Here is some of the music I have created or taken part in.
Action 920 KB 2:07
Every year I make a compilation for Dwayne and Jennifer of all the pictures and video I have of Seth and Josiah. Usually I put on some prefab music for the video portion. This year I wrote my own bit. I tried to make it very film like. Big orchestra sounding thing. It was only turning out very lame. I put a piano sound and after watching the video while playing, this very chromatic bit of piano stuck. A quick bass follow along. The drum part was recorded over four takes. Watching the video and listening to the other tracks. Chopped up the 4 takes into the best bits, mostly the first two takes and ta-da. The piece is called Action named after the video portion of the compilation. "Petty Boys, In Action."
SQ1 1.98 MB 5:14
I had these melodic patterns in my head and I fiddled with getting them out. They seemed pretty cool, so I recorded them. This became the first voice, the highest violin. Then I improvised the others underneath it. Took out a couple of notes here and there because it was a bit to thick. Violà. Here is this very interesting piece. I'm going to work on an actual score and try to get some real string players to play it rather than the TS-10.
YeahTa 820 KB 1:57
A hand drum pattern transferred to sampled Tabla was the start of this. The high melody part was actually meant to be sung only with the word "yeah". I couldn't sing it, nor was I able to record any vocals along with this keyboard sequence. Maybe at somepoint I will get it done with vocals, I'm sure I can find a soprano/alto now at church, hmmmm.
Realization 1.8 MB 3:50
Another 100% pure improvised piece played and recorded on my keyboard. Chopped up into the parts I liked the most. This was a case of finding a cool sound and just playing till something interesting came up. The nice thing about having the built in sequencer is it's very easy to capture these kinds of things. It sounds like I was thinking of something, but I don't have a clue to what it was. :)
Beginnings
Part I 2.9 MB 4:48
Beginnings
Part II 2 MB 3:21
This is a 100% pure improvised piece played and recorded on my keyboard. One of the first things I remember doing on the keyboard was setting up a drum map that mimiced my drum kit. After playing it for a bit I recorded my first real sequence. This was the result. 3 tracks all played one right after the other. First the keys, then the fretless bass, then the drums. I can't figure out how I played this. :)
Dusk 4.5 MB 6:15
This is a drum solo piece. Actually a cymbal and bell solo. It was an improvisation that I was lucky enough to record. I used mallets and it gave the bells a very soft sound. There are 3 motifs that are stated and mutated. After all the dreamy stuff it comes to a harsh end that is almost comical. Kinda like someone knocking you out of bed after a nights sleep.
A Healing Sun? 1.4 MB. 2:55
This is originally an ostinato for some solo drum music. It's a nice little quintuplet based figure played on the bass drums. This chunk is about halfway through. Scott changed gears and started playing these nice arpeggios. I restated the main theme (tom,tambourine,bell, china bit) and we took off from there. All 100% improv from then on. I really like how it explodes in the middle and then drops back down.
On the Blade 1 MB. 2:11
This is a tune Scott put together. He played the opening riff for me and we started going. The bridge section is a nice breakdown. I chopped it up into smaller sections so you can get a feel for the whole piece. This is the second time we played it.
Where Am I Going? 2 MB. 4:09
This is also an ostinato for some solo drum music. No discussion at all except for the very beginning (which I cut out, some swirly noises and a tom melody intro, due to much tape hiss). I start the off with the ostinato and the bell,tom, snare melody. Scott jumps in and plays some amazing stuff. I throw out various melodies that Scott responds to beautifully. At around 2:40 Scott changes the chords and this killer tom melody just comes out of no where. It's pretty amazing. I edited (a skill I haven't developed) this down from 8 minutes. It was hard to leave things out.
Peace and War 1 MB 2:08
An improv from a riff Scott had. The beginning is the Peace part which is the riff he originally had. The War section (where the distortion and heavy bass drums come in) just happened.
We have about 2 hours worth of material on various tapes. We recorded everything. Some amazing music resides on those tapes. There is one improv that was so incredible, it sounds like it's a complete piece. I played a little figure and off we went. I hope to get that up for you to hear, it's really incredible.