I’ve been working on this for a while now and I’m excited to share it. A lot of my music has intentionally been pretty loose with no clear direction. I’m just trying to be open to inspiration from random instrument patches or keyboard parts I play, and then seeing where that takes me. With this piece though I had a rough image of a sunrise over a green pasture, and I tried my best to see it manifested.
Read More »This was one of the first tunes I wrote using only 25 keys. It happened right after getting my hands on the Korg nanoKey2, a MIDI controller with a very unfamiliar form factor. It has 25 button-style keys with a novel tactile response and no sustain pedal. Certainly nothing I was accustomed to, as I was more used to full-sized pianos and keyboards with weighted action. I wasn’t even very comfortable with synth-style unweighted keys, and this was one step further than that. I thought I would struggle with these perceived limitations and constraints, but instead the opposite happened.
Read More »The first question I asked myself while thinking of a name: joke title or serious title? I chose the joke title (h/t Joanne). I’ve been a big fan of Muse for years. Their unparalleled live theatrics, dramatic orchestral arrangements, and dark minor tonalities reminiscent of classical Russian composers. And on top of all of it, Matt Bellamy’s virtuosic, unapologetic electric guitar playing.
Read More »This was a fun experiment dabbling in a style of music I don’t have a lot of familiarity with. I’m unfamiliar to the point that I don’t even know what the appropriate genre is. Electronic… techno…? In any case, I enjoyed starting with a simple sound playing half notes on a single note, and then just building up from there and seeing where my imagination takes me. Trying to craft a slow satisfying build and then bringing it back down. A beginning, middle, and end.
Read More »I wrote this while we were in Lake Tahoe at my parents’ house for Christmas, around the time I resolved to make more music in my life. My parents gave me a Korg nanoKey2 as a Christmas gift to use with Reason while traveling. I ended up making a lot of music on that trip to California; most of it wasn’t very good but I’ll probably end up sharing most of that here anyways. Besides, I was just trying to form the habit of making music so that I could bring routine back to Boston with me. However, I actually like how this one turned out!
Read More »I always gravitate towards using instrument patches with real world analogues. Pianos, guitars, organs, etc. I feel like I can wrap my head around them. There’s already such a wide range of sounds provided by real world instruments, but the sonic choices really balloon out of control when you start adding synths into the mix.
Read More »One of the hardest things about making instrumental music is giving the finished product a name. I don’t know what it’s called! Usually I start work by just choosing a random patch and plunking on my keyboard until I hear something I like. I have a collection of Reason files on my hard drive with random names that give hardly any indication to the music hidden within. Sometimes I give them names based on whatever object on my desk my eyes land on first. That’s why I have a song called “Ballast Point.” Love that grapefruit sculpin.
Read More »I’ve been thinking a lot about music and creativity lately. I’ve been a musician my whole life and I love creating/building new things from nothing, but I don’t feel like I’m doing it enough. Recently I gave myself a very vague goal of just spending a significant portion of my time and energy making music.
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