SOLO
DISCOGRAPHY
CHAMBER WORKS was written and recorded in 2009 with additional instruments, mix, and master completed in 2019.
YEUX takes a modified wind ensemble with added string quartet through four different harmonic landscapes: varying diatonic/modal, a five note composite scale, whole tone, and diminished.
At its core, NEZ is 36 bars of a single line of music in 6/8 split into a hocket between two instrument groupings: violin 1 & viola and violin 2 & cello. The entire piece is broken into 4 sections: the first section introduces the initial harmonic structure with only pulsing piano and the singular sound of the Rhodes, vibraphone, and glockenspiel that will subsequently act as a greeting to each melodic phrase of the quartet. The second section welcomes violin 1 and viola whose negative space is inverted by the violin 2 and cello in the third section. The fourth sees all characters sharing the stage to complete the conceptional 36 bars together. NEZ vacillates between two key centers: Emajor and Bbmajor, occasionally letting Gbmajor slip in to provide a dark transition.
Playing on the idea of diads against a single drone note and how the upper/middle harmonic landscape can shift at the whim of the lower register, BOUCHE relies more on pulse, harmony, and timbre, than melody. Pizzicato strings and piano perform alongside a multitracked soprano vocal, disrupted on occasion by low sine waves generated by an OP-1, and eventually pummeled by a heavy-handed acoustic guitar, baritone guitar, and drum kit.
Against a loop of padding strings and ambient electric guitars, MAINS features a rhythmic interplay between a piano, marimba, vibraphone, timpani, and 808. Nearly a true process-based piece, it’s end point sees a 4 bar piano phrase in 4/4 time set against a 2 measure marimba/vibraphone phrase in 6/8 time. To get there, at the turn of each chordal movement in the piano/timpani/808, the vibraphone and marimba begin an augmenting dance, starting with a static quartet note pulse in the vibraphone with the marimba filling in the eighth note negative space behind it. This same conversation takes place between the two pitched percussion instruments, slowly augmenting the note durations in the vibraphone while the marimba fills in the negative space. At its apex, the vibraphone breaks from its augmented course and both it and the marimba cycle through the entirety of the final 6/8 phrase.
Released October 4, 2019
© Grid Paper Couch Music
Composed by Sean Morin
Produced by Sean Morin
Recorded and engineered by Noah Cole at various locations in 2009
Additional recording and engineering by Sean Morin at Hunton Studios in Auburn, ME
Jason Ward: clarinet
Ryan Zoidis: alto saxophone
Lucas Desmond: tenor sax
Noah Cole: trumpet, vibraphone, marimba
John Maclaine: trombone
Dave Noyes: trombone
Angela Doxsey: violin
Heather Kahill: violin
Anna Maria Amoroso-Noyes: viola
Tim Garrett: cello
Sara Hallie Richardson: soprano
Sean Morin: piano, Rhodes, glockenspiel, vibraphone, marimba, drum kit, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, baritone guitar, OP-1, programming (or all additional instruments)
Mixed by Noah Cole
Mastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering in Portland, Maine
Artwork layout by Kristyn Platt & Sean Morin
It’s a Car! by Sean Morin & Fort Gorgeous (aka Billy Libby) featuring Allie Moss, is an acoustic homage to youth and travel. Written by three younger artists, 9 years ago in a living room on the Western Promenade of Portland, ME while one sat on a couch, and the other two sat in chairs and all faced each other, writing/singing/playing the characters of even more youthful, bohemian children that delay the “real world” out of college, explore themselves and the country in a car, and eventually have to return home when they run out of money.
Released August 16, 2019
© Sean Morin Music 2019
Written and arranged by Sean Morin, Billy Libby, and Alyssa Spry
Produced by Sean Morin
Recorded and engineered by Sean Morin at Hunton Studios
Additional recording and engineering by Billy Libby & Allie Moss
Instruments performed by Sean Morin
Vocals performed by Sean Morin, Billy Libby, & Allie Moss
Mixed by Noah Cole
Mastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering in Portland, Maine
Graphic Design by Kristyn Platt
Music For Big Band is a commission based project between Portland, Maine's modern big band outfit, The Fogcutters and composer, Sean Morin. The piece sees the listener through 4 pluralist movements. The exposition, a tone poem of interwoven melodies and sound designed textures. The landscape shifts in the development to a polyrhythmic 4-over-3 section under lead saxophones and vintage synths. The subsequent scene follows a tenor sax improvisation by Gideon Forbes, culminating in a soli before the climactic movement. The unsettling epilogue, a waltz within the context of a smokey and airy lounge.
CREDITS
Released January 17, 2017
© Sean Morin Music 2017
Written and arranged by Sean Morin (BMI) for The Fogcutters
www.thefogcutters.com
Produced by Sean Morin
Recorded and engineered by Noah Cole and Pat O'Donnell at Stone Mountain
Arts Center for the Performing Arts in Brownfield, ME
Additional recording, programming, and engineering by Sean Morin at
Hunton Studios in Auburn, ME
Mixed by Jonathan Wyman at The Halo in Windham, ME
Mastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering in Portland, Maine
Artwork layout by Kristyn Platt for Hunton Design
www.huntondesign.com
Mai, Mai Variations N°1 by composer/multi-instrumentalist/producer, Sean Morin, is a marriage of acoustic pop, electronic, and chamber music with respectful nods to the height of the 1990's electronic movement (with artists such as Björk and Amon Tobin), 1960's minimalist composers (with artists such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass), and English/French lounge and minimalists hybrid groups (with artists such as Stereolab and Yo La Tengo). The album consists of short and repeated melodic phrases, dense chordal textures, as well as arching and hocketed vocal melodies. Morin crafts this music within the instrumental context of voice, string quartet, marimba, vibraphone, harp, trumpet, Rhodes, piano, Mellotron, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric bass, acoustic and electronic drums, and various synthetic programming.
CREDITS
Rereleased April 29, 2016
© Sean Morin Music 2016
All songs composed, recorded, and arranged by Sean Morin
Vocals on track 1 performed by Billy Libby courtesy of You Spelled Out Music (ASCAP)
Vocals on track 2 and 5 performed by Alyssa Spry
Vocals on track 3 performed by Sara Hallie Richardson (BMI)
All acoustic drums performed by DJ Moore
All bass performed by Stu Mahan
String quartet on tracks 1, 2, and 3 performed by Angela Doxsey on violin, Anna Maria Amoroso-Noyes on violin, Kallie Ciechomski on viola, and Emily Dix Thomas on cello
Violin on track 4 performed by Lauren Hastings Genova
Trumpet on track 5 performed by Mark Tipton
Cello on track 5 performed by Emily Dix Thomas
Additional engineering by Michael Flannery, Billy Libby, Alyssa Spry, Sara Hallie Richardson, and Stu Mahan
Mixed by Michael Flannery
Mastered by Michael Flannery at The Mastering Palace
Artwork by Kelly Rioux, Julia Wood, and Kristyn Platt
Additional Credits
SoundBites brings you true stories told live by local Mainers and nationally recognized tellers. The themes are always changing and the hosts are from all over the nation, but when you hear the name SoundBites, you're in for a unique storytelling experience.
SoundBites is made possible by the generous contributions of Allagash Brewing, Frontier Studios, the Press Hotel, Toad&Co, Downeast Pension Services, and by the listeners of Maine Public Radio.
More information about SoundBites, including how to attend a live storytelling event, is at https://www.mainepublic.org/programs/soundbites.
Available wherever you listen to podcasts.
"As with [Sara's] previous two albums, Phoenix is full of layers and layers of careful, exceptionally attractive sonic landscapes — from the striking string arrangements by co-producer Sean Morin on the title track courtesy of the Amarantos Quartet, to the percussive handclaps and samples on album closer “Reprise.” On “If You Asked Me” she uses vocal samples and alterations to great, unearthly effect. There’s some welcome dissonance on songs like “Green Gables,” which features some rumbling, Reznor-esque piano lines. This is a beautiful-sounding album, no doubt about it."
Emily Burnham, Bangor Daily News
CREDITS
Released August 28, 2015
All tracks written and arranged by Sara Hallie Richardson and Sean Morin
Lyrics written by Sara Hallie Richardson, except track 5 lyrics written by Sara Hallie Richardson and Dave Gutter
Additional part writing by Andrew Scherzer, Daniel Boyden, and Dj Moore
Produced by Sean Morin, Sara Hallie Richardson, and Noah Cole
Engineered by Noah Cole
Mixed by Jonathan Wyman at The Halo in Windham, Maine
Mastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering in Portland, Maine
Drums, percussion, piano, acoustic guitar, ukulele, and backing vocals recorded at Hearstudios in Camden, Maine on December 17-18, 2014 and January 4-5, 2015
Strings recorded at Hearstudios in Camden, Maine on May 3, 2015
Vocals recorded at The Studio in Portland, Maine on March 26-27, 29, and May 6-7, 2015
Bass and additional tracking recorded at Not My Dining Room Studios throughout the latter part of 2014 and early parts of 2015
Vocals performed by Sara Hallie Richardson
Drums and percussion performed by Dj Moore
Additional snare and cymbals performed by Noah Cole on tracks 2, 3, 4, and 6
Bass performed by Andrew Scherzer
String arrangements written by Sean Morin and performed by the Amarantos Quartet (Lauren Hastings Genova, violin; Meagan McIntyre, violin; Bryan Brash, viola; Hannah Schroeder Jackson, cello)
Guitars, piano, keyboards, and programming performed by Sean Morin, except track 7 additional keyboards performed by Tyler Quist
Artwork layout by Kelsey Munroe
Art direction by Sara Hallie Richardson and Sean Morin
Cover photo by LaurynSophiaPhotography
Billy Libby's first official release, Pitter Patter, is an introspective and subdued collage of musical snapshots, which capture both the heaviest and most whimsical moments of life. It is a culmination of years of songwriting and experimenting with multiple instruments and recording techniques. Having spent months simultaneously moving microphones, layering drums, and harmonies, he produced a record out of the nest of instruments he calls a bedroom.
CREDITS
Released September 20, 2011
All songs by Billy Libby except tracks 1,2 and 5 by Billy Libby and Erin Sprinkle
Engineered, Produced and Arranged by Billy Libby
Additional engineering, production and arrangement by Sean Morin
Mixed by Jonathan Wyman www.thissoundsgood.com
Mastered by Doug Van Sloun at Focus Mastering
Design and Layout by Robyn Kanner www.robynkanner.com
Cover art by Shannon Rankin www.artistshannonrankin.com
Copyright Billy Libby 2011
Published by You Spelled Out and Intrigue Music LLC
All rights reserved