Within the Bowels of Hell...

Song title: Hell Stage

Info: What happens when you take a rank-and-file white-collar employee of a generic Japanese corporation and throw him into the pits of hell? You get "SalaryMan"--an  upcoming, poorly publicized, traditional side-scrolling action game that will have all of you wishing that the 80's (and to a lesser extent, the 90's) never ended. My friend kououken is doing most of the design and programming work, and I'm contributing background music (this being one of them), theme songs, and emotional support. Enjoy!

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Download: Hell Stage

Two loaves of bread, two bottles of wine later...

Song title: Sorrow

Info: Please refer to the previous post. While I apologize for my laziness, I saw no point in writing up a new blurb for this piece.

Download: Sorrow

A loaf of bread, a bottle of wine...

Song title: Serenity

Info: To me, the string section is like the bread of music composition, and harp, the wine. What I'm trying to say is, I have a tendency to overuse and abuse these two instruments in songwriting. But it cannot be denied that simplicity is the mother of perfection. In other words, I'm trying to pass off a 45 second tune boasting all of two instruments as a completed piece of writing.

Getting back on subject, this is another one of my earliest works, written back in '96 when the majority of my weekends were spent in solitary RPG gaming bliss. As you'll see for yourself, there isn't much to the song, but despite this--or perhaps, because of this--I find it a lot more whole a tune than others for which I've attempted to incorporate a dozen or so instruments just to prove to myself that I could. A similar logic applies to the brevity of the song. My lame attempts at stretching out a perfectly passable tune to beyond my magical two-minute mark can be compared to a man who has barely enough jam for a single slice of toast, yet tries to spread it out on a whole loaf. And then proceeds to water down a bottle of good merlot so that all his guests can enjoy a glass. I don't know what jam toast and wine are doing at the same party, but I've managed to get a descriptive metaphor down for each, so am satisfied.

Anyway, enough of my ranting. It would be ludicrous for the Info section of the post to take longer to read than the length of the song it describes. The song title is as self-explanatory as they come.

Download: Serenity

Fleet of foot, sleight of hand.

Song title: Sneakish

Info: All I remember about writing this song is that I was trying to come up with something else altogether. But now that it's become a composition of its own and all that, I feel obligated to offer background information to accompany this post: some dude sneaking around, obviously up to no good, in a comedic scene in what would otherwise be a serious film. Yeah, that'll do.

Download: Sneakish

A vehicular tribute.

Song title: Fun Kart Go!

Info: I was tasked by kououken with writing a go-kart theme song that didn't sound like a rip-off from the SNES game, Super Mario Kart. The result can only be described as an epic fail.

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Download: Fun Kart Go!

Is it a forest? Is it a city? It's Canberra!

Song title: Easy City (Canberra)

Info: A blast from the previous millennium! I composed this song all the way back in 1997, back when I was still a pizza-faced teenager living at home in Canberra. I honestly couldn't tell you what inspired me to write a song about what was, and is still, one of the blandest capital cities in the world. Back then I posted my music on the internet in good ol' MIDI format. I had all but forgotten that I had done so, when the tune--in all its MIDI glory--resurfaced in a foreign website, as part of a jazz music list which included some well-known tunes by very respectable artists. Now, before people start jumping to conclusions, I'd like to point out that this website, if thought of as a building, would be a dilapidated warehouse that hasn't had a living being set foot in it for decades. I really don't know what to make of this isolated occurrence. Anyway, enjoy the tune--it's supposed to be happy!

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Download: Easy City

Is it a little cold in here, or is it just winter?

Song title: Chilly Air

Info: "Ooo, echo effects!" I cried, delighted. And that is how this tune came to be. Serious. And a few minutes after I had polished up the piece, my mate Kououken sends me my next composition assignment image--the picture you see below, whatever the hell that is. He didn't expect me to submit my completed assignment so quickly. Anyway, I hope you enjoy(?) this experiment in ambience.

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Download: Chilly Air