2008

The four new Homeless Balloon CD's have all arrived from the CD duplication fabric, and they will be officially released on August 11. Until then, you may download one track for FREE each day, beginning July 10. Visit the Homeless Balloon artist site at SoundClick to listen & download! (July 16)

Homeless Balloon's albums are now all in the great iTunesPlus format in 256 kbps quality and with NO copy protection. You will also get a cool Digital Booklet with images and lots of info about the music and instruments. Check out the music here! (April 10)

The Homeless Balloon animated music video for the track "Order and Chaos Our Galaxy" is now active in the U&I Software Chill HD podcast on Apple's iTunes. You may subscribe to this great podcast and download the HD video by using this link You may also download a free version of this video (in 1280x720p, 960x540 or for iPod and iPhone) from the Homeless Balloon art pages. (February 20)

The official animated music video for the track "Order and Chaos Our Galaxy" (taken from the Homeless Balloon CD "Travel in Silence") is now available as a free download i various formats (from HD, AppleTV to iPod) on the Animations page. (January 15)

Helge Krabye has signed a licensing deal with Apollo Music, Denmarks largest supplier of music to commercials, feature films and other types AV productions. Most of Helge Krabye and Homeless Balloon's music catalogue will be available for licensing through their services. (January 2008)

2007

RadioMystic is one of the great radio stations at live.365, and Homeless Balloon has been voted one of the most popular artists in their playlist in 2007! You may download two free mp3 podcasts that you can put on your iPod or mp3 player here. (December 27)

A special offer is now active for fans who visit this site: If you purchase one of the audio CD's by Homeless Balloon, you will get a free, digital download of the other CD. You may also download the album you have ordered, so you can enjoy the music while waiting for the physical CD to arrive. See the CD Shop. (December 12)

I have been invited to sell my CDs as digital downloads at the nice music site Ambient.us. This is a special site for lovers of ambient, chillout and world fusion music. My music is available for previewing and purchase now :o) (October 30)

Several of my compositions from "Travel in Silence" and "Mysterious China" are now rotating on some of the most popular radio stations at live365.com. This is the most visited web radio in the world, with thousands of great stations in all kinds of musical genres. You may check out my favorite stations here. (September 12)

Finally - my first two Audio CD's have been released on the independent label 24 Chillout Music. "Travel in Silence" has 18 tracks of ambient, chillout, world fusion and experimental electronica. "Mysterious China" is a long, continous suite of 27 world fusion and ambient pieces remixed (and new compositions) from the sucessful television series "Det Gåtefulle Kina". Both CD's have nice Digipak covers designed by Jørn Veberg, and they are available for purchase in my CD Shop, at CDBaby, in the iTunes Music Store, EMusic etc. Click on the music-tab to preview the tracks and order! (August 15)

Stripping down my music studio has been effective, and I have sold most of my old synth modules, the oversized ProToolsHD2Accel rig, even the Mackie Mixer. Getting a much smaller pallette of instruments (most of them real instruments!) will help me become more creative, and also make my sound more personal. I am now using a MacBookPro with LogicPro and the excellent RME Fireface 400 to create new music whenever and whereever the inspiration might come:o) (July 19)

I have now finished remixing and mastering my first two CD releases that will be named "Travel in Silence" and "Mysterious China" and will come in nice Digipak sleeves. Sleeve design is by Jørn Veberg, and PolyVox will print and dublicate the CD's. The official release date will be August 6. There will be detailed information about each track on the CD's, with background, instruments I used and even some screen shots of the audio tracks from my sequencer :0) (July 4)

In the coming weeks, I am about to renew my music studio and sell a lot of my equipment. In order to have a lighter and more flexible studio setup, I will sell my heavy ProToolsHD2 Accel rig with lots of high quality professional plugins, a cool Mackie mixer and various keyboards and synthesizers. If you want to receive the list of equipment with price suggestions, contact me here and put "Equipment" in the subject line. The list will also be published at my site. (May 21)

The American ambient and world fusion composer and artist Kit Watkins has released his latest CD "SkyZone". I contributed on acoustic and electric guitar, ebow, percussion (djembe) and flute on track 10 "Moths Drink the Tears of Sleeping Birds". You may listen to the track and check out Kit's CD at his official artist page. (April 20)

I have now registered my own, independent record label, which is named "24 Chillout Music". From now on, I will also release and promote my music under the artist project name Homeless Balloon. I think this is a cool name, and I will avoid the many misspellings and misunderstanding of my name... The first couple of audio CD's with Homeless Balloon's music will be released this spring :) (January 28)

I just returned from a terrific holiday (three weeks) in the Philippines where my wife and her kids are coming from. My daughter Anja was with us, and she enjoyed the vacation a lot, too. We stayed one week in Manila, worshipping the sun, shopping in the huge malls and eating nice food out. The next two weeks were spent with our family down in Butuan City, with more sunbathing and socializing with friends and family in the city, out in the country and on beach resorts. I did not bring with me any computer, and I simply loved NOT having access to the Internet or my e-mail accounts :) OK, so I had my iPod and listened to music, Can't live without music :) (January 7)

2006

I have exchanged my Gibson Les Paul (60's remake) for a Gibson ES-175 jazz guitar. The Les Paul kindof sounded much like my belowed Fender Strat, and my playing and composing is pointing in a much more jazzy direction these days. I am really plaeased with the ES-175, and I am using it in the remixing that's going on in my studio this summer. Earlier this summer, I also exchanged my Martin 00028-VS acoustic guitar for a more slim lined (and even better sounding) Martin Vintage Series OM-28V (serial number 972608). The more I use synthesizers, the more I love acoustic and electric instruments! (July 1)

My ambient/experimental electronic track "Communication" was song of the day in the electronic genre at www.garageband.com on June 15. I also got a lot of helpful feedback from fellow musicians on the track, and I will use that to make the final version later :) (June 15)

I have purchased the excellent, new stereo Mastering TDM-plugin MD3 from TC Electronic. This plugin is the best multiband limiter/compressor I have ever used, and it makes it possible to get a high output level without letting the music sound overcompressed or distorted. Expensive - and great tool for mixing music in ProTools HD! For those of you who are into digital theory and music mastering, here is more info: The abuse of loudness maximizers is a common problem in mastering these days. When levels get pushed up to full scale (0dBFS), reconstructed inter-sample peaks in DA and sample rate converters may be much higher than the level downstream equipment was made to handle. We call this level "0dBFS+". No current rules in mastering prevent such peaks from happening. The TC Electronic MD3 has a built in BrickWall Limiter which checks if your signal is contaminated with 0dBFS+ peaks, and it will remove these peaks. (June 12)

I have composed a new signature melody and a couple of musical tension backgrounds for the DVD release of Arne Nævra's nature documentary series "Global Safari". The DVD's will probably be released later this year. (March 20)

I am now deep into the remixing of my best musical compositions. Trying to restore old synth patches and instrument sounds has been very difficult. The wish to leave it all behind and consentrate on new ideas, is tempting. However, some of my earlier compositons do have a bigger potential, and I want to hear them with optional sound quality and a fresh, more powerful mix! I have also started to experiment with 5.1 surround sound on my music mixes, and if my CD becomes popular, it would be fun to create a SACD/DVD-Audio with special high resolution 5.1 mixes! More info later :) (February 5)

2005

I have uploaded an old Shockwave application named "Groovy" which is a funny retro loop player where you can mix your own House tune and play it back with animation. My friend Arnfinn Christensen did the original drawings, Lasse Krabye the programming, while the idea and music is mine. Take a look and try out Groovy here! (December 10)

My son Lasse (educated as a computer programmer) is helping redesigning the music area of My artist pages. It will soon be possible to stream practically all his musical compositions via a neat Flash player. (November 26)

This month, I have also composed original music for a new television documentary (Brennpunkt "Tvilen") about the "shaken baby" syndrome (where very small children are injuried because the parents loose their patience and shake their child too hard). My music is mostly composed by using real instruments like acoustic and electric guitar, Rhodes electric piano and my cool Alembic electric bass. (November 22)

From working with sound design for many years, I have now switched to video editing. I find it very challenging to take part in telling stories by combing all the elements (pictures, video, sound, music, voice) that are needed to shape a television program. I am working with several skilled journalists and vj's with responsibility for two program series about art and literature (Safari and Bokprogrammet). All of us are using Macintosh and FinalCutPro, a platform that makes me feel very comfortable :) (August 5)

I have finally purchased the famous Rhodes Mark I electric stage piano (Seventy Three). This instrument is so analogue, and just touching the keys will produce great sounds and inspiration. I have tested several software versions of the Fender Rhodes, but they just can't match the real thing! (July 5)

Several of my compositions were used in a special television documentary "Peak Oil" by Norwegian documentarist and film maker Amund Prestegård. The documentary has been released on DVD. More info at Tropos Dokumentar (June 20)

I composed original music and did the sound design for the television documentary "Gruvens Hemmeligheter" (Brennpunkt) produced by NRK and Norunn Reinertsen. My music illustrates various situations and scenes, mostly focused on the famous, american Slam nuclear rocket project which luckily never was completed. (April 18)

MetaSynth 4 was released, and I have participated in the beta testing team for many months. MetaSynth is more powerful than ever, with abilities to paint music and sound with light! Check out my special MetaSynth page for more info. (March 12)

I composed a couple of musical pieces for film creator Asgeir Helgestad which he will use in his television nature documentary "Drømmen om Villmarka" (NRK 2005). (February 20)

Since my profession is sound design and post production in television, I want to share some exiting news: Thursday 13th we were writing history in Norway, as we transmitted the first television broadcast in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. With the help of the Dolby E encoding system, we encoded the 5.1 audio mix and recorded it on Dolby Digibeta tape, then decoded it and encoded it to Dolby Digital AC3 before transmitting it via satellite. The production was "Deadline Torp", a drama built on the real highjacking that took place here in Norway in 1994. I was responsible for the sound design and 5.1 surround audio mixing, and it was exiting to work with one of the most experienced film makers in Norway, Nils Gaup. Nils Gaup was nominated for Oscar for his movie "Veiviseren" some years ago. (January 13)

2004

This autumn, I have purchased several new, real instruments. Among them is a Gibson les Paul Standard 60's remake model. It's a 2004 model with great Humbucker pickups, but it has been built to look and feel like the classic Standard from the early 60's. This guitar is a big inspiration to my music! I have also purchased (at eBay) a used Vintage Sigma Mandolin by Martin, as well as various drums and percussion instruments. Inside my head and heart, I am beginning to hear some real acoustic and electric compositions where improvisation is the key word. This coming winter will show... (December 12)

Finally, I have purchased a high quality Martin acoustic guitar. The model is a Martin 00028-VS (built in 2003), and I bought it used from a Norwegian artist and guitar player. This guitar is very special, with a warm, deep sound. It is excellent for finger picking, and it will be important in his new music.- I have also bought a used, electric violin (mainly for using when he is practicing). (November 17)

The new CD by Amethystium "Evenmind" has been released, and I am playing acoustic guitar on one of the tracks ("Fable"). Amethystium is a very successful musical project lead by Norwegian composer and artist Øystein Ramfjord. Many of you will remember Amethystium as one of the really big MP3.com acts, and since then, Amethystium CD's have reached top ten in the Billboard charts (New Age). (October 20)

I have spent the summer listening to a lot of music by my favorite artists as well as new artists. The more I listen to the compositions of John McLaughlin, Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock, the more I get inspired to develop my own music in new directions. I have fulfilled an old dream and finally purchased an Alembic electric bass! It has great sound and feels like an instrument I will spend a lot of time with :) (August 15)

I have contributed by playing acoustic guitar on one of the songs on the new CD (to be released this autumn) by Amethystium, the musical concept of Øystein Ramfjord. This will be the third CD release in the ambient/world fusion/new age genre for Amethystium, and the previous two Neurodisc/Capitol releases has topped charts around the world. You may visit Amethystium's official artist page here. (June 16)

I have decided to consentrate more on my own free, musical compositions this and next year. I have started remixing some of my best music, develop it further, compose new pieces and hopefully make it available on commercial CD's later. Because of many requests from listeners, I will also include his best world fusion music. I still get requests for the "mysterious China" CD that was available on MP3.com, and the best pieces from this will surely be included in any future CD release :) (April 1)

I just finished composing the signature melody for the television series "Gastronomi" where program host Harald Munthe-Kaas is showing how the art - and snobbishness of making food is practised around the world. (March 19)

This winter, I have been invited by Petter Nesset to perform on various instruments on his forthcoming debut CD "godbye" which will be released under his project "Turmalin". I have improvised melody lines (acoustic and electric guitar), ambient textures (ebow) and effects (Korg Z-1 and MiniMoog Voyager) that Petter Nesset is now merging with his own excellent electronic grooves. (March 6)

Right now, I am doing sound design on two short films by the creative theme Kebbelife (Vanessa Baird and Mette Hellenes). The first is a kind of a silent movie (with music by Mark Adderley), but the second requires a very creative use of sounds and effects. If the movies become available on the web, a link will be added. (February 10)

I have set up a new web page (you are looking at it now) with improved design and new info and features. I have included an area for my art (photography, graphics, animations and short films). My music is also available for streaming directly from the "music" pages, and here you may sort the compositions by title or creation date. My son Lasse Krabye wrote the php code and gave valuable advice! (January 24)

I have finished composing original music for the nine part nature documentary series "Villdyr og Villmark" ("Global Safari") by film creator Arne Nævra. The series is now shown on National TV (NRK) here in Norway. I am planning to remix several of the compositions and include them on a future CD release. (January 5)

2003

My world fusion and electronic track "Turkish Delight" was song of the day in the electronic genre at www.garageband.com on Monday 11th :) (November 11)

I have purchased the MiniMoog Voyager, a true analog synthesizer with full MIDI implementation. This is an improved version of the original, classic Moog synthesizer from the genius Robert Moog. I also bought a beautiful Seagull 12 string acoustic guitar. How these two instrument will shape his music, will be interesting to see... (November 8)

I have continued composing musical pieces for the documentary series "Villdyr og Villmark" ("Global Safari"), this time from Rwanda and India. In December, I will compose music inspired by the mountains and nature of Alaska. (October 10)

I created music and did the sound design for three new Television Signatures broadcast on National TV in Norway this autumn. They are "Utsyn", "Brød og Sirkus" and "Safari". (September 22)

Two of my compositions ("Piggyback" and "Turkish Delight") have been chosen as "Song of the Day" at the European web site for independent music artists Interconnected (later to be named Soundlift. (August 30)

The last three weeks, I have collected instrument sounds, samples and listened to music form East and North Russia. I am composing music for a nine part television documentary filmed and produced by the well known Norwegian photographer Arne Nævra. His films are from various wild areas of the world, like Kamtjatka and Wrangel in Russia, India, Africa and other places with stunning nature and wild life. I am trying to use as many original instrument sounds as possible. The title of this documentary series will be "Villdyr og Villmark" ("Global Safari"). (May 5)

I have finished composing music for a television documentary (Brennpunkt "Bm.merk Desperat") about how hard it is for a young, Norwegian family when they cannot find any available kindergarten to place their kids in. The documentary has some fine moments where I will add acoustic guitar, electric piano and bell sounds. (March 13)

My instrumental music for the television documentary "I Kø For Å Leve" (NRK Brennpunkt) was finished. I used percussion, electric guitar and some electronic atmospheres to illustrate the struggle of two Norwegian men who are waiting for new kidney transplants because of their diabetes. (February 9)

I have just finished composing and recording more than sixty minutes of instrumental music for the television series "Jobbfeber" ("Job fever") produced by Laterna Magica. The series is for youth planning their job future. My music is mostly electronic beats and some guitar pieces. (January 14)

I have updated the Musician's Report with results from the artist survey 2002. I will continue updating the report with more tips from artists as well as advice about promoting your music on the web. AmpCast is displaying my logo with link to the report in their artist admin area. (January 14)

2002

During the autumn, I have also composed music for a television documentary about the communist resistance in Norway during the second world war (produced by Eirik Skaar and Forsvarets Mediasenter). I used a female voice singing wovels to simple soundscapes of acoustic guitar and electronic effects. The documentary ("Rød og Illegal") will be broadcast May 5th, 2003 in National TV (NRK) in Norway. (December 17)

I have composed original music for "Om Bombene Regner" ("Even if the bombs are raining"), a 52 minutes long television documentary about the Norwegian female journalist Lise Lindbæk who was a pioneer reporting from both the first and second world war. My music is a combination of acoustic guitar and electronic effects with strong melodies. The documentary is produced by Kari Pettersen and was broadcast in December in National TV in Norway. (October 22)

The nature documentary film "Wild Reindeers" by Asgeir Istad received the "BBC Newcomer" award in the prestigious Wildscreen 2002 festival in October. I composed the music and did the sound design for this documentary :) (October 5)

Both my new compositions "Silence" and "Turkish Delight" reached the No.1 spot in the MP3.com charts and stayed there for several days. (August 20)

I have collected my most popular fantasy and mood music on a special CD which is available both from his artist page at MP3.com, AmpCast and JavaMusic. The CD is titled "Fantasy", and it was featured in the HOT ARTIST SPOTLIGHT at MP3.com in July :) (July 18)

My best music is now also available on AmpCast where it is possible to purchase selected tracks, and at JavaMusic where my first red book audio CD will be available later this summer. (July 20)

My best music is now also available on AmpCast where it is possible to purchase selected tracks, and at JavaMusic where my first red book audio CD will be available later this summer. (June 6)

I am composing original music for a children's story in television, produced for the member countries in EBU (the European Broadcast Union). I am mixing acoustic guitar with experimental electronic effects. I am also responsible for the sound design. The movie will be broadcast in several countries late this year and early next year. (May 8)

I have now remixed and re mastered all my instrumental music which is now available on eleven new CDs at my artist page www.mp3.com/helgekrabye (April 17)

I have composed music for a television documentary about villrein, a Norwegian type of reindeer living in the mountains in the middle of Norway. The music is available for listening at my artist page at MP3.com (March 22)

I have collected the best music from the "Det gåtefulle Kina" television documentary series on a special CD named "Mysterious China". The CD is available at my artist page www.mp3.com/helgekrabye (February 24)

2001

"China Future", and ambient soundscape was chosen as the "song of the day" December 30th in the popular mp3 station Song of the Day. (December 30)

The documentary series "Det gåtefulle Kina" is now showing on National TV here in Norway. My music which is a mixture of real Chinese musical instrument samples, world beat and ambient has been composed by importing QuickTime movies into ProTools. I am also responsible for the sound design. You can read more about the series here (sorry, only in Norwegian so far, but the documentary series will be sold to other countries next year and will include information in English). The track "China Main Theme (World Mix) has been at No. 1 in the World Beat chart for several days at AmpCast. (December 12)

My instrumental track "Order and Chaos - Our Galaxy" has been at No. 1 in the Classical Minimalist chart at MP3.com for several days. (December 10)

I am making music for a new television documentary ("Kommuner til sagls") by journalist and filmmaker Sten Rune Sterner. I am using some old, traditional Danish folk songs which I re-record and treated with filters and effects. The documentary has a ironic attitude, quite uncommon for this genre, but it works! (November 28)

Two of my instrumental songs for the documentaries from China has had success in the MP3.com charts. "China Main Theme (World Mix)" peaking at No.4 in the World Fusion chart and "China Romantic Landscape" several days at No. 2 in the Mood Music chart. (November 19)

I am composing music for a five part television documentary series from China which will be broadcast from late November. The three man theme is editing the video on a Powerbook using FinalCutPro 2.0, and I compose the music in ProTools and import sequences of each program as QuickTime movies. The final mix is transferred digitally back to FinalCut and the DVCPro master tape is copied to DigiBeta. Everybody is pleased with the result. (September 20)

My electronic classical piece "Order and Chaos - Our Galaxy" has been picked as one of the tracks on the upcoming promotional CD from MP3.com. - This track will also be included on a double Film Music CD release by Filmmusicworld distributed to more than 7500 key people in the movie business in the beginning of next year. (August 14)

I have composed music for two Shockwave games that are playing online at the popular film site Filmmagasinet here in Norway. (August 10)

The Musician's Report 2001: The last six months, I have followed several artists at MP3.com to see what they has been doing to be successful on the web. Read the report where more than 225 musicians are sharing their thoughts and experience! (July 16)

My tracks "Y" is currently at No. 2 in the Electronic/Acid Jazz chart at www.ampcast.com, and "Daughters of Allah - Arab Techno" is climbing the Techno chart. - At MP3.com, my track "Order and Chaos - Waterfall" is at No. 1 in the Experimental/Noise chart : ) (July 14)

I have collected my most popular instrumental tracks on one CD at MP3.com. It is called "Greatest Tracks Vol.1", and the price is $6.00 for a NetCD and $9.99 for a DAM CD. I also created a CD with only acoustic tracks, called "Acoustic Landscapes", same price as the other CD. (June 22)

This month I tried one of the auctions at MP3.com and had great success with several songs as a result: "Y" No. 1 on the Progressive Electronica chart for ten weeks and one day one of the 39 most played tracks on all of MP3.com (actually more successful than Madonna for a couple of days!) "Daughters of Allah - Arab Techno" No. 3 on WorldFusion "Japan - Electronic Suite" No. 5 on Abstract Ambient "Order and Chaos - Our Galaxy" No. 5 on Abstract Ambient "Deep Blue Sea - The Diver" No. 5 on Abstract Ambient "Bosnia - War Zone" No. 7 on World/Fusion "Palestine - Looking Back" No. 9 on World/Fusion (May 28)

I wrote the original music for the television documentary "Brennpunkt - Teppefall" which tells the story of the import of carpets from Turkia via Hamburg (Germany) to Norway. (May 30)

Most of my music for films has been uploaded and is available on six D.A.M. CDs at mp3.com. Each CD cost $8.00 and contains almost 60 minutes of music. The series of CDs is called "music for films". (April 17)

I composed the signature melody for the new series "Brobyggernes Gjestebud" in NRK 1 (national television). I also composed the signature melody for the previous series last year. (March 20)

Two of My musical compositions created with MetaSynth, "One Drop is Enough" and "Random Tones" are released on the double CD project "MetaSynthia 2". There are also two tutorials by me on the interactive CD. (February 25)

I have registered with mp3.com and set up an artist page there. Only after a couple of days I started getting e-mail from listeners and made contact with composers around the world :-) (January 24)

2000

I chose to stop using my domain name musicneverheardbefore.com, since it was difficult getting attention and visitors to the page. I believe it is better to put my music where people go, than waiting for people to go to my music... (November 12)

The official opening of My new web site. (September 5)

The name of my personal company changes from Musikk&Media to Northern Lightning Music. This is also the name of my independent music publishing company and record label (which I will register later). (July 20)

My 12 minute long musical piece "Japan - Electronic Suite" is included in the "MetaSynthia" CD-project. Volume 1 is a double CD-R set with audio tracks and interactive pages for Macintosh users. I received a very nice personal comment from the creator of MetaSynth, Eric Wenger: "A quick note to tell you that I 'm very impressed by your music. I just listen to the MetaSynthia CD and Japan suite is my favorite piece from the 2 CDs. All sounds are beautiful and the atmosphere is deeply involving. Nothing pleases me more to see my tools being used for such artistic achievements. Bravo. Best, Eric" - Eric Wenger (the creator of MetaSynth at U&Helge Software) (February 17)