Cassie - 20 minutes 1 second

Strings, piano and a church organ - written in memory of a good friend .

Put the words “Creative Process” into Google and you’ll get over 95 million results – maybe I should read a few but I’m inherently suspicious of patented 4 step systems, 5 stage cycles or 8 discrete states of consciousness.

Creativity is the Holy Grail for composers – at least it is for me. The idea that by the time I have finished, there will be something that hasn’t existed in that form before is both thrilling and terrifying. If I think too much about it I get paralyzed – for me it’s kind of like the late Douglas Adams’ approach to Flying.

So, I sit at the piano, often with a metronome keeping time in the background and I play; I play anything that comes to mind, whatever my fingers want to come up with, doesn’t matter if I’ve played it before or if it belongs to someone else – I just play – and then – I start to think about something.

Cassie was Charlotte’s companion and I wrote this for her after Cassie had passed away. Charlotte has far better words than I do – you can read about Cassie here.

1218 - 22 Minutes 19 Seconds

A favorite for document production and creative thinking. Varying tempos and themes encourage the flow of of ideas towards a triumphant finish!.

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You know the feeling when you are pushing the boundaries? When you are trying on new things and they are all working, when everything is going right and the future just looks amazing? That is this track, it is about manifesting, spending what you have and actually building and growing. There is a constant movement to the session, voices trying out new things, there is a lot of energy, themes are developed quickly and change happens. It's an early piece of music2work2 so there is no beat track - the energy and movement comes from the combination of different ideas and different voices.

This is great music to have on while you are doing a hundred different things at the same time: say 24 tabs open in Firefox and another 15 inside Chrome - 10 tabs inside Dreamweaver and 13 different images in Photoshop, Word and Notepad, Tweetdeck and Skype - and you're using them all. It's not about pumping you full of energy - it's about how you spend your energy- how you flow. I love the image from Lacie Babenco that goes with this track - it's the expression on her face and the words she has on the image page - everyone brings their own perspective to art - for me - the image makes me smile and the words are terribly familiar.

I remember being in a really great place when I recorded the track in 2003 (on the twelfth of December!). I had taken a two week break from the keyboard having just made a breakthrough with Wendi's Theme, I was excited to be playing and eager to hear what came out. The final theme of the session comes out loud and clear and is another one that will be developed over time.

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1218 is part of The Thinker's Playlist.

The Duel - 11 Minutes 56 Seconds

Ever felt as if work is a battle? The Duel is about starting something, generating energy through creative conflict and yet ultimately finding some kind of a solution.

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Face Off - "Something needs to happen and it needs to happen right now!"
1:00 - 2:25

My life was in turmoil when I recorded this, change was imminent and necessary and the title of the session reflects more about what I was doing at the time than anything the music is doing! Having said that, this session was a considered attempt at delivering a piano track built to accomodate one if not two voices on top of it. In Eminor, the session was written with a guitar in mind

Sizing Each Other Up
2:25 - 8:30

I look forward to taking this session to a real orchestra - I think it will sound amazing. Having established the string and piano combination, the session continues to develop with what is supposed to sound like a guitar but is unlike any guitar voice I've ever heard! It is the hypnotic intensity of these parts of the session that help me lock down an idea or a concept when I am working on it. Its almost like the music sits in the background and creates this space which allows me to completely focus on the screen or the idea. Also great for brainstorming sessions with groups, the shifts in the music can shift the mood of the group encouraging new thinking - and yes - I have used this during Corporate brainstorms.

The Winner
8:30 min

Winning is an intangible concept when you're not concerned with scoring points for a team or crossing a real finish line first. Everbody's values are so different that success is totally dependent upon whether you think you won or not! The Duel examines the relationships between different voices; identifying conflict, leaving space for each voice to breathe, sometimes clicking together perfectly, sometimes missing, but always there, moving forward.

I find the solo piano transition into the final organ voice funny in that, it really shouldn't be there! The final theme is very hopeful to me, it always leaves me in a quietly optimistic and pensive state of mind. Balance is essential, especially after an intense bought of creativity. The opportunity to relax and think about what has just been achieved is very welcome as the final few minutes of the session gently and comfortably come to an end.

Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation

May is National Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome awareness month. music2work2 will be donating all net proceeds from the sale of The Duel during the month of May to The Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation . All of the music on this album was written while I working at EDNF, The Duel seems such an appropriate title as the experience of having EDS often feels like a battle. Please take a minute to visit the EDNF website and do what you can to raise awareness of this little known but often devastating disorder.

If you like the track you can share it across your Networks – just click share on the right of the player.

The Duel is part of The Lovers and Optimists Playlist.