Feb 5 2013

First Sale and “Ulalume”

Greetings,

I know I haven’t really posted on here in a while. I’ve been quite busy with personal stuff as well as trying to get my music stuff all updated for ya’ll. I recently had to delay the completion of a piece because I didn’t feel I would come up with anything by the time the publication deadline came around. That deadline is later this month by the way. So, I’m taking a little break from composing before I start on my next piece for band. I’ve got some ideas, but I’m not 100% sure on what the character (sound world) of the piece should be. It’s not due until May (I think) so I have plenty of time.

In other news, I made my first sale through the website last week. I was really excited when it happened. I had a few frustrations with getting things to work properly, but it worked itself out in the end. The purchase was made by the conductor of the Columbus State Community College Concert Band here in Columbus, OH. They will be performing “Banshee: Woman of the Mound” in November. Mark your calendars  I’m particularly excited because this is the second performance of “Banshee” in 3 years and I wasn’t sure if it would ever be performed again. A big thanks to Mr. Thomas Lloyd for the performance opportunity. Maybe I’ll get more pieces performed this year. I never really know. If you’ve been feeling scared to purchase one of my pieces, don’t be. Head on over to the PURCHASE page and select what piece (or pieces) you want to perform. You can even commission a piece if you don’t like any of the pieces I have completed.

That’s all I really have at the moment. I’m sure I’ll have more news as the year progresses. Oh yeah! I completed my first lyrical piece last month. You can view it HERE. I’ve been getting some pretty good reviews. Feel free to listen to it, tell your friends, tell conductors, and purchase the piece. Thanks!

Peace,

C.L. Winston

By Carlton Winston • Posted in Music
1
Dec 4 2012

2012: The Year of the Carlton? Not really…

Greetings,

For the past 2 years, I’ve consistently posted my reflection of what has occurred throughout the year. This is always a time for me to look back to see what I have and haven’t accomplished. It allows me to make goals for myself and push myself even further for the new year. This year is no different. In fact, 2012 has been my most productive year to date.

In 2012, I’ve completed 4 pieces of music. Yes, you read that correctly. FOUR! That is the most music I’ve written in a single year. To some, that may not be a big deal — especially to those of you that work for big publishing companies or receive many commissions — but to me that is quite the accomplishment. Since I began composing music at the end of my senior year of high school (that was 2008, folks), I’ve cranked out at least 2 pieces a year. The exception being 2009 when I only wrote my first band piece. My philosophy has always been, and continues to be, quality over quantity. I’m sure there are many composers who will agree with me.

I know composers who don’t write a single piece in a given year, but then crank out a damn good piece the next year. Those same composers are the ones that I greatly admire and look to for inspiration. A few of them are even younger than I am. Now, what four pieces have I completed you may be asking yourself? Well, one of those pieces is my most difficult band piece to date. Two of them are chamber works; both of them were requested by friends (by friends, I mean Facebook friends). The fourth piece is something I wrote that can be used for film and television trailers. Why is this significant? Well, I’m trying to improve my skills so that I may eventually write for film. That’s a stretch I know. I’m even starting to utilize film scoring techniques in the concert medium.

Were there any performances this year? You betcha! Two of them in fact. “Dionysian Mysteries” was premiered in May and “Sedulous” was premiered in November. “Nibiru, the Bringer of Doom” will be premiered on December 15th! Yeah, that’s next Saturday. Even though I wasn’t able to physically attend these performances, I have received pretty nice video recordings of them. Last year, I made the case that my music wasn’t performed that much. Is that still the case? Sure it is, but my music also seems to be getting exposed to more and more people. I’m very thankful to those that have performed my music, as mediocre as the music may sound. I also appreciate those that have given me both positive and negative feedback on my music.

What’s in store for next year? More exposure! JW Pepper has introduced a program called My Score that has gotten some pretty good reviews by composers I know. You can read this wonderful article by fellow composer and Facebook friend, Dr. Rob Deemer. With JW Pepper hopefully distributing my band music, perhaps I will gain more performances. Now, I understand that this will not happen instantly. It never really does…well, not for me at least. Patience is the reason why I’m able to say that I’ve written a pretty fair amount of music this year.

So, what will I be working on for next year? Well, currently, I’m finishing up a lyrical band piece that is aimed towards advanced middle school and standard high school bands. It will be the first time I’ve written a piece that is entirely lyrical. Slow usually comes to mind when I think of lyrical. I’m very excited about it. I will then move on to a euphonium and piano piece that I’ve been putting off since my Euphonium Professor at Ohio University told me I needed to write a piece for the instrument. I then plan on writing a fairly easy middle school band piece that might be published by The Devmusic Company. I’ll try to write some trailer music in between these pieces before the year winds down. You can also just check out what I have on my docket on the CURRENT PROJECTS page.

Well, that’s it. I hope you guys stick with me for another year. Maybe I’ll write 5 pieces next year. I seriously doubt it…

Peace,

C.L. Winston

By Carlton Winston • Posted in Music
1
Aug 10 2012

New Trailer Music from Me

Greetings,

I know it’s been a while since my last post, but I’ve been quite busy with other things. Enough of that. Let’s get to the reason I’m writing this post. I was contacted by a media company back in July called AudioNeptune. They were impressed with my music and asked if I would be interested in writing music for their company that could be used for film, television, and other forms of video media. I had to think about it for a few days because I wanted to see how legit the company was. It turns out, they’re pretty legit. So, I accepted the offer and decided to become an exclusive composer with them. Now, what does that mean? Will I stop writing band music? Of course not. In addition to writing band music for you guys, I will now write cinematic music that can ONLY be heard AND purchased through AudioNeptune. My goal is to crank out at least 2 works a year for AudioNeptune.

The real reason I’m making this post is because I recently submitted my first composition that you can actually purchase if you happen be the kind of person that needs music for a trailer of some kind. You can give the piece a listen or two or fifty billion HERE. If you just want to own the piece, feel free to purchase it. It really helps. Well, that’s everything I really wanted to post. Currently, I’m working on a second trailer music piece as well as a possible slow grade 4 band piece. I say possible because I’m not really sure if I write an interesting slow piece. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Peace,

C.L. Winston

May 23 2012

Ares is Here

Greetings

I’ve finally finished my newest piece, “Ares“, for symphonic band. For those of you that don’t know who Ares was (do you really not know who Ares was?), he was the Greek god of war in Greek mythology. Not this god of war. (Although, Kratos is incredibly badass.) I’d originally wanted this piece to be a twelve-tone moto perpetuo that dealt with my nightly struggles with insomnia. That didn’t really work. Obviously. I’d have to study more twelve-tone music before I even attempt to write a piece like that again.

I’ve always wanted to write music that was incredibly savage and engaging. Dissonant chords and bombastic percussion galore! When I finally settled on the idea of Ares being the inspiration of this piece, I knew I was in for a challenge. Not only did I have to push myself to write material that was more dissonant than I usually write, but I also had to write a piece that would challenge every single instrument. Since  I’ve grown more in love with film and video game music — after so many people have told me my music sounds like it belongs in movies– I knew I wanted to go a bit cinematic with this piece. I think it relates more to the genre of trailer music. By the way, the soundtracks to all of the God of War games greatly inspired the direction in which I wanted to take this piece. Especially this track from “God of War 2“, although it isn’t on the official soundtrack. Some inspiration from Two Steps From Hell also helped.

Structurally, the piece is your standard ternary form. INTRO-A-B-A-CODA. For those of you familiar with my piece “Dionysian Mysteries“, you’ll notice fragments of that piece in B. This piece also changes meters during its entire duration. Alternating between 7/8, 2/4, 3/4 and a few bars of 5/8, 5/4, 3/8, and 6/4 thrown in for variety. It doesn’t stay in one meter for more than one measure. That was a fun challenge seeing as most of my pieces tend to stay in one meter for a long time and then they might change to a different meter sometime later.

There is no set premiere. I can’t wait to hear this piece live. I know I say that with all of my pieces, but since this is new, I especially mean it! MIDI never really does my pieces justice (especially with my style of writing). If you want to call what I compose an actual “style”.

Now, go give the piece a listen/look. If you aren’t a fan of mixed meter, high-energy, dissonant music, I suggest you listen to “Ares” a million more times until you are! Now, it’s time for me to take a break from music before I start back up in the Fall.

Peace,

C.L. Winston

By Carlton Winston • Posted in Music
0
May 14 2012

Dionysian Mysteries Video

Greetings,

I don’t really have much to say. I’m still working on “Ares“. I’ll try to have that for you guys within the next two weeks. I’ve been incredibly busy getting things done as far as deadlines. Until I release “Ares”, please enjoy this video of the world premiere of “Dionysian Mysteries” by the SUNY Orange Symphonic Band this past Saturday. Enjoy!

By Carlton Winston • Posted in Music
0
Apr 5 2012

“Dionysian Mysteries” Narration Recorded!

Greetings,

As I struggle to complete the orchestration of my newest wind ensemble piece, “Ares“, I’ll update you guys on an event that I haven’t really mentioned in many of posts. I’m of course referring to the world premiere of “Dionysian Mysteries” by the SUNY Orange Symphonic Band. That takes place on Saturday, May 12th. I plan on being in attendance at the concert, but I guess we will see how things play themselves out. This post isn’t really about promoting the concert. It is actually to share an awesome image with you guys. As you know, “Dionysian Mysteries” contains a short narration at the beginning of the piece. This past Monday, Kevin Scott and Christine Chase Sacchi recorded the narration in an actual studio. Don’t believe me? Check this picture out!

By Carlton Winston • Posted in Music
0
Mar 14 2012

“Lifestyles: The Sims 3 Machinima”

Greetings,

Aside from posting those few chapters of my terrible “Resident Evil” fan fiction, I don’t usually post other projects that I am a part of. Well, I guess this will start being a regular thing. Before I present the project, let me give you a little background. I’ve always been very interested in voice acting. Whether it be for television, movies or whatever else requires one to make silly voices for animated characters. I’ve been voice acting in various online projects off and on for about 6 years now. Many of those projects have either died or haven’t really gotten anywhere. Haha.

At any rate, the reason I am telling you all this is because a new series I lend my awful voice to will be releasing its first episode soon. I was asked to see if I could come up with the voice for one of the characters of the series back in January. Luckily, the creator of the series, Tara Hildebrand, loved the voice I came up with and I was asked to be a part of the project. Now, the teaser trailer for the series has been released today. I provide the voice of the character sitting on the couch at the beginning of the trailer. His name is Cameron Hills. He doesn’t really speak during the trailer, but I can assure you I have lines in the actual series. Haha. You’ll even see the character play some piano in the trailer. Better than me it seems. Haha. Well, enough with my blabbering. Here is the trailer for the upcoming Sims 3 series, “Lifestyles”.

Peace,

C.L. Winston

P.S. I’m still working on this wind ensemble piece that can work as a companion piece to “Dionysian Mysteries“. Hopefully, in my next post, I will give you guys more information. Until then, enjoy that trailer.

Feb 11 2012

Quick Update (Part 2)

Greetings,

I won’t be posting any more chapters of “Resident Evil: Requisition” on my website from now on. I’m trying to keep this site strickly about music and other projects I am currently working on. If you want to continue reading the story (there really isn’t much left), you can view the other chapters HERE. My apologies to those of you that actually wanted to continue reading the story.

In music related news, I’m in talks for organizing a consortium for my Soprano Saxophone concertino (I’m thinking about changing the solo instrument to Oboe). I’ll release more information about that as the details are finalized. Email me if you would like to be a part of the consortium. The piece won’t be premiered for another year. Currently, I’m working on a piece that may be even more difficult than “Nibiru, the Bringer of Doom“. As soon as I finish this piece, I’ll have a little MIDI audio excerpt up for you guys. Stay tuned here for more news regarding myself or things that interest me.

Peace,

C.L. Winston

By Carlton Winston • Posted in Music
0
Feb 3 2012

Resident Evil: Requisition – Chapter 2

Tuesday, August 8, 2006, 10: 20 P.M.
Alley

Through the door Philip saw a guy about the same age as him. His hair was a straight brown and his eyes were blue. He wore a black tan top shirt with a cap. His pants were also jet black and had denim fabric. His name was Ben Caldwell and he was one of many of the new S.T.A.R.S. members being recruited. Ben had an enhanced version of Philip’s Beretta which Ben’s is called a Beretta 92FS 9mm-SD.
“What’s up, need a welcoming committee?” Ben asked.
“Sure do,” remarked Philip.
Philip ran out the back door with Ben and what do you know, they saw a horde of flesh eating zombies. The zombies were closing in and staring at the two men’s peach skin.
“Where’s your car?” Ben asked.
“In the front of the diner,” Philip requested.
“Mine is down this alley, let’s just hope we make it in one piece,” hesitated Ben.
He continued.
“How many bullets can your Beretta hold?
“45 tops,” Philip told him.
“I can hold up to 55, so we’re cool,” said Ben.
Philip and Ben ran down the alley passing the zombies. The zombies attempted to grab our heroes but had no luck. Ben was ahead of Philip and was showing a great effort of leadership. Philip kept looking back at the flesh eaters as they were trying to get them.
“Why are you side tracing,” Ben yelled.
Ben then hit up against a trash can and knocked it over. Behind that trash can was a hobo zombie, sleeping but he was awakened by the sudden bump of Ben against his home. The zombie rose up and looked at Philip who was falling behind.
“What the?” Philip hesitated as the zombie walked towards him.
The zombie moaned and smelled of decay and dead animal. Philip didn’t back up because he knew that if he took even further steps the zombies behind him were sure to have a great meal. So with no other option, Philip aimed his Beretta 92FS at the ugly hobo zombie and shot him between the eyes. The zombie fell over and didn’t move again. Other zombies behind Philip stopped as they saw the head lights of Ben’s car. It was a black Raccoon City Police Department car. Ben ran over the dead hobo zombie and stopped in front of Philip.
“Are you getting in or not?” Ben yelled.
Philip ran around to the passenger side of the car and got in. Ben stepped on the gas real hard and rammed right into the zombies in the alley. Their body parts flew on the car and blood was smeared on the tires, windshield, and the hood. Ben turned on the wipers as he got out onto the main road.
“What the hell is going on here?” Philip asked.
“Well have you ever heard of Umbrella?” Ben asked.
“Yea I’ve heard of it,” Philip remarked.
“Well you know about the strange occurrences?” Ben suggested.
“Yea,” Philip remarked again.
“Well umbrella has unleashed both the T- Virus, and G-Virus onto Raccoon City. I am the only S.T.A.R.S. member alive… I think. Well it seems that umbrella has yet unleashed another virus called the U- Virus or the Unknown because no one is sure of what the virus is capable of doing to anyone,” Ben lectured.
“Whoa, and I thought humans were the only ones infected,” Philip said.
“What! You’re not a resident of Raccoon City?” Ben asked.
“Me no. I just came here because my car was running out of gas,” Philip told Ben.
Ben drove the car down the streets and looked out to see if there were any zombies.
“Well as long as we stick together, you and I will be alright,” Ben said with the up most confidence.

Jan 28 2012

Resident Evil: Requisition – Chapter 1

My apologies for being so late with this thing, but here it is. I promise I will post Chapter 2 as scheduled next Friday.

 

Tuesday, August 8, 2006, 9:59 P.M.
Raccoon City

The night had an eerie feel to it. There seemed as though there was nothing in the unilluminated city. The streets had nothing but the fly by of newspapers that read “THE NIGHTMARE HAS ENDED.” On a highway in the outskirts of the cuty was a person in a white Dodge Convertible, exiting at the sign that read “WELCOME TO RA—– CITY.” The two “c’s, two “o’s,” and the “n” were all missing from the sign. The car passed many of the apartments established on the sidewalks of the ghost town. Cardboard boxes zipped pass as the car sped pass then. The driver stopped at a local gas station to fill up his car. As he got out of the car, the man was white with straight black hair. His eyes were a deep blue color and he wore a jacket with a skull on the back. His pants were blue jeans with denim features. The man’s name was Philip Allen and he was on a vacation. He walked into the gas station’s diner and looked around inside.
“Hello, is anybody here?” Philip asked.
There was no response. Utter silence was occupied within the room. The only sound was that of the rats roaming about in the floor in search for food. Philip looked around the diner and saw nothing. Not even customers. He sat there alone with his head down and his fist balled up on the counter-top. Nothing seemed to be piecing together in his mind, just questions to what the hell was going on. He turned towards the kitchen and saw a television perched on a stand ledged in the wall. He walked up to the television and pressed the power button. The news was on. There was a news broadcasting woman on the air giving out some information. Philip was amazed.
“Here in our beloved city of Raccoon City, the streets seem to have been very quiet since exactly 9:59 P.M. When the clock had struck 10 o’ clock, our chopper man Dave Chandler had reported to see several individuals walking towards the way of a diner/gas station,” the broadcaster said hesitantly. She continued. “Although we have no real visual of what these people look like, we are clear that they are residents of Raccoon City.”
Philip turned off the television and sat down again. He put his hands behind his head and began to get comfortable. He sighed and continuously blew at the bangs over his forehead. Philip jumped as the diner’s door rang. He looked over at the door and saw a man with his head leaned over.
“Hey buddy,” Philip greeted towards the man.
The strange man walked towards the counter next to Philip. He checked the mini fridge next to him and took out a bottle of milk. The man opened the bottle and began to drink the milk. He seemed very clumsy because of how the milk was dripping onto the floor.
“Hey dude you okay?” Philip asked the man patting him on the shoulder.
The man lifted his head up and stared deep at Philip. Philip was scared stiff as he looked at the man. The man had milk white eyes; he was missing the right side of his cheeks so his teeth were showing. He moaned with hunger and looked at Philip as he began to back away.
“What the hell are you?” Philip asked.
The zombie walked closer to Philip with his arms to his side. Philip began reaching in his pocket. The zombie was getting even closer and Philip was getting even more scared. Philip took out his Beretta 92FS and aimed at the zombie’s head.
“Don’t step any closer,” Philip remarker.
The zombie kept coming towards him with hunger and disappointment. Philip became angry and aimed the gun again at the zombie.
“Goodbye,” Philip snickered.
The zombie was shocked and then shot in the head. The zombie fell over with a thud; as that wasn’t the only thud made. Outside the diner a swarm of zombies were gathered banging on the door rapidly. It seems that their hunger has led them to Philip. Philip loads his gun and hears the back door open.