weaving words sculpting sound

this temple eden

  • Wheel of the Year

    Wheel of the Year

    The seasons come and the seasons go, just as it ever was. Earth orbits around the sun, the moon around this little planet, life ebbs and flows. We mark this in seasons, in stages, in festivals. This is my sculpted sound celebrating the Wheel of the Year as imagined and realised by this temple eden.

    A crescendo of simple, melodic soundscapes that capture the ecstasy of the seasons and festivals in the Wheel of the Year.
    Explore the thinness of Samhain, of reaching through the veil, of being the closest to the other side, the liminal, a threshold.

    Feel the hibernating, yet beating heart of the Winter Solstice. Beneath our feet life lies dormant, awaiting and biding its time. It prepares for birth, gestating while the darkness prevails.

    It is time. Life is ready. The first tentative glimpses of light and life. Seek the blessing of Imbolc for the future, for the harvest, for life itself.

    A state of balance, equality. The Spring Equinox when light and dark stand together. At Spring the direction is forward, toward abundance, toward the light. The innocence of childhood and the exuberance of youth are held in check, before life’s biggest change.

    Be possessed by the energy of Beltane the fire dance. Life in all its abundance, finding its path. Embrace change, embrace growth, toward fulfilment, toward promise.

    Magnify the zenith of the Summer Solstice, as the light reaches its most powerful. Feed from the riches of the celestial energy. Bask in the bounty as darkness recedes to its bit part.

    The gift of the land is an echoed refrain from the sowing of the seed. As Lammas brings a harvest of plenty. The light has provided and now as custodians we reap what we have sown. We are mindful that resources are limited, and a finite gift should be distributed wisely.

    Finally, once again, we return to a state of balance at the Autumn Equinox. Light and dark again stand side by side. However, at autumn we are falling back. Our journey is toward the dark. We begin to clear away, to store, to bring inside. The leaves are about fall. The Wheel of the Year will turn again, but for this final moment, all is balanced.

    The Wheel of the Year is available on Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming services. I hope you enjoy it.

    Darren Hill

  • Final mixing moments…

    … a new collection of music is almost with us.

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  • Music to Journal by is released

    Music to journal by is both a soundtrack to accompany your own journaling practice and a musical soundscape exploring the creative journal process in four movements.

    Music to Journal by is a musical journey, an odyssey through the creative process. Now creativity is never set and can take many forms. The process can be complex and varied or simple and straightforward. But I distilled stages that I find often repeated in my own creative process into the four steps presented here. I then sought to express these steps as musical soundscapes.

    It begins with confusion and stubbornness as you come face to face with the blank page. Overcome adversity the blank page. Emotions, doubts, fears, and dreams all seek purchase in a cacophony of conflicting thoughts. To start or not. To create or not. The first mark, the first word, the first note… when will they appear. Turn up, and overcome adversity.

    We demand inspiration as we go through the Invocation of the Muse. We summon forth in rituals, words, and laments. We seek the muse through dreams, pilgrimages and actions. Sometimes we just need to be still. He, she, they may be there, waiting for us to give them space to inspire. Seek and ye shall find, if you have ears, listen.

    At some point in the creative process, we find ourselves in a creative flow. Words, brush strokes or melodies are poured out. The creative dam breaks as we Let art Emerge. Time can find little meaning here, minutes or hours may pass in the seeming blink of an eye, or flourish of pen.

    At some point, time does become a thing again. At some point, we realise we have our creation. Our canvas, our words, our score; your art, your page, your music is complete, this is the time to rest to breathe. Exhale. It is created.

    This is Music to journal by. This is my creative process. This is my musical interpretation of that process, my soundscape. I share it with you and pray it may resonate with you on your own creative process. Art can heal, I offer a little musical medicine.

    Stream here

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  • Two albums now on Spotify and Apple

    Two albums of ambient instrumental music are now available on Spotify, Apple Music, and a whole host of other streaming services. Transformation and freedom and Pilgrimage and possibilities have been released for you to listen to or buy on your preferred music venue.

    You can listen to the albums below or use the links beneath the players to go to this temple eden’s pages.

    this temple eden on Spotify

    this temple eden on Apple Music

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  • Protomatic Renaissance

    Protomatic Renaissance single cover

    Protomatic Renaissance, the new EP Single from This Temple Eden, is now available. It contains two songs, Love in a Modern Style and That Polaroid, and an instrumental Entropy.

    Listen to Protomatic Renaissance on your favourite music platform

    The muse inspired me with three ideas. A story of love on a budget. A photograph of a couple in love taken before the relationship fell apart. A melody that made me feel happy despite its minor chords and melancholy. Alongside these inspired moments was an idea to produce a collection of music paying tribute to the songs I loved as a teenager. The versions on the EP are inspired by the albums The Golden Age of Wireless by Thomas Dolby, Metamatic by John Foxx and The Pleasure Principle by Gary Numan

    Love in a Modern Style

    Love in a Modern Style is a soap opera snapshot. A couple in love struggle with money, getting older and the uncertainty of not having enough money to buy their own home. However, they are committed to each other. The version on Protomatic Renaissance owes a musical debt to Weightless from Thomas Dolby’s The Golden Age of Wireless.

    That Polaroid

    That Polaroid captures a couple in love. The image of a photograph is a literal snapshot of life. A captured moment that doesn’t explain either what came before or what comes after. There are many photographs of couples in love; couples that are no longer together. Can anything be seen in those photographs? The songs sound is unashamedly in the debt of Underpass and other John Foxx tracks on Metamatic.

    Entropy

    Entropy is a melody that I enjoyed playing. I felt happy playing it and hearing it in previous demo versions. I am fascinated by the science of entropy and my generation x stubbornness rails against it. So much that my personality split and created my musical alter-ego entropicon: the icon fighting entropy. This version shows my love of the lush analogue synth strings and portamento of early Gary Numan. Its arrangement paying homage to Airlane and Metal from Numan’s The Pleasure Principle.

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