Until now, I've never shared my music with anyone; mostly because I don't feel strongly that it's worth sharing. I write music for my own private, selfish gratification. Most of my songs are incomplete, or they lead up to a break and then end abruptly. Someday I may finish them. Until then, they remain fragments. I can honestly and shamelessly say that I am my #1 fan. Modplug Tracker, a freewaremusic-sequencing software, has existed since 1997. While it's not the most powerful or visually appealing sequencer, it's intuitive enough for a curious 16 year old with a surplus of free time. It didn't require any expensive external peripherals to operate or even knowledge of how to play an instrument; just a PC keyboard and a soundcard. Being a mature 7th grader aspiring to the lofty precedent of Hans Zimmer, I managed to replace some instruments in another artist’s mod file with various fart samples, to create a sort of fart orchestra, if you will. The result was inspiring. Over time, I learned a lot of techniques by listening to other people's modplug music, and by watching the code fly by the way it'd look scrolling from an 1800’s player piano on autopilot. With some imagination and patience, I suppose there's no limit to what you could produce. Each new pattern is a blank canvas; each sample a brush stroke. Many of the leads in my songs were created just by playing around with sounds until I found something that sounded good. |
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I wouldn't even consider it skill, so much as perseverance. Sometimes I wake up with a song in my head, not knowing where it came from. Other times I find myself humming a tune in the shower, and I’ll record my voice and come back to it later so I don’t forget. Once I’ve got a lead, then it's just a matter of layering in complementary tidbits and a beat.While my competence with the software is self-taught, my musical inspiration comes from many places. My favorite electronica composers are Rokysopp, E.S. Posthumus, Craig Armstrong, David Arnold, Hans Zimmer, Thomas Newman, Goldfrapp, Bonobo, BT, and Unkle. After years of ripping samples from other artist’s work, I started replacing .wav files with VST instruments. This significantly improved the production quality of my music. It also opened up new possibilities and broadened creativity given the virtually limitless potential of the synthesizer. Unfortunately, support for VST plug-ins in Modplug is extremely limited, and they cause the program to crash frequently. Eventually, I’ll learn to use sequencers from the 21st century which are specifically designed around VST plugins. I’ve launched this website with the hope that listeners will motivate me to start writing new tracks. If a song resonates with you, send me an email. |
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