Ray Toler

I help people discover they can do more than they thought they could. I write music. I think Excel is the best thing Microsoft ever produced. I speak executive, nerd, finance, janitor, design, code, and process. I meditate underwater in sixty-minute sessions. I know that “I” and “We” are required at different times for different things. I’m the quiet dude you’ll tell your life story to at a party. I love finding possibilities and putting old things together in new ways. I ride a GSX-R750 when the weather’s nice.

  • Mid-brained, multi-disciplinary, servant-leader.
  • Artistic geek or geeky artist, your choice.
  • Corporate jester, experiential designer, and change agent.
  • Coach. Mentor. Mentee.
  • Perpetual student and explorer. Aspirational polymath.
  • Speaker, listener, cheerleader, and organizer.
  • Writer, editor, composer, remixer, synthesist.
  • Avid reader, gamer, and purveyor of pop-culture references.

Let’s work together on something cool.

Recent Articles

FAFO

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Well. That escalated quickly. So much for simplification. As I’ve mentioned before, over the last 4-5 years, I’ve felt a lot of unnecessary pressure to come out swinging on the first day. A lot of Day 1 songs have been strong, but whether that’s because I have some creative reserve…

Rules of Engagement

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Another year is here. I’ve been both looking forward to and dreading it. More the former than the latter, though. Every… many of the years… I dabble with some form of rules or restrictions to help provide me with focus or a challenge. One year it was alphabetized titles. Another…

Like Tears in Rain

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I’ve written before about the concept of sonder: the profound realization that every other person you meet has had a life experience as complex and rich as your own. It’s a newish word though I didn’t realize how new until I…

Here and Now

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The last track! I’m normally happy to post anything at this point in the journey and have certainly thrown some “contractual obligation” pieces up. This one, however, is one of those happy times where I not only had a decent idea, but the time and energy to actually produce it.1I’ve…

Agile Gossip

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Another day, another Stepic track. Seriously, this thing is amazing. I’m obviously in that new love phase, but the more I learn, the more capable and deep I realize this thing really is. One of the features I mentioned when I first got it a few days ago is the…

Gold Obelisk

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Remember two days ago when I waxed poetic about Stepic, the amazing new step sequencer I got? Remember how I was fawning over those 80s Tangerine Dream soundtrack bass lines? Remember how I said that you’d likely hear more tracks with that kind of thing? Well, here we are. This…

Leviathan

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The most notable thing about this track may be that it was my third attempt for the night. I’ve done that several nights this month, but sometimes nothing’s hitting. Or it hits but fizzles almost immediately because there’s nowhere to go. But on this project, that initial sound you hear…

Random Strudels

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I bought a new tool. Yes, I buy a lot of tools, and most of them end up gathering digital dust when the newness wears off. In this case, though, I think I may have stumbled upon something that not only isn’t available in any of my other tools, but…

I Don’t Remember

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After a bit of faffing about, I wasn’t getting any traction and decided to pull out the “inspiration bag of tricks” box. Modern software like Scaler and other “AI” type tools has provided a lot of ways to avoid needing any sort of formal music training or theory. I have…

Don’t Look (Remain Idle Cover)

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Cover day. Sigh. I’ve written about my angst surrounding cover day before, so I won’t repeat myself for once. This year, I had my favorite candidate from the day it first appeared and while several other fantastic possibilities appeared during the month, nothing ever knocked this song out of my…