Music

Title Date Download Description
Will I Leave a Legacy? 4-26-05 MIDI | ABC | PDF Back in February I came home from school one day and read an article about Janice Kapp Perry online. It said that she’s written over 900 songs. That blew me away, and then the muse came and a melody came into my head. I wrote it down immediately. But what were the lyrics to be about? Within a few minutes I remembered a question one of my friends asked me in an e-mail: “What legacy are you going to leave behind?” It had struck me then and now it demanded to be woven into a song. The first verse came slowly, but then the second verse came in an instant. It took almost a month and a half for the third verse. As for the accompaniment, I gave the melody and chord progression to my friend Chace McNeil, who then wrote the piano part. Technical note: the MIDI is generated from a separate ABC file, since abc2midi doesn’t seem to like the multiple endings very much.
Reflections 1-2-01 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript I’m entering this over a year later, and now I can’t remember anything about the creation of this piece. Oh well. :)
Steel Battalion 12-25-00 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript I was listening to a bunch of old video game music, and I’d been wanting to do a game-style piece for quite some time, and the mood struck, and voila: this piece. I don’t particularly like the name, though, so that’ll change eventually. This is my first real multi-part piece (up till now I’ve just written piano music).
The Lost Galleon 11-27-00 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript I wrote the theme for this quite some time ago, then recently decided to pull it out and build it into a piece. It’s the longest work I’ve written so far, and, in my opinion, one of the best.
After the Dance 11-24-00 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript I wrote this one evening in about an hour. It just came to me, really. I was reading something on composing music, saw the word ‘waltz,’ and this piece shot into my head. I started writing, and while I must admit it didn’t come as easily as it could have, it still flowed smoothly out of the pen. Now, what’s the story? There are two narratives behind it in my head, one as I wrote the first half and the other as I wrote the second half. The first is where the piece gets its name from — the dance is over and it’s time for goodbyes. I don’t know why, but farewells always make me feel sad. The second story, which popped into head from nowhere as I was composing, is that your tiny son is sick, in the hospital. You watch him, sleeping, see the soft skin, the dimples, the tousled hair, the stuffed teddy bear clutched with his left hand, the thumb of his other hand in his mouth, the ray of pale golden light streaking in from the sunset outside the window. It’s his last night on earth.
Medieval Dreams 10-15-00 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript The original title of this piece was ‘Silver Beams of Moonlight,’ which fit the beginning decently. Then it took hold of the reins and galloped off in a direction I hadn’t intended, and the title didn’t really work anymore. So I renamed it this, since for me it evokes images of musty old cathedrals and stained glass portraits of knights and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. :)
A Frolic Through the Garden 10-19-00 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript This is a short little piece I wrote one day, and now I can’t remember why I did. Not everything needs a reason, though, so we’ll just leave it at that.
Jewish Dance 9-21-00 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript Okay, okay, so it really isn’t a Jewish dance. But that’s what I was thinking of when I wrote the first part, and so that’s what it’s called. There’s a transition from the dance-style rhythm into a more flowing feel, and then a move back at the very end.
A Song to the Savior 8-27-00 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript I decided to write a piece for the Savior, Jesus Christ, and this is how it turned out. Technically, it’s not a song, since it has no lyrics, but we’ll pretend it is because I don’t want to lose the alliteration. :)
First Snow 9-3-00 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript The first snow of the year has just fallen, with several inches of the purest, whitest flakes covering the ground. Children are playing and building snowmen and snowcaves, and a brisk wind rustles through the leaves.
The Magician and the King 7-10-00 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript A story was originally planned to go with this, but that hasn’t happened yet. So, basically, here’s the idea: first comes the theme for the magician, which builds up and then moves into the king’s theme (which is the majestic-sounding bit). Following that there’s a dream sequence, in which both themes are faintly alluded to. Finally it ends with the king’s theme. As to what the story would be, I haven’t the slightest clue, other than that it would involve a magician and a king. :)
Village of the Mannikins 7-8-00 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript I was playing around with our digital piano and came up with this. To me, it feels like a song from a video game (the Kakariko Village theme from Zelda 3: A Link to the Past is what it reminds me of). Right now it’s for violin and piano — eventually, though, I’ll arrange it for solo piano.
Weary Traveller 6-30-00 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript This is another ‘different’ piece. Sometimes we get tired of life, sick of all the struggles and pain and heartache. In the end, though, there is light, and that is what this piece is about.
Spiral Staircase 6-28-00 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript Except for ‘Weary Traveller’, I always come up with the titles after I finish writing the piece. To me this one conjures an image of a steep, winding staircase. With each step the pace increases, until finally you’re dashing up the stairs with all the force you can muster.
Passage Through the Mist 6-18-00 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript For some reason which I’m blithely unaware of, the thought of mist always evokes a mysterious, powerful feeling in me, and that’s what this piece is about. The mist is everywhere, and you can barely see ten feet in front of you. There is a narrow, twisty path ascending the mountain, and it is this that you climb.
The Trek 6-11-00 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript This is more experimental than my other pieces, and I think it turned out better because of that. It’s definitely different, though. I picture a long journey across a desert, with little or no water and the hot sun bearing down almost unbearably upon the rags you’re wearing. You’re free to picture whatever you like, though.
Polar Sunrise 5-30-00 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript This, to me, sounds similar to Desert Sunset and so I dubbed it a cousin. Picture a white plain of ice in the Arctic, the rising sun reflecting rays of light off the tip of a nearby iceberg, and the cracking wind whistling through the snow.
Rainstorm 5-28-00 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript I was experimenting one day and came up with this. It’s short, true, but so are most of the rainstorms where I live. ;)
Desert Sunset 3-11-00 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript Inspiration (if you can call it that) hit one evening and this piece practically flooded out of me. I like to envision a windswept desert, the pale sun slipping behind the horizon.
Heart’s Desire 6-21-99 MIDI | Lilypond | PDF | Gzipped PostScript This was the first song I ever completed, written over a period of three days in June 1999.