crowing, jungle birds and the sound of the distant Yelapa surf. Upon reviewing that recording, I was taken by the immediacy, clarity of the recording and an emotional depth that it brought up in me. Listening to the Tucson and Yelapa recordings together I sensed these could be the foundation for a piece of music."

"Earlier in 1978 I had recorded myself in live performance using Kevin Braheny's 'Mighty Serge Synthesizer: Kevin's synthesizer had two Serge TKB (Touch Keyboard) sequencers. I played them against each other, one clocked while the other was both clocked and manual using the TKB's 'touch pads' I combined that recording with other Serge material, my own vocals and those of Marsha Lee, the natural ambient sound recordings from Tucson and Yelapa, and the piece "Morning" was born."

"A year earlier in 1977 I made recordings using a set of vibes with the 20 tone Eikosany tuning created/designed by Ervin Wilson. Recording the sound of the instrument using the fader of a microphone preamplifier to slowly swell in the resonance of the bar without the sound of the mallet striking the bar, the basic tones of "Jewel" were recorded. This recording was then slowed down several times and sequenced with the original resulting in a meditative musical passage. When I played the track for Marsha Lee, she began singing to it, composing an interlude with her voice. These elements became - Jewel."

"The album was recorded, mixed and mastered in analogue, released as a cassette and LP. The physical 'A' side and 'B' side of these formats lent themselves to the differences between the two pieces in content and sonics. Reworking the masters with today's amazing advanced digital audio technology, both in my studio here in Santa Fe and with the help of mastering engineer Bob Ohlsson in Nashville, created this new incarnation of Morning Jewel. The original recording and mix took on an exciting new life through this process."

"As I revisited this album in 2024, especially in retrospect, I am struck by how the orchestration of natural sound, vocals and synthesis still strikes a profound chord within me. It lends a deeper appreciation for the entire process of how organic and microtonal sound has informed my music. As I listen with ears fine-tuned by forty-five years of experience, my perspective is enlarged as the innate organic wisdom I am able to hear in Morning Jewel still rings true to make this my favorite album in my catalogue." - M

credits

released May 21, 2024

Music composed, performed and produced by Michael Stearns.
Vocals by Marsha Lee and Michael Stearns.
Mastering by Bob Ohlsson.
Cover Flower Mandala by Jeanette Stobie.
Artist photo by Ron Peterson.
Graphic redesign by Sam Rosenthal.
Eikosany rendering by Ervin Wilson.

Many thanks to the late Elliott and Marty Stearns, Susan Harper, Katja Biesanz, Kevin Braheny, Gary David, Ladd Allen Doane, Ervin Wilson and Joy Dyanne Stearns.

Published by Earth Turtle Music and Continuum Montage, BMI © 1979/2024 Michael Stearns

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about

Michael Stearns Santa Fe, New Mexico

Michael Stearns is a multi-genre music composer and soundtrack designer/producer. His credits include music for Ron Fricke's non-verbal 70MM films "Chronos", "Baraka" and "Samsara", music for NASA, Laserium, Disney films, HBO, ABC, PBS, BBC, Discovery Channel and James Cameron's "The Abyss", "Titanic" and "Avatar". Michael works in his studio "The Guest House", in Santa Fe, New Mexico. ... more

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