BACK PORCH JAM +* :) C
BIG MAMA +* P/R
BONBON +* :) P/R
CAJOLIN' +* :) P/R
CONNIPTION+* :) P/R
COOLGUY+* :) Latin Orig.
DANCE FOR JOY +* P/R
FIRE DANCE +* :) I
HAPPY GO LUCKY +* :) P/R
HAT DANCE +* I
I DON WANNA +* :) O
IGUANA TANIA + 2001 :) I
JOVIALITY +* :) P/R
JUMP AN' SHAKE - Miditrax winner +* :) P/R
JUST IN TIME+* :) P/R
KATKANDU + 2001 :) I
MAINE WOODS +* :) C
MASHSASH + 2001 :) I
MEDICINE HAT +* C
NEWTON'S APPLE +* :) P/R
POWWOW - Midi-Mania 2nd place winner +* C
PUNTA CANA TANIA + 2001 :) I
RIGAMAROLE +* :) P/R
ROCK N ROLL IT +* :) P/R
ROOSTER +* :) C
RUSH HOUR +* P/R
SIAM - A favorite +* P/R
WE WANT MORE CORN +* :) C
WORK WORK WORK TODAY +* :) P/R
WHY DONTCHA + :) O
ANYTHING BETTER TO DO O
BASS WALK 0:55 3K O
CARIBBEAN RHYTHM 0:26 4K I
CARNIVAL 0:32 3K + :) O
CHILD'S PLAY 1:03 5K + :) O
CHINA ROCK 0:41 3K P/R
CLASSIQUE 1:03 3K + O
CRUISIN' DRUM BOOM 4:17 12K * P/R
DOOR CHIME 0:05 1K O
DURBAN BEACH 0:43 3K I
EAST-WEST ROCK 0:49 3K + P/R
FEEORIN'S THEME 0:51 4K + I
FIGHTING MAD 1:09 7K +* P/R
HALLOWEEN CATS 1:25 3K O
HIGHLANDS 2:28 15K * I
HONKY TONK PIE 0:21 2K + :) O
INDIAN SITAR 0:26 5K I
IRISH MTN. WHISTLE 0:39 6K + :) I
MARDI GRAS PARADE 1:09 14K +
MEXIHORNS 0:14 2K I
MORGUE FOR GAME 0:52 2K :( O
MOROCCAN DRUMS 0:35 6K I
MTN. MUSICBOX 0:24 2K O
ON THE BEACH - New Reggae - 2:46 19K
OOHWEEOOHWAWA 1:06 4K + O
PUNTA CANA TANIA 3:03 56K + I
RAGAMUFFIN * :) P/R
RIVERBOAT 1:08 7K + :) O
ROBOTRAK 1:01 7K * P/R
SNOWFALL * O
SOUTH SEAS RHYTHM 0:46 6K I
STEEL BANDY 0:39 4K + :) I
STEELE CARIBE 0:39 6K I
STEEL FOR THE JUDGE + :) I
STEEL PARADE 0:43 8K + :) I
SWEET JOY 3:22 24K * O
VOYAGE 2:53 35K * O
WAR CHANT 3:07 22K * O
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY BLUES 3:27 27K * O
WHISTLIN' Midi-Mania 3rd place winner 0:57 5K +* :) C
YA YA YA 1:13 6K * O

if you think the instruments should sound better than what you are hearing, try visiting the Crescendo! site by clicking on the graphic above, then follow the instructions to download and install their free midi music player. the new album "joviality" contains full range recordings of the most popular songs on this page plus new releases using sounds not available from a standard computer midi card. more midi hints below . .

Special (usually $17.99 plus shipping) "joviality" cd available for $15.99 postpaid (Florida add sales tax), shipped within 30 days - limited time: cd is hand signed - includes "Y2K" and sounds and mixes not on the net -

JOVIALITY CD album © 1998 Phil Townley - includes the following most popular tunes:
Cajolin, Back Porch Jam, Big Mama, Joviality, Jump an' Shake, I Don' Wanna, Happy Go Lucky. Rigamarole, Powwow, Newton's Apple, Conniption, Rooster, Fire Dance, Rock n' Roll It, Work Work Work Today, Why Doncha, Just in Time, Siam, We Want More Corn, Bonbon, Y2K

for ordering information, please click on phil@townley.com
CLICK TO VISIT MY HOME PAGE + CATS & TRAVEL

If you have time, do send me an email (click on my email address just below) to tell me which tune you think is "happiest", which are your favorites, and any for the dumpster? I will write back.

MEET SOME OF THE BACK PORCH ORCHESTRA MEMBERS:
When a time seems right (almost any time will do) to gather a few of us on the back porch with our instruments, we get together to play mostly happy music.

* Zeke. Tall and lean and steady, with blue eyes that seem to see right into you, Zeke plays bass. From humble beginnings, look where he is now. Why, just last week, while playing our Back Porch Orchestra concert at Cyberstage One, he was seen dancing while playing bass.

* Ezra. Ezra is our drummer, and prefers the beat to be solid, simple, and often contra. He is not as tall as most, and might be called stocky in build, were it not for his arms and legs being much longer than most. We've nicknamed him "Spider." He wears dark glasses, even indoors, and we think that he may be staring toward the sky when playing his drums. But we're not really sure.

* Clem. Clem, of average height and build, balding, but with a solid ring of longer hair encircling most of his head, plays guitars. He prefers nylon or steel acoustic guitars, carefully miked to bring out the resonance of the wood bodies. He often just rocks back and forth from one foot to the other while playing.

* Louisie from Zambezi is one of our more versatile orchestra members. She is rather tall, with calloused fingers and palms from playing a variety of rhythm instruments when she feels like it. Often moody and pensive, when not playing she sits just offstage grooving on the music.

* Ebenezer. Ebenezer, of average height and build, occasionally plays keyboards. Slow of thought and quick to speak, he manages the orchestra and does the composing and production work. He also sings all of the vocals you hear in our music.

* Zackery. Zack is from the back woods, way out in the sticks, and is proud of it. Often wearing farmer John jeans with suspenders and a flannel shirt, usually barefooted, he plays a variety of lead instruments. His favorite instruments include the charang, gun shot, bottle blow, and shakuhachi.

* Cap'n Dorothy plays acoustic guitar and sings so much more beautifully than her parrot, Polly. She is captain of the famous much revered and feared good 'n bad pirate ship, "Jolly", specializing in booty and plunder on the hoye seas. Referred to as "Cap'n One Oye" by her crew (due to her eye patch), when off duty from swashbuckling, she composes, writes, and plays her own songs, as well as playing guitar and hurdy gurdy in the Back Porch Orchestra.

- Many of the other orchestra members are too shy to allow descriptions of them to be published. Sometime in the future, they may change their minds, and we may be able to include listing them here.
- If you know of any musicians who might like to join the BACK PORCH ORCHESTRA, please email their descriptions and instruments they play to Phil at the following email address:
You can reach me by email at: phil@townley.com

THANK YOU FOR BEING VISITOR # TO MY MIDI NO FRAMES MIRROR SITE

if you would like to apply for the prestigious "cat's pajamas award" for your site,

click on phil@townley.com and request to have your site evaluated.

If you don't hear music as part of this page loading, your sound card or driver as set up may not play midi. You need an AWE64, AWE32, or Sound Blaster 16 card with at least fm midi read capability (poor sound quality), and midi is best heard with a wavetable card containing its own synthesizer using 128 recorded real instruments.

All of my original midi music is recorded using the Yamaha PSR-510 keyboard pictured above and a Roland SC-880 sound module. Most of my recording is done using Cakewalk's Home Studio software (street under $100) with the final mix completed using Master Tracks Pro Audio (street under $200). I have equipped my computer with a generic wavetable sound card costing less than $40, and got the tin out by adding an IBM subwoofer (under $30). Midi is such an efficient and fast way to send sound files on the Net. It is much faster to send instructions on how to play the music on your card's synthesizer than it is to send the entire composition digitally via modem. Notice sometime how large WAV files are, and how compact the same music sent by MID format is. It really doesn't take much now to have a full orchestral sound recording studio at your disposal if you have a computer.

If you are wondering who made all this noise, there's a photo of me out on the lake below.

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All graphics, backgrounds, music, and photos are hand made originals (except for parts of the cat and midi sites award-ring-link-graphics sections). Copyright © 1997 & 1998 Philip A. Townley. All Rights Reserved.