Song-A-Day 2024

Raggedy Man

Note: This post was written in 2025 and backdated to appear on the day I wrote and published the track. I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I’d started a track but knew it would be too involved to complete with the time available. But today is a new day, and I’m starting early. Part of what I knew would make it time consuming is it’s based around an old spoken word recording. And when I say old, I mean very old. Over 100 years old, in fact. It is a travesty of intellectual property law that you have to look … Continue reading

Mare Australe

Note: This post was written in 2025 and backdated to appear on the day I wrote and published the track. Back to the moon. This one is much more ethereal. There are moments where a sense of time emerge, but for the most part it’s something to sink into. The sounds are already quite complex and programmed, but I added a bit of motion or granular processing here and there to just give it a bit more. This was actually a pivot. I started the day with a different track, but very quickly realized that I didn’t have time to … Continue reading

Demitasse

Note: This post was written in 2025 and backdated to appear on the day I wrote and published the track. If you’ve read my posts from past years, you know that I love writing waltzes. They’re fun and relaxing exercises. With few exceptions, though, I write them for either  piano, a string quartet, or an orchestra. I rarely come to them with a melody in mind, but that’s one of the reasons I think I like writing them. As soon as I decide I’m writing a waltz, a melody appears. The rest is often just figuring out what else goes … Continue reading

Cape Disappointment

Note: This post was written in 2025 and backdated to appear on the day I wrote and published the track. Since 2020, I’ve made serious investment into sample libraries. It started mostly with orchestral libraries, then started branching into hybrid orchestra or processed orchestra – the kind of stuff you’d hear in a trailer or action film. Bombastic Hans Zimmerish sounds. Speaking bluntly, I think most of this money hasn’t been a good investment. Unfortunately, few sample companies have customer-focused licensing agreements. It’s rare to get a trial period, and similarly rare to have the ability to resell the product … Continue reading

Mare Crisium

Note: This post was written in 2025 and backdated to appear on the day I wrote and published the track. Last year (2023) I named most of my ambient pieces after lunar seas. It wasn’t really a planned thing – just an easy naming convention – and the definition of “ambient” certainly shifts across the six pieces, ranging from a melodic piano piece with electronic spices to full-on drones. I was initially hesitant to explore those spaces, but positive feedback from other Song-A-Day participants encouraged … Continue reading