a look at 'Mirror of Light'

With 'Mirror of Light' I was looking to do something that sounded grandiose and otherworldly, or more appropriately, afterworldly. The inspiration came from a book I read many years ago called 'Face to Face with Jesus Christ' by David Sereda. It tells a fascinating story of what the author believes happens spiritually at the moment of death, and how a person may end up in a heavenly, purgatory/astral/middle or hell realm. I'm not sure, really, what to make of the conclusions of this decidedly very New Age book. (Ok, yeah, I admit I was into New Age philosophy back then, when I didn't know any better). Anyway the book basically asks: "When you die, will you flee in terror when the divine light of the holy spirit reflects your own self back to you, revealing the amount of love in your heart? (the mirror of light). Or, can you withstand the potentially traumatic purification, by the holy spirit, that is necessary in order to be able to enter Heaven?"

Musically, the key for me to capturing the essence of what I wanted to achieve was all in the harmony. The main sections of the piece are built upon an ascending series of cluster chords, over a descending bass line, which 'wrap around' every 4 measures. From there, it was a matter of coming up with a haunting melody to put on top. The middle and ending sections, where the very modal-like piano meanders around, act as a sort of trance-like release from the harmonic tension.

I'm pretty happy with the way it came out, and I haven't done anything else quite like it. The end result is very cinematic, I think. Probably because I take a very film-music like approach to my instrumental composing, which stands in contrast to my rock songs.

Listen to Mirror of Light

(note: Mr. Sereda has also put out a fascinating video about UFO's and an alleged NASA cover-up. He is definitely an interesting and controversial guy to say the least...)

sleep listening

I often like to listen to a favorite cd when I turn in for the night. It's very relaxing, lying there comfortably in the dark, with the headphones on. Even if I'm listening to high-energy stuff, I usually keep the volume pretty low.

The only problem with this is that I never seem to get past the first 10 or 15 minutes before falling asleep. And then, without fail, I will wake up about 5 minutes before the cd is over. The pattern never fails. Like clockwork. I never seem to wake up after the music has stopped. It's always toward the end, during the last song. So, I proceed to listen to the few remaining moments, take the headphones off, turn off the cd player, and go to sleep thinking: "Wow, what a great album! I really should listen to the rest of it sometime!".

Vince, part 2

I've been listening to Vince DiCola some more (see In-Vince-ible!). Now it's the "Falling Off a Clef" cd that's got me hooked. Very modern and fresh sounds, with old-school composition and playing. This album is also a compilation of sorts, featuring music from a couple of Vince's more recent projects. This guy is quickly becomming a hero of mine!

a look at 'The Spectacle'

A few years back, Eric Goodman, the creator and producer of Thus Spoke the Spectacle, asked me to come up with some music to be used as an opening, or prelude, to the theater performance of that show. Having seen it myself on a few occasions, I set about creating a piece to be heard while the theater darkens and people settle into their seats. Something that would set an appropriate mood. Eric then added some imagery and text that would appear on the screen to go along with my 'Spectacle Prelude'. Following this piece is the start of the show proper, with live rock music accompanied by tightly-integrated video.

My little dark and ambient soundscape features Morton Subotnick's Gestures interactive software, which I used to create an ominous backdrop for some synthesizer pads and textures. I later sent an mp3 to Mr. Subotnick, who remarked that the piece was "quite nice", and was delighted his software was helpful.

If you're in or around Manhattan, do go and experience this exciting and provocative performance that explores the relationship between media, technology, and consumer society.

Listen to The Spectacle

In-VINCE-ible!

I was compelled to seek out this album a few years ago after watching Rocky IV on TV. Phenomenally talented keyboardist Vince DiCola scored that film, apparently armed with an arsenal of synthesizers. Unfortunately (as is usually the case, however), the official soundtrack offered little of the actual score, and was mostly a collection of the pop songs used in the movie. But I did manage to track down this gem; a solo compilation release from DiCola that featured one of his fantastic cues from the film (the training montage), as well as a bunch of other killer tracks from other projects. If you're a keyboard player, this album is not to be missed.

Check out In-VINCE-ible!, and order yourself a copy!

Ah, the 80's...

a look at 'Morning Drive'

'Morning Drive' was my first attempt at loop-based composition. A few years back, I was playing around with some of the loops that shipped with my sequencer software, just to see what all the fuss was about. I really had never tried loop-based composing before. The obvious advantage of using loops is that you can come up with something that sounds pretty good, pretty quickly. Using them is sure easier than constructing the same basic musical elements from scratch. But loops can also be a disadvantage too, as they can really restrict you creatively and force you in certain harmonic and rhythmic directions. But alas, then the challenge is not just leaving it there, but making it your own - which fosters a great deal of creative sweat while working within such narrow parameters.

In 'Morning Drive', the drums, bass, guitar, strings and other minor parts were constructed from short 1 or 2-bar audio clips that I spliced together to simulate a live rhythm section. I went for as much variation as possible. For example, if you compare the two 'break' sections, you can hear two very different approaches - the first one being very straight and the second a bit more on the wild side. After I had worked out the nuances of the rhythmic bed and structure, I then wrote the brassy block chords and organ lines (with a fun solo at the end :-) that were played on top of everything.

In general I think loops are overused in commercial music. Especially in modern electronica, where the audio-collage composition is getting old and boring. But loops can make a great starting point to develop fully-realized compositional ideas, which is what I did in 'Morning Drive'. And I have used this approach with loops in other pieces I've done since.

By the way, 'Morning Drive' is radio jargon that refers to 'drive time'. In this case, the idea was to come up with a peppy, energizing rock groove to accompany the morning commute to work that most of us unfortunately have to make each day.

Listen to Morning Drive