My first track in quite a while. :/ This one is a bit of a different from my usual stuff (although I tend to say that a lot nowadays… Hmm…). Not quite sure why I had such a long hiatus, but hopefully this track spells the end of it. We’ll see.
I made use of some of the samples that my friends at ModPlug Central gave me for a wedding present, as well as mutilating some of my other sample libraries.
[audio:http://www.barryvan.com.au/music/Terminal.mp3]As you might have noticed, if you listen to much of my orchestral music, I really like writing epic, syncopated scores with great big horn melodies (and little flute ones) that float above rapid, percussive strings and brass. Well, here’s another example of that. 🙂
This piece is a rondo in D minor. Let me know what you think!
[audio:http://www.barryvan.com.au/music/Dauntless.mp3]I’ve uploaded an archive of my music for easier download. This archive currently contains eighteen tracks, eight of which are no longer available anywhere else! The tracks included in this pack are:
I may well create other ‘songpacks’ for download, so keep checking back. There’ll always be a couple of exclusive tracks in each pack, so it’ll be worth your while. I hope. 🙂
This track is rather unusual for me; it doesn’t really fall into any of my usual styles. I personally find it quite relaxing, especially when I listen to it with headphones. Perhaps it’s a bit too relaxing: my wife had to go and have a nap after she heard the complete piece. 🙂
Let me know what you think about it — any and all opinions are, as always, more than welcome.
[audio:http://www.barryvan.com.au/music/Clockwork.mp3]I would die a thousand times,
cross the deserts, tear the skies;
oh I would do it allI would do it all for you
just to say that I love you,
that I love you.
[audio:http://www.barryvan.com.au/music/JustToSay.mp3]
Comments transferred from Trax In Space and Modplug Central.
This one’s actually been sitting on my computer for a month or so now — I just haven’t been able to render it to wave, because my system just wasn’t fast enough. Today, though, I got a new motherboard, CPU, and RAM, and everything just purrs along, barely touching the processor. 
Anyway, about the music itself. This piece is basically me having fun with Kontakt — each of the eight instruments has fairly complex insert effect chains, a couple of send effects, and a couple of modulated group inserts, too. 
Basically, lots of effects, for some nice sound degradation.
Because I’m still not a fan of OpenMPT’s automation handling, I managed to find a nice little workaround, that I used on a couple of instruments: I modulate various effects using the MIDI volume. This means that working with the modulation is much more immediate, and it also means that I can modulate a couple of different effects simultaneously completely independently.
The piece is, hopefully, quite fun to listen to — it was definitely fun to write. Let me know what you think!
[audio:http://www.barryvan.com.au/music/TwelveNineteen.mp3]
Comments transferred from Trax In Space and Modplug Central.
Completed: Thursday, April 16, 2009 (Download)
Finally, after quite a while, I’ve got a new track out. 🙂 It’s been sitting on my computer for a couple of weeks now, and there are still a few things in it that I would like to iron out, but my inability to get the time to do so means that it’s just been bugging me. So now I’ve decided to just put it up as is.
Anyway, the track itself is quite a simple piece: I did, in fact, try to make it simple. It’s somewhat influenced by Ravel’s Bolero and the Newsboys’ The Orphan, in that it is constantly building by both adding and removing layers. It’s also, perhaps, influenced a bit by some of Coldplay’s stuff: I was listening to Viva La Vida and Prospekt’s March recently, and I was interested to note that in lots of those tracks there’s the same ‘kick on every beat’-type thing going on.
Let me know what you think.
[audio:http://www.barryvan.com.au/music/Quiet%20Rituals.mp3]Josh Whelchel, a very talented composer over in the USA, has organised a great big collaborative musical fundraiser for Relay for Life. The idea is that in return for their donations, people get to hear some great music: digital tracks for donations of $10 or more, and digital+CD for donations of $25 or more. There are really talented artists contributing to this project, and I am too. Contributing, I mean. 🙂
Head over to the official website for more information.
(This list was lifted directly from Josh’s website)
Composing an ambient track is a very soothing experience for me. There’s complexity, experimentation, and simplicity, and I find that my mood is sharpened, made clearer, in the writing.
This is how I’m feeling.
[audio:http://www.barryvan.com.au/music/Spheres.mp3]I admit, I didn’t envisage this track going quite the way it did. 🙂 Comments and criticisms are, as always, more than welcome.
[audio:http://www.barryvan.com.au/music/Evening%20with%20you.mp3]Music is one of the most powerful ways to move people’s emotions. Whilst characters and action tell the story, it’s music that largely determines how people should react to the story. Action scenes accompanied by sharp, aggressive music seem faster; moments of tension are heightened by ominous and foreboding music; and happy reunions bring a tear to the eye when accompanied by majestic, sweeping tunes.
It’s important to make sure that your movie or game has the music that you want it to have, to convey the meaning that you want to. That’s why at Barryvan, writing music is more than just putting together notes. It’s about detailed analysis of your needs and desires for the music; it’s about constant feedback; ultimately, it’s about getting it right.
We offer music in a variety of styles, to suit all genres of movie and game. Traditional orchestral pieces, floor-thumping dance anthems, catchy rock tunes: we offer them all.
We offer a number of different licenses for our music. Music may be licensed exclusively to you, in which case it won’t be released elsewhere, won’t be used anywhere else, and is guaranteed unique to your project. Alternatively, for a lower price, you may choose to use music which is already, or will become, available to others for use. For non-profit ventures, we can offer music for free on a non-exclusive, all rights reserved basis. In other words, you can use the music, but we retain the copyright. To find out what license is best for you, simply contact us, and we’ll work it out. Our prices are very competitive, and you can arrange to buy tracks on a track-per-track basis, on a time basis, or on a project basis.
A glitchier, more off-the-beat track based around a C# pedal point. This one was fun to write, because I got to play with the various sound effect and drum kit libraries I have, and slice up some effect loops from my libraries, too.
[audio:http://www.barryvan.com.au/music/Rebellion.mp3]