Last updated: 5/19/08
The music on this page is divided into three sections. First are concert works I've written; these are notated and intended for live performance. The second group is synthesized music I wrote specifically to be listened to digitally, probably as underscore. The third group is music I'm working on and have not yet finished.
I'm always interested in writing film scores, so if you're a Park student and need music let me know! The same goes if you design video games.
Metropolis: Inhabitant 7S2L5D3 (2008)
10-minute piece for Soprano, Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano. I submitted this for the 2008 Kulmusik competition, if it wins it will be performed Fall 2008. If not, I'll probably put it together for my senior recital, Spring 2009.
Passive Affairs (2008)
Quick piece for piano I did in the wistfulness of finals week and all-nighters for a final project in a 20th century theory class. The piece reflected my worn and confused state! Perhaps later in the summer I'll record a live version.
Sunday Alone (2007-8)
A string quartet in five movements, about 25 minutes of music in total. It depicts a day as experienced by one who wakes up to the greeting of sunshine and silence, alone for a day. We've all had a day like that, where we have no obligations and nobody is around, as though civilization had ceased for a day, it's a bit surreal and very enjoyable. Anyway, it explores both the adventures possible on such a day as well as what it means to be alone. Much of my music is rather personal to me, but this one more so than most I think, especially in the last movement, when the Alone theme really becomes centered. Probably my most ambitious work to date, I'm rather proud of it. I plan to have the entire work performed for my senior recital.
Gargoyle (2007)
This is a piece for solo cello in three short movements that runs about six minutes. It was intended to be practice in my string writing, which I'm getting a feel for but still have much to learn about. The first movement depicts a stone gargoyle poised stoically in the rain, lamenting in cold silence. In the second movement he gets up and walks through a barren stone city, wandering methodically through streets that all look the same. He approaches a tower which he ascends, spreading his wings in a sudden show of animation, and as he reaches the top and looks outward the third movement begins. Beyond him is empty space, and he looks out. The occasional sound of rock tumbling echoes in the abyss, and he remains poised, still, wings spread, going nowhere, because he cannot fly.
Nightwalk (2007)
This was my submission for the firs annual Kulmusik Competition. The guidelines are that it must be in a Pierrot Lunaire ensemble (Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano, Percussion) and last no longer than 10 minutes. This piece is in four sections and depicts a small journey through the night. It begins with Nighttime Ambience, which consists of sporadic gestures and boxed figures that morph slowly. After a couple minutes a distant flute is heard ('Distant Life') which at first is almost imperceptible and mysterious, but grows louder as though the listener or music were searching through the dark of night for the source of this sound. Eventually the ambience fades away entirely and the flute plays a brief and free solo, but suddenly darts away in a fleeting gesture. There is a slight pause, then the third section begins. It is the first section with a rhythmic drive and wanders through several sonorities as though searching for this flute sound which it has lost. The sonorities resolve but nothing has been found, and finally the music lets the search go and contents itself into entering the final section, 'Fireflies.' The music becomes ambient and playful, full of darting and bright figures. Hints of the flute solo appear here and there, but never in full, and the music eventually ends, calm and restful but perhaps incomplete.
Azure Island (2007)
This piece is written in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Orange County Community Orchestra. It is designed to be not too demanding in technique but still sound very full, as the orchestra is rather small and not professional. There are many wind solos, and it is very sonorous and atmospheric in design, built on 4ths and 5ths with lots of drones and tonal amgibuity. It depicts the exploration of a secluded and deserted island in a number of scenic sections, entitled 'Beach,' 'Fields,' 'Forest,' 'Stone Temple,' 'Mountain,' and 'Shore on the Other Side.' The total duration is approximately 11 minutes. The piece will be given a premiere by the orchestra during its spring concert.
Three Nighttime Images for Bassoon (2007)
These pieces explore the textural possibilities in the relatively unexplored world of solo bassoon music. The movements are titled as follows:
I - Air Under Stars
II - Nest on a Cloud
III - Chasing Moonbeams
I wrote these pieces because I have never written anything substantial for my own instrument or for any one instrument unaccompanied (beyond a little piano). I also thought it would be a good excercise since I never compose at an instrument like pianists always do. It was definately good for my brain and musical skills, a work I'm quite proud of! I also thought it would be handy to have unaccompanied bassoon music to play in juries, as well as give to other bassoonists to play on juries and recitals. And, IDRS (International Double Reed Society) is having their annual convention this summer in Ithaca, so I want to come prepared with music to hand out to people so I can spread my name! I'll be adding it to Sibeliusmusic soon, look out though, parts of the first movement don't play back because they involve advanced notation.
Rogue Sorcerer (2007)
For soprano saxophone and piano in three movements... and in the second movement the pianist becomes a tibetan singing bowl player. If that sounds strange, well then you haven't been hanging around with comp majors enough. You can find the score (played perfectly in time but nowhere near as beautifully!) at my Sibeliusmusic page. As a note, the second movement doesn't play back the singing bowl so it sounds very open and silent, which is the point but a bit too much. And in the third movement, the midi has a glitch of some kind and cuts out in a couple measures near the end.
Hermes (2007)
The composers from the class of '09 had another collaborative recital, and this time the theme was Greek gods. The recording has a couple mistakes (only one that's very audible though) but considering the amount (or lack thereof) of rehearsal time we had, they pulled it off wonderfully, thanks to all the performers! Hermes was the god of Shepherds, Thieves and Travelers... I subtitled the piece 'Thief at the Gates.'
Abandoned Aquarium (2006-7)
This is a woodwind quintet in five movements depicting a dark and deserted aquarium being explored by a solitary and curious traveler. It sounds mellow as he walks the halls, everything tinted a dark blue by the water. He looks into the tanks and imagines the fish that used to be there, depicted by a couple watery and somewhat bright movements. Then it goes mellow again, and he keeps exploring... until he enters a room and sees something that grabs his attention instantly, depicted by the final movement. At first he is stopped by awe, then is curious, and quietly walks into the room and raises a hand to the glass... Inspired by an illustration, like much of my art. Check out the scorch file at my Sibeliusmusic page. The Imani Winds read it, they seemed to like it too! The horn player said bravo!
Barepaw Fishing (2006)
This piece is for Piccolo and Piano, intended to show a side of Piccolo you normally don't hear. Instead of piercing notes, it uses alot of lows and long legato passages. It sounds very shimmery, so I decided to name it after a piece of artwork I'm very fond of depicting a wolf-creature fishing with his bare paws... full of color and light, yet dark and mellow too. Also very difficult to play. Check out the scorch file at my Sibeliusmusic page.
Cora Scandal (2006)
Many of the composers here wrote music for a collection of poems describing the inhabitants of a fictional village called Redwing. The recital was Feb. 28, 2006. It was much fun to rehearse! Scored for soprano, violin, flute, and horn. Check out the scorch file at my Sibeliusmusic page.
Wake Into A Dream (2005)
This piece was written for my composition class and was performed Feb. 22. It was my first exploration into the musical world outside of melody and chord accompaniment. Very atmospheric and simple yet complex at the same time. Scored for flute, clarinet, bassoon, violin and cello. Scorch file is on my Sibeliusmusic page.
Pirates Vs. Ninjas (2005)
A whole lot of fun and not very serious, this was the idea of the 6-strong freshmen composition class. We all wrote a movement (3 of us for pirates and 3 for ninjas) and it was played Feb. 22 along with my Wake Into A Dream. I wrote a Ninja movement, because we all know ninjas are cooler than pirates. ;) Scorch file is on my Sibeliusmusic page.
The Fountain (2008)
Cinematic sounding cue I wrote over a weekend, envisioning the opening scene of a fantasy film. Starts mystical, then gets brighter and ends very big when we pull out and see a wide shot of the mythical world that this all takes place in.
2+2=5 (2008)
Score for an ACP Fiction project, dark and a bit surreal. The director/producer was good enough to upload to youtube, so the link here includes video!
Crossword's Tulip (2008)
Score for a senior thesis film, an intersting twist of the character of cupid. Mostly piano and strings, was a fun project to work on.
Outpost 39 (2008)
I wrote this in a day because it relaxes me to do such sparse background/ambient music. And I can use it while playing space games! Not necessarily good for listening directly to, though you can and meditate or let your thoughts wander.
TV Scoring Seminar (2008)
Television composer Ron Riddle came to campus to do a seminar with us, he gave us a TV clip to score and he provide feedback as if he were a producer (one that really knew what he wanted, but didn't know much theory and was strictly business!) A good experience at quick thinking, taking critiques and communicating in non-musical terms. The cue above squashes a bunch of 20-second clips together, as they would do on a soundtrack.
Jungle Night (2008)
Just a quick piece I wrote after completing the Tigers' Second Quest project, I did it in a day to unwind and produce a bit of music in a style I don't usually get to write in but I'd like to do more of.
To Sleep (2007)
About 7 or so minutes of score for a Park student film, it was a fun project. Simple music to reflect the innocence of childhood, just piano and guitar. I got to go on set and do some sound recording for it as well, and meet the kitten that starred in it! Below are a couple of the longer cues.
Morning Cue
End Credits
Tomb Robbing (2007)
Final project for my Digital Recording and Editing course, made up of sounds I recorded around campus, as well as a few pad sounds thrown in. It's supposed to be an abstract soundscape, I think it works pretty well. It was 'performed' recently at a recital in Hockett Recital Hall, those big speakers really made it pretty cool to listen to, especially the low groany noises, you could feel yourself vibrating!
Tigers' Second Quest (2007)
I wrote the music for this original audio drama from Everlasting Films. It involves four songs, and some incidental music as you'll see on the under-work music page linked to above. This was an exciting project as I got to work on my skills with the synthesizer and at the same time collaborate with some very talented voice actors. I even got some money out of it! (Gasp)
BS Detectives Stock Music (2007)
I did some stock music for an ICTV show, most of it didn't get used but that's ok because it's good for my portfolio!
Showdown
Hot Pursuit
Abandoned Aquarium (2006-7)
(See in above section)
Max Impact (2007)
A film score I wrote for the Spring '07 semester. The film was a documentary about a man who is building a special rocket/bullet to perform a stunt that he hopes will raise money for a factory he wants to build. The film was very, very well done, I was incredibly lucky to work with such talented and fun people! There were nine cues in the film including a main title sequence; above are three of them.Regression (2007)
For the Spring '07 semester I took a class in video game design, which consisted mostly of the class breaking into groups and working on a game. It was an interesting learning experience, and apparently they're trying to expand it into a degree program (video game design) which would be awesome. My group did a third person shooter game entitled 'Regression' (the name was my idea! They originally wanted Evolution: Survival of the Fittest but then decided against it). It was pretty cool I must say. So we knew pretty early on there would be a desert level, so I just set down and started writing desert music, meant to sound slow and creepy at first like you're in a cavern or alone in the desert, then it picks up later into the track. A nice piece to stick in my portfolio I think.
Moonlit Fox (2006)
This is a different piece with the same name as something I wrote last year. I kept the name because I was trying to evoke the same image through a different style. It's for piano, and it's synthesized but I think the Garritan Piano sounds great. Either of the pictures on the main page is sufficient imagery.
Ethereal Maelstrom (2006)
Tacky name, I had about five minutes to think of one so that's what happened. Final project for Electroacoustic Music class, I had to put this together with very little time so it's not perfect (the equipment was dated too so you can hear some distortion happening in a couple spots) but I had alot of fun doing it. Once spring semester starts I think I'll pop into the electroacoustics studio now and then and work on something much more ambitious and less hurried, I really like designing sounds and creating 'soundscapes,' after all that's what I'm always trying to push my concert music into being.
Dr. Dr. Smart (2006)
Silly quirky music for a clever film made by a Park student for an ACP class.
Chain (2006)
Rock-ish music for a dramatic Video Workshop film about fate and decisions.
The Race (2006)
A bit of stock music for the ICTV show 'The Race,' a reality television series following a race across upstate New York. Very cheesy, but very fun.
Well now what am I up to now? A few things, listed below.
After The Quest
Next installment in the Tigers' Quest series.