“While it Lasts” is the second release from artist and composer, Geoff Hall. Unlike the modern instrumental and orchestral pieces found on Hall’s multi-award nominated first release, “Understanding the Signs”, the focus of this project is the acoustic guitar.
To those who follow Hall’s music, this shift in genre should come as no surprise for two reasons. The first is that Hall’s primary instrument is the guitar, and it has been previously mentioned that he studied the instrument with world-renowned artists for almost two decades before acquiring a degree in Orchestration and Film Scoring. The second is that, although the focus of While It Lasts is fingerstyle and rhythmic guitar performance, followers of Hall’s music will also recognize his melodic and harmonic accompaniment style represented through the other acoustic instruments in these pieces. Violin, viola, cello, English horn, piano, and even brass can be heard across the tracks on this album. Fans of Understanding the Signs will no doubt appreciate the filmscore-esque, Pheidippides, with its strong brass lines and string sections.
While It Lasts prominently features Hall’s acoustic guitar playing, which provides the central melodic and harmonic focus for the other instrumentation heard on the album. A range of guitars were used for this recording with an ear towards achieving the right tonal characteristics for each piece. The supporting instrumentation was similarly selected and intended to preserve the acoustic focus of the release.
For more information and music samples, see geoffhallcomposer.com