MUSIC COMPOSITION

I really enjoy composing my own electronic music, mainly to run as backing tracks for some of the educational videos I do. This meant that they started out not being hugely melodic and a bit formulaic (8-10sec quiet intro for titles, distinct separators for topics changes, etc), but served to establish an up-beat rhythm to kick the visuals along. It has taken me a few decades to get beyond that, but I've learnt so much in the last few years and like to think that I'm finally getting better at basic musical structure and creating a decent rhythm. I'm really happy with my latest stuff, but you will have to be the judge if you .

Orchestral Journey (2025)

Reimagining Things (2025)

Second Thoughts (2024)

Experiments in Techno (2022)

Experiments in Syncopation II (2021)

Experiments in Syncopation (2012)

Orchestral Journey 2025

Having learnt so much by remixing and remastering my previously released tracks, I finally got some quality time to work on some half-finished new ones that have been slowly piling up. I've had so much fun with the new orchestration tools, and discovered some amazing ways to simulate freestyle guitar and piano riffs using vocalisation input. I used the vocaliser more normally in a few of these tracks (or abnormally depending on your musical taste), but have several more experiments in the pipeline for release when I get some more time.

If you can't see a list of music tracks, try SoundCloud directly. The set is called 'Orchestral Journey' and is by drajmarsh.

Reimagining Things 2025

Guess who got some orchestration and vocalisation plugins for Christmas. Actually it was Christmas 2023/24, but I haven't had much opportunity to play and it has taken quite a while to get my head around them. However, what they can do is just absolutely mind blowing. I'm finally starting to get close to the sound I've always had in my head but could never make happen. This release is me reworking the structure of some of my previous tracks - adding some breaks, drops and transitions, and hopefully a better production quality.

If you can't see a list of music tracks, try SoundCloud directly. The set is called 'Reimagining Things' and is by drajmarsh.

Second Thoughts 2024

This is a continuation of my experimentation with techno and trance techniques. I upgraded my Reason rack and got some new plugins, so have been trying things out when I get time. This release is a collection of second take versions of some of my favourite themes.

If you can't see a list of music tracks, try SoundCloud directly. The set is called 'Second Thoughts' and is by drajmarsh.

Experiments in Techno 2022

I've been listening to some new techno and trance music as I code recently, and am really getting in to A State of Trance. I've always loved that kind of stuff, but I've never really been able to structure my own tracks to achieve that feel. This release started out as an attempt at techno, but that's still a work in progress. However, I'm still pretty happy with the results.

If you can't see a list of music tracks, try SoundCloud directly. The set is called 'Experiments in Techno' and is by drajmarsh.

Experiments in Syncopation II 2021

Having a child kind of put my music production on hold for a while. However, I'm finally starting to get back into it and this release is a continuation of my experiments with arpeggiation and asynchrony. I have actually used some of these in recent videos.

If you can't see a list of music tracks, try SoundCloud directly. The set is called 'Experiments in Syncopation II' and is by drajmarsh.

Experiments in Syncopation2012

This is an assembly of tracks I've been working for a while now and finally got around to putting together a release. I am currently having a heap of fun with arpeggiation and asynchrony to see what kind of patterns I can put together.

If you can't see a list of music tracks, try SoundCloud directly. The set is called 'Experiments in Syncopation' and is by drajmarsh.

Some Background

I do find it pretty amazing how music software has now pretty well entirely replaced all the gear you used to need in a home recording studio. As you can see in the images below, I had a fair bit of stuff to lug around way back when I was a student just getting into electronic music. Now, of course, you can have all that capability on a small laptop. Moreover, you can line up any number of virtual modules and effects units on a track without being limited by the single rack-mounted reverb you once had to route everything through.

**1992**: This was my MIDI synthesiser and sampler setup circa 1992 when I was a Uni student.

**2011**: My Reason 4 workstation in 2011. The microphone is there solely for training video voice-overs, I harbour absolutely no singing ambitions.

**2022**: This was my Reason 12 setup in 2022. The latest keyboard controllers do pretty well everything now, so I just need one of those and some decent monitors and headphones.

**2023**: Added a Samsung M7 monitor that was recently on sale, but the rest of the setup seems to suits my needs pretty well.

Reason is the perfect tool for someone like me who started off by physically plugging stuff together. Its interface is a near perfect simulacrum of that rack-mounted workflow. I've barely scratched the surface of what it can do, but the fact that I can do just as much on my laptop when I'm travelling as I can when home on the iMac is just great.