2020_07_14

02182019

Up Beat Video

free download

Oh Wonder - Lose It (Jerry Folk Remix)

Stephen Artemis Jr.'s track "Already Gone" portrays a dystopian past, present and future.  

Spotify: Stephen Artemis Jr. open.spotify.com/artist/68IFUEHzwPzWDKpovO6Uy9

Thank you for listening and don't forget to follow at:
Facebook:  @StephenArtemisjr
Instagram:  @StephenArtemisjr
Twitter:  @StephenArtemis
The Falling Birds Records

Written and performed by Stephen Artemis Jr.
Recorded by Brian Speaker
Produced by Stephen Artemis Jr. and Brian Speaker
Mixed by John Agnello
Mastered by Jeff Lipton
The Falling Birds Records

Already Gone

Emotions - Part Three

© Michael Calabris Music (ASCAP), 2024. All rights reserved.

This is a recording of the premiere of "Kyrie Eleison" at Cleveland State University in January 2017. The work was performed by the Cleveland Chamber Choir, directed by Dr. Scott MacPherson.

Kyrie Eleison (for SATB Chorus) (Cleveland Chamber Choir, dir. Dr. Scott MacPherson)

Alleyways

There are waves and there is wind, there are visible and invisible forces. Everyone has these same elements in his life, the visible and the invisible, karma and free will.

Ianua

Waves and Wind

Soundtrack piece by Jane Sumrall Johnson with Brandon W. Bailey for the Alone cd.

Broken

Distracted by a DAW = DAWstraction
It's like hearing all the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle putting themselves back together for a surprise party...whatever that means! 
© 2019 Rick Shearer - music, production and cover design

Rick Shearer - DAWstraction

..... track & funky goodness by Cosmic Ratzzz, tenor sax by myself :)
Thanks a lot Mr Ratzzz !!!
enJoy and please check out: https://soundcloud.com/cosmic-ratzzz

Ratzzz & joerxworx / two lunatics, one dream

This music for orchestra is based on several of my bagatelle duets for Bassoon and Cello. I was encouraged by a colleague to expand and orchestrate the duets into these larger works. Each divertimento contains several themes taken from three or four of the bagatelles, plus new variations.

While the divertimento form is usually lighthearted and composed for solo instrument or small ensemble, that is not the case here. As the title suggests, the overall mood of this music is dark and anxious, reflecting I believe our times of political, social and economic upheaval.

- December, 2018

Divertimento No 6 for Times of Disquiet

Divertimento No 6 For Times Of Disquiet

Je vous présente "Louisiana" ma cinquième composition piano. J'espère que vous apprécierez bonne écoute mes amis musiciens...

I present " Louisiana" my fifth composition I hope you enjoy it... Good listening my Friends musicians...

Composition : Sylvie Febvay 
Arrangement : François Marvy

Louisiana

Bad Timing

Down on the street a caravan of supercars 
Announce the night has turned 
To 
Day

They rattle drafty windows that strain to keep the golden morning light 
At 
Bay

Upstairs there’s a forgotten man
He broke his hip, he starves, and then he
Fades 
Away

A floor below a woman secretly wishes
That the boy she dates would learn 
To 
Stray

Oh

And on a phone a text arrives 
We’re sorry but you did not get 
The part

It sits inside a gym bag that gets stolen
As she suffers for 
Her art

And somewhere at the studio a producer’s niece
Instead becomes 
A star

After paying all the dues she did during
That tough two weeks at 
Julliard

Oh
It’s a gilded age
it’s a gilded age
it’s a gilded age
it’s a gilded age

And in a small town angry fingers
Punch expletives at the west coast 
“libtard”

As his favorite hunting dog is choking on his chain
Out in the 
Front yard

And in the inland empire there’s a man 
Who was in pictures in the 
Seventies

He’d found a missing extra in a trailer once
He tried but she just would not 
Breathe

Oh
It’s a gilded age
it’s a gilded age
it’s a gilded age
it’s a gilded age

Our inland empire dolly grip 
He worked just inches from the 
Stars

And he’d spend hours wrapping up 
As they departed in their 
Supercars

One day the phone got quiet 
And the call sheets didn’t call for just his 
expertise

So he sold all of his autographs his stock and trade 
And now he’s just like you and 
Me

Oh 
It’s a gilded age

Gilded Age

Just a simple song

Artwork by Natalia Lugovskaya

Looking back at big smoke
Just trying to get home
when we were young

All our dreams in a safe place
at the back of our brains
not given up

And oh people move on
Oh people move on

Just a little bit broken
been left wide open
Know that you are loved

Still a little storm sigher
Not one bit wiser
I think it's in our blood

Oh people move on
Oh people move 

Love I save my
Love I save my song
for someone

Just a little older
Maybe I don't know her
Any more

If I was bolder
Maybe i could hold her
and sing my song to someone

Song for Someone

I am a composer and producer of instrumental music in several genres, including ambient soundscapes, electronica, orchestral and chamber music.  

Musical influences include John Coltrane, Igor Stravinsky, Gustav Holst, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Tangerine Dream, Robert Prince, Frank Zappa, Brian Eno, Heinrich Ignaz, Franz von Biber.

My Method of Composing and Producing
------------------------------------------
I'm sharing my method of composing and producing music recordings in case other composer-producers like me might find ideas worth exploring in their own work. I use this method for Classical, Avant-Pop or Neo-Folk Instrumental genres, not for Ambient and Soundscape pieces. Non-composers might find this explanation interesting, but having a bit of music theory background will definitely help. I consider myself a humble learner when it comes to music theory. 

I owe a debt of gratitude to British musician and educator Gareth Green, whose Music Matters online courses and free YouTube lessons have taught me so much over the past few years. Thanks to his instruction, I’ve moved from struggling to compose music by trial and error to something more enjoyable and productive. The knowledge I've gained has taken my work in new and expanding directions. As the saying goes, “Theory is not a cage — it’s a map. It doesn’t make the journey for you, but it keeps you from getting lost.” 

When I start a new piece, I begin by choosing a key, and picking a scale drawn from one of these sources:
 
1) Western Tonal / Functional Harmony - major or minor chords I II III IV V VI VII
2) Modal Harmony - Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, etc.
3) Slonimsky's "Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns" 
4) Messiaen’s "Seven Modes of Limited Transposition" 

For many pieces, I also decide on a progression, one as a simple as I IV V, or something more elaborate.  

Next I create a "scales and progressions" piano track in my DAW (digital audio workstation software) and enter the chords I to VII in my chosen key. These harmonized scales serve as a basis for writing multipart harmonies and finding pivot chords for key modulations. 

At the start, I know what instruments I want to use, making adjustments along the way. I tend to write chord parts first, then melodies created through a mix of improvisation and direct input in the DAW. Sometimes I start with a melody.

I develop melodies and variations of a phrase by some combination of: a) passing it from one instrument to another, transposing it by an interval that sounds pleasing, b) reversing it, c) inverting it around the tonic (first) note of the scale. These are well-known methods. 

After completing a section, I choose another scale and maybe a new key and repeat the process until I have a draft of the entire piece. Then I export a recording and listen to it “offline”, take notes of errors and new ideas, and incorporate them back into the piece. Often this “compose / listen / compose” cycle is repeated many times. These iterative cycles include adding new ideas, polishing transitions between sections, changing the arrangement, and incorporating expressive details like accents, and articulations (staccato, sustain, portato etc.). I’m often working several different pieces at once. 

Last is mixing and mastering: balancing the loudness between instruments and adjusting elements like reverb, compression, and equalization. I tend to mix as I compose, even though many producers frown on that approach. I find mixing as I go helps me envision the completed piece and make adjustments to the choice of instruments; it self-inspires me when the piece is starting to sound good.  At the end I do a final mix, but as the saying goes, “A mix is never finished — it’s surrendered.”

In the end, this method gives me a basis for exploration and creativity and helps me stay focused. The goal is always to make a piece of music that feels expressive, cohesive, and emotionally resonant.

Divertimento No 6 For Times Of Disquiet

Jim Lynch