Music: My Compositions

My Compositions Sheet music from 'So Long'

I started composing music when I was in ninth grade and I wrote a bit of thematic music for an assignment in English class. The next thing I wrote was some programmatic music to describe a drive through an alpine forest. It was for clarinet, which I had been studying quite a bit during that summer of 2001. I started composing these short songs using Coda Music's Finale NotePad 2002 program, then switched to NotePad Plus 2003, and now I use PrintMusic! 2004. Due to the fact that I couldn't figure out how to add measures to the songs in NotePad, many of the songs are more like "song starters", some of which I plan to expand upon later. I hope that these somewhat humorous yet interesting pieces will inspire others to try composing music as well. In my more recent pieces using Printmusic I have used many of the features available, such as dynamics, articulation, key changes, etc., and I think that they have steadily improved. I'm not by any means claiming them to be masterpieces; I merely want to share a bit of something that I enjoy. For more information on my composition process, see my writings section. I also have a few of these pieces posted on Finale Showcase, where you can download sheet music versions of them. If you would like to play any of these pieces, email me and I will send you the sheet music in Finale's .mus file format.

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So Long length = 0:42

This song is an experiment in composing for piano. I actually reached the limit in length for a song that NotePad will allow. I think I was pretty much done anyways. I find it much easier to compose music when the bass and treble clefs are in one instrument.

Downtime length = 0:12

This piece is a bit goofy, but I like it.

One Up length = 0:19

This was the first song I wrote using Finale NotePad. I just wanted to get a feel for the program, and see its potential. I didn't actually intend this to be played by actual people using actual instruments. It's a bit fast at times.

Wichita Reel length = 0:15

This is a fun little piece. I wrote the bass line for tuba first, but then I switched it over to piano, because it didn't sound quite right as it was.

Gorgeous length = 0:23

I wanted to make a more expressive piece, to explore an emotion. I think this is a good example of my style. Kind of jumbled, but with definite patterns. I tried to develop a bit of a theme, but the piece is too short for that I think.

Bourrette length = 0:19

I started learning to play guitar during the summer of 2002, and I wanted to write a piece to work up towards. While writing this, I learned how to use layers in NotePad to create multiple streams of music on one staff, with notes of different durations playing simultaneously. This is essential for classical guitar music. I should really get a classical guitar.

Singin' length = 0:45

I wrote this song with a desire to experiment and create something different. I tried using a different meter, and let it flow. I left it rather unrefined, but there are still some very interesting patterns. This song as well as most of the next ones benefit from repeat listenings. It sometimes doesn't make much sense at first, but they just might grow on you. Oh, by the way, if any of you attempt to play this song or any of my music for that matter, be sure to let me know how it goes.

Tumbleweed length = 0:59

After showing my great uncle - who happens to be a retired band director and euphonium player - most of the previous songs, he challenged me to compose something on the spot. I asked him for a title, so he gave me, "Tumbleweed". Unfortunately, I didn't get very far before he had to leave, but I was inspired to work on it and finish it later. I think the music fits the title very well; I'm anxious to find out what he thinks of it.

Sunset At Carver length = 1:02

After going for a bike ride at Carver park with my girlfriend on a particularly pleasant evening, I was inspired to write this song. I wish that I had more space to fully develop the themes within it, but alas, I shall have to wait until I can upgrade my program (I don't feel like splitting it up into several 31 measure pieces). This is probably the first song to get stuck in my head which was of my own creation :).

Clarinet Practice length = 1:02

In order to improve my clarinet skills, I thought it would be a good idea to write some things that I could play. This piece is rather challenging, but fun. It makes it a lot easier to be able to hear it in order to get some of the more complex rhythms worked out. It is in 9/8ths time. It seems that the meter is changed part way through, but I actually just added dots to the notes.

Grasp length = 0:46

Key signatures with lots of sharps or flats had intimidated me earlier, so I wanted to try writing a song with four sharps. I loved the feel of it, and now I can deal with those key signatures much more easily.

Pliny The Elder length = 0:43

I took a lot of the concepts that I used or developed in "Grasp", and reworked or improved them to make this song. It is supposed to tell the story of Pliny the Elder, an ancient greek statesman who perished in the aftermath of Mt Vesuvius' eruption. His is one of the few surviving accounts of the disaster. Despite its short length, I think it tells the story fairly well, and I am very proud of this song. Completed May 28th, 2003.

Maggie's Waltz length = 0:28

I wanted to write a little theme for my girlfriend, but I didn't know how to start. I thought a waltz would be nice, but I didn't remember the format for a waltz all that well, so I just picked a 3/4 time and let it rip. It came out a bit random, but it could be fun to dance along with. I'd love to have my own theme song, either something I've written, or something someone has written for me. Sure, there are a lot of songs that would work well for my personality, but they weren't made specifically for me. Just as actors will have a certain song from one of their movies played whenever they are making an entrance, I could use my song whenever I am getting ready to do something where confidence is key. I could just play it in my mind to bring me back to that place of power.

Re-Form length = 1:10

Here I made a departure from my earlier formats a bit, and made a trio of instruments. Can you guess which? Clarinet, tuba, and synthesizer seemed to go well together. I can play all three to some degree, and can read music for the first two, so I have a bit of a feel for them, and know how to write music for them that would be half playable. I was really happy with how this came out; rather meditative and playful at the same time. I didn't modify it all that much from the initial lay down.

Re-Form 2 length = 1:10

I followed a similar scheme from Re-Form, but changed the instruments to bass clarinet, baritone, and bass. I think this instrumentation has a more mellow feel to it.

Re-Form 2 redo length = 1:02

I loved how the last one started, so I kept the first few measures and re did the rest. I think this piece shows that I'm getting more familiar with this format.

Re-Form redo length = 1:08

Well, if I redid the second one, why not redo the first? I think this one is my favorite of the re-form series. The melody lines work well, with some good riffs for both the clarinet and the tuba. :) .

Reformative length = 0:47

Here I changed the key signature from sharps to flats, from A major to E major. I realized that I hadn't finished this piece right before this last update (2-21-04), so I finished it up. The split is 32 seconds into the song; can you feel any difference?

Journey to Enlightenment part I
length = 2:00

After that mostly improvisational re-form series, I wanted to do a piece where I spent more time checking the sounds of the different note combinations (chords some may call them), and developing the rhythms a bit more carefully. I also wanted to make a longer piece, so I figured out a way to do that. I used a 9/8 time signature and a lot of 16th notes, and slowed down the tempo to 70. I also used a lot of accidentals to give this piece a different sound from my earlier works. This was completed on July 31st of 2003. What kind of imagery do you see when you hear this song? I think it can tell many stories.

Solvent C length = 2:04

I started this song one night recently, around the first day of spring. I entitled it "Solvent" at first for no real reason; it was just a word that popped into my mind. Maybe I was thinking about the spring showers that dissolve all the chemicals left on our roads from winter. It ended on version C, and I was amused by the fact that this caused a play on words, it being similar in sound to the word "solvency", so I left it as that. This song was hailed by my parents as my best one yet, and was laughed at by my girlfriend who had taken a music theory course last semester. Well, the heck with theory. I say, if it sounds good to me, I'm happy with it. I'm not getting paid to write music, gosh-darn-it, I'm doing it for my own personal enjoyment. I hope you'll enjoy listening to it as much as I do.

Journey to Enlightenment part II
length = 2:20

This song is my longest one yet, which I was able to achieve by slowing the tempo and using 12/8 time. I think it got off to a good start, but didn't find a very clear direction. I guess that's what I get for starting a song late at night. There are some elements in it that I like a lot, and I think it has a good sound, even if it's not the easiest song to follow.

Journey to Enlightenment part III
length = 1:35

Part 3 in the series, this follows a similar style as the other two. I experimented with the features of PrintMusic!, giving it a more realistic playback.

Solvent C redo length = 2:08

I think the addition of articulation and dynamics really helped this song. This is one of my favorite compositions.

Pliny The Elder redo length = 0:56

Ditto, plus I added a few more measures to help with transitions.

Breathe length = 1:05

This piece uses the new MIDI voices possible with my new software. It consists of a flute with alto and bass voices going ooh and aah. It's a little odd, but it has a fairly simple melody and may be fun to play.

Observation length = 1:17

Here's a very experimental piece using guitar and synthesizer. There are two layers for the guitar, which I'm guessing would require 2 guitars to play. It is supposed to represent an alien craft observing our planet, so that is why I gave it more of an eerie, other-worldly feel.

Pond length = 1:48

I tried to make an interaction between three parts: the surface of the water, the insects flying over it, and the fish swimming beneath it, represented by the right hand on the piano (treble clef), the flute, and the left hand on the piano (bass clef), respectively.

Still They Wonder length = 1:13

I got the idea for this song after creating the dual-layered melody with my voice and a delayed feedback loop through my speakers to make a kind of a round. I input that into PrintMusic!, then made chords to go along with it, with some flourishes. It is a fairly simple song if you examine it closely, but there are some variations in it that make it interesting. It could be sung with two people and accompanied by a piano, or played entirely on a piano (probably). The lyrics are "Still they wonder, und und under", repeated many times.

So ko ma de mo length = 3:15

Here, flute and bass clarinet sing a song with a few key and tempo changes. There are definite mood changes within the song. The name uses Japanese sounds, but I don't know what it means (if anything). This song is dedicated to my girlfriend, Maggie.

Shadow Friend length = 2:51

This song was inspired by my friend John K., who had been writing some very interesting, yet also depressing entries in his recently started blog. So I wrote the song to give the impression of a storm creating gloom, darkness, a few bolts of lightning, yet still allowing for the hope that the storm will pass and the light will shine again. This was the first song I wrote in a minor key, and I think it worked very well. I used a few portions of it in more than one place in the song, with slight variations. You may notice the familiar melody of "Sakura" in the bass line of a couple parts.

Delos length = 2:25

Here is a fun piece for two clarinets. I wrote it using two layers in a single part, just for the heck of it. There was a little problem with the volume encoding in it, but it's not too bad. I think it has a pretty catchy melody, with some good harmonies in places. I paid more attention to the rhythms than to either of those aspects, and tried to make many different patterns throughout. It would be difficult, but possible to play.

Vanadium length = 3:37

There are some cool things that can be done with a just a couple of articulation symbols used in each measure, such as in this song. Every measure except for the pick-up and the final one consists of only whole notes, but if you listen carefully you will notice that the right hand presses eight times and the left hand presses sixteen times in each measure. It is mainly an experiment in chord progressions and harmonies. I will probably take certain measures to include in other songs, just cause they sound so cool. Oh, and yes, I am a fan of Philip Glass, in case you were wondering. :-)

MegaMinia length = 3:31

I wanted to expand upon the ideas I was exploring in "Delos", so this time I put the two clarinets in separate channels, and added a tuba bass line accompaniment. I had a lot of fun playing with harmonies and intertwining the melodies. I also spent some time fine-tuning it with dynamics and articulation, and I think it turned out nicely. The tuba part would be fun to play. I wish I had a tuba, *Sigh*. Oh well, I can settle for playing the clarinet parts for now, and maybe I'll get my brother to play along with his baritone.

Carpé Doom length = 1:07

This is a funny piece I wrote in reply to James Lileks' Backfence piece about creepy killer carp, where he said there were no killer carp theme songs. I thought I could do something about that problem, so here you have it. It's no Jaws theme, but it's close enough. It's programmatic, so it describes the family of boaters out on a sunny day, not suspecting the horrors that lurk below the waters. The carp creeps up, and suddenly leaps high in the air and smashes the pilots head to smithereens. Blood fills the water. I can see this acted out in some messed up ballet. Oh, wait, I mean a normal ballet.

Incubation length = 1:44

I wrote this piece on July 19th 2004, after doing some syntopic PhotoReading with four books on music theory, harmony, counterpoint, etc. the previous day. I did some activation with one of them, but it was getting late so I went to bed. The next day I worked with the music fundamentals book on our electronic keyboard a bit, and then went to work on some composition. I couldn't think of a name for a piece at the time, so I looked to see which letters had not yet been used (I'm trying to write a song for each letter of the alphabet), and picked "i". The word incubation came to mind, and I think that fit perfectly. After I finished the song I realized why; I was incubating the materials I had PhotoRead, and this song was what hatched. And a beautiful chick it is, eh? You'll find a familiar style in this song if you've listened to my others, but I think it is more cohesive and powerful than most. It may actually be more fun than frustrating to play - for a skilled pianist at least. It was written in A flat major by the way (4 flats).

Heterogeneity length = 1:10

This piece is called heterogeneity because of the oddly matched instruments in it; a harpsichord and conga drums. I think they work well together because of the rhythmic style to the harpsichord part, and the slight melodic nature of congas. The patterns and repetition make this piece easier to grasp than some of my more improvisational ones, but it still has its quirkiness.

Ambience length = 2:10

Ambience means environment or surroundings. I feel that this song paints a picture of a bright place. I can see grassy hills, a creek, and a sunset. The song moves you through this space and allows you to reflect on it. What story do you see unfolding? I played with a rhythm component like in the last song, but this time I added a clarinet. I think the interaction between the clarinet and the piano creates some interesting harmonies. I changed the style a few times throughout, but I think it blends together pretty well.

Silmarillion: Ben's World