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https://www.launchgood.com/v4/campaign/recording_of_the_second_album_of_al_firdaus_ensemble
“Whoever guides someone to goodness will have a reward like the one who did it.”
— Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
Impact: Granada, Spain
Verification in progress. Learn More
This campaign will collect all funds raised by November 22, 2016 at 6:00 AM EST
(Podéis leer el texto en español más abajo)
My name is Ali Keeler and I lead the Al Firdaus Ensemble which was founded in 2012 in the beautiful Andalusian city of Granada. Al Firdaus is an Arabic/Persian word meaning an enclosed garden where a rich variety of plants and flowers flourish together. The members of the group with their different cultural and musical backgrounds contribute to producing the unique sound of Al Firdaus, a synthesis of musical traditions, Western Classical, Celtic, Arabic, Andalusi, and Flamenco.
We're here today on the cusp of recording our newest album. We want you to be a part of our journey and be among the very first people to receive a copy of our new album.
Building on the success of Safa, which has sold thousands of copies, we hope to progress even further with the new album. We are very excited about the opportunity of recording another album.
It is a great adventure and when you enter the studio you never know exactly how long it will take to get it right and what will be the final outcome. It is a challenging creative quest from the initial recordings to the final mix.
We will be recording with our core group and collaborating with internationally renowned artists. We will be recording at one of the best equipped studios in Spain with the same trusty sound engineer who worked with us on Safa.
For the coming album we will continue to explore the bridge between different musical traditions, we will making more use of the Flamenco guitar, and introducing other instruments both Eastern and Western which did not feature in the previous album. The lyrics of the songs will be drawn from sufi poems in different languages. The music will be a mixture of our own arrangements of well-loved traditional songs and original compositions.
The Story Behind Al Firdaus Ensemble
Al Firdaus Ensemble was founded in 2012 in the beautiful Andalusian city of Granada. This city, a cultural crossroads where for hundreds of years cultures have been meeting and mixing, is an apt home for Al Firdaus, a multi cultural group.
It has been 4 years since we started work on “Safa” our first album. Since then we have developed as a group, performing all over Europe, across North Africa, in Turkey and Lebanon with tours in the UK and US. Two music videos have been produced from the music of Safa: Al Madha and Celtic Salawat.
We have come to realize on our travels from the warm and positive response we have received from audiences of very different backgrounds, the important role our music can play in building bridges between cultures and promoting peace in a time where conflict and misunderstanding are rife across the globe.
On the cello, we have Salma Vives from Spain; on percussion and vocals, Omar Benlamlih, from Morocco, on Qanun and Lute, Youssef El Mezghildi, from Morocco and on violin and vocals, Ali Keeler from London.
Each of the members with their individual musical experience and cultural background contribute to producing the unique sound of Al Firdaus.
To record our new album we will need to cover the following costs:
Pre-purchase your very own album by contributing directly through this campaign! Remember, your contribution gets us into the studio.
(You can also pay via PayPal to the following email address: apkeeler21@gmail.com)
Share this campaign with all your friends and family!
(Texto en español)
Mi nombre es Ali Keeler y dirigo el grupo Al-firdaus Ensemble, fundado en el año 2012 en Granada, una hermosa ciudad de Andalucía. Al Firdaus es una palabra de origen persa que significa un jardín cerrado en el que una abundante variedad de plantas y flores crecen juntas. Los miembros del grupo con sus diferentes experiencias culturales y musicales contribuyen a producir el sonido único que lo caracteriza, una síntesis de tradiciones musicales: clásica occidental, celta, árabe, andalusí y flamenco.
Estamos aquí hoy a punto de grabar nuestro nuevo álbum. Nos gustaría que fueras parte de nuestro viaje y de los primeros en recibirlo.
Basándonos en el éxito que ha tenido nuestro cd Safa, del que se han vendido miles de copias, esperamos avanzar más a fondo con el nuevo. Estamos muy ilusionados con la oportunidad de poder grabar este álbum.
Es una fabulosa aventura y cuando entras en el estudio nunca sabes exactamente cuánto tiempo te llevará hacerlo y cuál será el resultado final. Es un objetivo creativo y desafiante desde las grabaciones iniciales hasta la mezcla final.
Grabaremos con el núcleo del grupo y colaboraremos con artistas internacionalmente reconocidos. Grabaremos en uno de los estudios mejor equipados de España con el mismo técnico de sonido que grabó con nosotros el Safa.
Para este próximo album continuaremos explorando el puente entre las diferentes tradiciones musicales. La guitarra flamenca estará mas presente e introduciremos otros instrumentos del Oriente y del Occidente que no aparecen en Safa. Trabajaremos sobre letras de poemas sufís escritos en distintos idiomas, y la música será una mezcla de nuestros arreglos de entrañables canciones tradicionales y de composiciones originales.
Al Firdaus Ensemble fue fundado en el año 2012 en la hermosa ciudad de Granada. Esta ciudad que ha sido un cruce cultural donde durante cientos de años las culturas se han encontrado e interralacionado es una casa apropiada para Al Firdaus, un grupo multicultural.
Han pasado ya cuatro años desde que empezamos a trabajar en nuestro primer disco Safa. Desde entonces hemos crecido como grupo actuando en toda Europa, a lo largo del norte de África, Turquía y el Líbano y hemos tenido giras en el Reino Unido y en Ámerica. Además se han producido dos videos musicales con la música de Safa: Al Madha y Celtic Salawat..
Nos hemos dado cuenta en nuestros viajes gracias a la respuesta tan cálida y positiva que hemos recibido de la audiencia de culturas diferentes del importante rol que nuestra música puede desempeñar en la construcción de puentes entre culturas y en promover la paz en estos tiempos en los que el conflicto y la confusión se extienden a lo largo del mundo.
Cada miembro con su experiencia individual y su cultura contribuye a producer el sonido único de Al Firdaus.
En el chelo, tenemos a Salma Vives de España, en la percusión y voces, Omar Benhamlih de Marruecos, en el Canun y laúd, Youssef El Mezghildi, de Marruecos y en el violín y voces, Ali Keeler de Londres.
Compra tu album por adelantado, contribuyendo directamente conesta campaña. Recuerda que tu contribución nos permite entrar en el estudio.
Comparte este campaña con todos tus amigos y familiares.
Aquí os mostramos lo que recibiréis según la aportación que podáis hacer:
10 euros: Álbum Digital.
20 euros: CD + Descarga digital
35 euros: CD firmado + Descarga Digital
60 euros: USB exclusivo con el logotipo del grupo que incluye conciertos, fotos, canciones, etc.
100 euros: Una entrada de concierto + Conocer y estar con el grupo detrás del escenario
250 euros: 3 entradasde conciertos + Conocer y estar con el grupo detrás del escenario + Mensaje video personalizado
500 euros: Video de una canción que eligas con una dedicación especial
1.000 euros: ¡Entradas para todos los conciertos durante un año! Si estás de acuerdo, incluiremos tu nombre en los créditos del CD.
Cada aportación incluye todos los obsequios anteriores.
Digital Album
Thank you! This gets us closer to the studio and gets you a digital download of the album.
56 claimed
CD + Digital Download
Thank you! This gets us closer to the studio and gets you a physical CD as well as the download of the album!
62 claimed
Signed CD + Digital Download
Thank you! This gets us closer to the recording studio and gets you a CD (signed and dedicated) plus the digital download of the album.
23 claimed
Exclusive USB - with footage and songs!
Thank you! This gets us closer to the studio and gets you a USB with several hours of live footage and songs in MP3 (plus the previous rewards)
19 claimed
Concert Ticket + Meet-and-Greet!
Thank you! This gets us closer to the studio and gets you an admission ticket to a concert of your choice with the opportunity to meet and greet the musicians backstage. (plus all previous rewards)
26 claimed
3 Concert Tickets + Meet-and-Greet + Personalised Video Message.
Thank you! This gets us closer to the studio and gets you 3 admission tickets to a concert of your choice with the opportunity to meet and greet the musicians backstage. (plus all previous rewards)
4 claimed
Video of a song of your choice with a special dedication!
Thank you! This gets us closer to the studio and gets you a video of a song of your choice with a special dedication. (plus previous rewards)
2 claimed
Tickets to ALL concerts for 1 year!
Thank you! This gets us closer to the studio and gets you admission tickets to all of our concerts during 1 year with a private back stage performance of a song of your choice. If you agree, we will also include your name in the credits on the CD. (Plus all the previous rewards)
1 claimed
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https://www.launchgood.com/v4/campaign/recording_of_the_second_album_of_al_firdaus_ensemble
“Whoever guides someone to goodness will have a reward like the one who did it.”
— Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
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2 days left til end of our campaign for our new album Shifa
Assalamu alaikum,
Dear supporters of Nur,
Wishing you all a blessed new year hijri 1443.
Dont miss the opportunity to become part of our project to record Shifa.
Pre-order your copy now!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFOI_matVxs
Eid Mubarak!
Assalamu alaikum,
Dear friends and supporters,
We wish you a blessed Eid with your families wherever you are.
there are three days left to support our campaign to raise funds for our new album Shifa.
Help us reach our goal by pre-ordering your CD at the following link:
Best wishes,
Ali Keeler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-92x3gr52q8
Join Al-Firdaus Ensemble's new Campaign for their Third Album, Shifa
Join Al Firdaus Ensemble's new Campaign for their Third Album, Shifa
Assalamualaikum,
Dear Supporters,
We wish you all a blessed Dhul Hijjah.
We hope that you found our second album ‘Nur’ a source of light over the years and we would like to thank you once again for supporting us to make it a reality.
We would like to inform you that now we are preparing our new album, Shifa. If you enjoyed Nur, you will love Shifa, God willing. We are reaching out to you for your support, so please support our campaign for Shifa and share with your friends and family.
Join the campaign via LaunchGood: https://launchgood.com/shifaalbum
To view the Shifa crowdfunding campaign launch webinar: https://bit.ly/shifa-webinar
To support Shifa, we are auctioning beautiful pieces of artwork contributed by world-renowned artists:
Bid for ‘Nostalgia’ by Mohamad Hafez
Bid for ‘The Closest One’ by Nuria Garcia Masip
Thank you for your continued support.
With Peace and Blessings,
Ali Keeler
The CDs have arrived.
Dear supporters,
If you donated 20€ or more please send your full postal address to the following email:
firdaus.ensemble@gmail.com
We will send you the CD with booklet as soon as possible. Thankyou for your patience.
With blessings,
Ali Keeler
Link to download Nur album. Enlace para descargar el álbum Nur
Dear supporters,
Here is the link to our album. For those who contributed more, your rewards will be arriving in due course.
We hope the new album will be a source of joy and nourishment for the soul. We will be grateful to receive your feedback.
Thankyou for your support.
With blessings,
Ali Keeler on behalf of Al Firdaus Ensemble
Nur the new album is coming!
Dear supporters,
There is is light at the end of the tunnel, literally as our new album is called Nur meaning light.
I am happy to inform you that in the next few days you will receive a link from which you can download the album. The physical edition will need longer to finish as the CD will come with a small booklet with the translation of the songs in English.
Below is the link to our promo video.
Thankyou for your patience.
With blessings,
Ali keeler
Update on the recording project
Dear supporters,
I apologise for not updating you before and keeping you in suspense all this time.
Don´t worry! We haven´t gone on a luxury tour around the world with your generous contributions.
The recording process which I thought was going to be finished has taken a course of its own. The recording studio is like a cave where you lose track of time. Hours and days go by trying to reach that sound. The results have surprised us and we hope they will be surprising and inspiring for all our listeners.
We have finished the main mixing of the songs afer nearly a month in the studio, and are now reviewing them carefully before March the 24th when we will have the final day for tweeking and mastering the tracks. Meanwhile, we have commissioned a geometric artist and calligrapher to design the album cover by hand. We will be also working on a booklet which will go with the CD, with all the songs transliterated and translated into Spanish and English.
Thankyou for your patience,
With blessings and greetings of peace,
Ali Keeler
Last 24 hours
Dear supporters,
Thanks to your support we have been recording at the studio for 5 days now. There is still a lot to be done and there are costs that will need to be covered.
Please remind your friends and family that they have until tomorrow night November 20th to make a contribution.
God bless you!
Salams and warmest regards,
Ali Keeler
Project extension
Dear supporters,
Thankyou for your support. With your help we have now raised enough to be able to start recording on November 14th.
In order to cover the remaining expenses of the recording process including, art work, the manufacture of the CDs, and promotional photography and videos we need to reach our target amount of 15000€, which is possible only with your help.
The way you can help is to insist with your friends and family on the importance and value of supporting this project. If each one of you can get just one other person to support, we will be way on our way to meeting our target.
Thankyou for your patience,
With peace and blessings,
Ali Keeler and Al Firdaus Ensemble
The last call
Dear supporters, Slowly we advancing forward but are still not half way towards our goal. If each of you manages to get one more person to support we will be well on our way to reaching our target. Take a look at our new video from the studio where we will hopefully be recording in November.
Please share it woth your friends and family,
With blessings and peace,
Ali Keeler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSXSQNzs2WI
Online concert dedicated to our supporters.
To all our supporters,
We are happy to announce that we will be offering you a live concert online tomorrow at 10pm Spanish time UTC/GMT+2hours. The concert will end at 10:30pm
You may view the concert from our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FirdausEnsemble/
This is the link to the event.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1152738788148250/
We look forward to being with you tomorrow and sharing our music with you.
With peace,
Ali Keeler (on behalf of Al Firdaus Ensemble)
Update
Dear supporters,
To all those who have contributed towards our project, we thank you again for your support.
We are 10 days into the campaign and in theory we should have reached upto a third of the amount, which would be 5000€, but we are 2000€ short of that mark.
We request from all those who have supported to try to get at least one member of the family, friend, or aquaintance to support. That would be a great help to getting us closer to our goal.
Best wishes and peace,
Ali Keeler and the Al Firdaus Ensemble
Giving is better together! Your share could raise over 0.
https://www.launchgood.com/v4/campaign/recording_of_the_second_album_of_al_firdaus_ensemble
“Whoever guides someone to goodness will have a reward like the one who did it.”
— Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
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Giving is better together! Your share could raise over 0.
https://www.launchgood.com/v4/campaign/recording_of_the_second_album_of_al_firdaus_ensemble
“Whoever guides someone to goodness will have a reward like the one who did it.”
— Prophet Muhammad ﷺ