My instrument of choice is the piano, which I have played since I was six years old. I also played the violin for a short period of time, but I do not carry any of those skills with me anymore. I have always had a fond passion for improvisation and all that it has to offer, as was apparent in my practice sessions when I was younger. Eventually I would stop playing the music given to me and simply improvise off of what I was supposed to be playing. As my skills progressed I began composing my own songs on the piano, and soon realized I could tie in this ability with my computer and my digital Yamaha keyboard. I began with ACID and loop editing, and soon moved on to writing my own melodies using Frutiy Loops and mixing them in ACID. Currently I work with the software Project 5 for composition and simple arrangements and still complete mixdowns in ACID. Please enjoy a major part of my life, if not my true passion, presented in stereo:
[NEW] Alcohol Distances Sam From God
About a month ago I was at a friend's house for an evening get together, and there I was treated to the spiritual mysticism that is Sam's language. Sam is a tall, hair man with interesting views on life. He told me that night "I feel that alcohol takes me farther from God, and weed brings me closer to God, you know what I mean?"
I though it was just such an amazing statement that I had to write a song about it. So I did.
Software Used:Project5 for writing, ACID Pro for mastering
Lullaby for Chelsea
Recorded with two different banks of an Absynth VST. I sat down and played this through in one take, and it turned out rather well. Short and sweet.
Software Used: Project5
Underlord
Underlord was the first song that I ever released publicly. My aim was to create a mellow drum and string piece that flowed, and that was relaxing. Being the first song where I actually wrote my own loops, I thought it came out rather well. I was and still am very proud of this creation. (You can also find this song on www.acidplanet.com under my DJ name, AR-Raven, and you can drop a review of you want).
Software Used: Acid 2.0, Cakewalk, Creative's filters, Acid loop CDs
Purgatory
In fall of my senior year our class was reading Hamlet, and we were discussing the idea of purgatory. There was an extra credit assignment to create you're own interpretation of the terrible beyond. So I took the challenge and wrote this song, dedicated to the mind of a man forced to go through the stages of purgatory, from realization to a sweet, gentle insanity...
Software Used: Acid 2.0, Acid Loop CDs, Acid 8-Packs
Fervesco
Fervesco means to begin to boil in Latin. This is one of the songs that you aren't allowed to not hear. I wrote it entirely from 8-Pack loops, but many people say that this is my best song. I set out writing Fervesco for someone, for a purpose, but somewhere in the mechanics the meaning was lost, and the tune is just an emotional song now. Even though it's all loops, they're put to very good use...
Software Used: Acid 2.0, Acid Loop CDs, Acid 8-Packs
Thisis
I worked non-stop on Thisis for quite a long time; roughly three weeks. And by non-stop, I mean get home from school at 2:30 PM, put on the headphones, then work until three in the morning. For three weeks. I've poured my entire life into this song over a long period of time. The name "Thisis" comes from when I started working on the song. I instantly knew that "This is it," but Thisisit was too clunky of a title. So I shortened it to the beautiful "Thisis." I wrote it for someone who never wrote back.
Software Used: Acid 2.0, Acid 8-Packs, Acid Loop CDs, Fruity Loops
Star Trek TC
(TC stands for Total Conversion). A techno mix I composed long, long ago for a Starcraft:Broodwar total conversion mod, which basically turned the game of Starcraft into a Star Trek game, complete with new units based on Star Trek characters. I have no idea what happened to the mod (it was done by a different group of people), but I kept the song.
Software Used: Acid 2.0, Acid loop CDs
Bounty Hunt
I composed this for a student film during my freshman year of college. The whole process was actually a bit rushed, because this and the next piece were both created in the same day (the day before the film was due, which was the only time the video editing was completed). This piece is played during a hunt / takedown scene, and is designed to build suspense, enhance the action, and finally apex during the actual assasination.
Software Used: Project5, ACID 4.0
Pocket Choir
This piece was composed for the climactic scene of the student film mentioned above. Again, it is meant to create tension, which is finally released in a happy ending.
Software Used: Project5, ACID 4.0
Spring Animation Score
(This song can also be found in the Animation section of this website). During my freshman year at RIT, one of my assignments in a Flash animation class was to create an animation using entirely letters and characters to make other shapes. The other arbitrary requirement was that we had to represent a season. I chose Spring, and decided to compose the music for the animation myself. This is the result, which I cherish greatly.
Software Used: Acid 2.0, Cakewalk, Creative's sound filters, Acid Loop CDs, SFX CDs
Ghost Galleon
A slow funeral march written for a ghost ship game level. I tried to evoke emptiness and make it spooky. It borrows slightly from some other songs on this page, but most of it is original. Very good friends of mine will probably recognize the tune played on the organ, because it's the very same one that I usually play on the piano.
Software Used: Acid 2.0, Cakewalk, Creative's sound filters, Acid Loop CDs, SFX CDs
Jungle Bash
This song goes to a jungle level, so I tried to write it environmentally to match the atmosphere. It's bouncy and catch with emphasized drums and bass instruments.
Software Used: Acid 2.0, Acid Loop CDs, SFX CDs
Pirate Adventure Remix
This is a quality, uplifting and upbeat tune written for a computer game beach level. The main tune comes from a banjo loop provided by Acid, but there are a lot of original tracks here as well. I put a lot of time into this one (and remixing this one as well), as it was the first track I had to present to the developers of the game. Enjoy.
Software Used: Acid 2.0, Acid loop CDs, SFX CDs, Cakewalk, Creative's sound filters
Run About Beach Remix
This song is more interesting and moody than Pirate Adventure, but with a similar style. Most of it is Cakewalk MIDI voices recorded and filtered with Creative programs. This is one of those songs that you have to listen to all the way through to really understand what it's trying to say.
Software Used: Acid 2.0, Acid loop CDs, SFX CDs, Cakewalk, Creative's sound filters
[NEW] Her Prison Has 88 Keys and no Locks
This song was written for Chelsea, who is grounded; that is to say she is in a prison with no locks. I imagine her almost dancing around the apartment in the late morning, with bright sunlight coming through the windows. Sometimes intruiging, sometimes dissapointing, always exploring.
Software Used:Project5, Acid 4.0
Her Eyes
I sat quitely at my computer thinking about my girlfriend while talking to her online. I turned my chair to my Yamaha keyboard and just instantly slammed out a melody. I liked it so much that I turned it into a full song about three minutes later. Through the entire process all I thought about were the eyes of my girl, and this is the beauty that erupted from my lightning inspiration.
Software Used: Project5, Acid 4.0
For Katy
A piano recording for Katy.
Software Used: Acid 2.0/Creative Wave Studio
Bells and Strings
This is the first song that I actually recorded to the keyboard before I recorded it to the computer. I did so I could overlay different instrument tracks to one song, and it came out good enough for me to post it up here.
Software Used: Acid 4.0
Improv session
This was recorded for our English project, which is a very open-ended assignment, where we can do whatever we want with the topic "beauty." Here's some small excerpts from the paper I turned in with the assignment: "What a shallow and simple creature I am to think that I can create something beautiful. I'm sure that you'll receive many projects that try to explain what beauty is, in so many articulate words, or in images. As for me, I wanted to create something beautiful. I used no sheet music, I didn't prepare in any way. It's not edited. My idea of beauty is something that can't be put into words, not even in a five page paper. Therefore, my idea of beauty is a piano and its sound. It's something I can easily get lost in. For instance, when I sat down and started playing, I thought I had only played for three minutes, tops. I only stopped playing because the phone rang, actually, which is why the ending is rather abrupt. When I returned, I was amazed to see twelve minutes of music. It passed by in a second for me. And when I listened to it, it didn't feel like twelve minutes, it felt like a second. Time, and the laws of physics, do not apply to beauty.
Software Used: Acid 2.0, Yamaha DXG-500 keyboard
Ray's Midi
This is actually a raw MIDI file that I wrote when I first got Cakewalk for my birthday. Who cares how it sounds, it's a classic, and for the first song I really every composed on a computer, I'm very proud of it. This is just a piano and drums, so the quality of your MIDI voices shouldn't matter too much.
Software Used: Cakewalk