Here is a little ditty I worked up a while back and then forgot all about. I rediscovered it while digging through some files on my machine. Actually I rediscovered a lot of half-finished ideas and songs, which I really should get to some sort of completed state, just so I can post them here.

You might ask why I post unfinished ideas at all. I like to archive my ideas on this site so that when I am working on new projects, I can use it as a reference library of sounds, phrases, mixes, and ideas. Its much easier to browse things here than on my hard drive, inside a maze of folders, etc.

Hence the “journal” title of this website. I am working on a portfolio of work though, which I should be able to launch later this month - stay tuned!

Back to this track: I am not really sure what this would sync well with. The bongos are reminiscent of a tiki-torch party on the beach, but the guitar is more like something you would hear in a dark smokey jazz club. Then there is the mysterious and ethereal song structure…which is out of place in both of those settings. But the end result of these combinations is something else entirely. If I had to pick, I would say it would fit with some sort of Vegas casino theme. Maybe a fashion scene in a heist movie…

This is a sketch that was one of several options presented to a client. I think this track would work great behind underwater footage, like an ocean documentary or some sort of travel-channel scubafest.

Speaking of underwater - why don’t they rerun more of the old Jacques Cousteau specials on TV these days? Especially considering the popularity of movies like The Life Aquatic, which are obviously riffing on the JQ legend. Sidenote: can you believe that movie came out in 2004 - 5 years ago? How time flies…

Tools used on this track: Logic, EXS24, Spectrasonics Omnisphere & Stylus RMX.

This is a proof-of-concept / idea I submitted a while back, to a friend who is working on a very exciting video project. Since the piece I am posting here was recorded, we have improved on it, but I wanted to keep the original version around for posterity.

Bonus points to anyone who can guess what late 70’s TV show inspired parts of this music and melody.

When the project is finished, I will embed it on this site, along with all the info, credits, etc.

Here is another sketch for the same project I mentioned in the previous post (The Wild Frontier). It is a 30 second logo spot / bumper. The client wanted something less orchestral and a bit more alternative, so I used rock instrumentation and fleshed it out with some blippy excitement.

The feeling with this track is “standard” enough, it could go lots of directions. Mainly “parent company” logo animations, with the beginning have a montage of people - as the music builds it speeds up and resolves into the logo at the end.

The ending is a little abrupt, but it’s just sketch, so I try not to spend too much time fussing until I know the client likes the style we are using.

This is a short 30 second bit that started as a sketch for a work project. Its the kind of thing that would be the opener / title sequence for a show on the Discovery Channel or the National Geographic Channel. It has traditional western orchestration with some world instruments, and an exciting driving beat.

I have been getting some serious mileage out of the Miroslav Philharmonik plugin recently - the samples are very high-quality, and, despite some initial confusion I experienced, the interface is pretty friendly. Now that I have a larger keyboard (thanks Tom!) I need to start to use some of the performance-controlling capabilities (controlling the bowing of violins and stuff like that).

This is somewhere between a soundtrack and a soundscape, with little percussion / beats, and a sort of wandering structure that unfurls towards the end. I am no Brian Eno (although I am a fan of his), but I do like the ambient genre now and then. There is something psychologically liberating about working on a track once I’ve decided that it is evolving into an ambient thing, like at that point I can basically do anything I can think of.

In this case, that included appropriating a bit of Carl Sagan. The end result is something you might be able to listen to as you fall asleep.

This is an experimental track I made while fooling around with some of the new plugins I was discussing in the previous post. It has an authentic “breakdown” - sort of an experiment in controlled chaos. I also played with some vocal transformations, which was amusing for a while. Now my ears are tired and I need to think about something else.

Please forgive the meandering ending segment, I barely escaped with my sanity. Don’t ask me to go back there again. 

Arthur C. Clarke died last month. He was a visionary - and his brilliant mind, with Stanley Kubrick’s genius, is responsible for one of my favorite movies: 2001: A Space Odyssey.

One of the memorable traits of that film is the use of classical music to frame sequences of vehicles delicately dancing through the void. As much as I love these moments in the film, I have always agreed with Sun Ra and his Astro Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra’s contention that “Space is the Place”.

There is something about laser beams, black holes, and big rockets that says “funk” to me. With that in mind, here is a space-funk riff for the next time you venture into the abyss.

I enjoy experimenting with the NNXT sampler in Reason. Multi-sampling instruments are lots of fun, especially now that websites like the Freesound Project make locating new sounds so easy. This short sequence was an excuse to test out one of the instruments I created, and also an attempt at creating an arpeggiator in Reason 3.0. Apparently Reason 4.0 has one built in, but I haven’t upgraded yet, so I have to fudge it using the Matrix pattern sequencer. If you are still using Reason 3.0 - here is how to do it:

1. Create a subtractor or any synth / sampler, with the patch you want to use
2. Create a Matrix Pattern Sequencer unit
3. Using the patch cord view, connect the Matrix Pattern Note CV output to the OSC Pitch input on your synth. Make sure the synth is connected to the Mixer, or some output (so you can hear the noise).
4.  Then create a 4 or 6 0r 12 (or 32 - whatever) step sequence in your Matrix unit, and give it some random notes. 
5. Hit the Matrix “run” button, and then switch to your synth and play some notes. Your notes should trigger the Matrix sequence.  
6. Because this is not a true arpeggiator, it won’t be in tune in every key. So you will have to choose in-key notes for your Matrix sequence.

If you want to see an online video of this method, check out this YouTube clip (thx TJfromLP!)

When I listen to this song, I envision some kind of scene in an glistening modern airport: a man running through the crowd. Desperately trying to reach the gate before the woman departs. Like something from the end of a John Hughes movie.

So here is a more traditional version of the song (see this post for the other version).So I abandoned the West-Side-Roll feel (apparently being from Austin isn’t good enough, you have to be from San Antonio to make it work) and modeled the song into a more train / blues feeling. The idea still works well. I tossed a solo in there as a placeholder for the vocal track.

I had this idea for a song that was heavily inspired by a Sir Douglas Quintet tune, but the more I tried to go for that feeling, the trickier it got. Instead of a 1-4-5, I wrote a 1-4-1-6m-6# (?) sort of thing. 

It’s sort of feisty, which I like. But the keyboard part is too ‘Baba o’Reilly-meets-the-circus’.  Maybe I’ll take it out.

You can hear another version of this song posted here.