Endless Roads by Lisa Bella Donna

EXTENSIVE LINER NOTES FOR EACH TRACK! (Just press the individual track or the "info" tab when hovering over the title)

ENDLESS ROADS
Full album Biography / History

This record, which in length spans out to an equivalent of 3XLPs. As a whole, is intended as a tone poem. it is also one of a few upcoming large scale releases I intend to make available this year.

If anything, just for archiving purposes, for perhaps my daughter in time to discover some of these sounds and liner notes I've included to highlight some of my intentions and process for each of them.
However, general listening pleasure is of course intended.
I wouldn't consider this one of my easier, interactive listening records. nor is it necessarily intended to be. Or maybe it is?
Adventure is out there...

For those of interest of taking these backroad passageways of music, I have included full liner notes for each track in this collection. Hopefully to give some background of the music and recording process.

The production of this music is a collection of vintage inspired,
lo-fi 4 channel tape recordings.
Some of the recordings are crude and some smoothed to a southern comfort.
Each of these pieces were commissioned for either silent film festivals, art installations, or cassette label comp/releases. Each composition possess the impressions of contrast within a portrait of darker, more dismal environments as well as beautiful and inspiring mountain passes.
Use of baron vintage optical tracks or blank acetates were used as the foundation for the length of the pieces.

Most of the recordings took place with recording engineer Joe Kelly
We assembled a unique vintage style studio consisting of only the following:

Tascam A 3340 4channel reel to reel recorder
2 Sansui QD/SD 5050 4 channel reel to reel recorders
Tascam 488 8 Channel cassette recorder
JC Pennys 8 Track cartridge recorder / receiver.
Tandberg 2 Track Reel to Reel & Marantz Mastering Cassette deck for mixing down the tracks.

A Tascam M216 16X4X2 mixing desk
ARP Minus Noise 8 channel Mixer
Urei 1178 & dbx 166 Compressers
Re 201 Space Echo & Echoplex delays
Biamp & ARP reverb tanks

Beyer Dynamic, Sony, & Altec Lansing microphones were used.

This cozy little setup made for some very interesting sounds and characters that this music very much needed. Much of the sessions were done interpolating each of the 4 channel tape recorder and then orchestrating live to 2-track. often orchestrating along with each bouncing session.

Some of the instruments used were:

Mellotron M400 / M4000
ARP 2600 System / ARP Sequencers
Moog Modular System / Moog Sequencers
ARP String Ensemble
Hammond M3 Organ & Leslie Cabinet
Fender Rhodes Electric Piano
Farifsa Syntorchestra
Slingerland Drums & Zildijian Cymbals
Custom 8 Track tape systems with custom made tapes (orchestrations of classical session musicians listed in the credits, synthesizers, percussion and field recordings).
Kapp Acoustic guitar
Selmer flute & french horn
Handheld Sony vari-speed cassette recorder
Various Gongs, Chimes, percussion, found objects.
Zenith Televison / VCR
Bell & Howell 16mm Film Projector
Bunn-O-Matic professional coffee maker

Lisa Bella Donna is an internationally acclaimed composer, recording artist, modular synthesist & clinician.

lisabelladonna.com