This song is an original composition. My inspiration of this piece was an image of a broken clock. So often do we see clocks that it seems we almost forget the domineering power time has over our lives. Music is so driven by tempo, that when a song wavers in or doesn't follow a tempo, the piece is considered 'choppy' or 'inadequate.' When I recorded this piece, I didn't record it to a metronome, to counter act tempo's influence. The ticking sample of the clock does also not fit with the freely chosen tempo. I recorded all parts in one take to reinforce the sense of timelessness, furthered by the ad-lib guitar solo freely exploring the music instead of being told what and when to play. The imperfections in all of the recorded parts bring to light the beauty in feeling time as opposed to counting it, and challenges time's constraining nature. I then wrote ironic lyrics depicting an individual fighting against the limitations of time, blaming the clock's purpose for their difficulties.

Clockwork

An IB Composition, experimenting with structure and tonality of piano music.

Usually Not

This piece was meant to go into a collection of pieces for my Personal Project. It is not complete yet, as I'd like to add lyrics.

Cute Little Riff

Possess The Power (Sons of Odin + Earth to Asgard arrangement) is an arrangement of two pieces by Patrick Doyle off of the Thor (2011) soundtrack. My original intention was arrange only the song Sons of Odin from the soundtrack in the Techno style. I deviated from my plan in order to shape my piece in the ternary form by including a mellow middle section. Since Sons of Odin is relatively major-sounding, I decided to arrange a minor and mellow piece from the soundtrack as well, so I selected Earth to Asgard. I arranged the song to modulate from Sons of Odin into Earth to Asgard and briefly back again in the song’s outro. I used a printed arrangement of Doyle’s original Sons of Odin for the base of my arrangement, but used only audio from YouTube to arrange Earth to Asgard. I arranged the pieces together within Reason 6.5 all on computer instruments. I was also inspired by the complex relationship between Thor and Loki in the movie. I utilized audio clips from both Thor (2011) and The Avengers (2012) relating to Thor and Loki to recreate the loving tension between them, furthered by the contrasting moods of the A and B sections.  I took the speaking clips from YouTube and cut and added effects to them. The speaking clip: “Whosoever holds… power of Thor” is significant of the drive of the plot of Thor, as Thor is banished from Asgard in order to develop his character. The speaking clips: “He killed… two days,” “Loki is… of Asgard,” and “He’s adopted” are all significant of Thor and Loki’s complicated relationship, as well as of Thor’s personality and devotion to his brother. The arrangement was successful in captivating the essence of the movie outside of its original genre.

Possess The Power (Sons Of Odin + Earth To Asgard Arrangement)

This composition was an experiment to see how many instruments I could replace with modulated audio. My original goal was to create an entire song out of only audio files recorded from various school locations, such as within classrooms, in subway stations, and during exam practice. I was influenced by the stress and the fast pace of my senior year, and I wanted to showcase the soundtrack of my daily encountered sounds and provoked thoughts. I deviated from my plan slightly as I added drums and various synthesizers in Reason 6. I used Reason to arrange, to modulate, and to organize the audio files as well as the added instruments. Some audio files were modulated heavily, in terms of filtering, equalizing, and distorting, in order to emulate bass or percussion instruments. Others were edited into the music lightly as if they were lyrics or background music. A few audio recordings of me speaking were either sped up or broken into pieces to simulate skipping audio. 
The layout of Rhythms is based around three voice-modulated rhythms of teachers. The first two teacher voices become modulated as they are introduced, emulating how students lose focus during lessons to wander in their minds to music (various piano clips and musical clips). The third rhythm is introduced modulated, after a solo recording of my voice is heard analyzing George Orwell. The phrase “unnecessary work” is significant of my “realization” of being overworked for virtually no significant result. The significance of the modulated introduction of the rhythm then shows how I have given up on listening and instead am focusing on the melodies in my head, briefly phasing in to hear the unmodulated voice, but quickly returning to my own mind.


Rhythms

Soundscape based off of iPhone Voice Memo recording of walking home in Erlangen, DE. Recording features sounds of walking past a skatepark, then past a cemetery with a church whose bells are ringing, and arriving at the intersection of the footpath and the road I lived on, Äußere Brucker Straße.

Audio recording imported into and EQ'd in Reason 8. All synths, samplers, effects, and automation recorded and edited in Reason 8. Mixing finalized in the Weeks Recording Studio, University of Miami.

Zu Hause

This song was composed on guitar and performed in a more folksy manner, but I prefer the way it sounds performed on piano. Thanks to Karl Lonsdale-Primus for helping me with the recording of the live piano and vocals :)

*Also, the squeaking sound you hear is actually the sustain pedal mechanism in Karl's upright piano. Every time I pressed it down, it made that sound. There was no way around it in the live recording, but I think it makes the track sound authentic. It was recorded on an old Bentley Piano, and the squeaks add character.

Constructive criticism is always welcome :)

No Surprise

Another IB work, but this time, it's a performance, and it's a cover of the all-famous Skyfall by Adele. Now, I know I can't sing like her, but who can? This is my take on it (no vocals yet, as you'll observe, but they're coming!) and this is only the first export. Coming in the next are (hopefully) guitar leads and vocals.

What do you think? Also, any compression tips are welcome, I still don't understand most of it. 

Skyfall Cover (First Export; Compressed)

Second composition of my IB Music HL Course. It was criticized for lack of melody in the chorus and for lack of words or a title. Any comments are welcome. They help me improve.

You Thought They Were Real

Another IB Composition. This one is supposed to be a 'music tech' composition, so everything in the track is computer-made and computer-editted.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated :)

Malstorm

Music Engineer at the University of Miami.

Minor in Creative American Music Songwriting.

Compositions range from early originals to experimental sound design and contemporary writing.

All composing, recording, mixing, production, and mastering is done by myself.

Pursuing software and hardware design and applications in the Audio Engineering field.

Amanda Abate

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