Category Archives: Announcements

That Time of the Year (Music Video)

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For anyone sent to this page on your wedding anniversary, congratulations!

As promised, here is the song I wrote for my last year’s wedding anniversary, complete with music video. May it bless you and encourage you to fondly remember that most wonderful of decisions to embark on a great adventure together, be grateful for the life together that you have and bond that you share, and look forward to the future with hope in our loving Lord.

The lyrics are:

It’s that time of the year again
To look back and remember when
We wore our smart shoes,
Said our “I do”s,
And our new life began.

Much more than a friend to me,
I’m with you to the end, you see;
That ring on your hand,
We both understand
Foreshadows eternity:

Enveloped by love,
In heaven above,
Our spirits set free
In pure harmony,
There with the Living God.

Oh wife of my youth,
I’m declaring this truth:
We share the same dream
To be more than we seem,
Bound strong with our Loving Lord.

So today I still promise to
Always love, honour, cherish you
All the days of our lives,
Despite the world’s lies,
We’ll hold on to what is true.

Now put your sweet hand in mine,
Let me see your eyes’ full shine
As I look at your face,
I’m in the right place,
Our hearts fully intertwined.

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Lyrics, melody, arrangement, vocals, audio mixing, and VST instrument programming by Ben Zwycky in Reaper using virtual instruments from Orchestral Tools, Spitfire Audio and the Virtual Playing Orchestra, and video editing in Hit Film Pro 13 using stock footage and images from Pixabay, and stock footage provided by Freepik, downloaded from videvo.net.

Uncontainable Holy One

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The third track of the Virtual Orchestra: Heavenly Light Album

is about the beauty of creation displaying God’s handiwork and giving a foretaste of eternity in His presence, His knowledge of our struggles and awesome love and care for us despite our flaws and failures, His unique character, and the wonderful future He has in store for His children. English and Czech subtitles are available.

The lyrics are:

You paint the sunrise and pour down the rain,
Sculpt towering mountains and wide open plains;
Grant comforting friendships and welcoming smiles,
Warm invitations to rest here a while.

Glittering waterfalls, flowers and trees,
Delicate butterflies, hardworking bees;
Breathtaking beauty is nothing compared
To the radiant glory we’ll see from you there

You’re the Holy one,
Uncontainable God’s own Son,
Flanked by angels, enthroned on high
Your love will never die

You went to find me when my soul was lost,
Were willing to suffer, you’d counted the cost.
You see my cowardice, selfishness, wrath,
Sigh as once more I go down the wrong path;

You witness my failure again and again,
Know all my sorrows and share all my pain.
When I’m broken-hearted, you bleed with me there,
Ensuring that I bring my head up for air.

You’re the Holy One,
Unmistakable God’s own Son,
Irreplaceable Prince of Peace,
You give my heart release.

Uncontainable,
Unrestrainable,
Unrepeatable,
Undefeatable.
Unmistakable,
Irreplaceable,
Holy, powerful,
Truly wonderful.

You’re full of tenderness, justice and mercy;
I long for that great day when finally we’ll see
You face to face,
There in that wondrous place,

For You are the Holy One,
Mighty, powerful God’s own Son;
Truly wonderful Counsellor,
We couldn’t ask for more.

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Lyrics, melody, arrangement, vocals, audio mixing, and VST instrument programming in Reaper using virtual instruments from Orchestral Tools and Spitfire Audio, 3d rendering in Daz Studio, and video editing in Hit Film Pro 13 by Ben Zwycky using stock footage and images from Pixabay, and stock footage provided by Freepik, downloaded from videvo.net

More Than Worthy

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I am pleased to present the music video for track 4 of Virtual Orchestra – Heavenly Light

which is about how Christ understands the isolation, pain, and suffering that is endemic in our world and especially among young men, and the rich, meaningful life that He offers that the world cannot compete with. English and Czech subtitles are available.

The lyrics are:

You deeply understand my loneliness,
Abandoned by your closest friends;
And when you prayed alone in deep distress,
You clearly saw how that day would end.

Subjected to all of man’s cruelty,
You died so that others might live;
And as they all mocked you with vicious glee,
You cried out, “O Father, forgive!”

You’re more than worthy of all my praise
With all my strength, for all my days;
You’ve taken away all my guilt and shame,
And shown me the way I should live.

Help me to become a better man,
With love to give and strength to serve.
I know my life is safe within Your hand;
I won’t receive what my sins deserve.

Give me wisdom to see through the world’s great lies
And courage to go against the crowd;
Fixing my eyes on the eternal prize,
With my whole life declaring out loud:

You’re more than worthy of all my praise
With all my strength, for all my days;
You’ve taken away all my guilt and shame,
And shown me the way I should live.

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Melody, lyrics, vocals, instrument programming, arrangement, audio mixing and video editing by Ben Zwycky using Reaper and Hit film pro with virtual instruments from Orchestral Tools. Guitar accompaniment by Petr Mares.

A Music Video for Heavenly Light

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As promised, here is the second music video from my first album, this time for the titular track, Heavenly Light. May it encourage you and help to keep things in perspective in all your daily struggles. It seems especially appropriate at this time of year, traditionally a time when we look back and seek to learn from our mistakes as well as looking forward to a new year and all the promises of new beginnings that it holds. (Both English and Czech subtitles are available)

The lyrics are:

The world loves the shadows,
And living in fear;
Corrupting its fellows,
More brazen each year.

Devouring its seed corn
to put on a show;
Regarding with deep scorn
All those who don’t know.

But I choose to follow
Your heavenly light;
Despite all my sorrows,
I’ll stand up and fight

For things that are beautiful,
The Good and the true;
Since everything wonderful
Points right back to You.

Grant these frail bones strength enough
To persevere when the road gets rough,
So there’s purpose in my current pain;
I won’t live in vain.

When my time here’s done and I see Your face,
I’ll be welcomed by Your warm embrace,
I’ll have kept the faith and run the race,
And at last I’ll be home.

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Lyrics, melody, arrangement, vocals, audio mixing, and VST instrument programming by Ben Zwycky in Reaper using virtual instruments from Orchestral Tools and Spitfire Audio, and video editing in Hit Film Pro 13 using stock footage and images from Pixabay and videvo.

Grab some Heavenly Light in time for Christmas! (My first album)

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My long silence on this blog has not been entirely due to laziness, I am happy to announce that my first album, Virtual Orchestra: Heavenly Light, is now released in time for Christmas, including one Christmas-themed song as track 8, an African-style take on the classic Christmas carol blended with my previous song on the nature of love.

May it entertain, uplift and inspire you to grow closer to the source of all love.

Both English and Czech subtitles are available.

The album (both as a whole and as individual tracks) is available for streaming and download at most major online music outlets:

Come see what happens when I try to recreate the music that runs through my head late at night and there are no wiser heads to tell me to tone it down a bit, observe my composition and vocal skills as well as my audio mixing deficiencies.

Of course, now that it’s released and too late to change anything, I realise that not all the tracks are as polished as the one above, so don’t feel pressured to buy the whole collection, but if people could purchase at least one track that they particularly enjoy (for only 99 cents, I might add), that would help to cover the cost of production. (I have yet to cover the costs of any of my releases, so it would make a nice change and encourage me to continue with these sorts of efforts). Over time, I will attempt to fix the issues in the less polished tracks and upload them to youtube.

Light Unto Another World – An Isekai Adventure by Yakov Merkin

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For those of you who haven’t heard about it, my old client and friend Yakov Merkin has been very busy over the past couple of years, and is running a successful fundraiser for the continuation of his Light Unto Another World series, whose promotional video includes some high-quality animation. I haven’t been involved at all in this work of his, but knowing him it’s a good bet to be entertaining. Click on the image below to take a look and see whether this is something you’d be interested in backing

Promises Kept

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A bitter, last goodbye became the dawn of a new age
When the Lord of Life burst out of death’s unyielding cage,
Flung the gates of hell so wide they let in heaven’s light,
Allowing all the souls trapped there to witness his true might,

Bend the knee and join him in His wondrous kingdom come,
Transform into the holy throng they were made to become,
Inviting all of us on Earth to live a whole new life
Where hope is unavoidable and miracles are rife.

We can be sure of every promise he has ever made;
His resurrection proved to all the price is really paid,
The heaven he described is real, the power he offers, too,
To be with us in every fight for what is good and true.

So courage, now, and boldness, to share His love and care,
And take on every stronghold of the foul Prince of the Air,
Including those within your heart, let Him purify
And cleanse your soul so that in time you’ll never truly die.

Promises

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Promises are easy to believe when things are going well,
When every ear wants to hear the truths you’re offering to tell,
When the crowds are cheering, and coming near from far and wide,
Miracles abound and life comes back to those who died;

But when the mob turns violent and screams in rage at Christ your Lord,
Mighty Rome is on their side and stands with endless gleaming swords,
The one you thought would save you is scourged and beaten half to death,
Those promises can easily seem like an empty shibboleth.

When He hangs there, maimed and spent, His lifeblood flowing from each tear,
The jeering, leering audience fills your heart with more despair.
Last week’s words of hope and life are lost amidst the awful sight,
All thoughts have turned to how to hide and survive the coming night…

Promises are easy to believe when things are going well,
Not when your world’s transforming into a seething, living hell;
Amidst the chaos, turmoil and the terrifying noise,
Remember what he promised in his calm and loving voice.

The Art and Craft of Writing is now on Sale

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The Art and Craft of Writing, L.Jagi Lamplighter’s brilliant instructional guide for improving your writing craft, is available now in both ebook and paperback.

It contains 14 clear and useful lessons that explain powerful storytelling principles with practical examples and exercises that will be of benefit to beginner and experienced writers alike. If you want to improve as a writer, you cannot do better than this book.

Boogie Woogie Gospel

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My apologies for the long silence and the low quality of this production; lockdowns and heavy workloads and other factors have conspired to frustrate my efforts to produce something more worthy of those who follow my efforts, and I was restricted to using stock music instead of a commissioned accompaniment as I planned. Still, I hope at least some of you will find it enjoyable and uplifting.

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to present Boogie Woogie Gospel, inspired by the joyful stylings of Dr K, otherwise known as Brendan Kavanagh.

Boogie Woogie Gospel

The world we live in changes with bewildering speed,
With people ungrateful, hateful, jealous, bitter indeed.
Well, as God is my witness, this musical business
Is just the dose of joy that your soul really needs.

You don’t know me, so don’t throw me and my message away,
Come up near now, so you’ll hear what I’m trying to say.
Be rid of the darkness in your heart,
Turn yourself around with a whole new start,
And start a joyful life on this beautiful day.

A long time ago, a man played a dangerous game,
Brought hope to the poor, the outcast, the sick and the lame;
The corrupted elites looked down on the streets
With jealous fury when the people called out His name.

He’s so holy and so wholly different from them,
Bringing healing, revealing a radical change.
He took their thorniest questions and evil suggestions,
And wowed them with his wisdom, winning every exchange.

Embarrassed by their failure, they saw him as a deadly threat
To their power and position, and so they plotted his death.
They paid one of his friends to betray him,
So they could take him in secret and slay him,
But he used their evil plan to pay all of our debts.

He chose to be tortured and die the way that we deserved,
‘Cause he came to this world to save us, and not to be served;
He offers us life abundant, where our worry and fear are redundant,
Up in his Father’s house, he has our places reserved.

After everything that he’s done for all of us,
I’d say he fully deserves every bit of our trust,
So put your life in his hands,
He’ll give you the strength to stand,
And lead you faithfully to the Promised Land.

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Musical accompaniment: Boogie Woogie Bed by Audionautix, in places cut and pasted, at the end slowed