Flower Found! is a quirky animation for adults in the style of an animation for children. To echo the whimsical hand drawn nature of the characters, the score was created primarily with live recordings of toy instruments. The full short will be available once all festivals/competitions have been completed. Winner of Best Animated Student Short 2017 (powered by Cartoon Network) - KLIK Amsterdam Animation Festival. Directed by Jorn Leeuwerink. Backgrounds by Myra Emmen Riedel.

I was part of a two man team that scored a 20+ episode animated series based on the mascot for the 2010 World Cup. Due to a backed up animation schedule, episodes often had to be scored in less than 24 hours. The series featured high action games and a lot of quick cuts. This is a portion of the final episode. 

This animation was originally created by Thomas Lucas without score. I added some unsolicited music lightly inspired by some of the quirky cues used in The Venture Bros by JG Thirlwell as well as the kitschy space age bachelor pad music of Esquivel. 
Learn more about Thomas Lucas here.
See the original short here.

This animation was created by the very talented Rebecca Parham. The original video was scoreless, so I decided to add some unsolicited music. I took stylistic cues from the gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt. 
Learn more about Rebecca here.
See the original short here.

Horses Eat Each Other is a short independent film addressing issues of alienation, isolation, and the internal struggles that result from both. I combined both electronic and acoustic sound worlds to reflect this tense relationship, and made use of experimental sound design techniques making significant use of custom designed software and processes to create a unique alien landscape. This is a sample of the film before it went into final mixing to balance the music, sfx, and dialogue. 

Lost Face is a film based on a short story by Jack London. A tribe captures, tortures, and kills a band of fur thieves. While the character Subienkow watches his last remaining compatriot endure torture and certain death, he hatches a desperate plan to save his life. This trailer features "The Horror of Self", a droney violin piece I wrote heavily influenced by the plainchant music of medieval composer Hildegard von Bingen and the tintinnabulation technique of Arvo Pärt. There are light undertones of Appalachian folk music peppered throughout the melodic motifs, evoking a morose sense of mystique, regret, and desire for redemption. 

This is a PSA created by the Canadian Union of Public Employees on child healthcare. It was aired on Canadian television in 2015. The animators made use of an upbeat kitschy 1950's jazz track I wrote influenced by musicians such as Herb Alpert, Henry Mancini, and shows like Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie. 

The music for this spot needed to be uplifting and inspiring. I created a bed of rising arpeggios to give the impression of floating upwards. The initial percussion is comprised of snaps and claps to create an impression of common accessibility. The instruments all have a relatively quick decay to create an overall bouncy effect. 

This was written as a demo for a PSA. The client wanted the spot to open with nervous activity creating a sense of mystery. The music needed to become darker and more harrowing as the house fell apart, finally opening up with a sense of relief when the logo appeared on screen. Stylistic requests included "classical" and "cinematic".

Flipboard needed music for a collection of tutorial videos. The editor requested music similar to advertisements from apple without sounding like "a happy hipster going for a hike". The track needed to be bouncy and light without becoming too dense, and needed to maintain an encouraging "it's simple" vibe. The musical phrases are crafted to mimic the idea of asking a question, then receiving an answer with their respective rise and fall. The stinger I provided for the end of the loop became the defacto sonic branding for this series. 

This is a custom score I created for a book trailer. The music needed to move through several styles at a quick pace from noir jazz to something sneaky/insidious, to something that would get increasingly aggressive, finally ending on a light and inspirational note. Effort was made to compose around the dialogue to avoid gratuitous ducking in post.

The producer of this video wanted music that was contemporary enough to speak to a young crowd (ca. 2010), but not so trendy that the track would be unusable in the next few years. The music opens with percussion modeled after a ticking clock to reflect the passage of time. The next section opens and closes with reverse swells to mimic the sense that the montage is just a brief glimpse at what your future could hold. Audio references included early Sigur Ros. 

This was a track created to promote a new book series, "Nescada" by K.L. Abbott. The author described a dark yet magical landscape set in the woods. The score needed to highlight these aspects as well as move into a rhythmic section to hint at action sequences. Requests included primarily orchestral instruments with tribal rhythms and electric guitars used for the faster section. Project delivery included the full track as well as loopable sections. 

Burglars Inc. is an exciting new plot driven puzzle game centered around a collective of thieves who crack safes with benevolent intentions. The developers needed exciting heist music, citing Yoko Kanno's work on Cowboy Bebop as reference material. I had a ton of fun working on this and only wish they needed more music. 

This project, originally titled "Lord of Shadows", is a Clash of Clans style game developed for iOS. I provided a number of 2:00 loops in an cinematic orchestral style befitting the game's fantasy theme. This excerpt demonstrates portions of the fortress building and battle phases. 

Pixel Hero Prologue is a quirky game that plays off of common tropes and popular culture. I was commissioned to write a handful of jazz inspired tracks for some of the levels. This particular theme was used when an evil corporation tries to rebrand itself with a kinder image (clearly a ruse). The creators requested something that was peppy and reminiscent of elevator music. There's a soft spot in my heart for kitschy pop-jazz of the 1960's, so I happily obliged. 

The developers of this game were interested in creating a sound world based loosely on the capabilities of the Super Nintendo. The style was based heavily on the music of Pocket Fighter (as requested). The challenge was to design my sounds to be more realistic than the classic nintendo, but not as sophisticated as modern virtual instruments. I contributed short 30 second loops for elements including level completion, an invincible mode, the map world, and a game over screen. 

This music was written as a demo for High 5 Games. The music needed to be high in energy and sit at frequencies able to be reproduced by speaker sets of an actual slot machine. The mid-range eq was boosted to make this track able to cut through a hypothetical clamor of noise without becoming too shrill. 

Sudden Bonus is a game comprised solely of the extra levels and surprise bosses you normally have to play entire levels to encounter. This critically acclaimed game makes use of some music I originally created for a game called Corgi Run. The sound is modeled after the SNES, and takes its stylistic cues from Pocket Fighter.