Free Music Archive - Oddio Overplay Blog

2011 Top 11 Songs Sung at Oddio Headquarters

2011-12-22T13:50:59-05:00

These are the eleven songs added to FMA in 2011 sung most this year at Oddio Headquarters.

Production Music from TSS Tortue Super Sonic

2011-11-20T15:04:17-05:00

TSS Tortue Super Sonic has released, exclusively at the Free Music Archive, a deluxe version of his album B with a few new titles. B was originally released last year as a gift to a limited audience of TSS fans.

This new 17-track album, B 2.0, is made up of production music, also known as stock music or library music, and is pre-cleared for use in video, radio and other media under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. The range of these TSS instrumental tracks includes spy movies, blaxploitation flicks, action scenes, and Westerns.

Give the album a listen to see how it might work for your A/V project. Enjoy the entire exclusive release here at the FMA, where you can also contact TSS for commercial use inquiries. A sampler of tracks from B 2.0 follows.

The Four Seasons of Vivaldi

2011-11-04T09:02:30-04:00

Composed in 1723, The Four Seasons (Le quattro stagioni) is a set of four violin concerti by Antonio Vivaldi. Some of the most beautiful music ever written, The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's most famous work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music. Brilliant violinist John Harrison performs on this gorgeous performance of Vivaldi's classic here at the Free Music Archive.

Carmina Burana

2011-06-06T17:43:25-04:00

Any fan of Hollywood soundtracks should know composer Carl Orff's Carmina Burana (album). Countless films and trailers employ it, especially the ominous first movement, "O Fortuna."

The Carmina Burana, or Codex Buranus, is a medieval manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts dating to about 1230 AD. Several more pages were bound with it into a small folder in the Late Middle Ages.

The authors were theological students who worked within and satirized the Catholic Church. They protested through song, poetry, and performance the growing contradictions within the Church, such as financial abuses and the failure of the Crusades. Pieces also address everyday subjects such as the "fickleness of fortune and wealth, the ephemeral nature of life, the joy of the return of Spring, and the pleasures and perils of drinking, gluttony, gambling and lust."

Juanitos Deliver Newest Party

2011-04-06T20:04:22-04:00

Every album by the French group The Juanitos is a party. The newest release, Welcome in the House of F.U.N., lives up to the band's party standards. Welcome in the House of F.U.N. delivers a sonic soul party, a vacation in the tropics, and time travel back to the swingingest '60s hot spots! There are even tips of the hat to the Chambers Brothers and Jimi Hendrix. Enjoy!

The Voice and Calm Power of Dr. Martin Luther King

2011-01-18T14:41:36-05:00

Today the U.S. nation celebrates the life and work of prominent civil rights activist, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Here are three speeches by Dr. King hosted by the Free Music Archive. The first is King's infamous "I Have a Dream" speech delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963.

The second is a speech given January 14, 1968, at a demonstration supporting anti-war activitists, including singer Joan Baez, imprisoned at the Santa Rita Prison in California. The recording of Dr. King's speech was produced by Colin Edwards for KPFA radio the day after the demonstration. (BB1460 Pacifica Radio Archives, CC by-nc-sa)

The third of King's speeches presented here is from March 16, 1968 at the event "Men and women in the arts concerned with Vietnam" in Los Angeles, California. The speech is prefaced by a six-minute introduction by novelist, playwright, and poet James Baldwin. The recording was made in the audience and aired on KPFK on April 4, 1968. (BB4661 Pacifica Radio Archives, CC by-nc-sa)

The Underappreciated Kinderklavier

2011-01-07T02:16:43-05:00

The toy piano is historically more than just a plaything. Quality toy pianos stay in tune, because they do not employ strings. Toy pianos offer a unique timbre unlike a piano and more like a celesta or a member of the harpsichord family. It is this unusual sound has been the key appeal to a small number of composers and performers through the centuries.

Voices of Christmas Past

2011-04-27T13:28:38-04:00

Twelve years ago, the vintage recordings website Dawn of Sound released a compact disc collection of public domain early recording artifacts called Voices of Christmas Past. The recordings were cylinders and acetates from 1898 to 1922. Every year after the release, the website was inundated with requests for the CD. Once it was out of print, Dawn of Sound released it online for free.

Apart from the religious material, there are some fun winter-themed treats, two pieces from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, and some spoken old time radio theatre selections.

Dawn of Sound writes:

The artists featured here were pioneer recordings artists whose names were well known in the era they lived. They helped start what is now known today as the record industry. They were popular artist in their time, and their records sold well in an era when movies were silent and radio and television did not yet exist.

Of all things Christmas nothing is more traditional than the singing of carols and songs....

2010 Gold

2011-01-07T11:33:18-05:00

After repeatedly playing FMA favorites in an attempt to list the top 10 tracks among those added to the archive this year, it was clear that there is just too much music worth celebrating at the FMA. The task soon morphed into praising the best five to ten selections for many genres in 12 mixes.

These are genre specific mixes showcasing recordings added to the Free Music Archive in 2010 that have been favorites at the Oddio Overplay headquarters this year.

Choice Cuts Added to the FMA in 2010: Oddio Overplay's picks across genres

Dempcy Drops In

2010-11-24T12:18:30-05:00

Composer, musician, engineer, and producer Jonah Dempcy has arrived at the Free Music Archive, and his body of work here runs the gamut from jazz, nu-jazz, hip hop, to house. Most of Mr. Dempcy's work is instrumental and very well suited to repurposing as soundtracks in video projects.

He made a splash in the world of copyleft licensing and free online music with his project Revolution Void several years ago. In Revolution Void, Dempcy combined electronic music with live modern jazz improvisation by both Dempcy and noteable jazz performers, such as Seamus Blake (Mingus Big Band), Matthew Garrison (Herbie Hancock), Lucas Pickford (Brian Blade), Dave Hill, Jr. (Jettatura), and James "Roto" Rotondi (The Grassy Knoll, Air). Four releases from that project are now on the FMA.

Other Jonah Dempcy projects have also been added. Dempcy's solo jazz piano album SYNCRETIC BELIEFS features his original modern jazz compositions. ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE OF WAX is a fun, beat packed album by The Insider, a hip hop project led by Dempcy. He is also half of the Seattle house duo UltraCat alongside Yuriko Miyamoto. Two UltraCat EPs can be found on the FMA now, as well.

Hiss, Crackle, Pop

2010-11-10T04:55:05-05:00

The release This Is The End, Beautiful Friend by File Under Toner is a public domain treasure trove of album noise for all artists wishing to add the authentic warm crackle of old recordings to their new works. These sounds were culled from the end of the groove of vinyl, acetate, and even cardboard records.

recording the silent final grooves of records. not so silent after all. playing them loud enough to capture the hiss, the pops, the clicks. adding a couple of digital delays, some EQ and filtering, a little reverb here and there… not much, really. it’s all in the records if you know where to listen....

if you have the means, stamp these tracks on a three sided LP. you will have three free extra end grooves, and a blank side to needle-surf.

Are the hiss, crackles, and pops on records protected by copyrights? This controversial project by File Under Toner (Anki Toner, founder of Hazard Records, the free public domain label) posed the question and got into some trouble.

photo: "Golden Turntable" by Neil Ian of Nimble Photography [license]

A Case for Free Music Sharing

2010-11-16T08:45:10-05:00

The Free Music Archive is now host to two CDs and a collection of bonus material by Sláinte, a group who are important in the history of online music sharing.

Sláinte (slawn-cha), Gaelic for "cheers" or "good health", was a Celtic band based out of Tacoma, Washington in the USA. The band serves as an early case study for the benefits of making music available for free online. Sláinte were one of the most downloaded artists on the original mp3.com, which was then a major site for free and legal music downloads. Their self-titled first album was available at mp3.com both for free and for sale, and they sold hundreds in a time when most did not yet trust online sales transactions.

Acoustic Guitar magazine writer Jeffery Pepper Rodgers interviewed Sláinte member Jean Huskamp in his cover story article "The World Wide Open Mic: A player's guide to the world of online music," in which he asks, "So how did this happen to a good but not highly unusual Celtic band that does no national touring?" To which Huskamp replied:

La Rainbow Toy Orchestra

2010-10-23T21:52:01-04:00

The common childhood belief that our toys come to life when we are not watching has now been proven. The toys have been recorded making their own music in the night.

La Rainbow Toy Orchestra 9-song release FAMILY ALBUM is now on the Free Music Archive.

Bach for Piano

2010-06-21T12:08:06-04:00

Brazillian pianist Felipe Sarro performs original works by German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as nine transcriptions of Bach's work for piano by Russian composer Alexander Ilyich Siloti. Sarro performed all pieces on a Grotrian-Steinweg Concertino piano.

There are over 1,000 known compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). The Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue) is a numbering system identifying his compositions. The prefix BWV, followed by the work's number is the shorthand identification for Bach's compositions. The works in the BWV are grouped thematically, not chronologically.

Sarro begins the CD with one of the six suites written for the clavier (harpsichord or clavichord) between 1722 and 1725 known as "The French Suites." The suite is followed by the Sinfonia No. 11 in G minor. It is part of the "Inventions and Sinfonias," a collection of 30 short keyboard compositions composed between 1685 and 1750, consisting of fifteen inventions (two-part contrapuntal pieces) and fifteen sinfonias (three-part contrapuntal pieces). They were originally written by Bach as exercises for the musical education of his students. He titled the collection:

"Honest method, by which the amateurs of the keyboard – especially, however, those desirous of learning – are shown a clear way not only (1) to learn to play cleanly in two parts, but also, after further progress, (2) to handle three obligate parts correctly and well; and along with this not only to obtain good inventions (ideas) but to develop the same well; above all, however, to achieve a cantabile style in playing and at the same time acquire a strong foretaste of composition."

Quite the title!

The Kazoo Funk Orchestra

2010-06-10T09:58:10-04:00

Glasgow has been a center of learning since the middle ages. It was the focus of the Scottish Enlightment in the 18th century. It has been the site of major leaps in engineering. It has been a city of fearless, forward thinking people for centuries. Glasgow's Kazoo Funk Orchestra approaches pop music with the same fearless Scottish method. They are a pop band having fun and inviting you in on the joke.

Fall in love with Scottish fearlessness -- even in pop music! Enjoy the albums MIDNIGHT FINGER PAINTER and ADVENTURES IN FUZZY FELT LAND in full here at the FMA.

Skapmat

2010-10-09T17:17:28-04:00

SKÅPMAT is a happy EP of instrumentals from Swedish producer Christian Björklund. It slips from dub beats into delicate minimal electronica effortlessly. Some of the tracks Björklund composed for a video game. All tracks are podsafe and are excellent radio beds.

Manguebeat from Mombojo

2010-06-08T09:29:44-04:00

The manguebeat movement is a cultural movement created circa 1991 in the city of Recife in Northeast Brazil as a response to the city's cultural and economical stagnation.

The original movement named itself mangue bit, "mangue" for Recife's mangroves and "bit" to the computer bit central to the movement's electronic music influences. Since then, mangue bit has been more commonly called manguebeat.

The stylistic origins of the music are in maracatu, punk rock, hip hop, samba, Brazilian folk music, and psychedelic rock. The first wave appeared in the 1990s. Mombojó is part of the second wave of the manguebeat movement. They were featured in MTV's coverage (Sintonizando Recife) of manguebeat along with fellow bands China and Maquinado.

Enjoy Mombojó's album NADADENOVO here at the FMA.

Love, Beats, and Pina Coladas

2010-06-05T11:13:08-04:00

One of the masterminds behind the Italian group A Smile for Timbuctu, master Digi G'Alessio is proving to be as prolific as a solo artist. He can pack a dance floor like nobody's business. LOVE, BEATS, AND PIÑA COLADAS is a downtempo album still packed with his fat beats.

Screamers and Fanfares

2010-12-19T08:29:46-05:00

Breathtaking feats of agility, strength, and acrobatics! Step right up and enjoy the sounds of the circus as performed by the Bensenville Municipal Band! Maestro Fred Lewis and his band take you to the big top to show you the clowns, the gravity-defying high wire act, and the ever popular sideshows!

This set of 25 circus pieces includes fanfares, overtures, and screamers. A screamer is a circus march, particularly an upbeat march intended to excite the audience during the show. Screamers were mostly composed in a 60-year period (1895 – 1955). Circuses were in need of music that would stir the audience into a frenzy.

This album might be well-suited to your audio and video projects, as it is shared with a Creative Commons Attribution license.

Enjoy CIRCUS RING CONCERT!

Rosevere Instrumentals

2010-05-27T12:52:32-04:00

Canadian artist Lee Rosevere has been riding on the crest of the free digital music wave for about as long as the web has been able to provide music files. Rosevere is a veteran artist on many netlabels and even operates his own quality and low key free netlabel, Happy Puppy Records.

Lee works in radio, and much of his instrumental album BACKTIME was originally composed for use as radio themes, underscores, or for "backtime." The latter is a term used by in the radio industry for background music programmed to finish at a set time. The tracks are made up of beats, samples, and electronic and live instrumentation.

The entire album is available at the FMA for free download. Enjoy it as a body of work or use it in your own projects.