A Gradual Awakening

The evolution of a classic

First conceived in 1982, this true lost classic of gentle electronic environmental music was inspired in part by Tim moving north to the Madawaska Valley of Ontario. Encircled by one of the oldest glacial mountain ranges in the world, the rugged landscape is dotted with pristine lakes and deep north woods. It provided both the muse and the solitude Tim and Mychael needed to bring forth, in an unhurried and uncluttered manner, their unique music, infused with the natural ambience around them. With town names like Maynooth, Maple Leaf and Killaloe, the Madawaska region in the early 1980s was still a frontier wilderness. Only in such a time and place could the music of
A Gradual Awakening have evolved.

1. Lydian Lights
Based on the ancient Lydian scale mode. To create this work Tim set up a tape loop delay system using two Revox reel-to-reel tape machines with a delay of 4 1/2 seconds between the record head of the first machine and the playback head of the second. The duo stopped playing at 5:42, walked away from their instruments, and let the tape delay system assume a life of its own, until it gradually decays over a minute later at 6:53. The same system is used on When the Earth Weeps and A Gradual Awakening.
Recorded on New Year's Day, 1980 at Casa Mama studio in Burlington.
Instruments: Synthesizers - Korg MS20, Korg PS 3200

2. When The Earth Weeps
At the 1981 Killaloe Folk Festival Tim met Dario Domingues, who gave Tim a recording of his haunting Andean flute music. Tim and Mychael liked Dario's work so much that they composed this classic track around a recording of his flute playing.
Instruments: Synthesizers - Korg MS20, Korg PS 3200, Les Paul Guitar, tape loops
Dario Domingues - Andean flute

3. Ontario
Recorded in spring, 1981, when Tim was living at his 600-acre
wilderness homestead near Maple Leaf, Ontario. On one of Mychael's
visits they ventured out in the evening and recorded the spring peepers that make up the "bed" of this track. On their return Mychael went to the keyboard and composed the main theme. Later Tim added "slowed-down" white-throated sparrows, loons and chimes to the final mix.
Instruments: Synthesizer - Korg PS 3200, chimes
Environmental sounds: spring peepers, white-throated sparrows & loons

4. Sudden Night
Recorded at Casa Mama using "stubby" Canadian beer bottles, at
½-speed. The owl sounds were recorded in Ontario's Algonquin Park.
Instruments: seashell & brass chimes, beer bottles
Environmental sounds: owls

5. Ice And Air
Recorded near Maynooth on a crisp, icy and blustery afternoon in February 1981.
Synthesizers: Ensoniq (?), Korg PS3200

6. Chrysolite
Chrysolite, also known as peridot, is a semi-precious stone. It was often worn by people in the Middle Ages, who believed it endowed them with foresight and divine inspiration.
Guitar recorded at Mychael’s studio in Dundas, Ontario
Tim Clément: Les Paul guitar Mychael Danna: Korg PS3200

7. Waterscape
Recorded at "Setle" farm in the spring of 1983 near Maynooth, where Tim lived with no hydro and only an artesian well for water. The stream sounds were recorded at 5:30 a.m. by running a 300-foot extension cord from a gas-powered generator in the barn.
Instruments: Autoharp with keys removed, tape loops

8. 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, this title track was performed live in 1993 during a rare Danna & Clément concert.
Mychael Danna: Synthesizers
Tim Clément: Synthesizers, guitar, auto-harp, tape loops

9. Summer Last Words (Excerpt from “The Seasons”)
Bonus track from the one-sided LP “The Danna & Clément White Album” recorded in 1977. Transferred direct to digital from the vinyl LP using a Marantz compact flash recorder. Please note: Some minor surface noise can be heard but the fullest audio spectrum has been preserved.
Instruments: Synthesizer- Maxi-Korg, Guitar through a Big Muff and an echoplex, Mellotron loop (by Dave Beare & Mychael Danna)
Evnvironmental sounds: Loons from Algonquin Park, Canada

Thanks to Dario Domingues, Ethan Edgecombe, Stephen Hill, Dave Beare, Rene, Clara and Tom Clément, Daver Faber, Larry Potvin, Gary Spearin and the late Anna Turner, whose poetic words on the tray of this reissue appeared originally in the liner notes for the 1984 Fortuna Records cassette.

Photography/writing/graphic design & executive producer: Grant Mackay
Grant Mackay wishes to thank Mychael & Tim, MaryAnne Mackay and all of the Danna & Clément fans for helping keep this music alive.

Artists’ photo taken in 1981 • Editorial support: Claire Mackay

This album is dedicated to the birth of Tim’s son Joda Clément, 1981

Track Listing

1 Lydian Lights 6:53
2 When The Earth Weeps 4:39
3 Ontario 7:30
4 Sudden Night 2:11
5 Ice and Air 5:06
6 Chrysolite/Waterscape/A Gradual Awakening 16:22
7 Summer Last Words 5:30

Total Time 48:17

$10.98 USD $0.99 USD/ track

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