Here’s another little piano bit, this one’s more composed than the last piano improv I posted. I’m hoping to use it in one of the shorts I’m working on right now, I’ll be talking to the director tomorrow to see what he thinks! Not too much to elaborate on this one though, just me and my piano.
Midnite Improv
Haven’t updated in a while so I thought I’d drop this for you guys. It’s just a little relaxation improv I happened to record while I had my keys hooked up composing for Terrel Grice’s Facade. I find it kinda funny that I improvise in order to take a break from composing…
Sound Design: Cyberpunk Soundscape
Here’s a little sound design that I did for class, the task was to write a story with 5 different locations or acoustic environments to tell a story without any dialogue from the main character. I went for a futuristic vibe to give me a chance to work the synthesizers out in some digital foley. There’s plenty going on in here with all the sounds I recorded, created, or processed to create illusions of spaces and movement. This really helps me get my chops up for film mixing as well since it’s pretty much a visual-less short film in my head. I also used some scores I’ve been working on for the soundtrack (with the exception of the ol’ Ludwig Van in the car) I’ll go ahead and post the story I wrote below in case you want to read along:
Scene 1: Office/Police Station
Detective Giblarski’s bones ache; he stretches in his chair for what is surely going to be another depressing day in the year 2058. AARA (Adaptive Augmented Reality Assistant) chimes in with a case file. Giblarski motions through the holographic menus to request a paper report; a habit his younger colleagues often mock him for. His 3D printer fabricates the report and he tosses it to his desk. From the first page it is obvious, another in the recent series of murder and dismemberment: the fourth this week. With a despondent sigh, Giblarski rises from his desk and through the bustling department to the parking garage. The crime scene beckoned.
Scene 2: Parking Garage
The garage is eerily quiet; his steps echo out as he approaches his vehicle. A sudden chill creeps down his spine as if someone were watching in the distance: he whips around suddenly but there is only void. He slowly resumes his walk, unable to shake the despair that hangs over him. His 65th birthday was only 2 weeks ago and this string of particularly grizzly affairs had the detective strongly considering his retirement. He had been ‘considering’ it for years; he just didn’t know what else he could possibly do. Inside his car, AARA appears and asks for a destination. He doesn’t bother talking to the machine; he fondly remembers the times when computers just did what you wanted without the pleasantries. He loads the coordinates from the case file and leans back as the car begins its route…
Scene 3: Arrival
As Giblarski groggily came to, the vehicle is pulling to a stop. Pulling himself out of the car he can’t help but think, “I really am too old for this”. The file said the body was found mutilated in the alleyway between the ‘Downtown Upbeat: Jazz Club’ and the ‘Humanity++ Augmentation Clinic’. It was right between the old and new parts of town, the Upbeat was always piping some funky mess into the streets just to let the neo-futurists know that some things will never evolve. The case file said the poor chum was just some genome tech at the augmentation clinic. Giblarski never augmented his body he was old-fashioned that way. He had heard a rumor that DSOs (Digital Sensory Organs) would soon become mandatory in the department—a policy that would practically single him out. “Just another straw on my already broken back”, he thought as he crossed the street to the Clinic.
Scene 4: The Alley
Just out of earshot from the Upbeat he saw it. Crimson stains popped against the polished sheen of the alleyway. Crime scenes were always excluded from the cleaning routines of the public maintenance drones. The stark contrast made the human mess glow like the chaotic visions of classical artists such as Pollack or Warhol. Realizing he was bordering admiration, Giblarski tore his gaze away. “Desensitized doesn’t even begin…”, he froze mid-thought. Two yellow eyes were locked on to him from the darkness at the end of the alley. Younger Giblarski might have already shot, the old man couldn’t move an inch.
“Meow”.
An overwhelming sensation of relief and embarrassment poured over Giblarski. He had thought his heart was going to burst…wait
Something was powering up.
“MROOOOW”
The creature emerged, not as a cat, but as a mockery of a cat. Four and a half feet of mechanical pistons and muscle tissue ground together in a swelling cacophony of death: a symphony writ by the disregard of all things natural. The leer of the beast never deviated from its prey as it approached. Giblarski smiled, he perhaps had finally lost it in the surrealism of it all; he was going to die. He felt the breath of the monstrosity on his neck—cold and mechanical. He closed his eyes.
FFFZZZZPPPP
An EMP blasts from Giblarski’s arm-mounted Digitool. “AARA must have triggered it from over the cloud, I’m definitely upgrading her server when I get back” Giblarski thinks. He pulls himself together and proceeds directly to the Downtown Upbeat.
Scene 5: “Downtown Upbeat: Jazz Club”
Giblarski pulls up a chair directly at the bar and is relieved to see the bar tended by an actual, pure human like himself. He eyes a bottle of scotch and the bartender pulls a glass down.
“You look like could use a drink”
Giblarski nodded, and finally knew: today was the day he was going to retire.
Covering The Beatles: A Day in the Life
I’m currently working on a cover of A Day in the Life with my friend Adiambo. So I’ve been spending my time arranging strings for the first verse this morning, this takes it up to the big crescendo. I still need to tweak some of my string samples to sound more realistic but I’ve been focusing more on the notes than the sounds at this point. I owe a lot to the Beatles for captivating me with their music when I wasn’t even as focused on music as I am now. They are like the Plato and Aristotle of rock and roll, I wonder if the breadth and impact of their work has yet to be matched in modern music. Not to mention the message of love that pervades their music, where did that message ever go?
Short Soundtracks: The Facade
Here’s what I’ve been up to this morning:
A new project with Terrell Grice! I made my very first short soundtrack at Full Sail with him so it’s really cool to get the callback. I’ve been focusing on strings a lot recently in my music and mixing techniques so hopefully I’ll get to continue building my arranging muscle with this short. Right now I’m in the process of making little 1 minute ‘demo’ tracks like this to see their impact on the mood of the film and what not. I’ve been looking for an excuse to go neo-classical for a while now anyways.
Short Soundtracks: The Hearkening
Here’s another project that I wrote the soundtrack for: The Hearkening. It was for my friend, Jordan Entz’s, directing class; he asked me to make an original soundtrack for him so he could use it in his portfolio as a DP. It was a fun project, I got to focus on sounds that I don’t usually get to, I had a lot of fun playing the ‘entire band’ for the rock intro. Anyways, enjoy!
The Hearkening from Jordan Entz on Vimeo.
Shorts: The Divine Ponytail
While I didn’t do the sound or music for this short, I thought I’d go ahead and share it. Last weekend, I got to exercise my kung-fu muscle with my buddy John Hammond for an entry in a Red vs. Blue (Roosterteeth) shorts competition. I love martial arts so I couldn’t resist. Anyways, I’ll have more music up soon 
Sound Design: Robo Kitty
So I’ve been wonderfully busy with my new cat, Guin! Clara and I rescued her from the shelter at the beginning of the month and have had a great time bonding with our feline friend; well, apart from Guin sitting on my piano when I’m trying to play Chopin. Anyways, with such a noisy little critter around the house it was only a matter of time before I tried recording her to add to my sound library. I took the liberties of transforming her purrs and coos into a giant mecha-kitty ready to purge Tokyo in b-movie flair. What else is a sound designer going to do with a pet?
Short Soundtracks: Serial Buddies
Here’s my most recent short I have had the pleasure of working on. This one came to me via my friend and colleague Alexander Verbitsky. We worked on the soundtrack and foley design together, it was pretty great fun. We created the sound effects using knives, wine glasses, leftovers, a violin and a whole lot of digital manipulation of said items. The soundtrack was very collaborative as well, of course there is a little excerpt from Chopin’s Nocturne Op.9 No.1 in there performed by yours truly as well.
My first IMDb credit
So I got my very first IMDb credit for John Hammon’s 8bit Hero. In other news, 8bit Hero actually placed 2nd at the Enzian Theatre’s December film slam in December. So congrats to John and everyone else involved in the short!
I’m on the tail end of two new shorts that will probably debut this week or next week so hopefully I’ll have some exciting stuff to show soon.
Anyways, I always try to upload some sort of soundbyte for you guys so here’s a track I’ve been composing recently. Just me relaxing to my piano.
