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Taylorsville Journal

Taylorsville Solo Artist Shoots for the Stars

Oct 06, 2016 04:01PM ● By Tori La Rue

Doug Clyde, the man behind the new age artist Albedo, tours Mannheim Steamroller’s studio space in Omaha, Nebraska.

By Tori La Rue | [email protected]


Some people say it can be difficult to make a career out of music, but Taylorsville native Doug Clyde has done it since 2008, releasing 11 albums, selling sheet music online and performing live in his solo act various local ensembles and the American West Symphony. 

“You have to do a lot of different things, but no regrets here,” he said. “I mean, I get to do a little bit of everything.”

Clyde’s original passion wasn’t for music but for science. At 6 years old, he became obsessed with astronomy, but it wasn’t until he joined the band at Bennion Junior High that he learned how to play clarinet, oboe, saxophone and the recorder, he said. By the time he reached high school, his band friends had nicknamed him “Albedo,” an astronomical term that deals with the reflection of light. 

The name stuck. Clyde titled his solo act Albedo when he began digitally recording his new-age musical compositions in 2002. The name is fitting, given many of his songs have a space theme. He recorded his own new-age version of English composer Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” and composed a CD where each song is titled after a historic space probe.

“I like music, astronomy and computers, and I’ve managed to mix the three all-together,” he said. 

New-age music combines acoustic and instrumental music into one track. Clyde said he follows after the styles of Mannheim Steamroller, Vangelis and Yanni.

“Classical music is something I’ve enjoyed my whole life, and new age is something of a modernistic approach to it,” Clyde said. “You’re taking classical styles and classical ways of composing, and you are doing a more modern version of it using computers as an instrument.”

Clyde usually records himself playing woodwind instruments live and adds other instruments into his songs with a computer. He uses music composition software to create notations for each synthetic instrument and uploads the music notation into synthetic and orchestra sampling software which reads the music and plays it back with the instrumental sound he chooses. He then merges all the tracks together. Clyde’s songs contain up to 50 tracks. 

Albedo’s most purchased and listened to album is “7th Heaven,” a dance/techno compilation, but he said his favorite is the one he created for the video game “Forgotten Lands” in 2011. Troy Caldwall, another Taylorsville native, created the game and asked Clyde to compose a matching score. Clyde’s score for “Forgotten Lands” was nominated as best soundtrack album for the independent music awards, which he describes as the “Grammys for indie music.” 

Albedo’s songs were up for awards again at the Utah Music Awards on Sept 17. The song “Mercury, the Winged Messenger” from the album “The Planets” was nominated for best instrumental cover. The songs “Cassini,” “Near Shoemaker and Hayabusa,” and “Messenger”—all three from the album “Space Probes”—were nominated for Best New Age Song. 

Clyde is in the process of finalizing his 12th album, which is set to come out in November. He would not disclose the title of his album.

“Expect a well-known classical piece that has been electrified, new age-ified—however you want to call it,” he said. 

Albedo is Clyde’s main focus, but he said he participates in other musical gigs when he’s not working on Albedo recordings or performing live with the American West Symphony. He enjoys singing and can be found participating in musical theatre either in the cast or on stage crew.

“I’ve often wondered where my motivation for all of this comes from, but I just don’t know,” Clyde said. “There’s just something inside that keeps me going.” 

Aldedo’s music can be found on YouTube at ALBEDO MUSIC and on iTunes, amazon and google play. For sheet music, visit albedomusic.com.  

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