WEEK 94: I Am Happy Here, Aren't You My Dear?

Hello!

This is one of my favorite instrumentals, for a few reasons:

1) The title can be perfectly sung with the main repeating melody. "I. Am. Happy here. Are. N't. You my dear?"  It's fun! TRY IT. NOW.

2) When you leave out bass, it becomes all the more startling and even emotional when it comes into a song. The bass showing up at 30 seconds in always moves me...It's a strange feeling that I can't quite put into words, but it feels like everything becomes more significant and also that it's settling down and resigned. Does that make sense?

3) The sllllllurrrrrrrrpppp wooooshhhhy thing that I do with my mouth in the 2nd half of the song. It's not as gross as it may seem. It just really fits the music, and I am just proud of myself for thinking of such a strange but appropriate layer to add on. They don't teach that sort of thing.

4) I feel like there's a lot of meaning that can be inferred from the title. The idea of someone in a couple being happy but not being sure their significant other is also happy. This was written at a time when I had a new girlfriend and I had some of those fears myself. All of these instrumentals I did are all pretty meaningful and specific to me. If anyone cares.

5) I like the little marching drum.

Anyway, enough of this. Check out the song! It's from May 30th, 2003.

Download the song by right-clicking here!

Or preview it here:

WEEK 91: Bouncy TV Theme

Hi guys!

This week's MP3 is one of my favorite instrumentals. It's actually a remake of an old instrumental called "Banjordian," which I made with a banjo. But while this one lacks banjo, it sounds a lot better.

This was made as a possible TV Theme for a real tv show, though I pretty much knew as I was making it that this didn't fit the tone of the show at all. So I ended up really just making it for myself. 

This instrumental features a fake accordion, and also a real accordion. WOW!

Download it by right-clicking here

or preview it:




Thanks for stopping by!

-Jordan

WEEK 90: Puddle Struggle

Hey! 

I'm going to try to update this more regularly.

This MP3 is an instrumental from April 9th, 2007. It's a dark somber piece and based on the title I kind of imagine someone falling in a puddle and thrashing around in slow motion melodramatically, trying to get back up.

I really, really love the music swell that happens starting at around 15 seconds. I think if this was a real orchestra and real cellos it would be quite beautiful.

Hope you enjoy!

DOWNLOAD IT BY CLICKING HERE


Or PREVIEW it:




-Jordan

WEEK 80: Gudsnuk

I bought 2 new instruments!


A melodica and a glockenspiel. Both very cheap but they sound great.


Here is a little MP3 I made in about 5 minutes, just to celebrate. Named after the great gal who informed me about the instruments being on sale at Amazon.


Download Gudsnuk here!




Preview it here:







Jordan

WEEK 79: Big Bonus

Hey everyone!  Sorry for the long delay!  But I'M BACK.

This week's MP3 is a dreamy spacey nice instrumental called "Big Bonus."  It was somewhat meant to sound like a bonus level in a videogame.  I was planning on using it for Crime Streets but then it didn't seem to fit with the rest of the tracks.


This is just a good example of a really nice riff that I can add melodies on top of endlessly. The only difficult part is keeping it from being TOO overstuffed with counter-melodies until it all sounds like a mess.  But I think this came out nice.  Enjoy!


Download it by right-clicking here!


Or preview it:






Thanks!

-Jordan

WEEK 78: Yous Guys

Hello yous guys!

This is one of my personal favorite instrumentals, from way back in 2003.

Not to be overly sentimental, and not to over-explain (being that it's an instrumental), but this was just meant as a happy ode to my friends. A very sweet and sincere "you guys are so great and funny!" exclamation, with each friend being represented by the different melody lines in the song.

This is one of the rare instrumentals that doesn't keep adding and adding elements, it's mainly just the main melody that just changes. Harder to do than simply building instruments (something that I could do on top of this chord progression for probably a million years.)

The ending, with the pretty acoustic guitar strum and some sort of suspended chord is the most glaringly obvious sentimental touch. Hope you like it!

Download it here!


Or preview it:




Jordan

WEEK 76: Trixaxis and Allies Score (AND SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!)

Hello!!!

I have not updated MP3 of the Week in a long while, because I've been extremely busy. I have been busy with music though, so that's OK! And many of the things I've been working on all month will be posted right here!

Starting with this. Last week I was honored and amazed to win Best Musical Score at the 48 Hour Film Festival "Best of NY" show, where me and my friend's short film, "Trixaxis and Allies," was screened.

And here is a piece from the score, the infamous "chase scene" music that invaded our brains for the next week. We could not stop singing this.

I made it using all midi Orchestral sounds. I'm really proud of it, it just about almost sounds like a real orchestra. More importantly, it FEELS like a big Hollywood action movie score.

For the entire score I wanted to be strict with myself - ONLY ORCHESTRAL SOUNDS. I wanted to pretend that I had a string section, and a brass section, and only a few percussion instruments (timpanis, crashes, scary sounding gongs.) No guitars, not even piano or any electronic sounding drums of any kind. Just a string and brass orchestra.

Here it is! I'll post more in future weeks to come!

DOWNLOAD IT HERE!!!

Preview it:

Hope you liked it! Check back soon for more! Lots of exciting new music coming up.

-Jordan

WEEK 75: Nice To Me

Hey guys!

This week's mp3 is an extremely sentimental instrumental that I made in 2002, called "Nice To Me."

It's basically about that feeling of "I can't believe how nice this person/these people are to me, I don't deserve it, I am so touched, I can't take it!"

That is literally the best way to describe what this instrumental is trying to evoke. I added applause at the end to push that feeling way over the top.

I really love this instrumental, and it gets me kind of choked up. The recording, being from 2002, is very old and not the tightest piece of work ever, but I love the arrangement. I could have kept piling melodies onto that chord progression forever.


Download it here!


Or preview it:




-Jordan

WEEK 68: Hooded Man In The Snow

SNOW.


A lot of snow fell the other day. So this mp3 will happen now.

This is just a cool (pun intended) atmospheric piece, almost threatening to be techno, but not quite getting there.

I really love this one mainly for the title fitting the music. I just really see a night time blizzard with a hooded man in the snow in the distance fighting the wind, drudging along. It was so clear to me when I listened, that coming up with the title was effortless.

It's a pretty old piece (2002), so the sound quality isn't great and there's a lot of awkward mixing (I wish those cymbals crashes weren't in it), but I still love this.


Download it by right clicking here.


Or preview it:




-Jordan

WEEK 66: Send Me On My Way

Hey guys!

This MP3 is a really nice little guitar instrumental I made back in February 2004. I hadn't even heard this one in years but discovered it just now.

It's almost all real instruments, no synth (except the clickety clackety percussion that comes in about halfway through.)

I count about 6 acoustic guitars (the riff, a bass line, the hitting percussion, the little noodling in the left and then in the right ears, and also a repeating pattern in the left ear), plus an accordion. All together a very calming and sweet sounding instrumental. Not something I can always tap into.


DOWNLOAD IT HERE

Or preview it:





-Jordan

WEEK 65: Nerd Squint

Sorry for the long Holiday break!

This week's song is Nerd Squint, a little instrumental from 2002.

I really like this one because of how much the title nails what it sounds like. Usually I title these after I make them, and the phrase "Nerd Squint" was the only real choice. It SOUNDS like some fat nerdy kid walking down his school hallway and squinting, because his vision is bad, and feeling some weird sense of pride.

Musically, I just like the arrangement...the bass line, the way the beat comes in right when the melody picks up. The "electric guitar" repeated line throughout the whole thing (OK it's fake terrible sounding casio electric guitar.) Everything helps contribute to the title...Nerd Squint.


Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD IT HERE.


OR PREVIEW IT:





Jordan

WEEK 63: Crime Streets: Level 1: Crime In The Streets

Hello!

I am honestly quite shocked that I haven't put this up yet as an MP3 of the Week.

A few years ago I started a fake soundtrack to an imaginary videogame I made up called "Crime Streets."

The game would be a Double Dragon-type beat-em-up. Nintendo. Or an arcade. Whatever. I've made a small handful of MP3s to cover the first few levels, the start menu, the Big Boss battle, etc. The concept is that as you listen to the music, it makes you REALLY want to play this game. Visualize it in your head. Smile.

Although it may sound quaint and funny, I am so incredibly proud of these pieces of music. They are some of my best arrangements and I've worked as hard on these as anything else I've done. I plan on putting a lot more Crime Streets score on this blog, so keep checking back!

Anyway, enough of the talking. Let's play some CRIME STREETS! Level 1: CRIME IN THE STREETS.


Download it here!


PREVIEW IT:





-Jordan

WEEK 60: Slow Me Down

Hiya guyas!

This week's mp3 is a cool instrumental I made in 2004, called "Slow Me Down."

I just really like how the layers add up here, getting more atmospheric and melodic the farther along this goes. I also like the fake accordion in the last 3rd.

What's it about? Well you aren't supposed to ask what instrumentals are about, duh.



Download it here


or preview it:




-Jordan

WEEK 59: No Show

Hiya fatsos!

This week's MP3 is a full length rocking instrumental from 2005 called "No Show."

I called it that because for the first time ever I had to cancel a show because I got sick. I stayed home that night and made this.

I've always liked this a lot, it's just really fun and and I'm definitely outside of my comfort zone with the guitar soloing. The ending wasn't really figured out, but hey, whateva woiks?


Download it heeere


Or just preview it:





-Jordan

WEEK 57: We Dream

Hey you raviolis,

This week's MP3 is a cool ambient-like instrumental from 2005 called "We Dream."

Now I don't exactly remember MAKING it, but these are things I like about it as a listener:

I like the dissolving drum beat echo that pans the stereo field and gets more and more lo-fi.

Since I can make a lot of music that is hyper, tense, and upbeat, I like that I have the ability to do some dreamy atmospheric "chill" music. As in, music to totally "chill" to.

I like things that are about late at night and sound like they were made late at night.

So here you go, "We Dream":


Download it here


Or preview it:




Goodnight,


Jordan

WEEK 53: Everybody's Crying

Sorry for the delay! The internet went down in my house for a lot of last week. ANYWAY...

This week's MP3 is one of my favorite instrumentals I've made from back in 2004. It's called "Everybody's Crying."

It's a rare full length (i.e. over a minute and a half long) instrumental. I borrowed my friend Dave's electric guitar. I'm really happy with the general production of the song. The big drum sound, the atmospheric stuff at the very end, the bass line, everything. The title was inspired by the presidential election results of 2004.


Preview it here!





Or download the guy by clicking here.



-Jordan

WEEK 50: Green Grass

Hey all,

I have been totally busy and totally slacked off Mp3 of the Week this past 2 weeks. So here is an MP3 now, with another one sooner this week. AUGH HERE WE GO.

This week's MP3 was made with my friend Matt Koff in 2002. He recorded a guitar part and vocals while I was in the bathroom. Then I came out and added some keyboard shenanigans for the 2nd half. I really like this. And I'm betting he forgot this existed.


Download it here


Or preview it:





- Jordan

WEEK 49: Grad Rat

Heeey everyone.

This week's mp3 is an instrumental called "Grad Rat." I made it on May 17th, 2004, probably the day I graduated from college. I don't know what the title means exactly but when I googled it, that image above came up.

Not much to say. except I think this is a cool instrumental.


DOWNLOAD IT HERE


OR PREVIEW IT:





-Jordan

WEEK 46: Skating

Hey guys and dolls,

This week's MP3 is a very old instrumental I made on May 15th, 2002, called "Skating."

One of literally hundreds of instrumentals I was making nonstop at the time, this was one of the many where I thought the title really nailed what the music sounded like (I would usually make the music first, then title it.) I believe my friend James Jajac came up with the title after stopping by and hearing it. James also crushed a soda can at the very end.

If you can believe it, that horrible static sound about 30 seconds in is actually an electric guitar I borrowed. I had no good way of recording an electric guitar. So it sounds like crap. The accordion sounds nice though.



Download it HEREEEE



Or preview it!





Thanks!



Jordan

WEEK 34: My Fillings Hurt

Ouch. Having a lot of dental issues lately. Just had a root canal. Awful.

This is an instrumental I made in 2005 when I got fillings put in. It's called "My Fillings Hurt." I haven't listened to this in years but it seems pretty appropriate right now.


CLICK HERE to download.


Or preview it here:





-Jordan