In memoriam, the bombing of Guernica, Spain, April 26, 1937. A lamentation in music.

And in 2024, for the injured, displaced, and departed around the world as invading forces of tyranny rain down death and destruction upon innocent people.

I literally cried as I updated my old composition about the bombing of Guernica. 

Originally composed in GarageBand, I finished the first version of this song on April 26, 2013, not consciously aware that the date was the anniversary of the atrocity committed by fascists against civilians during the Spanish Civil War. I had had ambitions to create an animated short about its history and Picasso’s famous painting when I could afford the technology. So my first step was to use available resources and create the music, which I did 11 years ago. I have yet to produce the animation. Maybe someday. The cover art gives you an idea as to how I envisioned the graphics for the animated short.

This Guernica composition is my first attempt at composing neoclassical music. As a girl I would sing and hum made-up symphonies as I conducted an imaginary orchestra. I’ve got hundreds of improvised concertos, sonatas, fugues, and arias deep in my memory banks that sometimes creep into my contemporaneous music.

This week, as the anniversary of Guernica approached, I imported my old music file into my current DAW and refreshed it, adding French horn, the first instrument I played as a young student. I also added audio of propeller planes recorded live in March and April 2024. And I pushed the previous violin and cello parts to the limit, so if you hear a screeching violin or a groaning cello, it’s intentional; war gives millions of reasons to scream and wail. The composition’s 8-chord structure is repeated as if to state the obvious — we, humans, have yet to contain our violence individually and collectively. We witness and experience the horror of mass murder and war around the globe. Every. Damn. Day.

I realize my song probably isn’t going to be a favorite for listeners, not my usual chill music. But I’m also a firm believer in the idea that sunlight is the best disinfectant. With this music about Guernica and the history of 1937, I am reminded how far we’ve come, and yet, how little we’ve changed. But change we must, and I believe humanity will change for the better. The question is when.

Guernica

A proposed soundtrack that uses the sounds of jazz to convey car horns, sudden stops, traffic that first crawls and then speeds, with scurrying pedestrians, splashes, and the tapping of windshield wipers.

I wrote this 12 years ago when I had the ambition to produce a short film. There's still no movie, but I've updated the music to a very chill 69 bpm for a jazzy Rainy Commute — something to enjoy while the traffic rushes by on a gloomy, wet day.

…………
DAW: Apple Logic Pro X
MIDI: Akai MPK Professional keyboard

E-INSTRUMENTS:
Concert Grand
Grand Piano on Stage
Vibraphone
SoCal Ballad Piano 
Xtra Trumpet Section Legato
Warm Glow Chords
Orchestra Cello Section Legato
Fingerstyle Electric Bass
E-PERCUSSION:
Old School Funk Remix Kit
Acoustic Bump
Studio Brush Kit

Audio of heavy rain recorded live July 23, 2024.

COVER ART: AI generated image via DaVinci app and altered in Photoshop
..................

.

Rainy Commute

Country acoustic meets hip hop meets techno bass meets a chill 65 bpm in an atmospheric instrumental soundtrack for a foggy ferry crossing.

When fog rolls in, people are happy that the old ferry captain knows the river crossing very well. Thick fog doesn’t stop arrivals and departures on the Fog Bottom Ferry, a fictional name for a ferry that, as a passenger, I also knew very well.

The image of the ferry deck in my cover art doesn’t look like the ferry I took. My Fog Bottom Ferry served a small river town that carried about a dozen cars. To me, its engine sounded similar to a tugboat motor, and was the inspiration for the hip hop beats.

Hope you enjoy a little atmospheric instrumental countryhop 🤠

65 bpm

DAW: Apple Logic Pro X 
MIDI: Akai MPK Professional keyboard
E-Instruments: 
Concert Grand piano  
Steel String Acoustic guitar  
Acoustic Guitar  
Dobro Guitar  
Space Harp 
Deep Round Bass Synth
 Underwater Temple synth 
Atmosphere At Dusk synth 
E-Percussion: 
Atlanta Electronic Drum Kit
 Acoustic Bump

PHOTO CREDIT: The image is a derivative of a photo by Burak the Weekender at pexels.com:
www.pexels.com/@weekendplayer/

.

Fog Bottom Ferry

One of my older songs updated this week, I may remix the tune with a classical treatment in the future. 

In the meantime, I wish you sweet dreams. I also hope that fears or threats are vanquished as quickly in your life as they are in my Bedtime Story. Happy trails!✨

90 bpm with tempo shifts 
DAW Apple Logic Pro X 
MIDI Akai Pro MPK  
E-instruments: 
Steinway Grand Piano 
SoCal Ballad Piano 
 Flamenco Echoes
Steel String Acoustic
Upright Ballad Bass
Violas
Cellos
French Horns
E-drum kits:
Latin Kit Pandeiro, Tambourine, Congas, Bongos
Pop Kit Maraca, Shaker
Classic Hip Hop Remix Analog Kick, Gated Snare, Hi-Hats, Cymbal
Atlanta Hi-Hats, Crash
Mystic Groove Chimes

Audio
* Bird chirps recorded live May 29 and June 15, 2024.
* Cicadas recorded live June 22, 2024
* Train recorded live October 17, 2023
* “I’m gonna get ya” vocal recorded live July 11, 2024, of my voice transposed 4 steps down. Sounds like LL Cool J’s voice to me. 😀

Cover art: A Photoshop composite of many photos from pexels.com as follows:
* Woman in body of water by Pixabay
https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-body-of-water-235469/
* Brown Monolith Under Teal and Gray Milky Way by Eberhard Grossgasteiger
https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-monolith-under-teal-and-gray-milky-way-1624360/
* White Swan (wings) by Anthony
https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-swan-132479/
* White Horse on the Beach by Missi Köpf
https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-horse-on-the-beach-6215909/

Bedtime Story

Inspired by a dear friend who deserved a long holiday.

Wrote a demo of this tune more than a year ago, but recently mastered the track after recording live improvised "sailing" audio -- water, wind, birds -- in February 2024. 

Hope you enjoy this 4-minute invitation to relax and daydream.

Synth guitars with echo and reverb, bass, harp, cellos, and "sailing" sounds with Latin and hip hop beats at a very chill 65 bpm.

PHOTO CREDIT: AI generated images via the DaVinci app and a composite image was created in Photoshop.

.

Sailing Barcelona

Dedicated to Kate’s healing, may this hummingbird song assist a speedy recovery. 

At the end of the day, when crickets begin their chorus, a chattering of hummingbirds vie for a last taste of nectar before sleepytime.

A variation on 4-chord construction at 1 4 3 7 intervals, using Trip Hop and Pop beats with acoustic tracks of piano and steel guitar, electric bass, and electronic synth. Very relaxing @ 60 BPM for that meditative creative wavelength in the alpha-theta zone.

© 2023 SUNNYBECK

Hummingbird Twilight

An old GarageBand track from April 2023, never released, and just updated that starts off chill like the original — but then I felt like flying 🛫 So after 58 seconds, Flight Plan takes off to 124 bpm 💃

70 / 124 bpm
…………………….
DAW: Apple Logic Pro X
MIDI: Akai Professional Keyboard
E-INSTRUMENTS:
Concert Grand piano
Boesendorfer Grand Piano
SoCal Ballad Piano
Ambient Lead
Robot Talk
Buzzy Pluck synth 
Acoustic Guitar Harmonics 
Fingerstyle Electric Bass
Deep Round Synth Bass
Minimal Techno Pattern
Momentum synth 
Ghosts synth 
Focus synth 

E-DRUM KITS:
Latin Kit
African Kit 
Studio Brush Kit 
Acoustic Bump
Drum ‘N Bass Remix 
Trance Remix 
Hard Tech Remix Dirty
Trip Hop Remix 

VOCAL AUDIO — “You are clear for takeoff” and “You are a go” — 
recorded live on April Fools’ Day 2025

COVER ART is a composite using AI-generated images created by the DaVinci app and then designed in Photoshop.
…………………….

.

Flight Plan

Relax your brain, ease your mind, and go downstream for the download. Side effects may include feelings of peace, wellbeing, and happiness.

Guitars, pianos, electric basses, synths, and bird chirps, water sounds recorded live in 2023, all set to hip hop and pop beats at a very chill 55 bpm.

COVER: AI-generated image by the DaVinci app and altered in Photoshop.
.........

Downstream

Dedicated to the scientists, engineers, conservationists, activists, first responders and all citizens who are working around the clock to solve the climate crisis or to help in humanitarian missions due to earth changes. 🙏

Inspired by a midnight encounter with an owl. Special thanks to Paul Paploviante @paul-racle and Jörg @joerxworx for their generous support and inspiring music from which Night Owls was derived — based on an original composition by Paul and remix by Jörg. You can hear similarities in the melodies of Night Owls to Jörg’s saxophone, and Paul’s solid chord structure and guitar in Spanish Nights and Silent Nights. Listen to the songs here: 

Spanish Nights
https://soundcloud.com/joerxworx/paploviante-rnb-silent-nights-2-guitar-plus-tenor

Silent Nights
https://soundcloud.com/joerxworx/paploviante-rnb-wip-2

I'm working on lyrics for a future vocal remix.

Synth guitars, piano, keyboards, bass, and ambient sounds with hip hop and Latin beats at 93 bpm. Owl audio recorded live just after midnight on January 5, 2024. Subway train audio recorded live in February 2023.

Barred owl image by Terren, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barred_Owl.jpg

Night Owls

Smooth as glass on the surface but beneath the calm of still water runs a deep relentless current. Don’t be fooled by a still appearance on top when below the mighty power of a torrent moves unseen.

Synths, synth guitars and pianos with reverb, synth bass set to a 2-step thump beat with bongos, congas, repique, and snare cajon at 75 bpm.

Water audio recorded live in February 2024.

Still Water

Nothing escapes the scrutiny of the neighborhood watch dogs!

A sequel to Old Howlers, https://soundcloud.com/sunnybeck/old-howlers

Synth bass and pianos set to hip hop and Latin beats @ 85 bpm. Audio of dogs barking, howling, and ambulance siren recorded live in March, April, and May 2024.

Background photo of ambulance by Kurt Kaiser, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Little Girl, the dog, is from my personal photos.

Neighborhood Watch

When the magnolias bloom, it’s time to pour a favorite beverage, maybe a cuppa at daybreak, and enjoy the songbirds nestled in the trees overlooking the white petals of mid-spring magnolia.

Summer lurks around the corner, but it can wait! Chirpy melodies, cool morning breezes, and sumptuous magnolias, their blossoms swaying in the wind, set the pace. I think of it as Magnolia time — take it easy even when a busy day says no. Chill out. Tune in. And everything will work out. Stop and smell the roses. Or the blossom of magnolia.

Synth piano and keyboard with reverb, vibraphone, bass and bass arp, plus songbird audio set to RnB and Latin beats @ 85 bpm.

Audio of songbirds recorded live in March, April, and this week in May, 2024.

COVER: AI-generated image by the DaVinci app and altered in Photoshop.
.........

.

Magnolia

Special thanks to Paul Paploviante 🙏 for his open collaboration offer to add to his rocking bass and guitar song, “Leaked.” This my first music collaboration and first attempt at music’s rock genre. 

Southern Exposure is a remix of Paploviante’s original song, Leaked. Listen to it here: 
https://soundcloud.com/paploviante-and-friends/leaked-paploviante

A couple hours drive south of my sweet home Atlanta will land you in the territory of Southern rock legends — the Allman Brothers, Duane and Gregg, and just across the Georgia/Florida border, Lynyrd Skynyrd — whose music was known for its great guitar sound, a part of my Southern Exposure. So let’s take a trip where Paul Paploviante’s soulful electric guitar is the star.

90 bpm
DAW Apple Logic Pro X
MIDI Akai Pro MPK 
For the remix:
Steinway Grand Piano 
70s Funky Clav
Deep Organ 
Latin Kit
2-Step Remix Overdrive 
Hard Techno Remix Dirty

Southern Exposure Remix of Leaked By Paploviante

If I can stop one heart
from breaking
I shall not live in vain
If I can ease one Life the Aching
Or cool one in pain

Or help one fainting Robin 
Unto his Nest again
I shall not live in Vain.

— EMILY DICKINSON 
“Further Poems of Emily Dickinson" published by Little, Brown and Company of Boston, 1929.

65 bpm
DAW Apple Logic Pro X
MIDI Akai Pro MPK 
E-instruments:
Studio Grand
Steinway Grand Piano 
Boesendorfer Grand Piano
SoCal Ballad Piano
Clarinet Solo+
Harp
Upright Ballad Bass
Rolling Chords Synth
Electronic Drum Kit - Platinum Dreams 
Latin Kit
Hip Hop Kit
Studio Brush Kit

Audio of bird chirps recorded live Jun. 15, 2024.

Photo of children splashing water via public domain, Wikimedia Commons 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Happy_children_splashing_water.jpg

Happy Endings

When I need to lay my troubles down about things beyond my control, I take a stroll across the Indigo Bridge for safe passage over the Big Blue. The only toll required to crossover — temporarily letting your worries go. And, hopefully, you enjoy a songbird serenade on the trip to the other side. 💙✌️

70 bpm
DAW Apple Logic Pro X
MIDI Akai Pro MPK 
E-instruments:
Steinway Grand Piano
Boesendorfer Grand Piano 
SoCal Ballad Piano 
Deep Organ
Cellos
Upright Ballad Bass
Studio Brush Kit 
Studio R&B+ Kit
Lo-Fi Remix 
Latin Kit 

Audio of bird chirps recorded live June 29, 2024.

Cover art: Derived from a public domain photo of the Golden Gate Bridge via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Golden_Gate_Bridge,_San_Francisco,_California_LCCN2013633353.tif

Indigo Bridge

In the family of water lilies, Nelumbo nucifera or the lotus flower is also known as the sacred lotus because it symbolizes qualities such as purity, rebirth, enlightenment, longevity, and resiliency. In muddy swamplands the lotus has thrived for more than a thousand years, producing beauty in the midst of muck. 

I hope you enjoy my lotus-inspired tribute of a powerful symbol of overcoming adversity and relentless creativity.

Set at a hypnotic 83 bpm, I’ve included a mix of sounds — a little synthpop, jazz, R&B, Latin, neoclassical, and definitely chill. 

P.S. One of the ancient Sanskrit names for Lotus 🪷 is Kamala. ❤️😀✌️

DAW Apple Logic Pro X
MIDI Akai MPK Professional 
83 bpm
E-Instruments used:
Concert Grand
Chinese Guzheng Zither
Clarinet Solo 
Deep Techno Chords 
Film Memories 
Violas
Ethereal Mallets
Upright Ballad Bass
E-Percussion:
Latin Kit
Studio R&B+
Crate Digger 
2-Step Remix Kit

Audio of breathing recorded live, August 3, 2024.

Photo of Lotus flower via Wikimedia Commons, public domain https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lotus_flower_(978659).jpg

Sacred Lotus

Hope is in the air — a wind that is fierce enough to lift kites and rattle wind chimes, but gentle enough to free specks caught in a spider’s web. To become windswept is to go with the flow, keeping faith in a good future, and to do what you know to do to make hope come alive.

A neoclassical treatment with a little hip hop beat.

.........
DAW Apple Logic Pro X
MIDI Akai MPK Professional  55-65-55 bpm
 E-Instruments used: Concert Grand Echo Piano Clarinet Solo 
Cellos Marimba Breathy Vox E-Percussion: Timpani
Timpani Tremolo Crescendo Analog Dream
Bass ’N Drum Remix
Lo-Fi Remix Studio Brush Kit

Audio of wind and wind chimes recorded live, February 24, and May 29, 2024.

COVER: AI-generated image by the DaVinci app and altered in Photoshop.
.........

.

Windswept

I recently learned that bees twerk. When bees locate nectar or pollen, they return to the hive and communicate — through a series of dance moves including the waggle or twerk — where and how far to fly to make a beeline to their prize. 

With a nod to Rimsky-Korsakov, I’ve used a lot of synths to create Beeline for some electro-twerking music.

93 bpm

E-Instruments:
Concert Grand
Ballad Acoustic guitar
Alchemy Guitar PM Acoustic Pluck
Pulse Chords
Ethereal Mallets
Knocking Echoes
Endless String
Buzzy Pluck
70s Funk Clav
80s Pluck Bass
E-Percussion Kits:
Acoustic Bump
2-Step Remix
Paris House Remix
Euro Dance Remix

PHOTO CREDIT: Sunflower (helianthus annuus) in July, 2017 in Santa Rosa, California, via the public domain, Wikimedia Commons:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sunflowers_public_domain_helianthus_annuus_IMG_0793.jpg

Beeline

One thing about Butch — he can strut! His swagger and no-bueno attitude make him alpha of the sidewalks, as most creatures flee when they see him. When Halloween arrives, Butch likes to dress up in his favorite costume disguise as a hellhound. Everyone recognizes him, of course — no surprise — because he can’t masquerade a role that’s very, very familiar to the neighborhood.

A playful chill tune of rhythm and blues and jazz

90 bpm
 DAW Apple Logic Pro X
 MIDI Akai MPK Professional
 E-Instruments used: 
Concert Grand 
SoCal Ballad Piano 
Studio Upright Bass
 Indian Shehnai Oboe
 E-Percussion: 
Acoustic Bump 
Studio Brush Kit
 Latin Kit 
Pop Kit

Audio of dog barks and crows recorded live, October 11 and 12, 2024.

Cover art is a derivative illustration with additions and alterations to the following photos:
-Burning cauldrons by Madelyn Emery at pexels.com www.pexels.com/photo/time-lapse-…ing-wares-954677/
-Dog image by Dawncapp, public domain at Wikimedia Commons  commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Two_…_fireplace.jpg
-Gold necklace with coin pendants, public domain via Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gold…T_DP107044.jpg
-Inverted pentagram, public domain via Wikimedia Commons  commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pentagram4.svg

Scary Butch

To equality, democracy, freedom, and hope 💙

A joyful jazzy march to dance the tightrope to 🗽

80-85 bpm

Ordinarily I use original LoFi audio that I have recorded from live subjects, but in this song, I use a single sample in my outro from a campaign video of Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia, PA, October 27, 2024.

DAW: Apple Logic Pro X
MIDI: Akai MPK Professional 
E-instruments:
Concert Grand
Deep Organ
SoCal Ballad Piano
Upright Ballad Bass
Crystals and Voices synth
Rolling Chords synth 
E-percussion used:
Studio Brush Kit 
Warehouse Kit shaker
Classic House Remix Congas

Cover art is a derivative illustration with additions and alterations to the following photos:

Statue of Liberty in the afternoon by Eldar Kamalov in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Statue_of_Liberty_2.JPG

 Didier Pasquette walking a tightrope between the twin statues atop the Liberty Building in downtown Buffalo, New York, as part of the opening of the 2010 Beyond/In Western New York art exhibition, by Dave Pape in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Didier_Pasquette_BIWNY_1.jpg

.

Tightrope

Sometimes a timeout is necessary, to pause, regroup, and refresh if only for a few minutes. Put up a Do Not Disturb sign. Open a window and let a pleasant distraction offered by songbirds calm the mind. Then resume forward march when ready. Hopefully, time is on your side. If not, seize a moment when you can. 💙

Jazz with songbirds
66 bpm

Audio files of bird chirps recorded live October 13 and 15, 2024.

DAW Apple Logic Pro X
MIDI Akai MPK Professional  
E-instruments:
Concert Grand
SoCal Ballad Piano 
Vibraphone
Clarinet Solo
Studio Upright Bass
E-percussion used:
Shadow Zone Clave
Studio Brush Kit 
Drum ’N Bass Remix
Latin Kit


Cover art is a derivative illustration with additions and alterations to the following photo:
A Neon Closed Sign above a Window by Jeffrey Czum at pexels.com 
https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-neon-closed-sign-above-a-window-4118958/

Windows

A memory can bleed into another snapshot in time — how memory of a rainbow during a Blue Mountain coffee break in Jamaica can warm up the present reality of a cold December day. 

Here’s to creating and conjuring good memories to realize your own kind of chill this holiday season. Cheers! 🥂

Lyrics below.

A simple song of jazz
Chill with reggae beats 
65 bpm

DAW Apple Logic Pro X
MIDI Akai MPK Professional  
E-instruments:
Ballad piano 
SoCal Ballad Piano 
Crystal and Voices
Classical Ensemble voices 
Muted Electric Bass
E-percussion used:
Studio Brush Kit 
Acoustic Bump 
Latin Kit
Sleigh Bells

Cover art is a derivative illustration with additions and alterations to the following original photo by Jeffries Czum at pexels.com of a person walking towards the street in New York City:
www.pexels.com/photo/person-waking-towards-the-street-2346165/

Snowflake photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán at pexels.com of gray snow flake wall decor:
https://www.pexels.com/photo/gray-snow-flake-wall-decor-745364/

LYRICS
0:00
Memory
Memory 
Taking me
to 
a place 
on an island   
so long ago 

0:18
Memory
Memory 
Bracing me
for a talk 
and a walk
in the snow

That’s when I’m thinking 

0:35
How I wish 
I knew 
back then 
0:43 
what I know 
0:46 
now
0:48 
Oh wow 

0:50
Oh
Memory
Taking me
0:56
to  
a land
in a photo
1:01
saved on my phone

1:04
Memory
Memory
1:09
Tempting me
1:12
to a room
our first kiss
all alone
 
1:19
Oh
1:21
How I wish
that I knew then
what I know
now

Wow wow
Oh

1:38
Oh
Memory
Taking me
on 
a trip
where we were free
without a script

1:52
Memory
Memory
Teaching me
2:00
how to make
love with you
tenderly

2:07
Oh
How I wish 
I knew back then
what I know
now

Wow wow wow 

2:28
Oh
Memory
Trés jolie
Thrill-ing me
With the thought of 
you 
wanting more 

2:42
Memory 
Memory 
Waking me 
like a shock 
from a knock 
at the door 

Oh

How I wish
that I knew then
What I know 
3:09
now 

Oh 
wow 

Wow!

 -fin-

Memory

Tulips, bicycles, canals, history, fine art, DJs, and most of all the Dutch people make Amsterdam and the Netherlands a place I could easily call home. 

But Amsterdam is more than a place to me — it’s a symbol of the joy of finding community, of sharing and thriving with people who support one another. Hopefully you can do that right where you live. Or here on SoundCloud. We are "stronger together" is more than a trite slogan because it is a mathematical fact. So let’s take a joyful trip and dance as if everyone applauds your moves.

With a toast 🥂 to Mick and Karin 

60/120/60 bpm

Begins with a classical treatment and electro, then electro, house, and techno music. 

DAW Apple Logic Pro X
MIDI Akai MPK Professional
E-instruments:
Ballad piano
Concert Grand
Clarinet Solo
Bassoon Solo
Cinema Strings
String Basses
Trombones
French Horns
Synths:
Focus
Ghosts
Momentum
Ethereal Mallets 
Ambient Lead
Buzzy Pluck bass
Deep Round Synth Bass
Minimal Techno Pattern bass
E-percussion used:
Timpani
Xtra Timpani Tremolo
Orchestral Kit Kick & Lg. Taiko Drum
Paris House Remix
Tech House Beat
Euro Dance Remix
2-Step Remix Overdrive
Latin Kit

COVER IMAGE is a composite created in Photoshop using my personal photos

Amsterdam

Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤️

From robins to finches to doves, all kinds of birds in my neighborhood are looking for valentines — crooning and swooning from treetops and roofs. They act as if spring has already sprung. 

Seizing the opportunity, I live recorded dozens of birdsongs for future music, and this song includes one of those recordings — a mourning dove that was perched on top of my chimney. Its coo-call reverberated down inside, vibrating the metal of my fireplace flue — it’s the simple pleasures of life — that inspired Dove Love 🕊️And the song is relaxing even for children 😉

A lighthearted chill song with Latin rhythms and sprinkles of jazz here and there for dance  💃🕺 or chillax in your favorite spot. 

65 bpm

DAW: Apple Logic Pro X
MIDI: Akai MPK Professional keyboard
E-INSTRUMENTS:
Concert Grand piano
Boesendorfer Grand Piano
SoCal Ballad Piano 
Oboe 
Clarinet Solo
Flute Solo 
Cinema Strings 
Ethereal Mallets
Chimes 3 - Mystic Groove
Deep Round Synth Bass
Minimal Techno Pattern bass
E-PERCUSSION:
Latin Kit
RnB Remix
Studio Brush Kit
Euro Dance Remix
2-Step Remix

AUDIO: Mourning dove recorded live on February 1, 2025

Cover photo of turtle doves by Klub Boks via pexels.com:
https://www.pexels.com/photo/turtledove-birds-sitting-on-a-branch-and-hugging-6925118/

ARTIST’S JOURNAL:  I did not intentionally create what seems to me to be music suitable for a cartoon or animated short. But I must confess that the Disney TV channel was on with the volume off in a room near me as I began work on Dove Love. I would see cartoons as I passed the TV on my way to get coffee in the kitchen 🤔

Dove Love

As was suggested by @Llanpsych, the no-drums ambient mix of Fog Bottom Ferry

The original Country Hip Hop instrumental mix with drums is here:
https://soundcloud.com/sunnybeck/fog-bottom-ferry

Hope you enjoy this atmospheric instrumental 

65 bpm

DAW: Apple Logic Pro X 
MIDI: Akai MPK Professional keyboard
E-Instruments: 
Concert Grand piano  
Steel String Acoustic guitar  
Acoustic Guitar  
Dobro Guitar  
Space Harp 
Deep Round Bass Synth
 Underwater Temple synth 
Atmosphere At Dusk synth 
Blue Cavern synth
Buzzy Pluck synth
Strumming Patterns synth

PHOTO CREDIT: The image is a derivative of a photo by Burak the Weekender at pexels.com:
www.pexels.com/@weekendplayer/

.

Fog Bottom Ferry (Ambient Mix)

An atmospheric soundtrack with minimal percussion — electro ambient with piano & bass for occasional neoclassical, jazz, and R&B notes at a very chill 60 bpm to drift along to Cosmic Dust

.................................
While reading about the Archimedean spiral, I stumbled upon an image captured by ALMA of the European Southern Observatory. As seen in my cover art, LL Pegasi shines in a binary star system. There, it and its companion star are “locked in a stellar waltz” that weaves a spiraling cosmic dust trail as they orbit through gaseous material emanating from “old star LL Pegasi.“ (links to full explanation, image, and video in the credits below).

Wonderstruck, I became aware of how universal the spiral is — from sea shells on beaches to star trails in the Pegasus constellation — how human DNA, too, is a spiral chain of atoms, a double-helix that contains genetic code to materialize into physical form as what we call biology of the Natural World. 

Science teaches that everything in the known universe originated in the Big Bang, a topic that, for me, always conjures up Joni Mitchell lyrics from Woodstock — 

We are stardust, we are golden. 
We are billion-year-old carbon.
And we’ve got to get ourselves 
Back to the garden 

— all of which inspired Cosmic Dust. 

Welcome to all, and to science and sci-fi enthusiasts🖖
.................................

DAW: Apple Logic Pro X
MIDI: Akai MPK Professional keyboard
E-INSTRUMENTS:
Concert Grand
Cello Section Legato
French Horns 
Tuba
Flute Solo
Clarinet Solo
SoCal Ballad Piano 
Cinema Strings 
Lunar Strings
Upright Jazz Bass
Deep Round Synth Bass
After The Rain
Crystals & Voices
Classical Ensemble
Blue Cavern 
Glacier Pad 
Space Harp
Rain Harp
E-PERCUSSION:
Timpani
Timpani Crescendo Tremolo
2-Step Remix Kit
European Folk Kit
Goa Remix Kit 

PHOTO CREDIT: 
ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/H. Kim et al. 
Celestial spiral with a twist
https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1710a/

SOURCE: European Southern Observatory (ESO) via Wikimedia Commons:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Celestial_spiral_with_a_twist.jpg

SUNNYBECK altered the ALMA image by duplicating it and changing its hue as a background element while overlaying the original as the main cover image with an outer shadow, and finally adding the Cosmic Dust song title and artist logo. Use of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) image is not an endorsement by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) or by its employees, but the image is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
.

Cosmic Dust

Everyone needs to let off steam from time to time. So why not make it fun 🤭 

Electro pop with jazzy notes, a touch of ragtime, lots of percussion & chill at 85 bpm


…………
DAW: Apple Logic Pro X
MIDI: Akai MPK Professional keyboard

E-INSTRUMENTS:
Concert Grand piano
Boesendorfer Grand Piano
SoCal Ballad Piano
Deep Round Synth Bass
Minimal Techno Pattern bass
Pulsating Chords
Lost Reverse synth
Fog Machine synth
Chopped Riser synth
Whistle Arp
E-PERCUSSION:
Goa Remix Kit 
Latin Kit
Warehouse Kit
Studio Brush Kit
Acoustic Bump
2-Step Remix Kit

PHOTO CREDIT: AI generated image via the DaVinci app
……………




.

Steam

A little old school jazz — piano, keyboard, guitar, bass, and drums, but with an electronic drum kit — all of which was produced using MIDI keyboard, plug-ins, and DAW. Originally created in GarageBand in 2011, but updated this week.

COVER ART that features a grand piano was inspired by J.J. Terrell and Neno J. who alerted me about the 10th anniversary of Piano Day, March 29, 2025. Check out their Piano Day releases:

J.J. Terrell https://soundcloud.com/j-j-terrell/sets/solo-piano-by-j-j-terrell
Neno J. https://soundcloud.com/user-442202241/two-piano-miniatures

A personal musical note: The beat in the outro is very reminiscent of the “cool beat” that my student marching band's rhythm section played between songs during practice and parades.

85 bpm
…………..
DAW: Apple Logic Pro X
MIDI: Akai Professional Keyboard
E-INSTRUMENTS:
Concert Grand piano
Boesendorfer Grand Piano
SoCal Ballad Piano
Auditorium Acoustic guitar
Ballad Acoustic guitar
Fingerstyle Electric Bass
Upright Jazz Bass
Deep Round Synth Bass
E-DRUM KIT: Crate Digger
…………..

.

Cool Breeze

Last spring, I had a jazzy musical interaction with songbirds to produce Magnolia. This spring, I explore the genre of jazz once again but this time with a mockingbird.

A few weeks ago, I recorded a mockingbird singing a jazzy serenade a cappella from his perch on my neighbor's chimney. And oh my! The bird sang like he was the hot new kid on the block, and the whole neighborhood had to listen!

The Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) can sing up to 200 different songs, some of which are original and others mimic the sounds of other birds and creatures, including insects and machines. 

I added electro — keyboard, piano, bass, and electronic drum kits — to the mockingbird audio recording using my MIDI and DAW, and I hope you find the music as amusing and entertaining as the jazzy mockingbird’s song.

Chill jazz fusion at 85 bpm

Audio of mockingbird recorded live April 2, 2025. The LoFi audio is raw, unaltered except for cuts to delete car noise and the conversation of neighbors, so that the music wraps around the birdsong.

With props to Harper Lee’s book, To Kill A Mockingbird, whose main character Atticus Finch teaches that it’s a sin to kill mockingbirds because they harm no one with their songs — a symbolic theme of the book — it’s wrong if not evil to attack or destroy innocent people.

“Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy…. they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.”

…………………….
DAW: Apple Logic Pro X
MIDI: Akai Professional Keyboard
E-INSTRUMENTS:
Concert Grand piano
SoCal Ballad Piano
Ambient Lead
Warm Glow Chords synth
Lunar Strings synth 
Fingerstyle Electric Bass
Deep Round Synth Bass
E-DRUM KITS:
Drum ‘N Bass Remix 
Trip Hop Remix 
Trip Hop Remix Phaser
Trance Remix
2-Step Remix 
African
Latin 

COVER ART is a composite using AI-generated images created by the DaVinci app and then designed in Photoshop.
………………..

.

Mockingbird

For Earth Day, an electro hymn at a chill 70 bpm

In praise of water 
Created before we 
of land and sea came to be 
Glory to water 
Magic elixir 
Life sustaining 
Half of it containing 
My body 
Fills oceans rivers lakes 
And thirsty tree
Fatefully 
Where it chooses 
Water never loses 

Sacred aquifer
Whose travels blaze 
the paths we sail
To raise a glass of wine
To water!
To living well 
To drink of grapes that streams 
Feed over time 
To the majestic flow 
On and on and on we go 
Like a slave’s escape to liberty 
Wade in the water, children
Set yourself free 

With props to Ramsey Lewis, Wade In The Water, 1966.

…………………….
 DAW: Apple Logic Pro X 
MIDI: Akai Professional Keyboard 
E-INSTRUMENTS: 
Concert Grand piano 
SoCal Ballad Piano
Mexican Guitarron
South African Singers  
Momentum synth
 Lunar Strings synth  
Deep Round Synth Bass 
E-DRUM KITS: 
Drum ‘N Bass Remix  
Trip Hop Remix  
Trip Hop Remix Phaser 
Trance Remix
 2-Step Remix  
African Kit
 Latin Kit

Audio of running water recorded live on April 20, 2025.

COVER ART is a composite using AI-generated images created by the DaVinci app and then designed in Photoshop.
. ………………..
.

Water Hymn

I love making music that soothes, inspires, and rejuvenates.

Downtempo, chilled Lo-fi, non-AI music set to hip hop, pop, and jazz beats. Lover of Boom Bap.

My creative journey began as a visual artist, and now I'm concentrating my energy into creating music that can instantly impact minds and moods for the better. 

Almost all of my music is chill @ -100 bpm to hopefully stimulate calm and feelings of well-being in listeners as it does for me. 💙

I’ve been called Rebecca of Sunnybrook like the children’s book because of my birth name but call me Beck like my friends do. I chose Sunnybeck to use as my nickname as I’m an eternal optimist and love the sun.

sunnybeckmusic @ gmail.com

Popular tracks by SUNNYBECK