May 2011 Blog Posts (10)

From my first attempt to compose music in the early 90's using my 486, Finale, and my computer's internal sound card (mistake!), it has been my dream to have at my disposal a realistic virtual orchestra.

When the Garritan Personal Orchestra came out, I thought my dreams had come true. And for a while, it seemed that Gary Garritan had solved the world's most pressing problems and ushered in a new era of world peace, sending beauty pageant contestants on a desperate scramble to…

Hi,

Little Monster

Whilst in Tokyo on holiday for a few weeks in 2008 and I had my mac book pro with me and Apple Logic Express.

Whilst I had the time I realised that I can sort of compose music. Little Monster was written for a Japanese friend of mine and part time over 8 days I completed it (yes it was a joke as you can hear!). My ears are a bit better now and I…

I've always liked John Adams 'Harmonielehre'. How can one NOT like it?

I'll revisit my drawing board, where I'll draw with my ear. I cannot do notation. I'll begin to build a piece that is inspired by Harmonielehre, by creating fragments/phrases that will repeat in overlapping time signatures. There will be sharp/hard elements and…

I composed this piece in 5 minutes pretty much. Decided that I liked the melody so I thought I create an extended improvisation using similar chord progressions. This is the first improvisation that I have actually teared up to, I have never felt so much emotion for a piece that I have composed. There is a very personal story behind this so I thought I would like to share it. Feel free to listen to it here. The story is quite lengthy. I am not a professional, just a man who enjoys composing…

Ok, so I was doing some research on the Stan Kenton recording of "City of Glass." The piece takes a rather dark look at New York City. While doing my reseach, I came across a piece by Aaron Copland called "Music for a Great City." Have you heard it? I am sorry to say that after studying Copland for almost 20 years, I had not even heard of this piece.

It is amazing. It is one of those gems, much like Copland's "Letter from Home," which are too often overlooked or altogether…

Here is a new piece I've been slaving over for the past few months.  I think  I've taken the Garritan Gagli violin solo sound about as far as I can get it, tho I'm thinking I need to learn about portamento on Logic, which might improve the line.  But I did find that a giant reverb seemed to deepen the tone a bit. Best would be a real violinist (next step).

Also used Garritan cello, Jam Pack Clarinet, and piano with pad.  Let me know what you think/feel upon listening to…

Hi peeps,

I'm totally new here, so I thought it would be nice to say hello this way.

I never received any musical training. I did some musical experiments around the age of 16-18, but never got far on my own.

For years I have been solely creative in graphics, painting, writing (text). It was not until early 2008 I rediscovered the possibilities of musical 'experiments' through the use of my computer. So there it was again, that idea, the notion…