I wrote this song last year, 2020, around Good Friday. I wrote this song inspired by John 19:17-22 mostly. Jesus was put on trial and hung on the cross because who He said He was, the Messiah, the King of the Jews. His own people put Him to death even though He was the hope they had been waiting for. How heavy must have been the mood of Jesus' disciples those three days between His death and resurrection; their hope was dead. 
     This song was written with that emotional weight in mind. Jesus, the King of the Jews and the savior of the world really did die. Many kings have songs written praising their life or lamenting their death, but only King Jesus has songs proclaiming His resurrection!
     Even though this song builds up to Jesus’ death, the last line rings on proclaiming His victory over the grave!

Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/aaysACUKUWk

Lyrics:
Here is the King of the Jews
Behold Him beaten, whipped and bruised
Nailed to the cross, He heeded not the cost
to see all His children washed clean

Here dies the King of the Jews
He yielded His spirit and the veil was torn in two
The Father’s wrath was done, sin was paid for all with one
perfect, spotless Lamb, Jesus His Son

Here lies the king of Jews
Buried alone in a garden tomb
The hope of all men, it was finished, He was dead
But in three days He was raised to life again

King of the Jews

I came up with a song where the lyrics were: I'm an onion. I'm a stinky, smelly onion. The melody for that song was the one I used in this track. For the instrumentation, I was inspired by Bryan He's track "CLUTCH", from the trap drums, strings melody, and horn ostinato. Here is a link to check out his track! https://soundcloud.com/donemoney44/dramatic-orchestral-type-beat-clutch

I'm An Onion

As you walk through the doorway out into an empty arena, soft drops of rain hit your face and the sound of a lone music box fills the space around you...

'...love your neighbor as yourself.'  -Matthew 22:39

I wanted to try a soundscape type lofi track for this song, Epiphany. I really like the melody and I thought it would suit this style of music. I hope you enjoy and please let me know what songs you would want me to cover next!

Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-qho1gsAGcc

BTS Epiphany - lofi cover - but it's raining in an empty arena

In October 2021, I came across this acoustic guitar review that had some nice playing in it. There was this one song that started out with these 2 chord shapes that I really liked how they sounded and knew I had to learn and play with. I eventually played around with these chords alternating between the C#m9 voicing and moving the bass note to an A (which makes it an Asus2#11) on my loop pedal, stacking melodies and harmonies. I thought it sounded so cool I knew I had to develop it into a whole track!

   This was definitely one of those tracks that came up with ideas quickly, then left it alone for awhile because I didn't want to rush it and just finish it to be done with it, but come up with something I really like.
   I enjoyed playing this riff a lot on all my guitar types and I ended up coming up with the B section on my classical guitar (I think), which it actually sounds really nice on, though I stuck with the electric guitars for this song since I like how it gives off those Midwest Emo vibes.
   I pretty much got to the place where there was nothing else I wanted to do with the music, but I still needed a title in order to release it. It had been on private on my SoundCloud under Midwest Emo Rock v3 for a couple months. A friend of mine was telling a story the other day about when he was surfing and realized he had gone out "pretty far beyond the pier" which is not good, but I did think would make a good band name.🌊 A couple days later, I realized that Far Out Beyond the Pier would be the perfect name for this track! The mood of the A section reminds me of the calmness the ocean can have and the freedom of being out on the waves, while the B section contrasts that feeling with the uncertainty and aggression the ocean waves can quickly whip up into. It works out too since my friend that told that story really liked this song when I showed it to him a couple months ago 😃

Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/EZxXRvhpbNU

Far Out Beyond The Pier - Midwest Emo Rock Instrumental

This is now the 3rd version that I have uploaded on my SoundCloud. I made this updated version for my YouTube channel (link below) but I wanted to upload it here also, even though I'm running out of space. I made sure to keep the original vibe of the track while updating it, but I did actually use a pipa virtual instrument this time! I hope you enjoy listening!

Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GQdkX0WkcLI

Lin Hai - Pipa Language lofi cover - calming Chinese inspired instrumental

I wanted to make a classic chill lofi beat and I came up with this. I actually started this from scratch only 5 days ago, which is definitely the fastest track I've made starting from nothing to uploading a video in less than 6 days. I wanted to keep it pretty simple and chill, interestingly enough there are only really 2 instruments besides percussion, just piano and strings. I guess it shows you how much percussion really fills out a track. Well that and how simple lofi beats can be. 😁

Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/EkHpw2v6TAk

Sunday Drive - calm lofi beat to chill and relax to

This is an updated version of a track I posted almost three years ago (link below). I liked the melodies and most of what I had made, but wanted to mix it a bit better to get more of a chill lofi vibe. I wasn't originally planning to, but once I got started I felt the track should be extended to include different sections. One of which used the chords played on the guitar originally only in the outro, but I liked how it sounded throughout the track and it also makes a bit more sense once you do get to the outro. I also felt like this track needed a nice electric piano solo and it was definitely inspired from the one on Boy by Charlie Puth.
I have definitely been enjoying making these lofi beats again; I am planning on dropping a playlist when I have a few more to work with so stay tuned for that on my YouTube channel! It won't just be the songs back to back, I'd like to have some nice transitions between each track which could include me composing some original short pieces. It would definitely be a YouTube only thing, since I am getting really close to my upload limit on SoundCloud.
I hope you enjoy vibing to this track!

Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wi-K3MyOnnQ

Listen to the original on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/benshamin/brooklyn-nights?si=7552d0cf11a643f2b71e4e458ae6bd0d&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Brooklyn Nights - jazzy lofi hiphop

Thank you for listening!! This is my entry into Samuraiguitarist's 'Can YOU Make Music With This???' challenge. First of all, thank you Sammy G for the opportunity to join in on the fun and make some music for your challenge! Second, after I finished my entry, I had a blast listening to everyone else's submissions I could find on YouTube. It was really cool getting to listen to what everyone else came up with from the exact same set of notes in addition to seeing the different approaches to the challenge, since it was so open ended.

For my challenge submission, my goal was to make a full length piece of music that would be able to be enjoyed regardless of whether the listener knows about the challenge aspect. I definitely wanted to make sure I included the set of notes throughout the piece though, which is highlighted by the note tracker that appears at the top of the video. There are a few times the challenge notes appear again but are not tracked, like when the intro portion repeats and shows up later in the song and when the verse melody repeats with slight variations.

For the challenge aspect, I wanted to use the exact set of 18 notes in order without adding or removing any of the notes at least once in the track, which is what the initial verse melody is. It then repeats with some harmonized parts and a few melodic variations. I also wanted to include a guitar solo to end the track, but this time approached with using the 18 notes in order and adding extra notes where I thought it sounded better. I did compose it on my guitar and recorded a bunch of takes, but I didn't really like how it sounded and preferred it on a synth instead.

As for the inspiration of the instrumentation, I enjoy listening to synthwave and wanted to give it a try while I made this track, plus I thought it would fit well having the synths and guitar. I had to make sure that I included some actual guitar playing of course. Sorry, no videos of me playing though, but do know that all the guitar parts are actually me playing them! If anyone is curious, it is on my Squire Bullet Strat. It was given to me for free a few years ago because the neck was incredibly warped and I managed to fix it myself. It doesn't stay in tune very well when I use the whammy bar. 🥲

I did make the video picture myself, the skyline is of Tokyo (kinda), and it is Mt. Fuji behind it.

If you haven't seen the prompt video yet, check it out here: https://youtu.be/_5RnjHV5vRg

If you somehow came across my video, but haven't heard of Samuraiguitarist, please do yourself a favor and check out his main channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@samuraiguitarist/featured

Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/0ec2ay-u8Ec

Into the City - Synthwave Instrumental

Lately, I have been coming across beats in the drill genre more often. I knew I had to give making my own version of a drill type beat when I listened to Hello by Adele but over a drill beat by @prodf8 . This definitely is my own take of the genre, but really I just wanted to use the typical hi hat and snare pattern and a distorted kick.

The working title for this track was just 'electric guitar drill beat', but I knew I wanted to give it a real title. I really couldn't think of anything good which is why I decided to just think of some words to turn drill into an acronym and thus it is D.R.I.L.L. It's pretty cheesy, but the words that came to mind while listening to the song were: Dance, Run, Inspire, Love, Live. 😅

It may not sound like it, but the main riff sound base is a midi electric guitar. I was planning on potentially learning the midi guitar main riff parts. I am sure that would be a worthwhile endeavor, but I actually like the way the virtual instrument sounds and I didn't want to wait a couple of weeks for me to learn and record it.

The picture was actually inspired by the colors that I used for some of the tracks in my DAW.

Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/SIqdZazCmdc

D.R.I.L.L.

I came up with the into riff months ago and instantly knew that I would turn it into another Midwest Emo Rock Instrumental track. I recorded it on my phone as to not forget it while coming up with other ideas. It wasn't unil mid Janurary, 2023 when I started the recording the song in my DAW. I have been working on it slowly since then, not wanting to rush it to make sure the track turned out well. I really enjoyed coming up with the bridge and it's increased energy and layered guitar parts! From that high energy, I was playing around with some more heavy stuff and came up with the post bridge breakdown, which seemed a little different than typical Midwest Emo stuff (not that I listen to a lot, so I'm not really sure haha), but I really liked it so I kept it in! Also, a friend I showed it to really liked it.

The same friend that helped me come up with the name of Far Out Beyond the Pier, actually. Not only that, but while he was telling another story about surfing, he said a phrase along the lines of falling off the edge, which I instantly knew would be the name for this track I was building off the intro riff. It was perfect, because I have been thinking of this song as a sequel of sorts to Far Out Beyond the Pier.

The cover art for this one was actually generated by AI and I think it fits perfectly. I was also able to just type what I wanted to have and it generated it in seconds, which was WAY easier then spending a ton of time kind of making what I was hoping for.

Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/UdAbbm-w6QI

Falling Off The Edge - Midwest Emo Rock Instrumental

Listen to the updated version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GQdkX0WkcLI

Pipa Language lofi test 1

Pipa Language lofi test 2

Robots vs Cowboys - Music From JaxCast Episode #3

Homework at Midnight

This track holds a special place for me, as it is currently my most played track and what really gave me the motivation to upload more polished tracks and not just tests on Soundcloud and eventually here on YouTube. I am so thankful for everyone who has taken the time to listen, like, and comment on it here on Soundcloud! Unfortunately, I am getting close to me upload limit on Soundcloud. I have started uploading some tracks to YouTube and I plan on making more BTS lofi covers for sure!

I finally did it! After over 2 years since uploading this cover with 'first edit' in the title and plans on fixing some minor mistakes in the melody, I have finally fixed them and have uploaded the second edit. This would be the final edit, but I think I may do a very different version either enhancing this version or completely overhauling it into a more standard lofi sound. We'll see if that takes another 2 years.

If you want to listen to the second edit on YouTube: https://youtu.be/6LgLaqS3msY

Lauv - Who (feat. BTS) Lofi remix first edit

A short a cappella arrangement of one verse of the Misty Mountains song from The Hobbit.

Misty Mountans - a cappella cover

A chill trap beat that I made.

Check out the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PWWx9ChPno8

River from the Heavens - Chinese inspired lofi trap

This is a cover I made of the song To Love's End from Inuyasha. I have never seen this anime, nor do I know anything about it. I have just heard covers of the song and liked the melody.

Inuyasha - To Love's End - lofi cover

This is a backing track I made inspired by Polyphia's G.O.A.T. If I was skilled enough to put Polyphia style guitars on it I would, but I'm not.

G.O.A.T. Inspired backing track (no guitars)

I make music.  A lot of my older tracks are short tests. Please enjoy.
I use Studio One 5 Artist to make most of my tracks now. I started out producing music on GarageBand and occasionally use it still, though usually if I am updating an older track I made on GarageBand. I recently upgraded from Studio One 4.

Benshamin

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