This page is dedicated to the music I've written throughout the years. At one time, I was a serious composer. Now this has become more of a hobby of mine, as I compose only when occasion arises. I am presently pursuing different interests, as you will discover upon visiting the rest of my website. When the time comes, I'll continue fleshing out the many ideas I have.
If you like my music, perhaps you'd enjoy learning more about those who have influenced me, on my Other Music page.
Or you can click here to check out my history: Long Version OR Short Version.
On this page, I showcase samples of my music in the form of midi files. These files use your computer's own synthesizer. If you have any difficulties playing these files, consult your help menus to resolve the problems (and make sure your synthesizer volume is turned up).
I recorded most of these files using Digital Performer on a Macintosh while I was in college. The results are files that sound almost like me really playing. Oh, how I wish I still had access to this program! That day will come when I put together my in-house studio. (Hey, we can all dream!) For now, you can enjoy these samples:
Sonata 2 Mvt 3 - To this day, I've completed 2 piano sonatas. These are traditional sonatas, and they are very tonal (much to the dismay of some of my former music teachers). Perhaps this is indicative of my desire to hold to older traditions. I grew up with tonality, and didn't develop a taste for atonal works until I was already in college. Unlike Schoenberg, I will not avoid tonalities (even in my atonal works).
Sonata #2 is a three-movement piece. I started writing it in 1992, intending to write it for a girl I was seeing. She got a whole 1st movement, though I never gave it to her. We broke up when I was writing the 2nd movement. That movement starts with a slow moving B-major-7th fanfare chord, but then abruptly moves to the relative G#-minor. Gee! I wonder why? After a whole movement of "Life Sucks" and "Woe is Me", it ends with the same opening fanfare chord in G#-minor.
To prepare for the final movement, I move the fanfare chord to G#-major 7th, and I go right into the 3rd. That's where this midi file begins (no break between the two movements). This last movement is upbeat - as it represents me finding another girl - a different and better girl (the one I eventually married). As such, this movement is different from the rest of the sonata, sounding a lot like a Philip Glass piece, with very simplistic tonalities and lots of motion.
This movement is in Rondo form. After breaking away from the fanfare, I play the 1st theme, which is kind of short. The 2nd theme is something I found myself playing when I was bored in piano labs (hey good ideas come from the craziest places!). This 2nd theme ends with the octaves in the bass. The following episode moves to the parallel Ab-minor, where I play the 1st and 2nd themes again in minor. The 2nd episode moves back to Ab-Major, where I take time to sneak in the main theme from the 1st movement (as if to say: I found in my wife the same qualities I found in the first girl, only my wife had more). I then end the piece with one more statement of the 1st and 2nd themes in Ab-Major, then a coda, which is entirely in the key of G-major. Why? I don't know. Perhaps it's a statement that you never need to end where you begin.
Cockroaches - How about an atonal piece? This is the first in a series of 5 pieces called "Visions Regained." It's very short and has become a family favorite. Do you like roaches? I hate them. I'm even allergic to them. But growing up, my home was invaded by thousands of them. Aaah! So, how could I not capture such a tortuous experience in a composition? Try not to get the willies as you imagine cockroaches running every which way, and take heart that they get stomped on at the end of the piece!
Perhaps you recognize the reference to Prokofiev's "Visions Fugitive." In particular, you may want to compare my piece to his #10. In my title, I boast that I captured what Prokofiev didn't, but the reality is that Prokofiev had a little more success than I did!
Permutations - This is my thesis project for piano - 4 hands and orchestra. Compared with Cockroaches, this is crazy! It has lots of jazzy tall chords and lots of rhythm. If at first you don't like it, listen to it at least 3 times. On the 3rd time around, it'll start to make sense.
This file was created through Pro Tools. (This program isn't as cool as Performer, but it's what I have access to right now.) I pulled sounds from all over the internet including multiphonics and key clicks. I also recorded some sounds from the inside of my piano.
The piece is based on different permutations on a jazzy theme, going through a series of hexachords that differ from successive hexachords by a single semi-tone. This base is revealed in the string harmonics chords at measure 238 (radioactive - get it?) starting at 9:10. That's such a cool part! Other cool parts are when the 2 piano players play alone at 12:04. And then the largely tonal sounding part at 14:20 is a fun way to end the piece.
Storm Etude - My very first attempt at orchestrating. It's for chamber orchestra, and it depicts an oncoming storm. This was also recorded by ProTools.
At first, you hear thunder in the distance. Then comes the wind and rain. These pick up until the storm is in full swing around 2:40. After a brief calm at around 3:15, the wind picks up even more till it's a full blown wind event at 4:02. After a climax, the calm after the storm begins at 4:37, though you can still hear wind in the distance and some last drops of rain (and even a couple of birds). Finally the sun comes out at 6:21 to end the piece.
Sonatina #2 mvt 1 - This is a simple, jolly piece in typical Sonata-Allegro form, complete with a repeat on the exposition. I composed the entire exposition on an Easter Sunday in my high-school years. Normally, I try not to compose on a Sunday, but this came out so fast, and it was so jolly, I couldn't wait to commit it to memory. If it helps you feel better, I didn't actually write it down until after that Sunday. The rest of the piece (the development group and the recapitulation) came to me shortly afterwards - just a natural continuation of what I wrote before.
Why a "sonatina" and not a "sonata"? It doesn't do as much as you might expect in a sonata. In total, I've written three of the sonatinas, and they all came out fast.
Serenade - This was the first piece I wrote for my wife. It's somewhat like a Rachmaninoff slow piece. I wrote it during Christmas break, and presented it to her on her birthday. I proposed a few days later. (How could she possibly resist?) Some that hear this piece say that it's not complete - that I need to add more to it. Perhaps I will. What do you think?
Slumber - The 2nd piece I wrote for my wife. In this piece, I imagine falling asleep with my wife. After the slow opening, I insert a dreamy middle section, where I start a theme, back away, add to the theme, back away again, etc., until I finally get out the whole theme - well sort of. When it feels like more might be coming, I slow the music down and go back to the slow theme. Danger: don't operate vehicles while listening to this music!
Expecting - The 3rd piece for my wife. (Or was it really for my first child?) My wife was pregnant, and we didn't know the gender, so I wrote a piece about it. Throughout the piece, there are hints of G (for "Girl") and B (for "Boy") - trying to predict what the baby would be. The piece starts on a solitary E (for "Expecting"), and continues in the neutral key of A minor (the average between G and B). In the 10th measure (kind of hard to hear - see if you can hear it at 40 seconds), there's the first hint of a B in the bass - suddenly lower than everything else. It sticks out as being the 7th in a C-Major7 chord (something Prokofiev likes to do - invert Major7 chords with the 7th or 3rd in the bass). The piece continues as if the B were a mistake, and lands in the key of G for some time. It makes its way to B Major. Then it goes back to A minor. Finally, in the end it sticks with E Major, as if to say, "You'll find out when the baby's born." It was a girl.
There's also a 4th piece I wrote for my wife, but I wrote that after my college days, so alas, I was unable to record it!
Pepper - My wife wasn't the only one who got songs from me. Pepper was a girl I met one summer. She told me I was cute on the first day. She had me sit on a log next to her. Just when I thought we would kiss, she got up and said, "Oh no! Here comes my boyfriend." I soon learned that she had several boyfriends - crazy girl! So what did I do? I wrote her a song. That got her attention for a few days. Then she moved on. Even we composers can be suckers.
Anyways, this is a simple tune in A-B-A format. I've been told this would make great movie music, so I had to make sure to record it. Don't try too hard to picture a chick flick while you listen to this!
My Special Girl - While we're on the subject of girls, here's one last one. This was the first piece I ever wrote down and didn't lose. I refer to it as my opus 1 no 1. I composed it on a VIC-20 when I was in 8th grade. It's a mystery as to who this "special girl" could be. Was it my mom? Was it a crush I had in 8th grade? Was it my future wife - the one I was looking for? Was it my Grandma, who was my favorite person growing up? Or was it my sister? (Ew.) Or possibly even my future daughter? (I admit I've told her that!) I shall never tell! For if I told the truth, no one would believe me!
The piece is simple - in A-B-A format. It's mainly in C-major. I seldom use more than 3 notes at a time, mainly because the VIC-20 can't produce more tones than that simultaneously. I programmed the computer to play one octave on the keys Z-<comma>; the middle octave on keys A-K; and the top octave on keys Q-I. I later added a couple of notes when I wrote this down on paper. Don't ask me why I ended in A-minor. That was when I was bombarded by tons of songs on the radio that liked to end in the relative minor. I'm so glad I grew out of that stage! (Or did I? See Sonata 2 Mvt 3 above!)
Starlight and Carnations - My first "commissioned" piece. Our church was holding a dance/talent show, and the theme was "Starlight and Carnations". I wonder what they were parodying! Anyways, I threw this together. Enjoy the jazzy chords! Was I listening to too much Dave Brubeck?
Have you heard it said that Beethoven never wrote a piece of music for anyone - that is, he was never commissioned to write a piece? If I don't count this Starlight piece, then I'm in good company! I've never been commissioned. Perhaps I never will. But hey! If someone pays me a few ten grand, I'm sure I could throw something together. I'll even do something orchestral!
Photographs - This was one of my father's favorites. Though he always pushed for me to pursue a career in math, he always saw this piece as promise of my success in a musical career. He pictures someone playing a rinky-dink piano in a saloon. Maybe if I put out a beer mug, people will give me money! Wait a minute, I don't drink!
Eternity - This is one in a set called "Pieces of Time." I have a "Second", "Hour", and "Millenium", and this piece: "Eternity." Despite its name, it's a short piece. I don't remember why I gave it that name, but it's a pretty piece - one of those movie music pieces.
Sunset/Star atop Apsan - These two pieces are to end my unfinished collection called "Korean Visions". This set reminisces on my experiences in Korea. "Sunset" starts with my favorite chord: F-Major 7th, spelled out in open 5ths, that is F-C and A-E. The piece slowly dies out with a slow ending. It ends on a lone C, which becomes the starting note of the next piece.
"Star atop Apsan" refers to a mountain next to Taegu, Korea. As the sun sets, we see a star appear above the mountain. Listen carefully to the bass, and you may notice "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" upside down and backwards - a variation I think Mozart left out! The right hand plays a melody that thinks it's in C Major, while the left stays in C minor. After the melody drops out for two chords, it comes back compromising - acknowledging Bb and Eb, but not Ab. I suppose this was my first attempt at polytonality.
We Three Kings - Just in time for Christmas, I composed this little arrangement for piano and male trio for our church's 2006 Christmas program. It's not much, but it has a few cool jazzy chords - and besides, it's Christmas! Unlike most of the other files, I put this file together with a really old version of Finale. Enjoy!