# My synthesizer arrangement of Holst's Planets



## mleghorn (May 18, 2011)

Hi everyone,

I'm working on an album of The Planets, arranged for synthesizer. I expect to be finished by April next year. So far I've completed Mars and Mercury, which you can hear here:


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https://soundcloud.com/mike-leghorn%2Fmars


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https://soundcloud.com/mike-leghorn%2Fmercury

I hope you enjoy, and your comments are welcome!

Thanks, 
Mike


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Listening to Mars right now...thanks, Mike...I look forward to the rest...love it so far.

I am a huge fan of the Carlos', Don Dorsey and Isao Tomita so this is right up my alley.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

That is awesome! Thanks. It kind of gives the finger to those who think they hate synths doesn't it?


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## PostMinimalist (May 14, 2008)

You are the new Keith Emmerson! Great use of the synths capabilities, though at the beginning I was finding it to close to the original later on I was completely won over by the synth sound! Bloody well done, mate!
FC


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## mleghorn (May 18, 2011)

Weston said:


> That is awesome! Thanks. It kind of gives the finger to those who think they hate synths doesn't it?


Thanks so much for that compliment Weston! Since I've started playing with synthesizers a few years ago, I was frustrated by how inferior they were to acoustic instruments played by real musicians. Since then, my goal has been to somehow make synthesizer music that sounds musical. I discovered Tomita a few months ago, and was impressed by how expressive his synthesizer renderings were, which helped me realize that it is actually possible to make synthesizers sound musical.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Got your Soundcloud page bookmarked too, and will explore it soon.


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## mleghorn (May 18, 2011)

kv466 said:


> Listening to Mars right now...thanks, Mike...I look forward to the rest...love it so far.
> 
> I am a huge fan of the Carlos', Don Dorsey and Isao Tomita so this is right up my alley.


Time for an update: I've also completed Jupiter and Venus.

Here's what I have now:

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https://soundcloud.com/mike-leghorn%2Fsets

Mike


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## Bagnew (Jan 22, 2012)

Hi Mike,
It sounds fantastic! I love the synthesizer as an instrument, and it was introduced to me by Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds - the blend of rock rhythm section, synths and classical strings is brilliant!
I particularly like your arrangement of Venus. It reminds me of WOTW in a few places, and while still immediately recognisable as Holst, it has a beautiful, haunting and ethereal quality to it, like the original, but more "alien", if you will - it definitely feels Venusian to me!

Great job!

Brendan


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## mleghorn (May 18, 2011)

Bagnew said:


> Hi Mike,
> It sounds fantastic! I love the synthesizer as an instrument, and it was introduced to me by Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds - the blend of rock rhythm section, synths and classical strings is brilliant!
> I particularly like your arrangement of Venus. It reminds me of WOTW in a few places, and while still immediately recognisable as Holst, it has a beautiful, haunting and ethereal quality to it, like the original, but more "alien", if you will - it definitely feels Venusian to me!
> 
> ...


Hi Brendan,

Thanks so much for taking the time to listen and give feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I can't wait to be done with this project. I'm working on Uranus now.

Mike


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## mleghorn (May 18, 2011)

I've just completed Uranus:

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https://soundcloud.com/mike-leghorn%2Furanus

Now it's on to Saturn!

Mike


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## mleghorn (May 18, 2011)

Just finished Saturn:

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https://soundcloud.com/mike-leghorn%2Fsaturn

Just one more planet to go: Neptune.


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

Hi Mike
Just listened to your "suite" very impressive.
A different approach.
I'll be interested to hear your next project
Keep up the good work


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