An interesting EP from an up and coming young fella

[mcmurray]

Just thought I'd put this out there. Here's a young bloke, 17, that recently started composing and this EP is what resulted;

 

http://jeffreydonmiller.bandcamp.com/album/corollarium

 

Not bad for a young fella that's only been composing seriously for a few months. I wish I could do it as easily, I think it's something you need to be born with.

 

Check it out, you might be pleasantly surprised. He wants to compose for film/games one day and I think he'll get there quite easily.

 

btw, all tones are courtesy of Guitar Rig 4.

 

Enjoy.

 

edit: I asked him how he personally goes about composing, and here's the response - I figured it would be of interest to many of you;

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Yes I'm 17. Nearly 18.

 

One of my biggest plans is to become a film, tv and video games composer. Absolutely going to a conservatory. It's my dream. And I really have the determination to do it.

 

Hmmm.. Composition and arrangment are very... Well.. It really depends on what works best for each person, and everyone does something different. But there's a few basic ways of going about it.

 

There's melody first, in which you go through an entire composition writing melody, and then coming from the beginning again and then doing the harmony.

 

Then there's Harmony first which is exactly the opposite of melody first.

 

There's layering, which is seen in electronic music most, where it'll all start with one thing, then you keep adding every few measures.

 

And then there's holistic composition, which is what I always use.

And that's where you write the melody and the harmony at the same time, measure by measure.

 

Now, holistic composition would be the backbone of how I work, but I'll deviate a bit.

 

I usually break up everything into sections.

Take "The Kings Eponym" from 0:00 to 0:23. That's one section.

I somewhat repeat the same sequence twice with a bit of a change on the second go through, but I consider that one section. I got that all figured out before moving to the next part, which is again similar yet different. Besides the obvious tone changes, the real thing that brings that part away from the last is the drum change. And in a rock setup, whether it be post rock, or what have you, the drums are going to be one of the most important parts to switching between sections.

 

Knowledge of theory is great. And it gives you a system to work within. But if a system wrote great music on its own, there wouldn't be all the crappy music out there that there is today.

 

It all has to come from your head.

You have to hear it happening all at once.

 

And then of course, you have to consider creativity.

It makes me infuriated to see bands that sound exactly like all the bands in that genre before them. Like they aren't trying one bit to be something real, but to be a band just for the sake of being a band.

Take influences from things you wouldn't really expect to find influence in. Like hip hop for example. Consider the electronic beats that are used, but arrange something in that style on the drums, use it in a rock context, and you have something unique and different. Or the slight implementation of celtic folk scales and rhythms in your melodies. And I'm only talking about structure here. But also consider the creative tones you can make. In place of a snare, you could use a milk jug and run in through some processing, making it sound like nothing before.

 

Thinking outside of the box is key to good composition.

As well is imagination and knowledge.

 

I hope you find any of that helpful.

[Duende]

It is nice to here something like this; cheers for sharing[cool]

A talented young man for sure!

 

Matt

[Lowdown]

Thanx for that Muzza. That kid sounds great. No wonder with all the myriad of great talent out there for up & comers to draw influences from.

 

Hope he stays on track and keeps focused.

[mcmurray]

Another new track from the young fella, written and recorded in a few days;

 

http://jeffreydonmiller.bandcamp.com/track/having-patience

[guitargreg1993]

interesting indeed!! i like it...

 

thanks for posting!!

[ShredAstaire]

He's a killer!!!!