A custom twitch track for Don...check em out!


https://www.twitch.tv/thedongamingfm

Custom Twitch "Stream Starting" Music [TheDonGamingFM]

Ruminations & Affirmations was commissioned by Jackson Thomas for a culminating doctoral study at the University of Kansas centered on the pedagogy of minimalist vocal techniques. The piece is inspired by elements of Minimalism, as well as the composer's personal experiences with anxiety and OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). The first half, Ruminations, features an incessant motor and an "obsessive thought" in the piano that keeps restarting, followed by frantic intrusive worries sung by the choir. The Ruminations section climaxes into a slowly building wall of anxiety featuring counting and various obsessive thoughts from which the singers may choose. This gives way to the choir taking a breath, holding it, and slowly exhaling along with the slowing motor in the piano, resting on B Major. 

The second half, Affirmations, begins in the calmer Parallel E Major with a slower, more peaceful motor in the Piano. The choir then sings meditative observations based on their senses, which is adapted from the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique, often used to calm an anxious mind (it asks the person to name 5 things they can see,  4 things they can feel, 3 things they can hear, 2 things they can smell, and 1 thing they can taste). The idea is to gently bring one's consciousness back into the present and immediate physical world. The section concludes with the choir singing repeating affirmations, often used in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to treat anxiety and OCD. 

If you or anyone you know is suffering from anxiety or OCD, know that help is available. Reach out to a licensed professional or one of many resources available, such as the International OCD Foundation (https://iocdf.org/) to be connected to someone who can help. 

Conductor: Jackson Thomas
Choir: KC VITAs
Composer & Lyricist: Amy Gordon

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Ruminations And Affirmations

This was my submission for Ryan Leach's April 2023 composing competition.

I titled the piece "Stropharia" based on the mushroom theme, as given by the artwork's blueish hues and blueish mushroom Diety (?) that seems to be central in the town. The instrument choices as well as the intro were based a bit scientifically on how mushrooms "communicate" with one another, as well as the somber and echoing chambers on how they actually grow and connect to one another. (Yes, I went- THAT FAR- in my research.)

Artwork provided by Marcos De la Sierra [Titled: MUSHTOWN].
ArtStation: mus.artstation.com/projects/XgBeQL

Stropharia

The Banshee

is it over yet? (Prod. By Ours Samplus)

This isn't a vocal group. Is the new, radically different vocal synthesizer from EmVoice. Literally, you draw notes on a grid and type in words. It SINGS.

Love Has Tricked You Well

Ethereal Steps

Day 1 of the VGMA 21-Day Composition Challenge!

Here's a woodwind quartet piece that would play during a cut scene in a JRPG when the protagonist has a heartfelt conversation with their love interest/best friend/etc, as every good JRPG has lol. I'd continue adding to it, but I gotta limit myself to *actually* keeping these as daily challenges lol.

This is my first time composing for a woodwind quintet, and I definitely have a lot to learn. But it's really interesting to have a limited palette of instruments and textures. Will definitely be doing more in the future!

Day 1 (#21DaysOfVGM) - That One Cutscene with the Heartfelt Conversation in a JRPG

This was made for the #21DaysofVGM challenge, from VGM Academy. In this music I incorporated both the pirate theme and the compound meter prompts. Had a lot of fun making this one!

VGM 2  - Pirate's Lair

Sometimes I get the feeling
I’m too young to get this feeling
I feel so old
I’m walking on this planet

I guess it’s just a planet
I hope it’s more

I wish I wasn’t sixteen
And that I was twenty-three
Cause then this little tantrum
Is quarter crisis guaranteed
I wish they had a rulebook
And that I could learn to play
Cause then this little tantrum
Wouldn’t have to last all day

All I really want to do
To know something’s made for you
And what if you were made for me
And how you’re made is by design

Misunderstand the thing I feel
I feel

I wish I wasn’t sixteen
And that I was twenty-three
Cause then this little tantrum
Is quarter crisis guaranteed
I wish they had a rulebook
And that I could learn to play
Cause then this little tantrum
Wouldn’t have to last day

A toast to the lies that I believed in
Held my breath too long
To find

I was sinking
I was sinking

I guess it’s just a planet
I hope it’s more

Little Tantrum (Lyrics by Michela Richards)

The Spirit Awakens

Richard Risi is an emerging, Legally Blind and Hard-of-Hearing, Composer/Arranger, and Operatic Tenor. Modern Classical influences with fragments of minimalist, ethereal, and lyrical melodies. Focused on creating new and thought-provoking music for choirs and solo voices, as well as video game and film tracks. Risi looks to work with living poets, especially those living with disabilities. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Music Performance (with a concentration in Voice/Classical-Operatic Voice) from Hofstra University. Check out: www.richardrisimusic.com for more!

Stropharia

Richard Risi Music

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