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Songs : : Song Info
Below is a play list with a little
bit of info about each of the songs. Maybe it's the inspiration
behind it, maybe it's to mention some friends who also played
a part of the song.
| Song
Title |
Date Added |
Listen |
| T-Maxx |
03-06-02 |
 Play
Song |
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If there's any one song of mine
that has gotten me fan mail over the years it's definitely
T-Maxx. T-Maxx is also the oldest song I've
recorded. I can still remember hanging out in my parent's
basement after college and composing it while they had
company over. This was probably in the Summer/Fall of
1991. The song appeared in the Macintosh game Tetris
Max and the PC game Bricklayer - both of which
were excellent Tetris clones.
Instruments used: D-70, D-10, TX16W, R-8.
A couple re-mixes/re-makes have
appeared on the 'net of T-Maxx. I'm very flattered that
some people like the song enough to put a lot of time
and hard work into making them:
- The first one was done
by Damian Yerrick - he re-created the song as a midi file
that can be heard by clicking
here.
- Derek Warren of trideja.com
made an awesome version of the song using Reason software.
It can be heard by clicking
here.
- DUBSTEP! Darren Prentice made this awesome dubstep version. Click here to listen to it. You can listen to his other materials here.
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| Song
Title |
Date Added |
Listen |
| Triumph |
03-06-02 |
Play
Song |
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Triumph was one of those
songs inspired by new sounds available for the D-70 and
the TX16W. Parts of the rhythm section found their way
into the song through a horrible transposition error.
But I liked it so I kept it in! I think was also one of
the first songs I wrote guitar parts for. Here, they are
played by my good friend Jay Derksen who also plays on
other songs found here on the site. This song went on
further to inspire Teknoid. Instruments
used: D-70, U-110, TX16W, RM50. |
| Song
Title |
Date Added |
Listen |
| Experimental |
03-13-02 |
Play
Song |
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Experimental was written
almost immediately after Triumph. It, too, was inspired
by some new sounds. I really like the rhythm section in
this one - it's the RM50 going through the Zoom effects
processor. It's a combination of delay and gated reverb.
The organ solo was really fun to play. But I couldn't
do the slides with my fingers since they kept getting
stuck on the keys. So I used a cassette tape case and
ran that up and down the keyboard. Hey, you gotta do what
you gotta do. Looking back I'm very surprised that this
song was done using only two instruments. Instruments
used: D-70, RM50. |
| Song
Title |
Date Added |
Listen |
| Teknoid |
03-13-02 |
Play
Song |
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Teknoid is one of my definite
favorites - it's very upbeat. I'm not sure if it's entirely
finished, though. One of these days I'd like to revisit
it - or at least make a couple remixes out of it (shhh...
one is in the making right now). One of the highlights
of this song is the guitar solo, written and performed
by Jay Derksen. I literally handed Jay a tape of the song
and said "write something kick ass for this - no
holds barred". And he did - I just love it. Thanks,
Jay! Instruments used: D-70,
TX16W, RM50. |
| Song
Title |
Date Added |
Listen |
| Gates |
03-20-02 |
Play
Song |
|
This song came out of vocal samples
I did on the TX16W of the words "Tick" and "Bum".
This is also the first song in which I think I successfully
used horn sounds. Before, they always seemed so forced.
Here they seem to fit. The name of the song comes from
the gated drums - hence Gates. If you listen, it
sounds like each drum sound hits and then reverses back
to quiet. It's hard to describe but it's kinda cool. This
song was supposed to have a kickin' guitar track
but a certain someone (*cough* Jay Derksen *cough*) broke
a string during the recording session for this and didn't
have replacements. Oh well, maybe one of these days we'll
get around to trying that. Instruments
used: D-70, U-110, TX16W, RM50. |
| Song
Title |
Date Added |
Listen |
| Zephyr |
04-17-02 |
Play
Song |
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This is a special song in that
it features the very rare occurrence in which I used a
loop. If you listen closely you'll hear an "exotic-like
foreign-ish" nylon string guitar. That's the loop
- looping every 2 measures during the chorus. During the
solo and the end of the song I'm playing guitar sounds
which are placeholders until I can re-record it using
real electric guitar. Instruments
used: D-70, U-110, TX16W, RM50. |
| Song
Title |
Date Added |
Listen |
| Abide |
05-02-02 |
Play
Song |
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"Religion is a funny thing".
About 10 years ago I was listening to the radio on an
old-style dial-tuner receiver - the kind where you had
to be exact to get good reception. I came across what
I figured was a Sunday evening sermon of some kind. Normally,
I would pass it up but something about the sound of it
made me listen. It was crackling and you could mostly
hear every other word. I specifically remember one line
that was said: "God's presence will be with you and
you will abide". I thought it was pretty harsh,
to say the least. "you will abide" -
"resistance is futile" - not much of
a difference, I suppose. Anyway, I actually managed to
tape the whole "sermon" and used a chunk of
it in the beginning of the early recording of this song
- it sounded really neat but made the song over 10 minutes
long. One of these days I'd like to put it back in but
drastically cut the sermon down. Plus, I really don't
feel like getting sued. By the way, if you've never seen
the movie Dogma, step away from your computer right
now and go rent it. No really... don't worry, this site
will still be here when you come back. Instruments
used: D-70, D-10, RM50. |
| Song
Title |
Date Added |
Listen |
| Wedding Song |
05-29-02 |
Play
Song |
|
Wedding Song was the first
song I ever wrote for someone in particular - in this
case for my sister Monika and my brother-in-law Don to
celebrate their wedding. It was originally performed solo
at their reception with only the piano and acoustic guitar
sounds. Soon after, the song was collaboratively modified
by myself and my buddies Jeff Faski and Jay Derksen. Drums
were added as was additional accompaniment and electric
guitar. Finally, lyrics were added - the song was retitled
Too Late. The version you'll hear on this site
more resembles the version Too Late version but
it's melody is exactly the same as it was in the original.
Instruments used: D-70, U-110,
RM50. |
| Song
Title |
Date Added |
Listen |
| Union |
05-29-02 |
Play
Song |
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Union was the second song
I did to commemorate a wedding. This time it was for extended
family members Anne Marie Perske and Mark Geerink. This
song was also played live at their reception but instead
of simply lugging one keyboard I wound up dragging a keyboard,
some sound modules, a mixer and a computer. I'm sure the
band they had were thrilled when I showed up and asked
"Hey, can I plug in?" Regardless, it allowed
me to perform the song with all of it's intended accompaniment.
Instruments used: D-70, RM50. |
| Song
Title |
Date Added |
Listen |
| Bride (In the Name of Love) |
05-29-02 |
Play
Song |
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Bride was the third song
I wrote to commemorate a wedding - I haven't done another
since. Bride was composed for my great friends Jeffrey
and Maryn. Having learned that it's a little impractical
to bring a small studio's worth of equipment to a reception
I simply burned it onto a CD and presented it to them
at their wedding shower. The song's full name Bride
(In the Name of Love) is a play on a particular U2
song - can you guess which one? I particularly like the
bass line in this one a lot. Instruments
used: D-70, D-10, RM50. |
| Song
Title |
Date Added |
Listen |
| Three |
05-29-02 |
Play
Song |
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I wrote Three song to celebrate
the birth of Jacob - the first child of Jeffrey and Maryn.
I wanted to add a child-like or toy element to the song
so I went out and purchased a wind up music box and sampled
the "wind up" sound and used it at the end of
the song - I then played the melody from the song using
a music box-like sound. I think it's pretty convincing.
Jeff thought it was funny that I designed a "logo"
for them - the "Daddy Baby Mommy" logo you see
on the album cover. Of course now that they have a second
child the logo totally doesn't make sense any more...
Instruments used: D-70, RM50. |
| Song
Title |
Date Added |
Listen |
| AC |
08-12-02 |
Play
Song |
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AC is the first tune I created
using a new piece of software I purchased called "Reason".
It truly kicks ass. It allows me to use virtual instruments
to create and play sounds I could never do with the physical
equipment I currently have in my rack. Every sound you
hear is being generated by the software but input through
the D-70. On another note, the cute little girl on the
cover art is Rowan, the daughter of my friends Logan and
Jodi. The picture was taken as a negative by Loki, their
5 year-old-son as he was experimenting with their digital
camera. Instruments used:
Reason, D-70 (for input only). |
| Song
Title |
Date Added |
Listen |
| Bounce |
08-28-02 |
Play
Song |
|
My music is definitely taking a
turn to a more techno/electronic direction. I don't feel
that's a bad thing at all - maybe I need the change. Bounce
was completed on the heels of AC. And like AC,
Bounce was created entirely in Reason with everything
input on the D-70. I personally like this one a lot and
hope to do some more in the same style. I hope you like
it too! Instruments used:
Reason, D-70 (for input only). |
| Song
Title |
Date Added |
Listen |
| Razor |
09-07-02 |
Play
Song |
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In my recent attempts to "butch
up" my music I came up with Razor. I think
it sounds kinda Nine Inch Nails-esque without the vocals
(perhaps something between Pretty Hate Machine and Broken).
I'd really like to come back to this one someday and maybe
add some guitar (or get Trent Reznor to scream some vocals
for me)! Instruments used:
Reason, D-70 (for input only). |
| Song
Title |
Date Added |
Listen |
| Move Any Mountain (Heavy Mix) |
12-08-02 |
Play
Song |
| Move Any Mountain (Lite Mix) |
12-08-02 |
Play
Song |
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A while back after working on an
original song I decided to play it for my friend Jeff
to get his reaction. After hearing it once he said "Play
it again." This second time he waited for the chorus
to come around and he sang "I can move, move, move
any mountain..." which put me in a dilemma. He was
right - my original song DID kind of sound like the Shamen's
"Move Any Mountain". After some thought
I figured it best to avoid others thinking the same thing
so I found a sample CD with some samples from the song
and added them to my composition and voila - my very first
remix. Why two versions? The "Lite Mix" is mostly
my original composition with Shamen voice samples during
the chorus. The "Heavy Mix" has a LOT more samples
from the Shamen's original song including most of the
rapping. If you like any of the two versions, you may
want to pick up the Shamen's original which appeared on
the album entitled "En Tact". Instruments
used: D-70, RM50, TX16W. |
| Song
Title |
Date Added |
Listen |
| Sing (Original) |
02-14-03 |
Play
Song |
| Sing (Reprise) |
02-14-03 |
Play
Song |
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Sing is the first song
I ever wrote for Heather. I've always wanted to write
a song for her but it had to be special. But I couldn't
force it. I figured when the time was right and the creativity
was there I'd know it. Well, luckily it so happened that
when I started working on Sing I just knew this
would be the one - once I realized that this would be
Heather's song it all fell into place. And the timing
couldn't have been better - it was a few weeks before
Valentine's Day. The Russian Monks were the most challenging
part of the song. I had some clips and sampled them but
none of them were in any key. Tuning them proved difficult.
So was chopping them up into many pieces so I could lay
out all sorts of "Ooohs" and "Ahhhs"
across the keyboard so that I could actually play
them and not simply play back samples. I also made a "Reprise"
version which is shorter and has no monks. Instruments
used: Reason, D-70 (for input only). |
| Song
Title |
Date Added |
Listen |
| Sponge |
03-20-03 |
Play
Song |
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I honestly have no idea where this
one came from. I've always liked music from Linkin Park
and Limp Bizkit and have wanted to do something
along those lines. I thought it would never happen, though,
because I'm a keyboardist, right? We're not supposed to
play all guitar-like. Well, a hardcore band by the name
of Clawfinger released an amazing set of drum, bass, and
guitar patches for Reason. After messing around with them
a bit I realized that you actually CAN play guitar
on a keyboard. Clawfinger are to be commended for doing
an excellent job with all the patches - I'm sure it was
no easy feat. Well, back to banging my head.
Instruments
used: Reason, D-70 (for input only). |
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