Music Compositions
by
Steven Vincent Johnson

All Compositions are in MP3 format, 64 kbs, FM Radio Quality.
(C) Copyright Steven Vincent Johnson
 

The following compositions were created by Steven Vincent Johnson using state of the art computer hardware and software that is now affordable to the public. The following compositions were created using hardware and software that a ten to twenty years ago would have cost tens and thousands of dollars to assemble. Now, for around two grand you can put together a reasonably professional home studio that would have cost a profession 50 to 150 thousand dollars not all that long ago.

Please note all compositions are copyright (C) Steven Vincent Johnson, all rights reserved. Feel free to download and enjoy these MP3 compositions for your own personal pleasure. Any public and/or commercial use of my compositions must first be negotiated through me.

Cakewalk PRO-AUDIO & SONAR s/w series was used to compose most of the the music.
Hardware: Yamaha's SW1000XG, PLG150-VL, and DS2416 digital mixing card
 

Steven Vincent Johnson

 

The Staharazad Series

The following compositions were partly inspired as an attempt to compose music for Fritha's performances.

Fritha's Presentation at the World Science Fiction & Fantasy Costume Masquarade Show year 2000 - 1.3 Meg, 2:57 - mp3
 

The Extended Version - "Northern Lights" - (Inspired by Fritha's Presentation at the World Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention of 2000. 3.1 Meg, 6:39 - mp3

NOTE: Some of the sound effects used were processed from ground based ELF-VLF recordings of Northern Lights captured and presented by Stephen P. McGrevy's web site. See his web site at: http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/mcgreevy/

 

Personal Inspirations
 

"Echos From My Memory" - 2.3 meg, 4:53, mp3. - Composed it on an AMDK6 PC a 400 MhZ processor speed using sound synthesis software created by Yamaha. This was my second attempt at music composition, after "Dance with the Rain Divas". No special hardware was used other than an audio card. All audio was software synthesized. Software: Cakewalk Pro Audio.

"Dancing With the Rain Divas" - 1.6 meg,  3:23, mp3. - This was a revision and vast improvement of a prior composition "Dance With the Rain Divas", which is no longer listed here. I used enhanced hardware, specifically YAMAHA's SW1000XG sound card. All audio was software and hardware synthesized, except for rain and thunder recorded off my front porch during a spring evening thunder storm, and laughter heard in the background, brought to you by my wife, Darlene P. Coltrain, playing the role of a Rain Diva. Software used: CakeWalk's SONAR and Acid Loops by Sonic Foundry.

"Is Pan Dreaming Tonight?" - 1.8 Meg, 3:47, mp3 - The astute listener might notice that this composition is a variation of "Dance[ing] of the Rain Divas" series. I consider this composition to be the final rendition. You may note that the Rain Diva spirits appear to have undergone a metamorphosis into Pan. The flute you hear as part of the main theme was generated using YAMAHA's PLG150-VL sound card. This is a fantastic card capable of mimicking a number of string, wood, and wind instruments with extraordinary accuracy. Unfortunately, some of my personal recordings of crickets occasionally heard chirping in the background did not convert as well into the mp3 format as I would have liked. Certain "chirps" come across almost as if they have a metallic characteristic. This does not happen in the more accurate *.wav files.

"ChronIllogical Time" - 1 meg, 1:33, mp3 - (C) 2009, A very different psychological flavor as compared to most of my other compositions. Just having fun!

"Pulse of the Body Electric" - 1 meg, 1:18, mp3 - (C) 2009, Think of the Energizer Bunny (or maybe even Thumper!) and Disco Madness! Very energizing.

"Laura" - 2.3 meg, 3:22, mp3 - (C) 2009. This interpretation is based on a guitar composition I created back in my 20s, oh so many decades ago. When I told my wife the title of this composition she asked, "Whose Laura?"

"Borealis" - 3.2 meg, 4:33, mp3 - (C) 2009, Methodical, Soothing.

"Will We Dance Again?" - 4 meg, 4:30, mp3 - (C) 2010, Soothing, then builds, then levels back down.

"Are We there Yet?" - 2.7 meg, 3:49, mp3 - (C) 2010, Mostly a slow dance through most of the composition.

"Pieces of Fabric" - 2.5 meg, 3:37, mp3 - (C) 2010, Another example of my continued efforts to craft a melody that no longer need to follow precisely a strict beat through out the entire composition.