Hello Everyone, As we get ready to take a break for Christmas , I thought I would share one of the projects I worked on this semester. It is a relaxation album specifically for mothers and children , but it also is very relaxing for just about anyone. There is a free download of the entire album here : http://www.easyeartraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/RelaxationPlayer/ Angels Take Flight The flowing rhythms and melodies of the marimba embrace you and your child in a warm auditory embrace. Fluid melodies, repeating, enclosed within circles of luscious synthesized chords, send you into a heavenly realm of sweet slumber. Eva Sleeps Tonight The simple melody of the lullaby, sparse and innocent, conjures up feelings and emotions associated with sleep and childhood. Single notes play together like children. Before the Dawn Soothing arpeggios and orchestral strains greet your ears with pleasing chords and a melody that wanders and wavers...

Twentieth Century composer Alan Hovhaness composed a work called "And God Created Great Whales". I remember hearing this work for the first time in elementary school. The now-defunct Florida Philharmonic had an open dress rehearsal for local schools and the performance was magnificent. They had a video with whale sounds that played during the concert. I was young then, but I never forgot that performance! The composer uses the instruments of the orchestra and real whale sounds to create the sonic environment of whales at sea. If you listen to this composition, about 3:30 into the video, the sounds of actual whales are incorporated into the work. How does the timbre, pitch, and rhythms of the actual whale sounds compare to the sounds of the orchestra? What instruments does Hovhaness use to add to the sounds of the whales?