Travis Conrad

Games that create music hold a special place in my heart, as do the game designers that make them.
Try putting a bunch of circles within a circle, like ripples on a puddle. It makes a neat backbone.

http://lab.andre-michelle.com/pulsate

There’s this downloadable game for Xbox 360 called Chime, I wants it so bad.
#whythehelldidibuyawii
#ohrightbecausenintendorocks

ps I’m going to Toronto for a week. Yea. Awesome.

pps Also awesome: http://gopherwoodstudios.com/entanglement/?n=1 (my record is 49 but I feel like I could do better)

-Travis Conrad

I’ve been trying to figure out which instrument I want to try the Retail Musical for, just been testing out different combos of things. This one here is;
-piano
-electric bass
-acoustic guitar
-violin
-basic drum kit

It’s not a new groundbreaking arrangement or anything but I think it works. Might need a cello- undecided. Also considering an electric guitar.

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-Travis Conrad

p.s. I got a beautiful black Takamine guitar. I’ve named her Ophelia. We’re very happy together.

So about a month ago, my wonderful friend Emma approached me, asking if I would compose a small piece of music for her friend’s book trailer, A Life Transparent. I read up on the novel, the main themes and storyline etc, and composed a short song entitled Monochrome for Piano in A Minor. You can watch the completed book trailer here, hard core kudos to everyone who worked on it.

I wasn’t done with the song yet tho.

It stayed in the back of my head for weeks. The opening eleventh chord. My blatant abuse of the A minor chord. The scales and arpeggios. It lingered, feeling unsatisfied. So I went back and investigated my work, and I found why it was haunting me. It didn’t want to be a slow song. It’s good slow, but it’s BETTER when it’s played at a brisk pace. So I amped up the BPM from ~120 up to 183. And shall we say, it’s satisfied.

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If anyone is interested in the sheet music, I’d be happy to send it their way.

-Travis Conrad

So… I’m past the halfway mark towards my deadline, July 1st. I assure you the space opera will be complete! I’ve got the story hammered out, the characters developed and the settings all planned out perfectly. Also; some of the lyrics are finished. Now it’s time to give up and quit write the music.

ACT I, SCENE I.
Dark, cunning, spacey overture wraps up. Johnathon and Raechel Heiloc are aboard the solar cruise ship CASSIRIC IV, orbiting the Sun. They head down to the main observation deck to witness the next wave of solar flares, making their way through the crowd in order to get a view.

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It’s short but it gives you an idea of what to expect, music-wise. None of the other songs will be anywhere near this happy sounding, so I have to make sure this one stays bright and optimistic. Contrast is more important than balance. One star against the black night sky can inspire the world. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor. STARTING NOW I BAT A THOUSAND.

-Travis Conrad

P.S. Working 40 hours a week makes you view your free time COMPLETELY different. Also; I can now identify geraniums, impatients, begonias, salvia, phlox, thyme, sage, oregano, mint, rosemary, hostas, clematises, lilies, blue spruce, mugo pines, boxwood, forsythia, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, lilacs, spirea, japanese maples (common and dragon variety), ivy, saxifrage, coleus etc. etc.

Test two.
Piano (Orchestra Steinway to be exact).

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-Travis Conrad

Got my Mac Mini! And Garageband. Oh frabjous day!

Test one.
Vibraphone, cellos and steel string acoustic guitar.

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-Travis Conrad

-Travis Conrad

So lately I’ve been borderline obsessed with John Adams (the composer, not the American president). His work has hit me in ways best described as inspirational. Music hits me with all sorts of emotions, but inspiration is rarely one of them. It makes me want to get out and do stuff. It makes me want to study composition more. A lot more. It makes me want to create something as beautiful and fun as what he’s created.

Start off with this one. If it alone isn’t enough to make you want to look through his other stuff then, well, I don’t know what to say.
A couple of my other favourites are the Chairman Foxtrot, Short Ride in a Fast Machine and Lollapalooza.

-Travis Conrad

ps I have a new twitter

So I started working on my elegy composition and I’ve been exploring a lot of different avenues. It has to be well composed, fluent throughout and above all, beautiful. While experimenting on the piano I stumbled upon a melody containing only five different notes, and it was just the ticket. Just the sound I’d been looking for. And it occurred to me, why not make the entire opening using a pentatonic scale?
And so I did.

This is the opening ten bars, it really sets the mood for the whole composition. And I have to say it, I really love the harp as an instrument. It’s perfect in so many ways. I could listen to harp music all day, and I’m sure one day I’ll make a playlist full of it and do just that. So yea, this is the pentatonic harp opening. So lush, I’m very happy with it.

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Off to see the Last 5 Years at the Grand tonight. Word on the street is it’s pretty good. I’m fond of Jason Robert Brown’s work for the most part. What I’ve seen of 13 I wasn’t too crazy about but I never really gave it an honest chance. But the Last 5 Years…. so good.

-Travis Conrad

P.S. Tip of the day: Don’t put zuccini… zuccini? zuchini? zucchini? zucchini….. don’t put it in soup. Adds little taste and ends up looking like pickles. #gag

Grilled swiss and avocado, with butternut squash soup. Lunch is quickly becoming my favourite meal of the day.

Sorry for the lack of updates. I’ve been a terribly blogger, but I’ve joined a self-help group about it and am working to improve a wide array of blog-related skills. Started working on a requiem type piece, starring flute and cello. I have the instrument ideas mapped out on paper, but the melody is still a mystery to me. I have a strong feeling about it.

Then there’s the musical. Remember? That thing I’ve been working on for the past two years. Oh yea, THAT musical. Dysfunction, I think that was the name of it. Guess what. DEMOS. That’s right. One song has already been recorded. It’s the almost-love song, with Cam and Charlotte, sung by my amazing friends Daniel Wheeler and Steph Savage. I’ll have that posted in a little bit. Turned out legendary. You’ll probably cry when you hear it… just saying. NBD.

So 2010 has started with wide-open floodgates. So much has gone down and it’s barely been three weeks. Stay tuned children, stay tuned.

-Travis Conrad