what you see here is unfinished. I am deaf in one ear and have not had assistance with mixing and mastering (yet).
I feel confident enough to share these pieces here, while also accepting that my compositions and lyrical songs that are my best work, are never finished enough to get here. This is because they are more complex and difficult to produce all on my own without access to audio recording space, equipment and technical skills.
Cris derksen
I made this the day after Cris Derksen died, I was devastated. Cris didn’t know me but they were my composer idol.
Euphemia’s marrow
find your way out
falling for quite some time
I heard on the other side
voom voom!
this is not really anything I just like the “voom” sounds that start sound 30 seconds in. I recently started experimenting with electronic music styles, although this still has acoustic guitar (under the voomvoom!!). I was experimenting with layering very low end sounds with articulations and mod wheel (I think this is cello and some analog synth)
This is how I make music…
Sonification
I am a self-taught multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and composer. I play piano, guitar and steel tongue drums, priarily and other stringed instruments such as cello, banjo and ukulele, occasionally. My practice spans both lyrical and instrumental work with a strong preference for acoustic and naturally appearing resonant sounds.
In my late teens and 20s, I learned to play guitar informally and collaboratively, through friendships with local indie musicians. In my 30s I began picking up some piano and in my 40s I became committed to piano as my primary instrument.
I made this choice as an ergonomically sustainable way to get back my love for music, while living with chronic pain and the physiological limitations of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Piano quickly became central to my practice as both an instrument and a powerful compositional and theoretical tool.
Production
I began recording and self-producing in my early twenties using a mic, a 2 track interface and even a 4 track tape recorder. Up until just a few years ago, I prioritized playing and composition over learning skillful sound engineering. Most of my recordings are technically rough. This reflects my values as an artist: I do it for the love of it and I don’t believe it is necessary to need to be great, exceptional or have a fan club, to stay with this hobby that brings me so much pleasure and has been such an important part of my life.
My desires as a musician and composer have expanded to a place where I would like more opportunities to learn from folks who have real knowledge and training that I have not had access to. I seek music community and have a strong desire to advance my theoretical knowledge and production skills. I currently work independently with limited resources, producing in a home environment rather than a studio.
My approach to production is low-budget and intentionally art-led, shaped by access and sustainability rather than commercial standards.
resonation
My music is practice-oriented and guided by whatever is present in the moment. I use sound as a sensory and artistic tool, working somatically from felt sense within my body.
I revisit and integrate elements over and over again. Sometimes it feels like my collection of compositions is a lifelong progress of resolving itself to one big thing.
I experience music creation as a place I go, rather than a thing I plan and do. I understand sound as a space where I have learned to focus my attention, connecting to resonation which allows me to receive harmonic details from the simplest notes.
My steel tongue drums have been particularly generative for this practice, as they allow compositions to emerge quickly through the flow of embodied resonation and gentle touch.