THE BEST OF DANNA & CLÉMENT

In 1983, two Canadian composers from very different musical backgrounds quietly released a self-produced album entitled A Gradual Awakening. With this release the artists single-handedly created a distinctly Canadian ambient music. The music that followed on the albums, Summerland and Another Sun expanded on this tradition. These three albums are now coveted as “cult classics” by electronic and ambient music aficionados from around the world since all of Danna and Clément’s early music has gone out of print.

Tim Clément, who grew up in northern Quebec, has always felt a deep connection to the land and this is reflected in the numerous compositions he has written which employ environmental sounds to great effect. Mychael, a native of Toronto, originally trained as a classical pianist but later moved into ambient music after meeting Tim. His contributions to this collaboration lend an air of formalism rarely found in ambient music. They hold a strong belief that music has a profound effect on all aspects of our lives -- physical, emotional and spiritual. Their approach uses partially structured and partially improvised elements to create original compositions which maintain the vital elements of chance and surprise.

Mychael and Tim spent most of the summers of 1984 and 1985 on a remote farm in the isolation of the Ontario wilderness composing and recording. Known as “Setle”, the now-abandoned farmhouse was originally built by Polish settlers at the turn of the century and was a hippie commune in the 1960s. Situated deep in the woods, “Setle” was without electrical power during their stay, so much of their work involved using power from a generator positioned 400 hundred feet away and connected by a series of long extension cords. By taking this unique approach and by integrating outdoor sounds recorded at these and other remote locations, Danna and Clemént were able to create an uplifting form of ‘natural ambient music’ that expresses the profound beauty and solitude of the Canadian environment.

A special note needs to be made about the remastering process for this reissue. Every effort was made to locate the original masters for each track on this album. In some cases we even went back to an antique digital format used in the eighties by Sony called an “F1”. We were lucky to locate a machine that still worked and would still play these masters without any dropouts. The result we feel is truly the best of Danna and Clément.

Stephen Bacchus 1999.

(1) Summerland
Recorded in the summer of 1984, near Maynooth. This track with its multi-tracked, shimmering sequences from the Korg Poly-Six synthesizer evokes the timeless repose of an endless summer. Originally titled “Hours In The Garden”, this later became the title track of the first Danna & Clément CD of the same name.
Synthesizers: Korg Polysix, Yamaha DX7
Environmental Sounds: Song sparrows

(2) Persia
Recorded in the summer of 1985 at Setle. The reference to the ancient Middle Eastern empire is due to the fact that the artists had received a tape of Persian songs from fellow Canadian composer and sound explorer, R. Murray Schafer. One of the songs from this tape was slowed down, rearranged backwards and then used as one of the bedtracks for composing this track.
Sampler: Ensoniq Mirage
Sound effects: Persian wedding song by unknown composer

(3) Aurora Borealis
Recorded near Maynooth in the summer of 1985.
During the years that Tim lived in the Maynooth area, he saw the aurora borealis on many nights. Recording the frog songs was a difficult undertaking. It involved the artists carrying in an 80-pound Revox A700 tape machine, an electric generator, microphones and hundreds of feet of extension cords to an isolated marsh. Add to this the fact that this was all done in pitch darkness and that the mosquitoes were particularly intense.
Synthesizers: Yamaha DX7
Instruments: Bowed guitar • Environmental Sounds: Spring peeper frogs

(4) Water
Recorded at “Setle” near Maynooth, spring 1983.
Instruments: Autoharp (with keys removed), Revox A77s with Tape Loops
Environmental Sounds: Stream sounds recorded 5:30 a.m. at “Setle”

(5) A Gradual Awakening
Recorded in Burlington 1981.
This piece probably more than any other is synonymous with the Danna & Clément writing team. Inspired in part by Stephen Levine’s book of the same name, not only was this the title of their first seminal album but it also appeared as a bonus track on their first CD release Summerland (Chacra 1986). In a rare live concert in 1993 this was performed as one of the central works.
Instruments: Revox A77s with Tape Loops
Synthesizers: Korg Polysix, Korg PS 3200

(6) To The Land Beneath The Waves
Recorded in Toronto and near Maynooth from 1985 to 1986.
This magnum opus is the pinnacle of Mychael Danna’s and Tim Clément’s early collaborations. Divided roughly into three large movements, this complex work took over a year to compose and assemble. Tim spent several months recording the multi-layered environmental soundtrack that was to accompany the music. The location for this soundscape of surf, buoy bells, gulls and children playing was the unique parkland of the islands off Toronto’s harbour in Lake Ontario. Mychael and Tim worked on the main body of the music in Toronto and also continued working summers in Maynooth. During this period, Tim also lived on the islands and much of his travelling between home and the mainland contributed to the inspiration for this piece and its title. The final mix involved nearly forty tracks of music utilizing one 4-track and two 8-track reel-to-reel tape machines, along with a number of midi keyboards. Several attempts were necessary to get just the right mix since it was all done live to tape.
Synthesizers: Yamaha DX7, ARP 2600, Ensoniq Mirage Sampler
Environmental Sounds: Lake Ontario surf, buoy bells, gulls, children sounds and cathedral bells*
*Cathedral Bells courtesy of R. Murray Schafer

“We need a quiet music, a spiritual music, a music which binds us to the world of nature and of the soul. The music of Danna and Clément speaks of these things and speaks persuasively.”
R. Murray Schafer

$7.98 USD $0.99 USD/ track

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