I, often times, start the creation process with the piano - trying to find some sort of melody that captures the general idea or mood of what is needed.
Again, often times, I end up getting so caught up in the melody that I abandon the piece to simply remaining a piano piece and start building it up to where I feel it would be sacrilegious to even temper it with any other tones or accompaniment.
"Geist" is one of those songs. As it started to take shape I had fleeting ideas of adding some creepy cellos and string orchestrations to really sell it. In the end, I decided I liked the simplicity of it without anything else. The lonely and organic nature of the piano lent itself well to the theme of some kind of mildly restless spirit.

geist - Alejandro Castro

'Welcome to Wildemount' (Critical Role Piece)

Discarded track from the short film In Situ.

An Inamorata is a person's female lover. Seemed like an appropriately ambiguous title for a leftover track.

Inamorata

Unreleased demo from 2016
Produced by Tom Caruana 

NOTE: After some funny conversations on Facebook about battle rapping a couple of years ago, I got sent a few dis tracks from fellow Steapunks.  My intention was to answer them and then go on to dis some of my favourite people in the field, just becuase I thought it was funny. Sadly, Brexit happened just after I recorded the song and the country seemed a darker and bleaker place than before- it certainly didnt need more anger (however manufactured it might have been). So I shelved this song and released a charity version of 'Im British' instead. This track still makes me laugh though, so I thought you all might enjoy it.

2 Minutes To Live (demo)

The sampled instrument used on this track is a Una-Cordia, which is essentially a piano with a felt sheet laid over the strings, which softens the sound of the hammers hitting the strings. Thus the somewhat unique, piano-esque tone.
I had intended to use this piece for film Simple Twist (which I was also editing) but it didn't quite hit the tone needed so for now it just sits here...

Waiting - Alejandro Castro

Smells Like Teen Spirit

This song was inspired by the fine folks at Experience Points (XP Web Series)who are making a podcast of a live play game. I played the guitars and bass and programmed the drum machine. There might be an easter egg in the title.

All Hail Yog

A LoveLy tHeme And varIations to Let YOu Go

This is a mixed and mastered version of Return to Rise containing re-recorded music as well. Whether it's a better version than the rough mix is up to you. I played guitar and bass and programmed the drum machine. I'm hoping to use this as an intro to a Twitch stream.

Origin Stories

Return to Rise

As the Six Million Dollar Man used to say, "We can rebuild him." At first, I just wanted to improve the second half of the guitar solo by making it different than the first half. Once I had a better guitar solo, I found I wanted to improve the drums, and with better drums, adding bass was the next logical improvement. This new version transforms the psychedelic guitar drone of the original into something closer to surf rock. Is my Bionic Man better than original Steve Austin? That's for you to decide.

Moors on the moor (2018 Remix)

I wrote this theme song in honor of a D&D campaign I'm playing in. I feel like this would benefit from some good vocals and lyrics but so would most songs. If you enjoy rocking out, this might be the song for you.

A Fire Upon The Sky

This is an original song I made for my latest D&D campaign adventure Rime of the Frostmaiden. I played the guitar and sang the vocals to a drum machine.

Lyrics:

The Chosen of Auril in caverns of gold
The Chosen of Auril embraced by the cold
The Chosen of Auril rest in tombs of ice
The Chosen of Auril demand a dark price

The sacrifice paid on the nights of new moon
The sacrifice made by the lots drawn at noon
The sacrifice marked is one healthy and whole
The sacrifice parted from life and then soul

The hunger of winter eats more than its fill 
The hunger of winter takes all that it wills
The hunger of winter gets gifts by the shore
The hunger of winter leaves longing for more

The wrath of winter brings a night in the dark
The wrath of winter forbids all any spark
The wrath of winter comes inside with the chill
The wrath of winter leaves the hearth cold and still

The Chosen of Auril from caverns of gold
The Chosen of Auril from out of the cold
The Chosen of Auril rise from tombs of ice
The Chosen of Auril demand sacrifice

Chosen Of Auril

Currently a man without a band. Formerly of:

* Josiah Hawk
* Manic Goddess
* 415 Noise

I play:

* Bass guitars
* Acoustic guitars
* Electric guitars

I command a robot army of software instruments. God help us.

Chosen Of Auril

Vaughn Romero

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