News

February 6, 2021

2020 releases on Bandcamp, iTunes, Kunaki and other services.

Haunting Hogmanay Harmonies.

Clients Liz, Mary, George

The Sultan's Retreat.

...and the Sultana.

Julie and Steve (Ann & Frank) enjoy an evening in their studio. Synthetic sequences and percussive explorations are created in real time, in the moment.

Interspersing 1928 footage from the Internet Archive (archive.org) by SY Showkett of Mesopotamia Studios, and a brief home movie clip, homage is paid to Julie's middle eastern heritage.

Written in 1984, Bopf was our son Nick's first word. Bottle.

Ann & Frank recreate it live in the studio.

December 17, 2019

Feeling grateful around Thanksgiving, three recording sessions of improvised meanderings and explorations on the

Rhodes Suitcase piano and Deepmind 12 synthesizer resulted in the album, "Rhode Sketches."

This track, Glow Lights, is accompanied by videos from my vault. Fingers create and imagination reacts.

Exploring what the knobs and sliders do, in real time, in my slippers.

I call this piece, Jerry.

The Spanish Inspiration

"This collection is the best yet! Congratulations and respect to you both."

Nobody expects The Spanish Inspiration.

Synths, pads, percussion, sequences and field recordings make up this compilation of sounds from Andalusia.

Southern Spain is a favorite destination of Julie and I. Fourteen years of visiting the region confirms our love for it's friendly people, natural beauty and deep cultural history. Compiling this collection helps to keep us warm and wanting more during our cold winters in Wisconsin.
We hope you enjoy.

Credits

released 28 December 2013

Dark Crown Music

Steve Duff - synths
Julie Duff - percussion
Church of San Migel - bells
Balcon de Europa - gypsy musicians
Calle Malaga, Nerja - birds
Frigiliana - tablas and traffic
Cordoba - girl
Costa del Sol - waves
Granada - children
Sevilla - conversations

"Wondrous synthesizer melodies stretching out to the sky, a very heartful music that flows crazily beautiful."

Jaja - Relaxed Machinery.com

It has only taken me nine months to conceive and prepare this collection for publication, which isn't too bad considering how long other projects have been "in the works". Life and time does not always permit the opportunities to spend with what is primarily a hobby at this moment.

2012 came to be strictly as an organizational tool in a series of folders on a removable USB hard drive. Not having any musical goal whatsoever in that year, other than experimentation and expression through sound, the album turned out to be the rationalization for this release. Some tracks are one take "jams", a few were partially planned and still others were built slowly... then left for dead.

Several started off with different ideas and titles, but eventually progressed into their final state, usually by accident. Six landed up as the basis for videos (links are provided for their viewing).

All of the music has a personal connection and reason for it's existence to me, but no associating theme to each other, so I lumped them all together and called them 2012 in honor of the folder.

There's also a 2011 and 2013 folder. That gives me another idea...

credits

released 17 September 2013
Dark Crown Music