GL013 Get Fabulous

“Welcome swingers! Pull up a groove and get fabulous! We’ve set the bar high with a bar-none no holds barred wet bar. Get loosey goosey and party hardy - it’s time to mingle!”

As I’ve gotten older I’ve really come to appreciate the kitschy ‘60’s era pop-jazz. This is the stuff being churned out by Henry Mancini, Esquivel, Herb Alpert, and was featured as intro music to such shows as Bewitched, I Love Lucy, I Dream of Jeannie, Lost in Space, Star Trek, and more. Granted there are minor stylistic differences between all the aforementioned themes, it all occupies the same kitschy space in my heart. There was very serious jazz happening at this time in many different pockets, but this is the music that Dad’s got on vinyl party compilations promising light dinner hits, swingin’ cocktail parties, and “exotic” dance stylings of the mambo, bossa nova, and cha-cha. I can’t even begin to describe how much I love this stuff. I’m sure a lot of it comes from my love for Archer and The Venture Bros. By the way, #Animators! If you ever do a project like that I really really REALLY want to write music for you. Just saying.

This track was created for a game called Pixel Hero - Prologue. This is game is actually a teaser - merely an appetizer for what is to come. If fully funded, I’ll have the opportunity to REALLY stretch out and write more music in this style. Please consider making a donation if you’re even the slightest bit interested in this project. Here’s more info:

As with all the things posted here, this is freely available for use in games and/or animation projects. It also works as a sort of demo of my style and abilities. I’m actively looking for new gigs, so if you like anything here please get in touch and we can discuss some custom work.

I’ve provided separate intro/loop files for ease of editing. If you would like to use this royalty free loop, please message me.

GL013 Get Fabulous Files

GL012 And Just Like That

“Ever wish you could _______? Well now you can! It’s simple…”

This track was created for tutorial videos for the Flipboard app. They needed something that was bouncy and light without being too dramatic or imposing. The challenge was to make this track go somewhere without building it in density, melodic complexity, or rhythmic syncopation. This is the first Game Loop that I’m including a stinger with. This punchy little ditty acts as the end of the track. Simply loop the piece as long as you’d like, and when you need the piece to end, cut the track and splice in the stinger. It should work anywhere.

Here’s one of the tutorials in action!

As with all the things posted here, this is freely available for use in games and/or animation projects. It also works as a sort of demo of my style and abilities. I’m actively looking for new gigs, so if you like anything here please get in touch and we can discuss some custom work.

I’ve provided separate intro/loop files for ease of editing. If you would like to use this royalty free loop, please message me.

GL012 And Just Like That Files

GL011 Overcast Nostalgia

This was created for a game that needed something ambient and not specifically emotional in any sort of definitive way. To take this idea of ambiguity further, I created a patch in Max/Msp that would generate clusters of harmony from a specified pool of notes. Then two groups could be cross faded between each other creating a push and pull of meandering tonality. My hopes were that the key center could be heard as any of the distinct 7 pitchers, or at the very least, it would be difficult to tell whether it was centered around a major or minor mode.

The stuttering rhythm is from a stacked set of 5ths played in a piano. I took a single iteration with a long decay and make a patch to skip around the buffer creating unspecified syncopation. The stresses literally happen when the sound skips to an earlier part of the decay. The sounds used for the rhythmic ostinato was designed by hand with white noise and sine waves.

This piece was heavily influenced by the electro-acoustic work I was fond of during undergrad. At the time I was extremely interested in the work of the artists of 12k and Trente Oiseaux. For those in the know, this piece is an homage to Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alvo Noto’s Vrioon - an album that remains incredibly important to me to this day.

As with all the things posted here, this is freely available for use in games and/or animation projects. It also works as a sort of demo of my style and abilities. I’m actively looking for new gigs, so if you like anything here please get in touch and we can discuss some custom work.

I’ve provided separate intro/loop files for ease of editing. If you would like to use this royalty free loop, please message me.

GL011 Overcast Nostalgia Files

GL010 A Hero Rises

Through the death and destruction, through the rubble and smoke, from the ashes of self doubt and fear, a hero rises.

I recently saw The Reward from Tales of Alethrion and was inspired to write some heroic music. I knew I wanted marching rhythms in a snare, a timpani line that would inspire a sense of reverence, and a brass choir that would climb melodically to mimic the idea of an individual “rising” to the challenge (ok ok, bad pun, but it’s actually a thing one thinks about compositionally). This piece could easily be a lot longer. The melodic and harmonic material lend themselves to endless development and variations, and I foam at the mouth thinking about adding 32nd note woodwind arpeggio rips during the return of the introductory melody. That said, I think it works nicely as a short loop as well. If you need to do something you’d really rather not (go to work, jog, etc), I’d recommend listening to heroic tracks such as this one. Whatever you do will make you feel like you’re saving your city.

As with all the things posted here, this is freely available for use in games and/or animation projects. It also works as a sort of demo of my style and abilities. I’m actively looking for new gigs, so if you like anything here please get in touch and we can discuss some custom work.

I’ve provided separate intro/loop files for ease of editing. If you would like to use this royalty free loop, please message me.

GL010 A Hero Rises Files

GL009 Intro to Murder

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted something. I’ve been working on a more epic track, but I’ve run into a few snags and it’s taking a little longer than expected. In lieu of that, I present a (non-loopable) piece I wrote as an intro to a film that was unfortunatelyabandoned before release. This is dark and ominous with violent undertones. Themes of murder, assassination, international treachery, double agents, and false identities all come to mind. Imagine a close up of drops of red ink falling onto a sheet of white paper, or black ties and socks neatly being placed into carry-on luggage by a faceless entity, and shoes that are just a little too well polished. Or, if we want to get creepy with it, a slow pan across disheveled carpeting and a tattered teddy bear slumped in the corner. Crikey!

This was written a number of years ago when these particular instruments were still pretty new to me. The character of some of the swells in the woodwinds is a little off-putting, though I’m not convinced many people would notice had I not just pointed it out. Let’s just pretend it was intentional and adds to the creepy factor ;) Production quagmires aside, I like how it came together as a composition.

No loop files are provided with this one as it’s not really a loop. I’ve provided a direct download in the event that I reach my max on Soundcloud, though. If you would like to use this royalty free track, please message me.

GL009 Intro to Murder Direct Download