MUSIC
Sprite Fright
Sprite Fright was a production available from The Cue Tube. This was a great exercise in scoring for film.
Old Morgan's Folly
Old Morgan's Folly was a production available from The Cue Tube. This was a great exercise in scoring for trailers.
Barrels and Bones
Notation for Old Morgan's Folly re-score
Beyond the Dawn
Beyond the Dawn was my first stab at composing for a trailer track. While this was not scored to picture, I was provided spotting notes that would allow this composition to be edited together with video.
Shallows
Shallows was a song that I composed at Full Sail in the Music Production for Media class. This was an exercise in writing cues for TV spots and I am really happy with how it turned out.
Angry Bots
This was a project for which I scored and made sound effects for the Angry Bots game. I then learned how to use Wwise to introduce to audio files into the game.
Rising Sun
Rising Sun was a practice in scoring what is known as an 80/20 Regional Track. This means that 80 percent of the composition feature western orchestral elements and the other 20 percent is used to clue the audience into the setting of the film. This track was designed to take the audience to feudal Japan.
The Manster
This was a short scene that I scored for a Full Sail project in Project and Portfolio VI.
TV Spot
This was a TV spot project that I worked on where I was given a video and a script. I then created all the music and sound effects as well as the voice over.
Fold
This is a song about reminiscing about a relationship that fell apart. Even though the relationship ended, you can still think back and remember the good times.
​
Style- Alternative/Reggae
(Verse 1)
I got to thinking ‘bout Vegas
Bright lights and smokey rooms
Although we didn’t bet money
Who’d have known we would lose
(Chorus)
You thought I would call and check out on you
Telling me like you want me to
I would look at the cards and hold
And I knew that I had to fold
(Verse 2)
You started acting outrageous
Adding more fear to my doubts
At least we’ll always have Vegas
I’m sure I’ll see you around
(Chorus)
(Bridge)
Cash it in
Take your winnings and run while you can
It’s just you, and it’s me
We were not meant to be
Count it up, best of luck
Don’t you worry too much
It’s just you, and it’s me
We were not meant to be
One of my classes at Full Sail University was Project and Portfolio II where we really sank our teeth into the craft of composing for production libraries. I want to start off by saying how much I enjoyed taking this class as it truly gave me new tools to use for my future in the music industry. We were taught many different production methods as well as the criteria for submitting deliverables to different libraries.
Throughout the class I composed a hip-hop cue and a tension cue. I really enjoyed writing the tension cue, but the water there is very deep, and I feel that there is a lot of exploring that I need to do to be proficient with tension cues. That being said, I am very excited about traveling down that road and look forward to composing more music like that.
I chose to feature my hip-hop cue for this submission because it felt like more of a solid track that showcases my stronger musical abilities. Hip-hop has had a massive impact on me from a young age and it is prevalent in most of the music that I write. I started the process by searching for an instrument sound that jumped out at me. The first sound that I liked became the harmony chords. After that, I sought out a nice bass tone that I could play around with. Once those elements were in place, it was time to put the drums together. I am a fan of using trap style repeats on the kick, snare, and hats. From there, I filled up the rest of the space with sympathetic sounds and instruments to create an 8-bar loop. The next step was to break apart the loop to add and subtract intensity for a 2-minute track. I liken that process to woodcarving in the sense that the idea is to remove what is not necessary at the right moments in time.
To conclude, this class was one of my favorite classes yet at Full Sail. I am breaking ground on professional industry standards, and I get a sense that my trajectory will take me to exactly where I want to be. I could not be more excited for the future.
MUSIC
Project and Portfolio IV at Full Sail was a deeper dive into Pro Tools. We learned how to mix by referencing other tracks as well as getting more comfortable and efficient working inside Pro Tools. The track below is a mix that was submitted for a grade and is/was used for educational purposes only. I do not own any rights to this mix.
Reggae has always had a special place in my life. The dynamic rhythms are captivating, and the harmony synchronization is divine. It has always amazed me how the formula to build a reggae song is very basic, yet infinitely interpretable. The track, ‘Weight for Me’, was an exploration of using chords in a relative scale. I wanted to see what could happen when I applied the music theory that I’ve been learning to a reggae style track, and I was pleased with how everything turned out.
One of the things I love most about reggae music is the bass. They can be simple, yet playful and when done well, bass lines can be infectious. I chose a tempo of 60 BPM, or 1 beat per second to allow a lot of room for the low end to exist. My drumbeat was straight forward and simple for the same reason.
I chose the key of F# minor for this track because I like the way the scale feels on the piano keyboard. My chord progression started off on F#m to establish where home is. It then moves to D and from there it moves into a C#7/F which is technically not in the key of F#m, but still acceptable. The first four bars end back at F#m before starting the next four on Bm. After that comes the C#7/F for 2 measures and then back home to F#m. At measure 17, the root scale moves to the Relative Major of F#m which is A. The chords there are A, D, F#m, and E, followed by F#m, A, E, and finally, D.
The shakers used in the track are toys from when my son was young. I hung on to them because it’s a shame to get rid of a good noisemaker. I also recorded a single guitar note and used it as a sample and copied the MIDI information from the bass track to create another layer on the low end. At measure 17, there is an arpeggiation that occurs. That was a result of me humming a note, and then turning it into a sample then using chords and an arpeggiator. The bass tracks are layered, but one of them was made completely from scratch with a synthesizer. The same type of method was utilized on the lead melody as well.
When it comes to mixing, I try to take a minimal approach. It is as if the song is a block of wood and the idea is remove what is not necessary to reveal the beautiful art inside. The 2 Dynamic Effects that I use most heavily is EQ and Compression. The EQ is used as the carver’s knife and cuts high or low information out that is not needed or troublesome. Compression is used to help each sound be heard clearly. There are 2 Time-Based Effects that I use heavily, and those are Reverb and Delay. These are placed on an AUX track and then audio can be routed to it via busses. Everything gets at least a little Reverb accept for the kick and bass tracks. Delay was applied to the harmony and melody tracks for a bit of sweetening. Delay and Reverb throws were also automated on the snare track.