"Resplendent Princess" was originally part of my "Fantasy Suite" for solo piano.  I took a live performance I gave of it in 2015, added orchestral parts, extended it slightly, and produced this recording in 2021 using virtual instruments!  The piece was loosely inspired by Impressionist music and sci-fi soundtrack music, and it was great fun to revisit and expand it.

The cover art is a beautiful portrait of the Byzantine princess Anna Komnene, created by author and illustrator Lisa Graves and used with her permission.  Check out her work at lisagravesdesign.com!

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file: Resplendent Princess (orchestral) v4.0

[updated 20210412 from Resplendent Princess (orchestral) v3.2]

Resplendent Princess (orchestral version)

A Video Game Music cover of "Little Goth," from Celeste, composed by Lena Raine (https://soundcloud.com/lena-raine).  Check out the original on YouTube here:  https://youtu.be/oHdSK43cIf8

To make this cover, I used my alto recorder (a Stanesby Jr. copy by Dolmetsch) and Korg Prologue 16 analog synthesizer, plus sampled harp, Wurlitzer electric piano, and LinnDrum!  Hope you enjoy.  

Also on YouTube!  (https://youtu.be/3A3CVldkzxI)
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file:  celeste - little goth v1.3
image:  own work

Celeste - Little Goth (cover)

Happy April Fools' Day!  Enjoy this slow, relaxing rendition of the chorus of "Never Gonna Give You Up," which surely has to be the anthem of April Fools' Day if not the entire Internet.  (Eventually, I am going to just have an entire playlist of zany covers of this song...)

To make this, I sequenced a simple version of the chorus and then let Matriarch play by herself, then randomize and tweak things a little bit for variation!  No effects added:  just ran the audio from the Matriarch into my DAW through a Focusrite interface before adding a stock gain plugin and light limiting.  Hope you enjoy.  :o)

Also on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGOrHwOaBIs

Moog Matriarch - slow rickroll (April 1, 2021 edition)

A chill, melancholy track created for the game "Reflection of Loneliness," a short visual novel created for the O2A2 '21 game jam.

Find the game here!
https://lavinnia.itch.io/reflection-of-loneliness

album art = own work (Lake Crabtree, NC)

Reflection of Loneliness

The Original Soundtrack to the upcoming visual novel "Song of Glass!"  Check back here for more information once the game is released.

Many thanks to Lidia (@Asobinge) for her beautiful cover art!

All music in the OST was composed, recorded, and produced by myself, with the exception of the "Russian Polka," which is based on a piano piece by the 19th century Russian composer Mikhail Glinka.  It was a favorite of mine when I was a young piano student, and I really enjoyed making a sort of "rustic" arrangement of it!  The rest of the soundtrack includes music inspired by several genres, including folk, Baroque, orchestral, and electronic music.  Hope you enjoy!  :o)

18 - Song of Glass (short version)

10 - Dark Magic Music (level 1)

02 - Russian Polka

The official soundtrack to Poseidon's Orb, a visual novel releasing on itch.io!  

Credits:
Aife94 - voice ("Ocean's Company")
Heather Koenig "NovaRhetta" - lyrics ("Ocean's Company")
Emer O'Reilly - final mix, mastering
Simon Zaleski (Beagle Music Labs) - composer, synths, MIDI orchestration

Sea Legs

Another recording using my Moog Matriarch's sequencer to play the chorus of "Never Gonna Give You Up," but featuring some light-hearted sound design and knob-twiddling!  No effects added except light limiting.  I thought I'd celebrate my birthday with another rickroll.  :o)

Moog Matriarch - playful rickroll (Oct. 21, 2021 edition)

Theme song, by songwriting trio "Elves of Lavinnia," to the visual novel "Of Love and Saving the World," available here:  https://lavinnia.itch.io/of-love-and-saving-the-world

Credits:
Aife - voice - https://twitter.com/Aife94
Heather Koenig - lyrics - https://twitter.com/NovaRhetta
Simon Zaleski - music - https://twitter.com/BeagleMusicLabs

Reva Book Cover Design - art

Crystalline

The official soundtrack to Poseidon's Orb, a visual novel available on itch.io!  
https://rodfireproductions.itch.io/poseidons-orb

Credits:
Aife94 - voice ("Ocean's Company")
Heather Koenig "NovaRhetta" - lyrics ("Ocean's Company")
Emer O'Reilly - final mix, mastering (except "Halls of Aquatris")
Simon Zaleski (Beagle Music Labs) - composer, synths, MIDI orchestration

Halls of Aquatris

Pachelbel - Aria Quinta

J S Bach - Prelude in c minor, WTC I

Sylvan Splendor

. . . a romantic gaze conducts magic between our eyes . . .

Inspired by 80s synthpop and current synthwave + chillsynth artists.  

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image:  own work (with assistance from Stable Diffusion AI)

Magic Between Our Eyes

halcyon days will come again

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image:  Anderson Park in Redmond, WA (own work)

halcyon days

"Third Mode Melody," by Thomas Tallis.  

All parts recorded by me, using treble and bass viols; soprano, alto, tenor, and bass recorders; and virtual (VST) pipe organ.

"Why fum'th in sight, the Gentiles spite, in fury raging stout;
Why tak'th in hand, the people fond, vain things to bring about;
The Kings arise, the Lords devise, in councils met thereto;
Against the Lord, with false accord, against his Christ they go."

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image:  Duck, NC; own work

THIRD MODE MELODY (English hymn tune)

One last track to close out 2023!  I've been wanting to make a track using only the Moog Matriarch for a while, and here it is.  All sounds from the Moog Matriarch analog synth, and just to feature the instrument's own sound even more, no additional reverbs or delays were used - only the built-in stereo delay from the matri.  

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image:  Clingman's Dome, NC/TN border - own work

Smoky Mountain Meditation

Created during Global Game Jam 2024 and touched up the week after!  Synths are emulations from Arturia's V Collection of classic analog synths, drums are from Kontakt Factory Library, delay & reverb by Valhalla DSP.  Made in Reaper.  

Play Duck Phobia here:  https://sonictimm.itch.io/duck-phobia

Featherweight

Anatoid Attack

Roast Duck

You travel alone through the woods.  Suddenly, there she is, revealing herself to be a beautiful woman but with the coils and tail of a large serpent instead of legs and feet!  Lamia!  You feel a chill run down your spine, but are too spellbound by her beauty and her entrancing eyes and voice to retreat as she approaches, seductively mesmerizing you.  Suddenly, the regal sorceress moves in close!  What happens?  Maybe she leans forward and kisses you before swallowing you whole, slowly squeezing you down into her long tail as you hear the sounds of her body around you.  Or maybe she had no such dark intentions after all, but is merely a lonely and misunderstood creature, seeking companionship, and you go off into the forest with her.  Does it matter what her intentions are, though?  Isn't the only sensible reaction to such an encounter to quickly snap out of her spell and escape to higher ground, from where you can watch her slowly slither off into the darkness in disappointment, while you live to continue your travels?  Either way, the tale ends here, as the music has run out - for now.

Liminal Beings, mvt. III - Lamia

A beautiful day in the Aegean Sea as the Nereids, sea nymph sister guardians of the ocean, peacefully swim about in a graceful dance among the colorful fish and marine mammals.  Perhaps you are here as a guest of theirs, or merely a fortunate observer, or even one of their number.

Liminal Beings, mvt. II - Among the Nereids

Knossos, the ancient Minoan settlement with its complex architecture and beautiful frescoes, capital of King Minos of Greek legend.  What would it be like to witness a political, religious, or athletic ceremony there, on ancient Crete, in a stone courtyard or royal hall?  Would there be only humans there, dressed in the finest, most ornate clothing, or would there be animals too?  Perhaps even liminal beings like griffins or the fearsome Minotaur . . .

Liminal Beings, mvt. I - Ceremony at Knossos

Written by Jonathan Latimer and orchestrated by Simon Zaleski.  Inspired by Star Trek and used as the closing music for a [pretty epic tabletop] Star Trek role-playing game.  

Endeavour Theme V2.22

The Magic Harp is the third movement of my Coronation Suite for piano, part of my Piano Sagas series.  Meant to be both grand and intimate, relaxing yet mysterious, The Magic Harp provides contrast to the celebratory marches and processionals it is paired with.  Listen for passages that use Lydian-style raised 4ths in combination with flat 6ths and/or 7ths in this piece which begins in g-sharp minor and wanders into unexpected places before reprising the opening and then ending in B major--with some twists.  

This piece is dedicated to Kelsey Bennett.  

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file:  magic harp 1.1

Image attribution:  the Samuel Beckett Bridge in Dublin.  Picture taken by Miguel Mendez and used under creative commons.  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Samuel_Beckett_Bridge_at_Sunset_(9618233806).jpg

The Magic Harp, from "Coronation Suite" (2017)

Brief demo created entirely with audio from my new Moog Subsequent 37 analog synthesizer.  This Moog is monophonic, so to create the drums I recorded each sound separately and then assembled them into a drum kit using Reaper's sampler plugin!  The sounds themselves are a mix of stock presets, presets that came with Moog's software, and custom sounds.  I would like to work on the mix some more and expand this into a song called "Solo" when I have time; but, for now, enjoy this little teaser!

Moog Subsequent 37 Demo V0.2

Title track for an EP inspired by Washington state and the beautiful PNW in general.  Composed in Reaper, using analog Moog and Korg synths, with a software TR-808 clone and effects.  Hope you enjoy!  

file:  evergreen v1.2

Image attribution:  Lake Quinault, WA (summer 2018).  Own work.

Evergreen

Check out the video on YouTube here:  https://youtu.be/nS_YRHtJ_ZQ

If you enjoyed this, check out my cover of the "Ecco the Dolphin" theme (CD version) here:  https://soundcloud.com/simon-zaleski/ecco-cd-aqua-vistas-cover

This piece is basically a mixture of my classical music style, my efforts at soundtrack writing, and my foray into retro synthwave and synth pop!  

N A T S I L A N E

(Simon Zaleski - July 2020)

PROGRAM NOTES

"Natsilane" is a piece of electronic music created using analog synthesizers - a Moog Subsequent 37 and a Korg Prologue 16 - and digital effects.  Musical inspiration comes from a variety of sources, including electronic music from the 1970s by Tangerine Dream and Brian Eno, synth-driven pop of the 1980s, soundtracks like that to "Ecco the Dolphin" from the early 1990s, and traditional Native American music.  A lot of quartal/quintal voicings and harmony can be heard throughout, as well.  

This piece is centered around a Tlingit and Haida legend from the Pacific Northwest/Alaskan coast, which tells the story of the creation of "Blackfish," the killer whale or orca, by a hero named "Natsilane."  There are different variations of the story; but, in all of them, Natsilane is marooned by his brothers-in-law during a hunt.  Out of yellow cedar, he carves a whale, which takes him home.  After directing the killer whale to attack his enemies' boat, Natsilane instructs Blackfish never to harm a human again, and people and orcas live in harmony.  To this day, there do not appear to be any records of a fatal attack on humans by orcas in the wild, though the reverse is not true.  

"Natsilane" can be divided into three segments:  the first part, "Wide Waters," is mysterious and depicts lonely waters off remote, evergreen-lined shores.  The sound of drums marks the beginning of the second part, "Blackfish Dance," which is loosely inspired by Tlingit and Haida drumming, dancing, and singing.  Finally, the composition ends with "Free Spirits," a segment depicting the freedom and harmony that both Natsilane and Blackfish -- man and nature -- enjoy at the end of the tale.

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audio file:  natsilane v1.3

image from Pexels

Natsilane

A 60-second demo reel, created in early 2021.

Featured are snippets of the following:

1) -- Aqua Dreams, for string quartet (https://soundcloud.com/simon-zaleski/aqua-dreams)

2) -- Resplendent Princess, for piano and orchestra  (https://soundcloud.com/simon-zaleski/resplendent-princess-orchestral)

3) -- Wandering (synth-based soundtrack music) (https://soundcloud.com/simon-zaleski/wandering)

4) -- Paradise (retro and rock-inspired song) (https://soundcloud.com/simon-zaleski/paradise)

All of the above tracks are my own compositions:  recorded, mixed, and mastered by myself.  I am interested in working on video game and film soundtracks, and other musical projects.  If you enjoyed any of my music and would like to collaborate, please send me a message!

simonzaleski.com

Zaleski 2021 Demo 01

Beagle Music Labs = Simon Zaleski

*More synthwave/synth-pop in the pipeline!  Subscribe and stay tuned!  Thanks for listening.*

I am a classically-trained keyboardist, baroque multi-instrumentalist, and composer based in the USA, making classical, soundtrack, and electronic music.  I especially enjoy synthwave (outrun, retrowave, and chillwave included), and am available for hire to write music for video games and other projects.

Popular tracks by Beagle Music Labs