In October of 2024, I recorded myself using a backpack blower to clear the leaves off the 14th tee box at the golf course where I was working at the time. It occurred to me as I blew away the leaves, that the pattern of “throttle up, throttle down, throttle up” would be the perfect structure for a composition. No. 14: Par 5 is a piece derived from the harmonic content of the backpack blower, and one of my two capstone projects. I discovered a symmetrical mode by transposing the most prevalent frequencies of the blower, and used motivic development techniques to explore themes of repetition, tension, and freedom.
Spiritual Encounter
Spiritual Encounter is a piece I wrote attempting to emulate the compositional voice of Joe Zawinul in his writing for the Cannonball Adderley Quintet. I was inspired by pieces such as Walk Tall, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, and Scotch and Water. The result was a horn-forward, groovy, jazz and soul fusion piece that I have come to love.
Finding My Voice
When I was 21, I wrote a song called Out of My Shell that has become my personal anthem. It is about allowing myself to be authentically myself, and the challenge of pushing myself to be outgoing as an introverted person. Finding My Voice is my response, seven years later. I still struggle with the same things, but I have also grown deeper roots and developed more security in myself. This song is a love letter to myself, and a reflection on how things change and also stay the same.
Tired Poems
Tired Poems is my second capstone project, and a textural, minimalist piece composed using a selection of texts transcribed verbatim from my own personal journals which I have kept quasi-regularly since 2015. They encompass reflections, dreams, and other musings. I often do my writing late at night, so the texts have a natural association with sleep. I used these texts to mimic the frantic brain activity that sometimes signals my imminent slumber. In this space, I am sometimes lucky enough to observe, but not quite hold, the symphonies that my subconscious orchestrates from the pieces I’ve picked up throughout the day.
Square Breathing
Square Breathing is a piece I composed for 2 saxophones, 2 strings, and concert bass drum. I think of it as a painting of a panic attack, using tempo and dynamic volume to emulate the relationship between heart beat, breath, and pins and needles in a panic attack.
The Urgency of Late Summer
The Urgency of Late Summer is a piece I composed for string quartet, attempting to capture the feeling of summer slipping away from you faster and faster as you try to pack in visits with friends, beers around the campfire, and dips in the pool before September brings us nearer to winter again.
Grandpa Troll
I wrote Grandpa Troll for a songwriting class. We picked a character from the Trolls: World Tour trailer, and were asked to write them a theme song. It was one of my first attempts at fully self-producing, and playing every instrument on the recording.
Ryder J. Music 