Flatfingers's Music
Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2017 12:22 am
Since I seem to be sticking with this music composition thing, I thought I'd create a thread with links to my latest stuff.
All of these are still me learning the craft and techniques, and I can hear lots of places where each piece could be much better. Even so, I'm reasonably pleased with these.
Violet's Music Box: https://soundcloud.com/flatfingers/violets-music-box
This one was the first original composition. There were several influences, with Danny Elfman's score for Edward Scissorhands and Hans Zimmer's "Davy Jones's Theme" probably at the top of the list. But I hope, and think, I was able to create something that while in the same spirit as those pieces was my own.
Discovery Theme: https://soundcloud.com/flatfingers/discovery-theme
For my next piece, I wanted to see if I could create a more intricate composition with a very prominent theme. When I worked out that theme, and then began layering the accompaniments, I found that I was thinking of something like Jerry Goldsmith's wonderful theme for Star Trek: Voyager. That theme told me it wanted to be played on French horn -- when I did, I couldn't resist referencing Giovanni Gabrieli's fantastic horn concertos. So this one turned into a celebration of discovery... as the intro music for a science fiction TV show. It would be fun to hear a real orchestra perform this one someday....
Ambient 1: https://soundcloud.com/flatfingers/ambient-1
Next I wanted to my hand at some ambient chill. I've been enjoying Yagya and All India Radio, so this turned into sort of a cross between those two sounds. At nearly 11 minutes long, it's definitely on the "will not keep you awake" side.
Ambient 2: https://soundcloud.com/flatfingers/ambient-2
I just "finished" this one last night (April 18, 2017). It gave me more trouble than my first ambient piece, but I look at that as a positive as it means I'm learning more about my DAW (Mixcraft 8 Pro) and about effective techniques of composition and arrangement. At just under 6 minutes, this one's more accessible than the previous ambient piece -- it puts a smile on my face every time I hear it.
2017/06/12: Miss Jean Recalls: https://soundcloud.com/flatfingers/miss-jean-recalls
This one is a bit different in that it's basically a ballad with vocals. Mrs. Flatfingers had been asking for a "song" (i.e., music with singing), and her mother recently had a serious medical diagnosis, so I decided to combine these two things by writing, performing, and mixing a ballad about this very nice lady's life. I'm told they've been playing it a lot, and they cry every time they hear it, which means it's a success for them.
I don't know if it's to the taste of anyone here, and it's certainly not professional-quality. But I add it here out of a sense of completionism, and on the off chance that anyone might enjoy it.
(The names of the two "ambient chill" pieces so far are just placeholders. If I do enough of these, I'll probably give them thematically consistent names, write bridges between them so that they can be listened to as a single giant thing, and pretend I released them as an album.)
I'll update this post as I release new pieces. Comments are welcome.
Note: I've found that if you click on these with a smartphone, SoundCloud demands that you download and use their app. If you prefer not to do that, I completely understand. If I can find a different hosting system with comparable features that doesn't impose this app nonsense on people, I'll probably switch over.
All of these are still me learning the craft and techniques, and I can hear lots of places where each piece could be much better. Even so, I'm reasonably pleased with these.
Violet's Music Box: https://soundcloud.com/flatfingers/violets-music-box
This one was the first original composition. There were several influences, with Danny Elfman's score for Edward Scissorhands and Hans Zimmer's "Davy Jones's Theme" probably at the top of the list. But I hope, and think, I was able to create something that while in the same spirit as those pieces was my own.
Discovery Theme: https://soundcloud.com/flatfingers/discovery-theme
For my next piece, I wanted to see if I could create a more intricate composition with a very prominent theme. When I worked out that theme, and then began layering the accompaniments, I found that I was thinking of something like Jerry Goldsmith's wonderful theme for Star Trek: Voyager. That theme told me it wanted to be played on French horn -- when I did, I couldn't resist referencing Giovanni Gabrieli's fantastic horn concertos. So this one turned into a celebration of discovery... as the intro music for a science fiction TV show. It would be fun to hear a real orchestra perform this one someday....
Ambient 1: https://soundcloud.com/flatfingers/ambient-1
Next I wanted to my hand at some ambient chill. I've been enjoying Yagya and All India Radio, so this turned into sort of a cross between those two sounds. At nearly 11 minutes long, it's definitely on the "will not keep you awake" side.
Ambient 2: https://soundcloud.com/flatfingers/ambient-2
I just "finished" this one last night (April 18, 2017). It gave me more trouble than my first ambient piece, but I look at that as a positive as it means I'm learning more about my DAW (Mixcraft 8 Pro) and about effective techniques of composition and arrangement. At just under 6 minutes, this one's more accessible than the previous ambient piece -- it puts a smile on my face every time I hear it.
2017/06/12: Miss Jean Recalls: https://soundcloud.com/flatfingers/miss-jean-recalls
This one is a bit different in that it's basically a ballad with vocals. Mrs. Flatfingers had been asking for a "song" (i.e., music with singing), and her mother recently had a serious medical diagnosis, so I decided to combine these two things by writing, performing, and mixing a ballad about this very nice lady's life. I'm told they've been playing it a lot, and they cry every time they hear it, which means it's a success for them.
I don't know if it's to the taste of anyone here, and it's certainly not professional-quality. But I add it here out of a sense of completionism, and on the off chance that anyone might enjoy it.(The names of the two "ambient chill" pieces so far are just placeholders. If I do enough of these, I'll probably give them thematically consistent names, write bridges between them so that they can be listened to as a single giant thing, and pretend I released them as an album.)
I'll update this post as I release new pieces. Comments are welcome.
Note: I've found that if you click on these with a smartphone, SoundCloud demands that you download and use their app. If you prefer not to do that, I completely understand. If I can find a different hosting system with comparable features that doesn't impose this app nonsense on people, I'll probably switch over.
, and the next thing I'm planning, which will consist entirely of vocals. (I may or may not release that one, depending on how it goes.) All this is still experimental, so feedback of all flavors is really valuable. Thanks!