Disclaimer: Please note, I’m not in any way knocking the budding talent of young Alma. This particular instance only serves as an interesting example of the cognitive bias we all encounter at various points in our lives… Also note– the…
Sneak Peek into Recording Prep for “Intrepid”
Coming up soon in these next couple of months, we’ll be recording the epic Fantasy for Oboe/English Horn Soloist and Chamber Orchestra, “Intrepid“! It will be an amazing compliment to the Leviathan E-Violin Concerto on the upcoming album! <3 To…
#NewTuneThursday: Counterpoint Invariable
Welcome to #NewTuneThursday! I am fascinated by the lessons the study of counterpoint can teach us! Combining this love for the rules of counterpoint with my nature to set up systems of patterns and let them run (to see what…
#NewTuneThursday— Anima Mechanicae: Soul of the Machine
Welcome to #NewTuneThursday! Today’s tune is another really special piece to me, with lots of good memories attached to it. ^_^ “Anima Mechanicae: Soul of the Machine” is a string quartet that I wrote in 2007, during my grad school…
#NewTuneThursday: Phillipy is Fragmented
Welcome to #NewTuneThursday! Today’s tune is our next track from “Music for The Book of I” — Phillipy is Fragmented. Phillipy refers to himself in the third person, as if existing as a separate entity from his very self. I…
#NewTuneThursday: Pegasus
Welcome to #NewTuneThursday! This work for violin, guitar, and piano holds such a special place in my heart. <3 I originally finished writing it in 2006, my last year at Cal Poly Pomona. When I had first sketched out my…
The Music Nerds! #6 – Setting Weird Lyrics
Enjoy this latest educational video, describing my thought processes on how I approach setting asymmetrical text to music as I work on finishing my Bros. Grimm Song Cycle! Don’t forget you can check out the other videos in this series…
#NewTuneThursday: Resplendence
Welcome to #NewTuneThursday! Let’s ring the bells for today’s new tune, since the New Year is just around the corner! “Resplendence” is a five-and-a-half minute long work for 3.5 octave handbell choir. Composed in 2014, I used the opportunity to…
Leviathan Recording Progress: Complete Cadenza
Check out the recorded version of the Cadenza from movement 3, “The Hunt”! It’s such a neat way to hear the huge range of the 6-string electric violin without anything covering it… This cadenza incorporates elements from the solo found…
Sinfonia Shaping Up Nice! Or, Explorations of Hexachords
I am just so stoked about how my new orchestral Sinfonia is shaping up! I got a lot of fascinating work done on it today…
Long story short… I developed an intro theme and then broke that apart to find it was built upon 6 distinct notes (not counting a couple “passing tones”). Then I said to myself, since I have a hexachord here, what would its complement be? Thus, I notated out my second hexachord, creating a full 12-tone-row between them.