Computers and Music
New Composition - "American Video Game"
I felt like writing a tune so I wrote a song called "
American Video Game". There are definite influences of American pop music in this song, as well as a bit of jazz, and my favorite chord, C+7(#9). (If anything, this song is too short. But I'd rather err on the side of brevity.) Please click below to listen, and let me know what you think!
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American Video Game (MP3 audio - time 1:23) - composed and performed by Geoff Peters
New Live Recording - Sea Journey
On last New Years eve, I performed on piano with Mark White (bass) and guest drummer Brennan Saul at Cactus Club in West Vancouver. I recorded the performance using my Minidisc and the recordings turned out to be quite good! I was listening back to the performance and enjoyed listening to two of the tunes in particular. Please click below to listen, and please let me know what you think! :)
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Sea Journey (tune by Chick Corea) - Mp3 time 6:27 - performed by Geoff Peters Trio>
Summertime - Mp3 time 6:23 - performed by Geoff Peters Trio
Mixing Samba with Hip Hop
The opening song to the movie
Over Her Dead Body really caught my attention - it's a 2006 remix of the Brazilian hit song Mas Que Nada (
see wikipedia), by
Sérgio Mendes and the
Black Eyed Peas. Although the song was written and made popular in Brazil in 1963 by
Jorge Ben, it is best known in the US as the signature song of Sérgio Mendes.
What I really like about this track is the effortless way that Mendes and the Black Eyed Peas have blended a Brazilian samba with acoustic guitar, Latin piano, percussion and Portuguese female vocals, with the Black Eyed Peas male hip-hop vocals and a dance-club bassline. They've stayed true to the harmonic structures of the original song, with the same breaks/syncopation at the turnarounds as in the original, and they even added a great piano solo by Mendes himself.
This tracks is really worth seeking out.
Click here to find it on Itunes (On Itunes you can listen to a 1 minute preview, and then get the whole track for 99 cents - it's worth the download, believe me!!)
Indie music on the Internet
I just checked out a few Indie bands on the 'net... they're pretty cool:
The Guitar Zeros - they play real music using the Guitar hero video game controllers. It's actually quite sophisticated how they converted their video game controllers into instruments.
Bad Buddha - I listened to one of their tracks which sounded very live and authentic, but fusion-like, with funky drums, jazz saxophone and rock guitar/singing.
La Danse des Spaghettis by: Mister Crunch, album: Gastric Tribulations. Cool French rock with flute.
http://thumbsupradio.com/play.php -
Thumbs Up Radio is a cool concept for Internet radio by Indie artists. Check it out - there is some awesome fresh music on there!
New Composition - Ballad for Bedtime
It was just about past my bedtime so I wrote a little pop song before falling asleep. One of my goals as a composer is to create
beautiful music. If I am able to add a little bit more beauty to someone's day when they listen to one of my songs, I feel I have succeeded. Anyways, please have a listen to my new song and let me know what you think!
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Ballad for Bedtime (Mp3 time 3:02) - composed and performed by Geoff Peters