Travis Conrad

Pulsate

Travis — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:22:54 +0000

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

Drums & Guitar Test #1

Travis — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:18:04 +0000

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.

-Travis Conrad

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

Iambic Pentameter III

Travis — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:53:01 +0000

all you can do is to write what you know
if you find yourself fighting, let it go
look long, look hard, look deep, look to the sky
to write not for the heart; at best, a lie

-Travis Conrad

Monochrome

Travis — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 18:58:19 +0000

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.

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

-Travis Conrad

Space Opera Update

Travis — Wed, 19 May 2010 19:44:53 +0000

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.

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.

Garageband Test Two

Travis — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:35:18 +0000

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

-Travis Conrad

Garageband Test One

Travis — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:24:39 +0000

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

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

-Travis Conrad

The Three Month Project

Travis — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:20:15 +0000

THE MISSION:

To complete a two-act album musical/operetta in the 3 month span of April 1st, 2010 to June 30th, 2010 (91 days).

THE REASON:

To instil a sense of urgency in my life as a composer. To prove I can apply myself in my craft. To improve and hone my compositional skills. To demonstrate that I can produce high quality work under a deadline. And lastly, to get my name, and the names of numerous talented people I know, out there.

THE KICKER:

If I fail to have the project finished by July 1st, 2010, I will release all the work I’ve done on it into the public domain and never EVER touch it again.

THE LONG TERM GOAL:

Once all the music is composed, this baby is getting produced!

THE PLOT:

The storyline takes place around the year 2150. That’s right, I’m writing a Space Opera (and who can write a space opera without synthesizers?) It’s built around a virtuoso computer scientist and engineer who’s inventions have made huge impacts on mankind, and his dying wife, a brilliant engineer in her own right who has fallen ill with one of the few fatal diseases that science has failed to eradicate. The husband refuses to accept her death and devises a way to copy her memories and entire neural map onto a series of drives; essentially, he creates a computer program that is his wife, allowing her to cheat death.

So if you see me between those dates, and I’m not working on the above project, feel free to kick my ass. If you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to leave a comment.
Also, you can e-mail me using my gmail account: travisconradr

-Travis Conrad

The John Adams Obsession

Travis — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:29:36 +0000

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

Iambic Pentameter II

Travis — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:01:16 +0000

a thought, a spark, an ill forgotten gain
a common bond that man would not sustain
though men can see the err through which he’s grown
if he will change his course remains unknown

-Travis Conrad