New on Spiritrax

I did some songs for Spiritrax six months ago that only just got online now. Listening back now, they didn't sound so great and I had to remix them, which is good- it means I've gotten better in the last six months. Anyway, they should sound acceptable now.

Thus Saith the Lord

My latest installment in the upcoming complete karaoke Messiah.

I Know My Redeemer Lives

Rock band with renaissance orchestra. Big huge sound for Easter etc.

Adir Hu

This is the most common klezmer melody to this Passover hymn.

Adir Hu

And this is the older, more well-known melody, in an orchestral setting.

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Reggae-style.

Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho

Jazz trio, a la Moondance.

More Musicals!

Since we finished the Little Mermaid at work, I've been working steadily on South Pacific for local theater Desert Stages, and also for Stage Stars. It's been all my work so far, but since it's Friday evening now, the show is due on Sunday night, and I still have three main numbers to go plus reprises and stuff, my boss and I will both be at work tomorrow morning, and he'll do one or two of these last numbers.

I wish I knew how long it took me, but I haven't been keeping track. I've been working on it for either 2 or 3 weeks, but I'm not sure which.

Sorry I can't post samples of the music, but it's not really my property- I'm just hired to create it for other people who actually own it. When the CD hits Amazon, I'll link to samples there.

PS Never mind- Stage Stars doesn't seem to have samples to listen to on their Amazon page. This is the Amazon page for the Stage Stars album of Damn Yankees that I worked on nine months ago- no samples.

Latest musical

Spent last week at work stocking up Spiritrax for Easter. No vocals yet, but some of you probably know the Ode to Joy and the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Started today on our latest musical for Stage Stars, The Little Mermaid- yes, the Disney one, with music is by Alan Menken. I actually saw this in the movie theater when it came out and loved it- a 12-year-old romantic, and not the only one in the theater, I'm sure.

New Vocals at Spiritrax

Vocals have been recorded for two more Spiritrax ditties:

Do You Hear What I Hear
In case you're missing Christmas as much as I am.

Were You There
Blatantly gory lyrics like this make me see Christianity as a superstitious cult that tells horror stories to children. But it was fun doing all the rain and thunder.

MoreBork

Local video producer Mark Bork called us a few weeks ago to write some music for "A Magical Valley Christmas", a Christmas special that he produces every December for his old hometown of Twin Falls, Idaho. He asked for original classical Christmas-y music, and my boss was busy with some other things, so I wrote it, Mark said it was perfect, and I'm psyched! My first original music used in multimedia! I can't wait to see the completed video. I joined ASCAP, and now when that sucker is broadcast, they'll send me a little check in the mail that they get from the broadcasting TV station- my first residual. Does AOL send them money when people download (or stream) it? This I don't know.

Anyway, I can't play that music for you, since it belongs to Mark now, but you can listen to the discarded 60-second sample that he didn't use. It's not too bad either, though I think he picked the better one.

The Bron Tapes Tapes

A few months ago, we got a visit at the office from a video producer named Mark Bork, who had recently moved to Phoenix from Idaho and found our name in the AZ Production Association book. Mark hired us to write music for a promotional video he was producing for a tape company called Bron Tapes. We wrote a few samples for him in different styles. They ended up picking my boss David's first inspiration, a techno track which works perfectly. To see the video, just click here, and then on the bottom of the page click on "New Promotional Video".

Anyway, I finally got around to posting my two unused samples on Productiontrax, so enjoy:

Funk Factory
Mark asked for "industrial" music, which means "slick, motivational, and corporate" to people who do a lot of these. I thought he meant "sounds like a factory". Oh well, I have to make every mistake once! I kind've wonder what's supposed to happen on the bridge, since I stopped writing just as it got there.

Stadium Rock
This has a fun vibe, but again, wasn't right for the project. I had fun tweaking the digital guitar amps, getting the distortion just like I wanted it.

See, this is why my job is so great. I can make all the mistakes I need to, and still have a job the next day. That's a luxury you don't get freelancing.

New at Spiritrax

A month ago, we got a visit from a wonderful, classically-trained soprano named Melissa Guiley. Guess I forgot to post them here at the time.

Wonderful Peace
I didn't know this song before I arranged it, but it's my new favorite. I feel like I managed a nice natural build through the arrangement.

Oh Chanukah
Just in time for the CCCCChhhhhhholiday.

S'vivon
For the klezmer kiddies. Melissa's Jewish, so we got her to do these Chanukah tunes.

And Mandi Leigh did two more of my Christmas arrangements last week:

O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum)
Pretty traditional.

Jingle Bells
When I put this on, Mandi said, "Oh, I'm in Disneyland!" I guess that's sort've what I was going for.

Lots more, but I'll post them once they have vocals.

West Side Story!

So my company, One Light Music, now produces all the music for Stage Stars Records, which puts out karaoke CD's of musicals. I think we're listed on their CD's as "music programmers". I've worked on Godspell, Damn Yankees and Hairspray since joining, but neither of them have been released yet. Anyway, we're working on West Side Story now- I did "Something's Coming" yesterday and "Tonight" today.

It's fun! Wish I could play it for you, but you'll just have to take my word for it.

Reel TV tracks

I wrote these for a new company called Reel TV, that hosts and streams films- sort've like a professional-level YouTube for filmmakers, film students, actors, corporate videos, etc. They just wanted some one-minute tracks for their members to get as a perk when they joined their site. It was the most fun I've had at my job yet. They sent us examples of songs in the style they wanted, and we were free to make the rest up.

Alone With the Monster
Their example had hard-rock guitars over a funky beat. It reminded me of the music in my new Prince of Persia video game, so I added bird calls and sitar.

Desertscape
Straight-up Middle Eastern music. Their example had a vocalist, which I left room for in the beginning, and the empty space ended up being the best part.

Speedily
For two days, I kept trying to write action music, and it would turn out all labored and introverted. I finally finished this, but I think it still sounds a little stale.

Swat Team
I did this action theme in half the time of the last one, and it's the first thing I wrote that my boss didn't edit at all! I'm pleased at how consistent the concept is- like I can hear that it all came out in one piece.

X-Bump
My example was electronica, with sudden odd changes in texture. Totally new territory for me, which was fun.

Last few week's Spiritrax work

These are links to the most recent songs I've arranged for Spiritrax. You have to choose a key on the preview player before it'll start playing. You'll hear an audio watermark along with the song, which just prevents people from stealing it. My boss usually gives me the basic idea for these arrangements, then I do the arrangement and play in the parts, and then he'll check the final mix and occasionally add another instrument. So they're not all mine, but they're mostly mine, and I'm proud of them.

Oh Holy Night (orchestral)

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (hip-hop)

How Great Thou Art (soulful)

Much more to come!

Why a blog now?

It's been six months since I moved to Arizona. For the last four years in Boston, I was teaching elementary general music, basing most of my curriculum on my Kodaly training. When I moved, I decided not to take a teaching job, and instead to try to make a career of being a musician. I miss teaching a lot, but not enough to go back just yet.

Anyway, I'm definitely a professional musician now, and thought that friends and family might like to to check this site occasionally to hear what I've been doing lately. Let me know if it's useful to you, or if it's not. It's been fun for me so far.

I now work at One Light Music Productions, Inc., and my job title is Composer/Arranger. I just had my six-month review, and my boss and I agreed that I was doing an excellent job. We create custom music for various clients, including a karaoke record label in New York. We also run two big websites: Productiontrax, which is a major player in the royalty-free music and media industry, and Spiritrax, which sells religious karaoke music.

I used to dream during college about being a professional composer/arranger, but I could never afford the computer gear that professional composers are expected to have these days. So getting paid to write music on someone else's equipment is a real dream come true.