Created for the artist group True Fraud Collaborative, Chloe’s theme was initially written to accompany an expressive movement piece. The entire project (still unfinished) is a look into a young woman’s life growing into adulthood, and how the overpowering emotions of adolescence can express both beauty and despair. Recorded in Logic with live piano tracks and FX.
I read and recorded “A Crown of Oranges,” by poet Doreen Stock, and created a score to accompany the audio. The music underneath is intended to highlight the delicate nature of her work by using piano. The lead voice acts as a “Flute” (as seen in the digital score), but is recorded as a higher-tone keyboard. The harmony is written and recorded as a Steinway Piano. The story of an old doe is resonant, so the music is soft and balanced to the mood of Stock’s poetry.
This piece was designed for the Conservatory Theater Ensemble production of “Destination Missouri”(2020), a student written and produced film based in Mill Valley, CA. Originally written for one of the leads “Judith,” the composition is created in GarageBand using live piano tracks, flute, and horn effects to create a melancholy texture. Judith is cast as the pastor’s daughter, who must battle the inconceivable loss of her father and overcome both fear and anhedonia to help destroy the work of an evil force ravaging her town. Judith’s character embodies both strength and vulnerability, which is evident throughout the slow passage of her theme. Her judgements however, which remain a mystery to the audience until later in the film, are distinguished by the unfinished cadence at the end of the piece.
While outside of the film/game composition realm, Rainy Birthday displays the songwriting strength I have been cultivating for over a decade. The lyrics begin the story of two women brought together in unlikely and difficult circumstances, before further exploring the relationships between them and other equally important women in their lives. The piece is meant to question the definition of love and our capability to do so. How can we love other people if we don’t know how? How do relationships with our sisters, mothers, daughters, etc. impact the way we see and treat other women-especially those we regard with romantic affection?
Through a more technical lense, the demo recording of Rainy Birthday was created in Logic, including a live vocal track with basic mixing and mastering.
This cyber-punk Summertime arrangement takes the original piece and melody, adding theme and juxtaposing (sometimes off-putting) rhythms to create a futuristic work. Stylistically, this arrangement could be ideally used while traveling by hover-car to the nearest vapor lounge to consume watermelon flavored oxygen from a tube after a long day communing with aliens! Or... It’s an aesthetic remix of the old classic. But I prefer the former better. Digital notation of this piece was created in Finale, and recorded/mixed in Logic.