Music Projects and Recording
Music has always been a big part of my life. I have been playing guitar, bass and a few other instruments since I've been about 12 years old. Sadly, my throat is hexed with a horrendous voice so no singing, but I have a decent ear for composition. I was in bands all through highschool and college, starting with Sundrill then In Vain, No Means Native, MJP Project and even a brief stint in Bonesaw. Since coming to Colorado, I've built a respectable home studio that I tinker with from time to time. I wish I had more time for music since I just upgraded a lot of my gear and software but all things in time.
I will be adding some of the older stuff I've done, some complete, some not. Feel free to download them for personal, non-commercial use. For now I'll have some old songs here.
2001-2007 Recordings
Arctic Lullaby - 3:52
I was lucky enough to have a guitar on the ice breaker (Kapitan Khlebnikov) when I explored the Arctic in 2004. Looking out on the pastel colors and quiet calm at the ends of the Earth inspired this accoustic song. Much more peaceful than most of my stuff.
Mega Man 3 Stage Select Cover - 1:00
A live, metal-esque cover of the classic Mega Man 3 stage select music, with a custom made intro. Temporarily this is incomplete, as I downloaded it from my myspace music page and its goofed up.
Miles - 0:55 (Incomplete)
It's a good start... but that's as far as it got.
2001 Recordings Session
These songs are from my intial recordings with Cakewalk 8 and 9 back in 2001. I really like some of the arrangements of the songs but my early set-up and the limiations of the MIDI at the time are evident. Who knows, one day I may go back and revisit these songs with my nicer set up. I kind of made up names as I went, since most of them didn't have actual titles. Click to play or right-click to download these songs if you dig 'em.
Twilight Villians - 3:31
This is one of my favorite songs and it's loosely built off a scale similar to many of the Police's songs. At 1:50 I got to play with some cool 2-part harmonies on the guitar, which I think turned out well. The drums sound like old Midi but I think are well composed. Overall there's 3 guitar parts, 1 bass and the drums.
North Atlantic Part 5: Resolution - 3:34
Though it's the last part in this series of songs, it's the best quality and writing of the 5 North Atlantic song pieces.
North Atlantic Overture - 2:25
This
instrumental was written when I was in college around 1997 and served as the first part of my 5 part Whaleing Epic ala older Rush. All 5 parts of the song use elements of the song here and the song opens with a waltz time 3/3 finger picked part. North Atlantic Overture was the very first song I recorded in Colorado.
North Atlantic Part 3: Invitation and Reply - 3:37
Part 2 of the "North Atlantic Suite", this one has some fun bass parts and of course, the "robot whales" at the start of the song. Written as kind of a sea shanty, this one actually has words that sound good with a decent singer. In this version, you'll see why I don't sing as I attempt the first bar and fail miserably. A gradual build up with more well-composed but old-school MIDI drums.
Wayward - 4:07
This was the first song I recorded after the North Atlantic project. You can hear the obvious spaces for vocals. Partially inspired by the open-notes of REM's Peter Buck, from about 2:45 when the song jumps into a weird time signature I had a blast mixing the more musical parts of the song. The atonal harmonies at 3:29 are my favorite of anything I've ever written and are influenced by Castlevania's music.
Chaos is For Winners - 3:40
One of my more musically complex songs with lots of near-atonal chords on two guitars, I've always liked the blending of the two guitars throughout the song. Unfortunately this is probably the worst recording quality of any of my pieces. The chords and bass at 2:10 feel like sorrowful chaos to me and I am sorrowful--I'll never remember the odd guitar chords I played under this section.
Primal Beginnings - 1:14 (Incomplete)
A song with a lot of potential I never got around to finishing. The opening has some slap bass and I like the way this one moves. Maybe I'll finish it one of these days.
Positive Traction - 1:17 (Incomplete)
Airy and light, this is another one that has room for vocals. Neat, moody chords and the famous "Y's Books I and II" F-diminished chord at 40 seconds.