RIUS - The Sounds of Technology Evolve Hi everyone! To be corny, let me first of all thank you for even looking at my site; I'd thank you all personally with a giant hug and a handshake if I could. Moving on: The Story. This all started out as me finding new ways to pass the time in college when I had no homework that demanded my immediate attention, and I bought a piece of software called GuitarPro. After about eight months of experimenting with this software I discovered that I had an incredibly powerful and effective tool for creating electronic music, a tool that I had become rather good at using. After talking with a relative of mine who is "in the biz," he listened to some of my music, and suggested I get out there and start selling it. A Triumphant Return is my third full album, and the first one really worth posting. Here are some song-by-song descriptions of what you have to listen to here: (All songs feature Drum Kit 16 from GuitarPro 5.0, as well as the listed instruments per song.) Dance 2.0 - A reworking of one of my older songs under the original title of d4nc3, this solid redirection of my then-writer's block features a rolling interplay of electronic sounds and piano, koto and string flourish, and gradually builds from a more light-hearted sound to something almost epic. Electric Grand Piano, Sawtooth Lead, Koto, Tremolo Strings, Cello Lily - An electronic reincarnation of a two-year old guitar lick of mine, Lily is the hardest song on the album. It is powered by driving 3/4 drum beats beneath a powerful mix of heavy guitar chords, church bells, guitar melody and scale play, and a haunting vocal pad. Listen closely for every part, if you can! Distortion Guitar (scale play), Overdriven Guitar (melodies/chords), Sawtooth Lead (bass), Bowed Synth Pad, Tubular Bells Boost - This song, despite its incredibly upbeat sound, was born from spite. A certain someone believed that my music could not be fit to energize a group of people, and so I set out to prove him wrong. Boost features a high-energy combination of syncopated beats over basic drums that support an ascending structure of what can only be described as a "warm" sound. Square Lead (primary sound), Overdriven Guitar (melody), Hammond Organ (secondary sound/countermelody), Electric Bass Guitar (bass line) Beat - Another song inspired by another, a friend once asked me if GuitarPro could make techno, and I said, "I don't know, let's find out!" This is the result: "head-bobbing" drum beats, bass clef strings, octave jumping electronics, and a sound that grows from driving to optimistic and by the end, something faintly dark. Sawtooth Lead (melody/counter-melody), Square Lead (melody/counter-melody), Contrabass (mid-line), Cello (bass line), Tubular Bells (accent) Starlight - Starlight produces a mix of adventurous tones with its switchbacks between syncopated and matching drums, allowance of different instruments to take the spotlight at different times, and a generally dominant music box. It stretches the traditional role of some instruments, like the shamisen, which is employed in some very rapid lines. This one has more of the happier sounding moments than other songs on the album. Music Box (melody/running line), Sawtooth Lead (bass line), Tremolo Strings (chord support/melody), Shamisen (melody/accent), Square Lead (bass/chord support) Radiation - After a totally random inspiration of melody, and listening to much industrial/electronic music, my mind gave birth to Radiation. This is a hard electronic song with more of the trademark high-Q's, fade-out/in's, rhythmic styles and melodic transitions of many other songs of the type. Aggressive electric guitar chords and dominating synth leads produce one of the most distinctive songs on the album. Square Lead (melody/counter melody), Sawtooth Lead (bass line), Cello (bass support), Overdriven Guitar (melody/chords) The Eyes of the Abyss - In every album I like to have one "final boss" song, as a tribute to the great Nobuo Uematsu who has inspired a great number of my musical works. This song is dominated by a dark church organ, supported by a number of other voices orchestral and non that incite a feeling of struggle against a dark force. This one is a bit more stylized than some of my other works, but seems to fit well after Radiation. Harpsichord (running line/chord play), Overdriven Guitar (Melody), Choir Aah's (Counter-melody/chord support), Church Organ (chords), Cello (bass), Timpani (bass accent) Triumph! - I wrote Triumph in honor of a friend's successful graduation from a downright tyrannical private high school. It gradually builds to feature three distinct melodies - koto, ocarina, and electric guitar - interplaying in tandem over a driving combination of electronic and drum lines. This one's for you, Kels. Sawtooth Lead (running line), Koto (melody1), Cello (bass), Ocarina (melody2), Overdriven Guitar (melody3) Shift - While writing A Triumphant Return, I discovered a melody I liked while playing around my acoustic guitar, and with a brief refresher on the forms of the heptatonic scales (which includes the "egyptian" scale), Shift was born. This is one of my more "rock"-ish songs, constructed primarily around electric guitars and rock beats with supporting sounds. Sound effects transition between phrases and engender a feeling of shifting sand. Overdriven Guitar (chords/melody), Electric Bass Guitar (bass line), Hammond Organ (counter-melody/chord support), Tubular Bells (accent/counter-melody) Vigor - One of my more electronic songs, again featuring high-Q's and a tight interplay of difficult rhythm. This is more positive energy, featuring many stop-starts, syncopated beats, harmonious running lines, and active electric guitar. It even takes a step that many musicians must eventually do, and holds a recurring phrase based on the Cannon chord progression. That's right, I admit it. Enjoy. Sawtooth Lead (running line), Square Lead (bass line), Overdriven Guitar (melody/counter-melody), Harpsichord (running line/counter-melody), Church Organ (chord support) Final Flight - Final Flight is reborn from an old, old guitar work of mine, that back in the day was full of errors and extraneous use of the wah pedal. Here now is a perfectly executed piece of driving rock, complete with church bell flourish, time-signature shifts, and fully realized bass lines. Overdriven Guitar (scale play/melody), Distortion Guitar (chords), Electric Bass Guitar (bass line), Tubular Bells (accent) Beyond the End... - My most post-apocalyptic song yet, composed specifically to end A Triumphant Return. This slow song features carefully considered drum beats and an interplay of strings and electrics that evoke the feeling of a slow march through a ruined land, trekking towards the eventual realization of the totality of destruction. The chord structure offers a faint hope through this feeling though, even if that hope is shrouded in the reality of trouble ahead. Overdriven Guitar (chord support/top line), Electric Bass Guitar (bass support), Square Lead (bass line), Tremolo Strings (melody), Choir Aah's (melody/counter-melody), Church Organ (chords/solo), Music Box (outtro melody) I hope you enjoy listening to the demos, even if you choose not to buy. Thanks again for your time!