My Original Music
Writing music brings me the most joy in life. The feeling I get when I create a piece I’m proud of is truly unmatchable, and that feeling is even stronger when the people I share my work with appreciate it too. Below is some of my original music, split into categories of video game soundtracks, film scores, and standalone tunes. All of my work is available on my YouTube channel, and some of my songs have been released onto streaming services.
Video Game Music
This is the video game I’m currently working on! In Wrangle Ranch you work on a farm herding animals in order to meet point quotas and gain cash. The bluegrass and country-inspired soundtrack is fun and unique, and sets the perfect tone for the game.
Argue Like Animals is a video game that was made for the Ludum Dare 2024 game jam. The game featured Victorian animal politicians, so the music was mostly Classical and Baroque styles while also evoking sounds of the woodland creatures featured.
Argue Like Animals Original Soundtrack
Film Music
Visage
Visage is a short film by Sebastian Stauber and Katelyn Wallace. The music reflects its themes of stress in the dating scene with fast, intense jazz coupled with a slower, slightly goofy ballad as things fall apart.
The Cave
Another short film by Sebastian Stauber, this film follows a man who’s been seemingly duped by a megachurch pastor, as the pastor of his local church tries to pull him out of his spiraling mania. The music is very heavily inspired by Bach, featuring an organ and a string quartet.
Standalone Music
How Absurd
How Absurd is a piano piece which features marimba and strings in the second movement. The fast, fragmented piano creates interesting harmonies and melodies that bring a sense of wonder to the listener.
Blessings Where it Walks
“Blessings Where it Walks” is a short orchestra piece written for the Ryan Leech Fall 2024 Composing Contest. The music was inspired by the artwork pictured, and it tells a story in a short amount of time
How I See Music
For me, the nature of music can be distilled into two words: energy and direction. In other words, does it have energy, and where is that energy going? No matter what the context of the music is, it needs to have energy to be captivating, and it needs direction to hold the listener.
Does your film need to build tension for a suspense scene? A slightly off-putting musical energy can be established, and then taken in an upwards direction to keep the viewer more and more on the edge of their seat.
Does a certain area of your video game need calm and atmospheric music? A relaxing energy combined with a directional arrow that looks like a small sine wave can keep the player in exactly the mood you want.
Does your orchestra piece need to take listeners on a journey without the assistance of visuals or oral storytelling? Different energies with their own ups and downs can be crafted together to make a large, exciting musical adventure.
Whenever I write music, I am aware and thinking of the energy and direction of a piece, and this mindset allows me to put out music that I believe is consistently good.