You (2007) (WMA) |
This song is a hybrid of techno/trance and metal, with some deep eerie speaking vocals, very similar in style to Rammstein's "Du Hast." |
I Hope You Die (2006) (WMA)
|
This is a cover tune of the Bloodhound Gang song "I Hope You Die." It's a punkish rocker with pretty twisted lyrics. |
The Dynamic Duo (2006) (WMA)
|
This song is a song I wrote way back around 1997 or 1998 and had originally recorded on my old 4-track. I decided to do an updated version.
There were a couple girls I was good friends with at Washington State University, Dana and Jill (the person who the song Yahrz is named after). They were always hanging out together, so I called them
"The Dynamic Duo." I named this song after them, because of the harmonized "duo" guitars. It's a heavy, rocking instrumental tune. |
Bach's Broom
(2006) (WMA) |
This song got its title because 1. The melodies are Bach-like arpeggios sequences 2. The song contains harpsichord (like Bach)
3. I used slow sweep picking to play the arpeggios (hence the "broom" in the title). While this song is pretty simple musically, it shows my progress in mixing...I think it's probably the highest
quality mix I've done. |
Fantastic Voyage: A Concerto for Electric Guitar & Harpsichord in E Minor
(2006) (WMA) |
This song beats out "J's Jig" as the longest, most complicated song I've ever done. It's a classical baroque piece with the electric guitar and
harpsichord as lead instruments. It's got strings, choir voices, piano, harmonized guitars...it's a huge piece! This song really demonstrates how far my chops have come...I had to practice this
one A LOT. You'll definitely hear the Yngwie and Bach influence in this one. It has all of the neoclassical elements in it...various pedal tones, arpeggios, and heavy use of harmonic minor. |
J's Jig For Electric Guitar and Harpsichord in
F Major (2003) (WMA) |
This one is a very happy sounding Irish jig. It's one of the most complex I've done, in terms of harmony, counterpoint, and sheer number of notes!
This one shows my progress as both a guitar player and a musician. The guitar is a bit out of tune in a few places...it's because I accidentally pulled the notes slightly sharp occasionally on the
scalloped neck of my Strat. |
Destiny (2002) (WMA) |
A laid-back, feel-good acoustic tune. This song was a collaboration with my friends Cory Ekrem and Melissa Boyle. Cory wrote the chord
progression, and Melissa and I wrote the lyrics. Cory plays all guitars. I play the bass guitar, and shared the piano duties with Cory. Melissa handled the vox and did some great vocal
harmonies. It's one of the best mixes that I've done in terms of sound quality. |
Blind (2002) (WMA) |
A progressive semi-ballad that I wrote, influenced by Symphony X and Dream Theater. It's the longest song I've done, clocking in at 7 1/2
minutes. This song has a bit of everything....soft piano intro, cool violin-like echoing guitars during the verse, heavy electric guitars combined with lush keyboards during the chorus, great singing,
key changes between G Major and E minor, and a cool odd-meter, technical interlude where the acoustic guitar and piano play counterpoint to each other. This song shows my progress as a musician and my
progression to more complex, techical music. Melissa Boyle sang the vocals. This song has the deepest lyrics I've ever written....they deal with the struggle to move on when love doesn't go your
way. |
No Boundary (2002) (WMA) |
This is a song I did for my mom and grandmothers for Mother's Day, 2002. It's very simple; I wrote it very quickly in the days before my parents
were showing up for my graduation from Washington State University. The song has a very soothing vocal melody, but I'm not very happy with the mix; it was rushed. I sing on this one, and I'm not
the best vocalist for singing in this range (I'm a bass). Melissa Boyle sings the backing vocals. However, this one has one of my best guitar solos...very emotional and melodic. |
Heavenly (2002) (WMA) |
This is a song written by my friend Melissa Boyle in memory of her grandmother. Melissa sang the vocals and played the synthesizer. I played
the guitar solo, and mixed the song. It's one of my more emotional guitar solos...not as technical or "shredding" as some, but very soothing. |
A New Beginning (2001) (WMA)
|
The first progressive tune that I wrote. It's a guitar rocker in A Minor and is heavily influenced by Nightwish and Yngwie Malmsteen...the intro is
a bit too close to Nightwish's "Come Cover Me" but that's OK. It starts off with some strings and then goes into one of the best rockin' guitar riffs I've ever written. In the middle there's a
Bach-like interlude with the electric guitar and harpsichord, similar to Yngwie's "I'll See the Light Tonight." Melissa Boyle sings vocals on this one and did an outstanding job...she sounds like Pat
Benatar. The mix wasn't too bad given my experience at the time, although the guitar solo is buried in the mix. |
Space Station Copulation
(2001) (WMA) |
This song has a great groove to it, and was a collaboration with my buddy Cory Ekrem. I played all the instruments, with the exception of the
"wocka" background guitar and background "spacey" keys, which were done by Cory. The song has a psychedelic, "sex in space" feel, hence the title. I experimented a lot with delays with this tune,
and got some really cool stuff to come out. This song has a special place in my heart because it's the first high-quality mix that I ever did. The mix even sounds better than some of my later
mixes. Plus, it's just a really cool song to groove to! |
Yahrz (2000) (WMA) |
This is a funky song that I did for my old friend Jill Yahrmarkt. She wanted me to write a funky tune with wah guitar for her; my nickname for her
was "Yahrz". My finger blistered up really bad after recording the wah bass in this one, because my finger was sliding up and down the bass string, and the line repeats itself through the whole
song. The song has a cool vocoder effect in the middle that I threw in there. The sound quality of this mix is very good considering that I did it with a combination of headphones and my stereo
speakers; I didn't have quality studio monitors. Only the spoken "Yahrz" part is buried in the mix. |
Abacus (2000) (WMA) |
This is a short, simple, Chinese-sounding piece, hence the title. This is the first tune that I ever recorded with my Roland VS-880EX. I had
originally recorded this tune with my old Yamaha 4-track before I got the Roland, and then decided to redo it. I had this cool ping-pong delay on my ZOOM processor and I was messing around in E
pentatonic minor, and this little tune was born. |
Where Did Our Time Go?
(2000) (WMA) |
This is the only "pop" sounding tune that I've ever done. The song has a catchy chorus, but unfortunately I sing on this one <cringe>.
During the chorus, I sang an octave harmony because I didn't how to sing any other type of harmonies. The song has a cool bass line at the end of the chorus, but unfortunately it gets drowned out by the
rhythm guitars which are mixed too loud. I've come a long way with my guitar solos since this song...it's some very simple pentatonic lines, but they fit the song nicely. This is another tune that I
had originally recorded on my Yamaha 4-track and then rerecorded when I got my Roland. This is the second song I ever recorded with my Roland. This song has potential...I'll probably rerecord it
some day. |
Hey You (2000) (MP3) |
This is a cover song of the Scorpions tune that is found on their "Best of Rockers n' Ballads" compilation. This is my favorite Scorpions
tune. I sing falsetto in this tune, trying to mimic Klaus Meine. So, if you want a good laugh, listen to this one! My guitar solo sucks on this one...just a bunch of sliding around, with
some pentatonic licks thrown in. Otherwise, not a bad cover, and the sound quality is OK given that I was quite a rookie at mixing at the time, and was still learning the ins and outs of my
Roland. This is another one I may rerecord some day. |
Linus and Lucy (2000) (WMA)
|
This is my rockin' electric guitar version of the famous Peanuts song by Vince Guaraldi. My version of the song is cool (think of hearing this song
with heavy guitars rather than piano), but the mix really sucks. This is definitely one I'm going to rerecord some day. |
Courage (2000) (WMA) |
This is a rock song with a nice groove to it, and cool vocal/guitar solo tradeoffs between my friend Cory Ekrem and I. The electric guitar has a
cool "jet" flange to it, and the song also has a cool fade transition between clean guitar and electric guitar at the beginning and the end. The song idea is great, with nice vocal melodies, but the
mix is HORRIBLE. It's probably my worst mix out of all the songs I've done on my Roland. This is a tune I had originally recorded with my old Yamaha 4-track and decided to rerecord with my
Roland. Cory does some really cool leads on this tune. My leads are pretty boring compared to his, but this is back in my pentatonic days, before I started practicing a lot and learning Yngwie
harmonic minor stuff. This is one I'd like to rerecord some day...it's got a lot of potential. This is the first song that I ever recorded using my Yngwie Strat, although I only used it for
rhythm and clean guitar...leads were done with my Jackson. |
