Music update: new website and albums!

Over the last year and a bit, I’ve been through a very productive and enjoyable period of music composition.

My last album, “A Change of Scenery“, was finished in November 2009. After that, I went for 5 years with very little interest in writing music. Some of this was because I was totally tied up with working in London – not to mention commuting.

It took until November 2014 to come up with the track that kick-started my return to music – the aptly named “November Dawn”. Since then, I’ve been putting the finishing touches to what was going to be my sixth album – a double album called “Parallel Paths”.

However, with such a large gap since my fifth album, along with a change in the style of music, it felt like a good opportunity to start over.

Introducing… GFD Music.

New music can be found under Albums, with the double album split into two “sister albums” – Symmetry 1, and Symmetry 2. A total of 22 new tracks are available to play or download.

There’s a music blog, a Soundcloud page for sharing individual tracks (although it’s not yet linked from the website), new graphics (album covers and track artwork), a Twitter account, and a Facebook page.

Please follow, listen, and spread the word if you like the music. Thank you!

New music uploaded in August 2015

Last month, I uploaded six tracks to SoundCloud. They are:

• Circumference (2015 remix) – which I shared on my blog recently. A remix of a track from a previous album, “Twice Midnight”.
• Crystallized – a synth-heavy piece.
• Fireflies – a full version of a demo I uploaded earlier in the year.
• Classic Case of Chaos – a very different style for me. I think it came out well.
• Late Summer Funk – funky stuff. Particularly pleased with this one.
• Epic Journey – hasn’t had much love yet. A progressive trance track that I think sounds great.

Updated November 2016: All of these tracks can be found on Symmetry 1 or Symmetry 2.

A Change of Scenery: getting my music back online

Over the last few years, I’ve probably spent more time reorganising my personal site than actually working on new material to put on the site. I was in a bit of a creative drought, and just wasn’t 100% happy with the various personal sites I’ve tried to put together over the last few years.

I’m hoping today’s efforts will be a foundation to build on, rather than something to tear down and rebuild later in the year. Check it out: Music by Ben Barden

That was the easy part. Here’s the fun part: A Change of Scenery

The music player uses the brilliant jPlayer, which I’ve added to the sidebar and used to make a playlist of all 20 tracks from that album.

An added bonus is that if you click one of the track names in the text on the left of the page, it’ll start playing that track. Also, if you grab the URL, it should have the track number in it – so if you come back to the page later, it’ll autoplay that track. Otherwise, it won’t play anything until you choose a track (or click Play to start track 1).

Hope you enjoy some of the tracks.