Instrumentality is a record of a mad musical adventure that I embarked upon during the countless hours of extra free time I enjoyed during the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. This is not an adventure that is likely to end any time soon, because the musical universe seems to expand along with your imagination.
I hope Instrumentality will also be a useful resource for other people interested in writing songs, composing instrumental pieces, putting together soundtracks to videos or games, or generally just messing about with music.
This is not a site for advanced musical technicians. This is for the seven billion plus people out there who are capable of expressing themselves through music but aren’t sure where to start or what to try next.
In these pages, I share many pieces of music that I have written, in many cases especially for this site. I consider them sketches rather than finished artworks. To expedite the process, I have made full use of sample libraries, only occasionally picking up a real instrument. That is not because the pieces wouldn’t have been better with real musicians, it’s just a reflection of the limited resources available right now.
The adventure starts here
Labwerks provides a safe space for experimentation with musical ideas. Work is underway in six corners of the lab, three of which have published preliminary findings: Rhythm, Tempo and Melody
Results are expected soon on Harmony, Progressions and Lyrics.
Instrumming explores the opportunities provided by particular musical instruments, traditional and modern, and from across the world. Three instruments have been explored so far: Nylon-string guitar, Flute and Violin. Many more will follow.
Sparks answers the question ‘Where does music come from?’ A musical composition has to start somewhere; it needs some sort of catalyst. The purpose of Sparks is to hunt down those catalysts and expose them to examination. Sparks is/are coming soon.
Alchemy explores the magic that emanates from music. It’s too easy to over-analyse music and try and turn it into an engineering discipline. Here we explore the alchemy of music and see how we can exploit this to create an emotional reaction to our compositions.
