World Music Artist - Acoustic, Jazz, Ambient and Soundtrack
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Latest News: Recordings for the upcoming album 'Angkor' have been made with the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra on July 16 and July 17, 2010 with great success. 'Angkor' will feature 8 new songs and is scheduled for release in 2011.
World music artist Mark Van Overmeire is a storyteller. His journeys around the world shape his musical universe and inspire the world music artist to produce songs that convey a delicate balance between simple yet intriguing music; an imaginative fusion of world music, jazz, folk and classical music with colorful cinematic moods.
The release of the world music CD "Impresiones" in August 2004 made a strong impact in the world music scene. The CD was conceived after a 4 year stay in South America. The music on "Impresiones" is, according to Henri Brun from KRTU, a mixture of world music and elegance all in one.
Beautiful and evocative, the world music on "Impresiones" received worldwide radio broadcastings and introduced music artist Mark Van Overmeire to an audience of world music aficionados in many countries.
Biography
Mark Van Overmeire was born in Sint-Amandsberg, Belgium on April 2, 1968 but grew up in the mesmerizing town of Bruges. World music sparkled his imagination when he was well in his teens and he started studying music when he was 15 years old learning the basics of drums and guitar.
At the age of 17 Mark entered the intriguing world of composition to master the fundamental rules of classical music. At that time he got interested in the exciting rhythms of jazz and studied jazz harmony.
His fascination for the rhythms of drums, world percussion and exotic music of other cultures led Mark to make a decision that would change his life forever. He left the country with nothing more than a backpack and headed to a continent full of untold mysteries... South America.
The existential journey would have Mark in its grip for 4 years. After his return some of the stories had to be told and this led to release of the first full World Music CD 'Impresiones'.
The concept of writing world music based on travel experiences works very well for Mark. Southeast Asia was backpacked for a few months. New world music songs inspired by this journey will be released soon.
Mark currently resides in Ghent, Belgium.
Writing Music
Writing music is a very fascinating process. The most intriguing part for Mark is the ability to channel the world music that he "hears" into a composition.
Mark's writing process for his new project changed drastically. 'Impresiones', his debut album, was written mainly on classical guitar and keyboards. For the new songs a different approach was requiered. The music uses orchestra heavily and the latest technology for midi-composing, i.e. sequencer and sampler software, is used to write world music.
It's always mood and color that provide the first creative sparkle. Once an idea is worth exploring Mark starts arranging the song with the computer, a speciality called midi-composing. He uses realistic samples of music instruments in order to "feel" the song as he continues writing.
Some songs, such as Titicaca, take a few days to write. Others, like La Danza De Los Emigrantes with a score of 40 pages, take many months to complete.
