October's Theme

Waltz For November

Dang it, I love retro sounding tunes. Whats more retro than the 1980's and 1930's combined? Of course, this wouldn't be possible with a little bit of millennium tech.

Retro_19XX

Hive Mind

Wrote out a whole melody, then decided it sounded better without it. Three hours, gone. Oh well.

Through Field and Forest (Revisited)

Demo to my new track I'm working on. Keep an eye out for the full version coming in two weeks!

This piece was inspired by Nature Through a Lens' Photo entitled "Crisp Fountain". You can check out her work here:https://www.naturethroughalens.com/warehouse/art_print_products/dsc-0026-9-fngxvhfmfmq?product_gallery=31747&product_id=1995796

Stone Water Demo

It's finally out! This is the full song from my previous demo of "Stone Water." I decided to change the title. Thank-you to Brittany Fuller for the photo that inspired this piece, "Crisp Fountain", which you can find here: https://www.naturethroughalens.com/warehouse/art_print_products/dsc-0026-9-fngxvhfmfmq?product_gallery=31747&product_id=1995796. She takes great photos and I highly recommend her work! Let me know if you make art, I'd love to write a piece based on what you do!

Stone Fountain

My first time working with audio. Unfortunately due to scheduling reasons, I didn't have enough time to fully work on it, but I think it turned out pretty decent. Let me know what you think, and I'd love to hear any feedback you might have!

This is the first movement in a series of three. The next one will be out in two weeks, so keep an eye out for it! Once all three are finished, I plan to re-release all movements as one better quality track.

If you enjoy this song, hit the buy button for a free download!

Battleship Mvt. I - Soldiers

This saxophone trio tells the story of Charlene Higley's painting, "The Storm that Saved the Colonies." Check out this piece and others at her website: https://charlene-a-higley.squarespace...

Battleship is finally out! What a journey this has been! A full month of music and learning! Charlene Higley is my grandma, and this has always been one of my favorite paintings. There's a whole story behind it (which if you haven't heard, you can watch it here, starting at 9:55 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRCTI...). I wrote this piece in three movements, each movement representing a major part in the story. The first piece is written in 6/8, with lots of triplets. and some rhythms that make it feel like its written in 3/4. I really feel like this creates a naval and military kind of theme, which represents the soldiers sailing to invade the colonies. The second movement is very slow, and I tried to emulate the counterpoint and style of old hymns, so that it felt like a prayer. Fittingly, the piece ends with one final plagal, or "amen" cadence. The third movement was my favorite to write, because it presents so many ideas! It has two sections. The first is the calm before the storm, I wanted it to be tense, which I think the first decresdoing and crescendoing (is that how you spell that?) eighth note lines does a great job of increasing the tension. Another saxophone constantly interjects with a chromatic line, which represents the wind. And the last saxophone plays out a new theme, which represents a storm. The next part, which happens after a break, represents the destruction of the storm! Its short, like how some downpours come and leave suddenly. It's written in 6/8, this time representing the sea and the ships. The top saxophone takes the lead and plays altered versions of the storm theme, and the theme introduced in the prayer. Another saxophone constantly interjects the soldiers' theme from the first movement. This interplay of three different themes shows the three things at work. The soldiers are being overwhelmed by the storm, which was sent from God due to the prayer! The last little bit of the piece is a short slow section, which is like the aftermath and reflection after the storm. The piece ends on a Picardy third (a major cadence in a minor piece for all of you non-music theory nerds XD), which reflects that the colonies were saved!
Thank-you for checking out my channel! Be sure to connect with me on facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BitsNBeats-1... can stream the music for free on soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/bits-n-beats). If you need music for an event, or an intro/outro, or anything else, please message me on facebook or email me at bitnbeats.thomas@gmail.com. I would love to work with you!

Battleship (Full Song)

Oh man, I've been so excited to write this piece! This is a jazz arrangement (my first arrangement) of a piece called "The Merry-Go-Round of Life" by Joe Hisaishi (one of my favorite composers) written for Howl's Moving Castle (one of my favorite movies). I got to record a lot of people and I learned more about editing and writing, so it was a great experience. I love waltzes, especially jazz waltzes. This one was especially fun to arrange because some sections just fit perfectly in 5/4 time, so it was fun trying to create the right groove.

Performers:
Trumpet: Sergio Almanza and Jimmy Lucido
Guitar: Dallas Anderson (Instagram: @dallas_revived)
Bass: Edwin Santillan
Drumset: Dr. James Rennier
Soprano Saxophone: Thomas Bales
Alto Saxophone: Thomas Bales
Note: If you recorded and you would like a link added, let me know so I can fix that!

Merry-Go-Round Of Jazz

Oh, so many days without a computer! What a great feeling it is to finally be able to write music again! I think this song about sums up my excitement.

Finally

Wrote this song as a project for a class. When my sister said it reminded me of a hot air balloon, that's all I could think of whenever I heard this song.

Airship

It is good to be back! Keep an eye out for this track on Spotify! I plan to be doing covers, so expect to see those on Spotify and Youtube as well (I can't put them up here due to copyright issues). Many thanks to Sergio Almanza for his fantastic work on trumpet!

The Sea (feat. Sergio Almanza)

Thank-you for checking out the channel! If you like the songs, hit the "buy" button for a free download!
 Thomas Bales began playing saxophone as a fallback instrument after his dreams of playing flute were mortally crushed in sixth grade. Heartbroken, Thomas stumbled on to Jazz, a vile art form he had once sworn never to be mixed in. Now, it was his only comfort, and soon, he became dependent on it. Desperately, he tried to throw the accursed addiction, even joining a support group of fellow junkies, the Amarillo High School Jazz Band, and though he could go a few days without a hit, Jazz would call him back. He now wastes his time writing funky electronic music at a piano, while studying music theory at Amarillo College.
   
   Thomas now has been playing the saxophone for seven years, and improvises with Amarillo College Jazz Band. He also serves as the Amarillo College Vocal Jazz (The Conchords) vice president. He is an aspiring piano player and a much less aspiring flute player. Alright, maybe not a flute player at all. In his free time he enjoys board games, and video games, but not sports games. He is a huge fan of any indie game, especially the popular Gloomhaven and Hollow Knight.
    Thomas privately studies saxophone under Dr. Jim Laughlin at Amarillo College. Some of his favorite composers include: Christopher Larkin, Joe Hisaishi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Claude Debussy, and Disasterpiece.

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