Vaguely Exotic (2022)

Following years of slow progress, I finally have a new album. Vaguely Exotic may have taken far too long, but it is my favorite album to date. Your results may vary. I've created a streaming SoundCloud list on the left sidebar. Give it a listen and enjoy!

Metamorphosis

It's been three years (the longest I've taken between albums), but Metamorphosis is finished! It is a mix of electronic soundtrack style songs and orchestral music inspired by our family's D&D campaign. Nearly all the insturments are from Komplete 11 Ultimate from Native Instruments. Others used are listed in the notes for each song.

All tracks are listed below and ready for download. Just click the titles to stream, or "save as" to download. I hope you enjoy them.

1) Metamorphosis

Fast-paced and upbeat, with a ringing synth that has a random phase effect that I enjoy working with.

2) Into the Forge
The first song inspired by our D&D campaign, and my favorite of them. So far, The Forge isn't a location in our gaming world. It could be, though. Voice instruments are from Olympus Choir and Mercury Choir by Soundiron.

3) Surge
The most driving song on the album, and one I'm not ashamed to admit I composed! Far different from the orchestral tracks.

4) Empire of the Bow
This one is a little bit of a cheat. It wasn't originally inspired by our D&D campaign, but it does fit with them nicely. My true inspiration was envisioning ancient warriors riding on the Mongol Steppe. Because I do that sort of thing.

5) New Hearts New Minds
My instrumental take on Hearts and Minds by Nitzer Ebb, but with a far-to-obvious title. It's very different than the original, of course, but the similarities should be obvious to the ten people who remember Nitzer Ebb.

6) Partings (Separate Paths)
At one point in our campaign, one of our party members left to adventure elsewhere. At the time, I joked that I should write a song about it. This isn't exactly what I had in mind at the time, but it will do.

7) Transform
Built around a preset patch on the Form instrument. Form allows voice samples to be tweaked, looped and filtered enough to have each one become several completely different sounding instruments. I like to make noise.

8) Pixelated
I don't create enough blippy songs like this one. The main instrument here is Rounds, which sequences through several filters as you play it. A simple, upbeat tune.

9) CAVEbabbling
The name comes from the Cavebabble movie podcast our family has been producing since September of 2008. I composed it to have new intro music for the show, but I'll be honest. It's not my favorite on the album. Hopefully your opinion varies.

10) Overland
The first version of this song had solo vocal instruments that our DM (also our oldest daughter) didn't care for. She was right. It was composed as music that might play while looking at the world map.

11) Carbon2
Far more interesting than Carbon1 (which doesn't exist). I've created so many instrumentals over the years that it's tough to come up with names for them all. Sometimes I just don't try, and name the track after the main instrument in the mix.

12) The Mine
Originally, this was called Newfield, which is a gnome town in our campaign. We spent time clearing kobolds from the tunnels they dug under the town. It wasn't actually a mine, though, and this certainly is mine music. Feel free to dig your own mine while listening.

13) The House
Not to be confused with The Mine. This is the result of a music challenge from my friend, Russell. He asked me to compose an old-school industrial track in the vein of Skinny Puppy or Frontline Assembly. The tweaked voice clips are from the classic 1959 Vincent Price version of House on Haunted Hill. Not everyone's taste, but fun to create.

Four More from Spark

I've uploaded four more tracks from Spark, and added the links to the sidebar: Humanchine, Stormrider, Midnight Drive, and Sunset. Nearly the entire album is now available here, and I hope you enjoy them. For my next album, I've finished an old-school industrial track, and part of an orchestrated song. Looks like another odd mix of styles on the next CD.

Spark

Finally, after the longest stretch between CDs [and posts, for that matter], I've finished Spark. Eleven tracks, with more orchestration than I've ever attempted. Five tracks are dominated by piano and strings, with A Wife, Our Child being the most complex music I've composed. Our oldest got married in April, and this song encapsulates how I feel when I think of her.

Four songs from Spark are available for download on the sidebar, including A Wife, Our Child. Give 'em a listen, and I hope you enjoy what you hear.

Three More from Mechanidance

I've uploaded three more tracks from Mechanidance, and made them available for download via the links in the left sidebar. Enjoy!

Mechanidance

I haven't been updating this EyeOh blog for what seems like ages, but finally, I have added links to music from my last CD, Mechanidance. Enjoy three tracks from this album by clicking the links under A Taste of My Music on the left sidebar. Each month (if I have extra Libsyn space), I will add new tracks to this list. Hope you enjoy them!

The State of EyeOh

I can't believe how long it's been since I updated this blog. I've made so much music since that last post! Two more CDs have been filled, and a third about half-way done. I've also picked up Komplete Ultimate from Native Instruments, and am in sonic heaven.

Time for some dusting...

I've allowed too much dust to collect on this blog. Most everything is covered over on Cavebabble, yet I have been writing music since last December, and not updating anything here. I'll find some time this next week to upload a couple new tunes, and try to shine the place up a bit.

Inner Outer Space

The CD is finished! One year and twelve tracks from my last album. Time to get some in the mail for family and friends.

How Much is Enough?

I face the same question each year as I'm putting together a new CD: How many songs is enough? I usually have two or three songs in the works at all times, and have a tough time deciding which to finish up for the latest CD, and which to put on the back burner for next year's. I have to decide!

New CD nearly finished

I've finished designing the cover of my upcoming CD, Inner Outer Space. I have two more songs in the works, though, so may wait until they are ready to include on this disk, as well.

You Hate Me, Don't You

I'm smack dab in the middle of the Tomorrow People cover monster, and am starting to wonder if TC hates me. The melodies I'm tying together are so different that it's really tough to make it all mesh without changing key. Somewhere out there, you are laughing at me. And I will prevail. Oh yes, I shall prevail.

That Bass Sounds Familiar

I started composing a new song this week, beginning with a funky bass line. I added drums, and then began riffing off of this with a nice lead synth. Ten minutes into my jam session, I began to think I'd heard that bass line before. Sure enough, it was almost exactly the same as another song I'd written in the last year! Inspiration fail. It happens sometimes. After all, whose songs don't sound at least a bit like their others? I won't bother to work on this song any longer, but at least I squeezed a fun jam session out of it.

Tomorrow (or the next day) People

Thanks to TC over at Subject: Cinema, I have a new musical challenge- a cover version of a 70s tune, mixed with elements from about eight other songs, all of which will be associated with The Tomorrow People. At this point you're trying to hurt me, aren't you, TC? I'm not quite sure how I'm going to tackle this one, but it should be interesting.

One Last Change

I've decided to scrap the free file hosting mumbo jumbo, and simply post new tunes via our Cavebabble Podcast hosting. This way, I won't have access to files go down, and kill the embedded player. If you're interested in listening to some tunes, click on the links in the list to the left. They play like magic. Promise.

...and Fade Out

My brother-in-law used to find the way many of my songs end to be amusing. I rarely finish a tune with a long fade-out, which is standard on many songs. I just finished up a tune last night, and in listening to the way it ends, I can think of about ten other songs of mine with similar finishes. Not good. Maybe I need my brother-in-law over my shoulder to stop me.

Insert Title Here...

My latest tune is completely finished, yet I still don't have a name for it. This has become more of a problem with me in the last couple years. I used to have a title or concept in mind when starting a song, or at least by the time I'd worked out a decent melody. Maybe I should just take a cue from the Nine Inch Nails album Ghosts I-IV, and name each new song Ghosts. Or Rutabaga.

Delving Deeper

I plan to spend some time this weekend delving a little deeper into Orion 7, the composition suite I create songs with. I have a bad habit of only looking under the hood when I have a need for something, rather than learning a new skill first, and then putting it to good use. I'm sure there are simpler ways to achieve effects and actions than the ones I've fallen in to. I'm bound to slap my head a few times, wondering why I wasn't taking advantage of something all these years.

Cover Tunes

I'm thinking about tackling some cover tunes again. I covered the Tomorrow People television theme song for TC Kirkham over at Subject: Cinema a while back, as well as covers of two John Carpenter film themes for the heck of it. I have a weakness for science fiction themes, so possibly will start with a couple more of those, and see where it goes.

Three in the Works

I'm in middle of three different songs at the moment, bouncing between them for inspiration. Some times this is the way things work for me. In the past, I've jokingly said that I could write one minute songs all day (which would be great for promos, when I think about it). At times, though, where the songs go from there takes much longer.