Monthly Archives: February 2014

Neankerbal March

I admit, I had been playing quite a bit of Kerbal Space Program when I came up with the name for this song. It’s like looking at ancient Kerbals look at fire in amazement for the first time and then dancing around it just because. I like the instrumentation on this very much, the Celtic harp goes together so well with the hang samples I found.

Usage would certainly include druids at Stonehenge, and Irish taverns filled with cups of ale. Why not include lessons for medieval dances as well.

Download Neankerbal March (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license.

Picking Up the Pieces

Here’s another positive Celtic harp exercise. That thing seems to live together well with an upright bass. It’s a bit samey from start to finish, but I don’t think it’s too repetitive as again the core harp parts were improvised on the spot, so there’s plenty of involuntary variation.

This might be a bit too cutesy for some people, which is all the more reason for the rest of us to use it where ever appropriate. For example when carrying on after a crisis or meeting people who you thought you’d never meet again.

Download Picking Up the Pieces (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license.

Strolling

An ambient-y song with varying levels of intensity, but same overall feel throughout. I feared this would end up being too monotonous, but I think I managed to get enough growth towards the end, despite the slow start.

Good for waking up, I guess, and slow mornings in general. Summer nights would be a good match as well, as would ball of sleeping kittens.

Download Strolling (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license.

Safe Place

This song started as an innocent noodling about with the piano. I liked the home-y atmosphere and feeling of safe and familiar surroundings. A product of  the moment, which is part of the reason for it being so short, but I’d rather not muck around with it anymore to not mess the spontaneous nature.

Use to calm unhappy babies. Also works for reunions, returning home, carefree moments – that sort of thing.

Download Safe Place (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license.

Alien World

I had a craving to create something a little Celtic, probably due to acquiring a truly beautiful Celtic harps -refill for Reason. They are a marvel to play! This was also one of my first attempts to go for a more full orchestral feel, and I think it turned out allright.

Suits well for all the strange places you must go to. It might not be your choice, and you may not like it, but you chose to walk the path to the end anyway. Has kind of a bittersweet emotion.

Download Alien World (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license.

Island in the Sky (with drums)

The tighter and more “pop song-esque” version of the song does most of what its sister does, but manages to be a little less meditative and a little more forward-moving. And 30 seconds longer.

Download Island in the Sky (/w drums) (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license.

Island in the Sky

I was noodling around with some mellotron flute sounds and stumbled upon this tune. I ended up with two versions, because I kept hearing drums in the background. This one is without, and is a peaceful meditation while sitting on a puff of clouds.

Suitable for meditation after a hard day, or as theme music for some slowly progressing event.

Download Island in the Sky (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license.

Exhilarating motion

I set out to do music for the exploration and crazy parkour-grapple hook-teleport-superjump movement you can do in a certain game. The strings part I played from start to finish on my Kurzweil as an impro, and imported the midi-file to Reason where I did some polishing. Then just added some bells (not whistles this time) and it’s done! It is really that simple: two instruments.

This one has a little bit of epicness and grandeur to it, while still maintaining its humble roots. Suitable for when someone from humble beginnings achieves greatness. And of course infinitely suitable for a hero whooooshing in the sky on a noble quest.

Download Exhilarating Motion (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license.

Urgent Mission

I wanted to make a faster paced piece, without it being too attention-capturing or downright action music. It’s a nice mix of acoustic and electronic instruments and has a definite urge to move forward.

Goes well to create a sense of.. urgency. Who knew? Maybe this would also work in a race situation in a space environment. Try it and let me know.

Download Urgent Mission (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license.

Windland

This was the first song I composed specifically for a video game, I think. It is called Windlands and I wanted to create something that would capture the feel that I had for the game world. I’ve since removed this song from the Windlands soundtrack and set it free to use with a CC-license (see below). But worry not, news songs are ready for the game – plenty of new songs.

It’s a fairly steady piece with a lot of air and some fluidity.

Download Windland (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license.

Find out more about the game Windlands.

Orbital Observer

This one spent a long time on my hard drive in limbo, while I waited to decide what to do with it. Finally I just decided to roll with it. It’s a nice calm song, that doesn’t really stand out, but has some neat little modulations.

To me this sounds obviously like floating in space, but you could also hear underwater themes in there for sure. It’s a calm and mysterious feeling, and should go well as background music.

Download Orbital Observer (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license.

Cyberwestern

This is like a more thought-out and refined re-hash of Watch it Melt. I’m quite happy with it, actually, has a deep beat and crunchy guitar chords, and of course plenty of motion and subtle variation. My computer at the time was pretty much maxed out on performance with this, so that was a natural point to call it done. The whole thing started as I accidentally layered the time signatures. 6/8 guitar riff with 4/4 everything else (the part you hear towards the end) just sounded like the way to go.

Has a darker undertone for sure, but also some slow stomping forward motion. Perhaps the interweaving time signatures give opportunities to match this with some mixed emotions.

Download Cyberwestern (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license

Game Over

This song I made with video games in mind. I was doing some test tracks for a spaceship-flyer-shooter game, and this was my test for a game over -screen, when your ship has been blown to bits. Don’t think anyone would stay in the game over -screen for two minutes, but hey.

Has a darkish atmosphere, but also some glimmers of hope for those who work hard. Suitable for “the end is never the end” -type of situations.

Download Game Over (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license

Into the Wild Distance

What to say about this one.. again I’m not sure why I want to post this in the first place, because it’s one of the earlier productions and as such, not as good as I would hope. Still, there are some good moments in there. It’s a slowish progressing electro, that doesn’t really know what it wants to be.

Has a melancholy to it, so may be suitable to back a similar sentiment. Also maintains a sense of steady, if slow, progression.

Download Into the Wild Distance (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license

80’s Fragment

This started almost accidentally, I just recorded some random chords from our band’s Roland JX-8P, and layered some melodies on top and drum beats underneath. I meant to develop this further, but I’m realizing it will probably never happen, so here is a short fragment of analog goodness for you to do as you please with. I do love that juicy bass!

It’s a little too short for scoring anything, really, but could maybe go as an intro or outro for some 80’s related show..?

Download 80s Fragment (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license

This Is Not What I Want

This one is a little hard to put into a category. Basically it was a playground for all the new things I had just learned about using Reason at the time, with the glitchy beats and multiband gated pad with the Alligator. Sometimes I think I should keep these testing grounds to myself, but you never know if someone actually finds this useful.

It’s a bit polarized song in that there’s ups and downs throughout. Maybe for some positive type of motion?

Download This Is Not What I Want (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license.

Come With Us

I love the original Dungeon Keeper game for PC by Bullfrog. That might be a weird segway to this song, but you could build a summoning room in the game to brainwash your opponent’s minions to join your ranks instead. Zooming in close to that room you could hear the whispers: “come with ussss… join ussss….” That was how this song got started. Other than that, it’s a little hard to define. Maybe not my best work ever, but manages to deliver at least a cheap and cheesy haunted house atmosphere.

Use at your own peril.

Download Come With Us (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license.

A Gentle Wakening

This song I specifically composed as a cellphone alarm/wake-up tone. It is supposed to wake you up with a smile and full of energy. You mileage may vary on that.. mine did. In any case, it’s a short, happy, upbeat thingy, that is also one of the oldest Reason compositions I’ve made.

Suitable for happy and hopeful occasions, mornings, achievements etc.

Download A Gentle Wakening (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license.

Atoms of Our Ancestors

This is one of the first songs I started after getting Reason for my music software. It’s a melancholic, slightly trip-hoppy electro piece. I wrote lyrics too, but was never happy with my singing performance, so I decided to cut the vocals out in the end.

Use to set a scene of an nuclear wasteland, for example, or any kind of bleak, barren outdoor location or ruin.

Download Atoms of Our Ancestors (Right-click and Save as). Creative Commons Attribution license.

Cupcaking

The final and also the title track for the album Cupcaking, this one is probably my favourite of the lot. It is less ambient and more song-like than the others, and as such it seemed the best fit for a closing track.

Has a sense of closure, happy ending and ever after. I’ve had this as my wake-up tune in my phone for a while, so that’s tried and true. No doubt goes well with all cutesy things like puppies, kittens, babies, etc. Also works for moments of reunion, I suppose.

Download Cupcaking (Right-click and Save as) from here or from Bandcamp. Creative Commons Attribution license.

To know more about the album Cupcaking, head to bandcamp and read the album description there.