Happiness and relaxation is the feel of this track, written for two acoustic guitars, flute, electric bass and drums (with a Latin feel).

The opening theme plays three times, separated by brief diversions into other jazz-influenced passages.

Enjoy with a chilled white wine or a fine light-pink rose.

Happiness

Written by David C Payne in 2022, "Let's Go" was originally written in Avid Sibelius, and was updated in the final version using Avid ProTools.

It was an experiment in putting Latin rhythms into a jazz composition using acoustic bass, drums and percussion, piano, acoustic guitar, marimba and a pair of mariachi trumpets.

The Yamaha P-515 piano lines were exported as MIDI and edited in Avid Sibelius.

Several other musical voices were added in Sibelius prior to the entire piece being exported into Avid ProTools for final production.

Just a bit of Latin fun.

Outside The Zone

Let's Go

This track is a digital mix of a piece I originally wrote for Adelaide recording band, Crunchtime Music, back in 2018.

In this version, the vocals have been minimized and the Caribbean feeling of the musical instruments has been allowed to carry the feeling of the song.

As well, the vocal lines have been minimized to give a sense of "careless-ness" while asking questions seeking "caring" and thoughtful answers.

This version of "Did You Never Think About" was written in Avid Sibelius and production was carried out in Avid ProTools.

Who Can See Tomorrow?

Did You Never Think About?

A stadium rock version of "What I Believe" using digital effects in the studio.

An experiment in generating a "live" feel for this rock song.

What I Believe (Stadium Mix)

One definition of "Avatar" is "Embodiment of a Concept".  It is a very powerful manifestation of some form of deity, or general spirituality, in an earth-bound body of some kind.

The power of this idea is expressed through the use of thunder, wind and rain, all the time driven by powerful drum rhythms.  The "unearthly" part, the "concept" is represented in the choral voices, the piano (which only plays in triplets) and the electric organ / theremin.

The piece was originally scored in Avid Sibelius and was produced in Avid ProTools.  Electronic sounds from a Roland Juno-Di completed the sound effects for the piece.

Avatar

The image behind this instrumental track is based loosely on the ideas behind the literary work "Through The Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll.

The track drifts to the rhythm of a slightly fast heartbeat, with the theme tune shared by a string trio (violin, viola and violoncello), repeated until it leads into a song including all the instruments in the track.

Two guitars add a backing tune (theme) and a rhythm element to the entire track.

The rhythmic instruments include a drum kit, claves, cabasa, egg shaker and bongo drums.  All of these can be heard in various parts of the track.

A fretless electronic bass sound drives the rhythm section along with the percussion instruments.

After the initial section, the melody of the main song section slowly rises and then suddenly comes crashing down through bars of 5/4, 6/4 and 4/4, eventually emerging from the chaos through a final 5/4 bar, back to the original chordal structure.

This "crashing down" is through a notional "rhythm glass" rather than Caroll's "looking glass".

The track was written by David C Payne in 2018 and this new 2024 recording was carried out using Avid Sibelius to set up most of the score, with additional keyboard sounds coming from a Roland VR-09 synthesizer.

Final production was done using Avid ProTools.

This version of the music has been mastered using Sound Cloud's mastering software.

Through The Rhythm Glass (2024)

"On The Wavy White Line" is an experimental instrumental track using the internal rhythm and bass lines of the Yamaha P-515 digital piano.

This track was recorded "impromptu" and has a few playing "blemishes" that will be removed in the event that I create another recording of the piece with more instrumentation in the future.

The title has no particular significance - it just "appeared" when I was putting the song structure together.

On The Wavy White Line - No Guitars

I forced my little sister to sing some lyrics I wrote on a napkin, and I recorded it into my phone for the original version: https://soundcloud.com/nostrumuva/wish-i-were-a-butterfly
This is a remastered version with more of a jazzy trio middle section.

Wish I Were A Butterfly (Remastered)

Rock vibe sticky chorus. Path of life has a few curves.

Fall

Story about a sound guy, get's a call for a job, to mix a band for a gig. Excepts the job not knowing who the band is. When he get's there.........

Back in time

Study in E Major for Violin and Piano (Saturn) is the first movement of the Three Planets Suite for Violin and Piano.

This version is a re-mix of the version I uploaded to Sound Cloud in 2022 and has better EQ and other production features than the earlier version.

The piano part is also slightly different, using a track I had recorded earlier in 2022 but which was not used in the 2022 upload to Sound Cloud.

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with distinctive rings and has an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth.

Saturn was a god in ancient Roman religion and a prominent character in Roman mythology. He was attributed, in part, as a god of agriculture, time, abundance, wealth and periodic renewal, representing the passing of the seasons on Earth.

The beginning of this piece captures what we might imagine as the stillness and isolation around Saturn the planet and the steady motions of all the many parts that make up the planet and its rings.

The second part represents the relaxation that might be found in a simple and soothing song on a summer's day around grape harvest time.  It provides a brief glimpse of what we feel as the seasons move from the abundance of the harvest into the chill and sterility of late autumn and winter.

Study in E Major for Violin and Piano (Saturn) was composed in Avid Sibelius and used the digital sounds of a Yamaha P-515 grand piano.

Production of this 2025 version was carried out in ProTools.  The track has not yet been mastered.

Study in E Major for Violin and Piano (Saturn) - 2025

David has lived in South Australia all his life, with occasional travel interstate and overseas. He began studying music at 10 years of age, and was initially classically trained through the AMEB schools program in South Australia.  His interest in modern forms of music began when he began his university education.

Since the age of about 20, David worked as a semi-professional musician (keyboards) while he studied at the University of Adelaide and then worked as a professional engineer for a large Australian consulting firm. In the Adelaide band scene, he played most styles of modern music in bands of up to seven members.

In recent times he has focused on the composition of original music for a three-piece band called Crunchtime Music, a recording group based in Adelaide.

Away from the band scene, he has been composing classical and jazz/rock/blues works using a combination of his Yamaha P-515 digital grand piano and the DAW software packages Avid Sibelius and ProTools.

His music aims to provide mindful refuge in our current "age of rage".