New 2 This

Released 25 February 2012 | 3:13

The first track I ever made utilizes a mix of sounds I created and recorded along with some commercial samples included with the software. It's pretty embarrassing; I was just learning, and some of the tunings are rather odd. But hey, we all start somewhere. Although I had no musical style in mind when I built it, I suppose "world beat" is about as close as it comes.

One Hundred

Released 29 July 2021 | 10:00

With my first big serious ambient piece, the feeling I was after was that of driving on a long, straight, empty highway at night, passing visualizations of nebulous memories drifting past in the distance. You can get some idea by watching the video I made.

Rebecca

Released 5 August 2021 | 10:33

Beginning with a synth pad best described as cheerful melancholy, this exercise in ambience gradually deepens and expands before drifting off into space. Rebecca is actually an old college flame with whom I'm still in touch. Despite living at opposite ends of the country, we're still close, as paradoxical as that may seem. The sound is rather bittersweet, since I realize I'll never see her again.

Green Magic

Released 13 August 2021 | 14:43

This fifteen minute opus—planned for years to be the title track for my first "album"—is an homage to an old Italian movie, Magia Verde, a documentary about Italian explorers trekking across South America in the 1950s. Some of the sounds from the film still echo in my mind over fifty years since last seeing it. The incessant drumbeat carries us from one exotic location and experience to the next. I do wish I could see it once more before I die, but I have a feeling in my gut that's not going to happen. While perhaps not to everyone's taste, it was something I had to get out of my system.

Deep Wood

Released 10 February 2022 | 8:11

Imagine such a place... a lush, verdant, dripping forest, mysterious, secluded primordial. Separated by perhaps kilometers, unseen denizens participate in an impromptu jam session using nothing but what's at hand—even the birds join in. Completely re-engineered from the ground up on 12 March, every sound used is in sync with the rhythm, including the rain and thunder. Also, except for the thunder, rain and birds, I created all of the sounds. This is an experimental piece, so it may not be to everyone's liking. Incidentally, the two "soloists" are a white-throated sparrow and a wood thrush.

The River

Released 6 March 2022 | 5:51

Upbeat yet ethereal, "The River" is one of those tracks that seems to meander on forever, the kind of tune you can leave on repeat all afternoon—something to be said for simple compositions with no bridges and/or key changes. Incidentally, the rhythm track is all mine, assembled from individual drumbeats and percussion hits. One of my "top ten" tunes.

Tectonic Symphony

Released 7 March 2022 | 26:33

If you enjoy artists such as Steve Roach, this track may be of interest. It's almost exclusively realized in the lower registers, so it's pretty pointless to play it on your cell phone. The title evokes its theme: massive, earthly sounds progressing ponderously through space and time, carried along by the ever-present planetary heartbeat. Put on your headphones (or, better yet, fire up that subwoofer), lie back, close your eyes, and escape into an ancient epoch.

Alien Ancestry

Released 13 March 2022 | 10:45

Here's a classic electronic trance piece to start things off, nothing more than a satisfying blend of stock loops—some heavily manipulated—from many different sources. This is yet another track that began as something altogether different; when I changed direction, however, I kept the opening percussion, which gave the finished piece its "foreign blood." I could make tunes like these all day.

The Missing Piece

Released 13 March 2022 | 27:44

The origins of this track date back to the late 1990s. I've been carrying the fragment of a melody around in my head for decades, and have struggled on and off to, first, successfully transcribe it, and second, to do something with it. Originally I'd wanted to compose an orchestral symphony. Fat chance. But it could serve as the seed crystal for a serious trance track, a genre I've not only been obsessed with lately, but also find quite satisfying. It takes me back to the days of Tangerine Dream, when you didn't need drums or electric guitars. Just imagination. (And headphones.)

Into the Sunlight

Released 18 March 2022 | 28:09

When a good friend and fellow music lover gave me a challenge, I gladly accepted. My task was to create a musical sound that evoked the sense of water running in a brook. I took my time addressing the challenge, and the sound I eventually realized naturally required a composition to utilize it. I knew in advance it would be a lengthy ambient work, and after days of experimentation and refinement blending both synthetic and natural sounds, a composition emerged. It's is not for everyone; it's for those willing to surrender their spirit to the ebb and flow of rich, complex soundscapes. As to whether or not I was successful with the original challenge, it doesn't really matter; the sounds can be whatever your mind may envision during the journey. A little side note: from moment to moment, the sound is never the same; it is always changing, albeit very slowly. I also recommend playing this at lower volume levels.

Parallel Lines

Released 25 March 2022 | 8:37

Here's a perfectly straightforward electronic trance track. It's interesting that, the simpler the tune, often the harder it is to get right. After starting with over two dozen sounds (half just for the rhythm), I kept paring it back until I was down to only those elements that were really needed, which was less than a quarter of them. Curiously, I also discovered that the discordant bass line worked much better than expected.

Somewhen Else

Released 21 April 2022 | 5:01

No drums, no percussion, no rhythm track... just lots of lush, dreamy synth chords—imagine an aurora borealis in sound—to carry you away.

Destination

Released 18 May 2022 | 7:59

This one started out as a track for OST but kept growing, eventually becoming a pleasant, otherworldly trance-ish piece.

Something Somewhere

Released 26 August 2022 | 9:28

After sitting around for half a year collecting dust, this neglected track—originally intended to be a vocal piece—morphed into a simple bit of techno-trance. It's about a 50-50 mix of commercial loops and my own sounds.

Around Deep :30

Released 24 February 2025 | 10:08

Just a tossed salad of long, deep chords and some percussion. A meditation on getting lost in samples, and a good aural representation of how I feel.

The Other Side

Released 4 May 2024 | 20:00

Even though I don't believe in life after death, I enjoy imagining it, especially in the context of sound and music. Here I present the idyllic realm of the afterlife: calm, serene, comfortable, unblemished by pain or strife. The track starts off a little uneasily, representing that transition from the world of the living to the space of souls, but then it all comes together sublimely.

Part 1: First Light. After the Universe came into being, it was totally dark for hundreds of millions of years, until matter finally began to coalesce and form stars; and with the birth of stars came the birth of light. What a sight that must have been! Gradually, over the course of billions more years, the stars formed galaxies, and within the galaxies came planets, life, and other wonders. The Universe has become breathtakingly beautiful! To celebrate this beauty, I've created a soundscape in three acts: it begins very simply, with delicate structures; then, after passing through a prolonged period of disorder, it finally culminates in glorious splendor.

Part 2: Power of Ten. Humans are simply incapable of grasping the true enormity of the Universe; indeed, our tiny planet—an infinitesimal speck in the vastness of space—seems huge to us. Likewise, time is immeasurable; in the eyes of the Universe, our lives are so brief as to be non-existent. One way to help get a sense of the infinite—even if only a little—is to think about an exponential progression. Consider having a single penny: now, double it every day (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and so on); in a month, you'll be a millionaire. What would you be in a year? The same principle can be applied to speed as well as distance, so one can imagine constantly accelerating ever faster across space, or progressing ever faster through time... or both. (Our excessively litigious society makes it necessary for me to post the following disclaimer: Contained within this track is a form of Shepard tone, which is known to cause an uneasy sensation for some people on occasion. This is not deliberate on my part, so I cannot be held responsible for any adverse side-effects.)

Part 3: Gravity Well. Gravity is a powerful force, so powerful it can bend and even end light. There's another similarly potent force: the will of humankind, which can bend and even end life. My goal with this track was to convey through sound these interacting forces. A challenging work to create as well as to hear, "Gravity Well" is a slow, thoughtful blend of just four sounds, albeit complex ones: a deep, dissonant rumble, representing gravity; an undulating mix of pleasing chords, representing light; a pattern of delicate, fleeting bell-like tones, representing life; and countless distant voices, representing humankind.

Part 4: Oblivion. This part paints a sonic portrait of a trip we all take on occasion, a trip into the unknown. As so for all of the tracks on this album, it's most effective to listen with closed eyes; let the sound conjure whatever images may pass through your mind. Follow the footsteps: if you allow them to, they will lead you to strange, faraway places.

Part 5: Singularity. Here we come to the end of the journey. But while it's not a destination we may consciously seek, it's a point to which we are all destined to arrive—it is inevitable, for everyone and everything. It's also something we cannot know; we can only speculate about it. Thus it would be impossible to realize a soundscape that truly represents it; all one can do is imagine how destiny might sound. Ever-changing in very slow, very subtle ways, this abstract painting for the ears employs various forms of Brownian noise to create a vague, underlying sense of uncertainty or apprehension.