This tune was inspired by a rabbit, of which there is one that spends much of its time in the grass outside my home, and inspired by the Autumn season of Long Island, NY. Sunlight on golden leaves and grass. This tune starts off with a gentle acoustic intro, which leads to a repeating chord progression of four movements, and all kinds of texture and sound coming from orchestral midi instruments and guitar. There's a fun solo with a section playing tribute to Marty Friedman, one of my guitar heroes. Enjoy.

Of Grass And Trees

This is my first electronic music piece in about 20 years. I was inspired by tunes that I had heard back in the day when Scream Tracker and Impulse Tracker and the like were popular, back in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I was also inspired by Commodore 64 game songs written by Rob Hubbard that I grew up listening to as a young kid. This tune has elements of techno, dance, and a mix of chord progression-type songs found in rock and pop. It's meant to dance to, or to chill out to and enter a mental realm of exploration. Enjoy. c)2022 David Listen.  (photo of Northern Lights by anonymous)

To the Green Beings in the Sky

This tune is my second experiment in electronic music, with a twist... this one has a jazzy electric piano solo. With a simple ongoing loop in 7/8, with overlaying poly-meter bass and drum tracks, sometimes in 4/4, sometimes along with 7/8, sometimes not--this tune is fun to listen to as there are multiple layers with overlapping rhythm and melody. Some said that the imagery it evokes is a long journey across the sea...   c)2022 David Listen

Eons Across Seas

This tune evolved from the first chord progression in 12/8 then 6/8 , into a bit of a progressive rock, smooth jazz kind of feel, incorporating a mix of fuzzy synths and effects with clean guitar. The title was inspired by a photo by a friend Elisa, documenting the smoky air in New York, due to the forest fires burning in Canada in the summer of 2023. I love forests, and they are our lungs. Let's keep them from burning, if we can.  (Photo by Elisa, at wildsouldesign.com)

Forests on Fire

This tune is something I composed back in college, around the year 1999, inspired by the music I was listening to at the time: Herbie Hancock's 1970s jazz-funk fusion, Yes, Pink Floyd, Radiohead etc. It was originally composed on a .MOD player called Impulse Tracker, and only recently unearthed by a friend (thanks David Philipe Gil!). 

I recently gave it another listen and thought of redoing it with real instruments. The result is this. All the instruments are either played or programmed by me (guitar, bass, keys played "live"; synth and drums are programmed). It's an upbeat track with some odd meter and cosmic inspiration. Hope you all enjoy it. 

A note about the artwork:  Cover Art "Soul Ascension" by Kitty Liang. Kitty is a self-described quirky artist from Woodland, California, USA. Check out more of her work on Instagram: @kittyliangstudio

Cosmic Fusion

This tune develops from a eerie melody line, and is gradually built around a common chord progression as an unexpected foundation. It was inspired by the software instrument and my desire to use a melody that initially sounds strange, and weave it into a pleasant-sounding melody. It was so fun to compose this tune, that I finished on one week! All instruments are played and then programmed, using a midi keyboard on Logic Pro. There's one "live" guitar track in there. Maybe you can find it.  c)2023 David Listen

The art was generously provided again by Kitty Liang, a self-described quirky artist from Woodland, CA, USA. Check out more of her work on Instagram: @kittyliangstudio

Atypically Enjoined

This is a tune that I wrote back during college in the late 1990s and composed on Impulse Tracker (Dos-based .mod file software). I wasn't studying much, and spending more time listening to jazz, funk, especially Herbie Hancock's early 1970s stuff, as well as continuing to enjoy rock music from bands like Rush and Yes and Pink Floyd. This tune has a Rush-y sound and a noticeable influence of some fusion-y keys (hence the Fender Rhodes). 

The original guitar parts like the verse melody and the solos were initially synthesizers, but thought it would sound fresher and more organic, so I redid them here with guitar. It was actually challenging to learn the solo for guitar and be able to play up to speed. Initially, everything on Impulse Tracker was just programmed in, so there was no issue with technique or skill. So it was fun to learn it and play it and hear the slightly rough sound of guitar. It also showed me that by first composing a solo purely based on the notes in my head, it can help me break out of old guitar-based patterns that happen just from years of playing. This has inspired me to create some guitar solos in the same way in the future. Compose them without considering how it's played on guitar, then learning them on the guitar and adapting to them. Stay tuned for newer compositions.

Thanks again to David Philipe Gil for reviving these old .mod files from the floppy disks so that I can hear and re-make them. 

(Photo. My hand, stone, and beach on the north shore of Long Island, NY)

Not Rushing

This is a remixed version of "Steady Metal," with a more classic rock tone, actually born after the "Heavy Version" of which I uploaded earlier. The distortion in the earlier version seemed to heavy, saturating the whole soundscape. This version has the distortion turned way down on the rhythm guitars, allowing you to hear a much more rich variety of sounds coming from the other instruments. Also, some extra reverb was cut out, giving this version a tighter, crunchier feel. 

This tune was an unexpected adventure that was born from just randomly playing a few chords with a distortion pedal... with the new remixed sound, it sounds me like a something born of a mix of Led Zepplin, Rush, Pink Floyd, Megadeth... and something out of a Lord of the Rings soundtrack... maybe 

This track was fun, building upon a 3-section chord progression in 7/4, adding layers on top, and changing the bass and drums underneath as it develops. It has a suspenseful build up to the climax and explosive ending, and reminds me of some kind of chase or race through space with a surprise finish of sorts.

Created on iMac, Logic Pro. Gibson SG electric guitar. Fender bass. Keystation keyboard. Mixed and. mastered by me. 

Enjoy. Meditate on it.

Steady Metal

This tune represents life--all of the human experiences of joy, sadness, pain, and bliss--as impermanent. We have these states of body-mind experience, but they are all fleeting. They are gone before we know it. If we can be aware of them, let them flow, and ride them like waves, we can find freedom. We can be free from drowning in waves of experience, and travel the world like light traveling through space...

Painting In Space

This tune is a follow up after "Painting in Space" and continues with the closing notes... opening into a rhythm driven song with a spacious feel. The whole song is in 7/4 meter, but you may be able to hear some Latin Salsa flavor in there. The bass turns funky and some clav comes in for a 70s funk vibe with a fusion feel of keys and clean grand piano. Hope you enjoy. 

Awesome cover art "Space Time Continuum" by Kitty Liang @KittyLiangStudio, a self-proclaimed quirky artist from Woodland, California

Space, Time, Continue!

Here's a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Summer Soft" from the album Songs in the Key of Life, arranged for acoustic guitar, by me. A gift for Mom, as this one of her favorite songs. 

Love you mom!

Summer Soft

Here's "Clean Air" with the bass track deepened. I don't have a bass, so instead just altered the pitch digitally to an octave lower to give it more of an actual bass guitar sound.  Hope you enjoy the warmer, deeper sound. 

"Clean Air" c)2019 David Listen 

If you're interested, the pitch shifter plug in is by Aegean Music:
https://aegeanmusic.com/pitchproof-Specs

Again, the track fades in..... so wait .... for... it......

Clean Air

I'm a collection of evolving sound seeds in a universe of music.  

(I also serve the world as a mental health counselor, life mentor/coach, and Buddhist Meditation instructor. I'm nourished by the world's sounds, listen to the laughter and cries, and provide music to heal. )

David Listen

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