One
of the most prolific and innovative composers
of our time, world renowned Guitarist and
Composer George Bellas presents his latest
instrumental album "Planetary Alignment".
This album is so uniquely crafted that most
listeners will find many composition elements
they have never heard before. The style
of the album is extremely modern and very
progressive, it does not contain any neoclassical
songs that George Bellas is also reputable
for, but the album stays completely within
the progressive realm.
As
usually the case on George Bellas releases,
George composed everything one note at a
time and performed all of the instruments,
plus had Drummer extraordinaire Marco Minneman
perform the drum parts. Marco's drum performance's
are nothing short of awe inspiring. The
time signatures and rhythms contained on
the album are extremely complex which Marco
brought to life with his organic and immaculate
drumming style. Leading guitar virtuoso
George Bellas is back with his most modernly
progressive solo album to date - expect
the unexpected.
The
concept and inspiration behind Planetary
Alignment was the science of astrophysics.
Each song was based on a particular subject
ranging from the smallest matter known to
man, to the largest and distant most objects
in the universe. The goal was to compose
ultra-modern music using scales, chords
and rhythms not heard too often in music.
The main interval the songs are all based
on is the Tritone, with the root tone as
middle C. It is quite a mystery where inspiration
comes from when one is creating music, and
it seems to only all come together when
one is well practiced, emotions are stirring
and the planets are aligned.
COMPOSITION
ELEMENTS
CHORDS - Bitonal, Tritonal, Quartal, Quintal,
Secondal, Pyramid Chord, Scriabin's Mystic
Chord, Vienesse Trichords, Mother Chord,
Grandmother Chord, Split Note Chords, Chord
of the Minor23rd and more.
RHYTHM - Odd Meters, Polyrhythms, Polymeters,
Pyramid Rhythms, Fibonacci Number Series
Meters, Contracting and Expanding Meters
and more.
SCALES - Numerous (no name) scales from
Nicolas Slominski's Thesaurus, Scale of
A. Therepin, Verdi's Enigmatic, Wholetone,
HalfWhole, Pentatonics, Melodic Minor Modes,
Harmonic Major and many more.
Planetary
Alignment was initiated using only rhythmic
motives, and then later on scale choices
were determined while composing the melodic
and harmonic content. Most of the musical
elements appearing on this album have never
been used on previous George Bellas albums
and offer a very fresh, ultra-modern sound.
Most
all of the compositions revolve around a
Middle C root while employing various tritone
based elements. The production on the album
was kept dry and natural sounding, with
effects used quite sparingly.
Expect the unexpected and enjoy listening
to what may be the most progressive release
by George Bellas.
Color
By Numbers
This song was the start of creating numerous
rhythmic motives and then adding notes (color)
to the motives. This method was then used
for the entire album.
This song contains many improvised guitar
solos and has some nice dynamic contrast
between the various sections.
GUITARS USED: Stratocaster
Encoded
In Light
This song's concept was inspired by the
idea of photons and what type of information
can presently, and may in the future, be
sent through this fastest known particle
to man. We are currently using light to
transmit sights and sounds, but perhaps
in the future an entire DNA strand.
GUITARS USED: Stratocaster
Subatomic
Particles
This song's concept was inspired by the
smallest bits of matter known to mankind.
Everything we know of in the universe contains
these essential, tiny building blocks of
matter. What is keeping it all together,
and why isn't it all flying apart like the
large objects in the universe?
GUITARS USED: Stratocaster, Baritone Guitar
New
Worlds Discovered
This song's concept was inspired by the
thought of discovering new worlds inhabited
by intellegent beings. The fact that there
are billions of other galaxies which harbor
their own countless planets makes it seem
that if we are the only ones in the universe
that there is a lot of wasted space out
there. Thanks to Carl Sagan.
GUITARS USED: Flying V
Parallel
Universe
This song's concept was inspired by the
idea that our known universe is one of many
that are differentiated by unique actions
we all choose to make. These implications
are supported by factual astronomical observations.
Is there another you?
GUITARS USED: 7-String & Stratocaster
Overlapping
Dimensions
This song's concept was inspired by the
fact that Scientists are finding evidence
of extraterrestrial presence in higher dimensions
all around us even overlapping our immediate
environment overlapping the Physical Universe.
The idea is that our real being exists in
a higher dimension and interacts with the
visible one we know of.
GUITARS USED: Flying V
Escape
Velocity
This song's concept was inspired by the
amount of energy that is required to escape
an object's gravitational force. The amount
of velocity required to leave Earth is much
less than one would need to escape the force
of much larger objects, and ultimately no
velocity that can escape a black hole.
GUITARS USED: Les Paul
Gravitons
This song's inspiration is drawn from the
particles that carry the gravitational force.
Gravitons are supposedly massless particles,
which would travel only at the speed of
light. When these particles were intercepted,
and re-exchanged, gravity would be the intended
result. A Graviton is a Boson particle and
is theorized to interact with Quarks and
Leptons.
GUITARS USED: Flying V
Planetary
Alignment
If several planets are orbiting the sun
at known speeds and current positions, how
many years will it be before those planets
are perfectly aligned and what effects will
it have? Will the magnetic and gravitational
forces be so strong as to create floods,
earthquakes and other catastrophes? The
next planetary alignment is expected to
occur in the year 2438.
GUITARS USED: Flying V
Supersymmetry
This song's concept was inspired by the
mathematical symmetry relating to bosons
and femions. AKA an attempt of a Unified
Field Theory using acceleration in place
of gravity.
Force = Mass multiplied by Acceleration
(F=MA).
GUITARS USED: Stratocaster
» George Bellas is one of the world’s
most respected and leading guitar virtuosos.
» Bellas has a highly dedicated fan
base worldwide who appreciates his own unique
approach to the guitar and lap up each release.
» George is a member of Palace Terrace
who saw their debut “Flying Through
Infinity” released in Nov 2007 on
Lion Music.
» George has been a member of Mogg/Way,
Ring Of Fire and recorded with John West
(ex Royal Hunt, Artension) and Vitalij Kuprij
amongst others.
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