SoundClick artist: Colin R MacRae - Diverse mood music also using Latino, Arabic, and Oriental influences.

My name is Colin R MacRae. I record my own music in my own apartment using my Yamaha CP300 keyboard and some fairly primitive recoding gear, doing no more than 2 tracks, ie playing live over a track that I have played and saved in my keyboard. I listen to all kinds of music and can play many different genres. Oddly it seems my best songs do not resemble anything that I have heard before, so in that sense it is original. My second CD, not yet released, is called Beautiful Ghosts. I have written a couple of film scores, as I seem to have an uncanny ability of coming up with what the director wants - the mood or setting, going on only the directions from the director.

Do you play live?

I do play live. When I was young I toured around in bands. Now I fly solo. Currently I play at a place called Atlantic News on Queen Street, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I use the same keyboard that I compose and record on, and I am encouraged by the owner and the staff to play all original music. So for hours I will invent music and play songs that I have recorded. My first CD, Pilgrim's Cloak is promoted and sold there. I love playing live, interacting and chatting with the people as they come and go.

How, do you think, does the internet (or mp3) change the music industry?

This is my first time on the net.

Would you sign a record contract with a major label?

Don't know.

Band History:

See above.

Your influences?

I listen to all kinds of music, and can play live many different genres. Oddly, it seems my best songs don't resemble anything I have heard before, so in that sense, I guess they are quite original. I have been inspired by the artist Vangelis because all of his music is instrumental and keyboard related.

Favorite spot?

I really love Montreal. They is a vibrant music scene there, and the city is so alive and unique. I have visited Toronto, and was recorded live there on a grand piano in the most exquisite theater. That session was called "Nick's Cafe" and I have not as yet released that material.

Equipment used:

I use a CP300 Yamaha Stage Piano. It is a big keyboard - too large for a traditional keyboard stand, 88 weighted keys - incredible piano sound as well as other features, such as jazz organ, strings, vibes, etc. But it is not a synthesizer. I find that it has just enough sounds to be creative with, and a far superior quality of sound, both recorded and live, than most synthesizers.

Anything else...?

As I continue to learn more about the recording progress, I would like to use synths to augment my music and create a bigger and more versatile sound. I am currently working with an amateur film group doing "The Black Cat" - an Edger Alan Poe story. Prior to this, I did a soundtrack for a very dark, but profound, documentary "Requiem for a Drug" for an extremely talented film maker, Nicholai Efimov. Nicholai is a graduate of cinematography from Ryerson University in Toronto, and it was Nicholai who recorded me live in Toronto. During the recording of my first CD "Pilgrim's Cloak", I did a soundtrack for an animated alien movie, for multimedia artist Ryan Neilly from Halifax, Nova Scotia, where I now live and work.

Fans

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