YouTube Adventures

So I finally got into putting some video behind my music. I've created a YouTube channel (you can check it out at http://www.youtube.com/user/clintonstevensmusic) and have started to create videos. Now, I have to come clean...I have absolutely no visual artistic skills at all, and know even less about video and media tools. So, to do this endeavor while still respecting my music, I've decided to start gently by using easy tools and largely still picture transitions.

This experience has actually been alot of fun, and I'm now finding that the YouTube videos add a nice dimension to my music. What kicked off the idea was a track I recently composed titled "Shadow Games". When I went to compose that music, I had a theme in mind...the thrilling story of a secret agent and his beloved, betrayed and trapped in a foreign land. The music was inspired by my vision of these to lovers trying to escape to safety, while the secret agent simultaneously completes his mission and duty to his nation (I have a hard time just managing the household let alone save the world at the same time...LOL).

With no video or media skills, I set out to put my music to a visual story. I acquired a series of pictures that, for me, told the various aspects of my story. The only thing left to do now, was sequence the music, photo's and captions together into a video. To do this, I used iMovie which comes free with the MacBook Pro that I use. I own Adobe CS5 through my company, however, don't know how to use it. I started by trying my hand at Adobe Premiere but quickly got overwhelmed. Given my leanings toward instantaneous gratification coupled with my excitement at the idea, I quickly abandoned ship and went with iMovie.

As it turns out, the videos are coming out great and I'm really having fun. I am now getting the hang of Premiere and am going through tutorials to get more proficient, so I'm excited about doing more in my future videos. You can watch all of my videos on my YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/clintonstevensmusic and if you like, please subscribe :D.

In the below video, I actually took my own photos (with the exception of 2) and cut my own home video recordings, I'm really having fun with this.

Well, until next time, be well and do good things for others.

Shadow Games

"Betrayed by his friend and left far from home, hunted by those he has tried to destroy. Delicate balances of power dance a dangerous tango of death. Never knowing who he can trust, under deep cover and trapped, he journeys to find a way out and guard the secrets he holds. Far across the ocean, waiting in safety, his lover walks the beaches of a distant shore, waiting for him to return to her. Such a dangerous path one leads when he decides to play in the Shadow Games."

Today is exciting! I completed my latest track, Shadow Games, and published my first YouTube music video for the song. Now, being a one-man-shop at this point with absolutely no graphic art or video skills, I have chosen to develop my first video as a slideshow of pictures with text overlay to tell the story.

With each track that I write, I try to tell a story of some kind. If possible, I try to realize a composition that will explore the theme and story from beginning to end. When composing Shadow Games, I envisioned a story of a secret agent, badly wounded, trapped in a far away country and hunted by the enemy agency. His duty to his nation and protecting the secrets he possesses drive him to avoid capture and navigate through the clandestine world. Amongst everything else, his romantic desire to protect his lover and to see her again, which keeps him alive with hope in the face of great danger.

Driving guitar riffs, exotic asian percussion, and a steady pumping bass were my weapon of choice in this composition of betrayal, danger, and love.

You can hear this latest track at http://soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens/get-out-of-the-way

You can watch my new YouTube video below :

Please stop by and visit my musical selection at www.soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens.
You can also visit me on my YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzOjB4itR0U7z5aNxLtxaKQ?feature=mhee.

Autumn Falls

As the sun sets on summer's last day and summer prepares for it's long hibernation, autumn begins to fall. It's that time of year, the leaves are beginning to turn, nature has begun a new song full of quiet reflection. I love this time of year. I love to watch the leaves turn color and witness the gentle kiss of rain.

There is so much beauty and inspiration to draw from the nature around us. If you can quiet yourself enough to hear it, God's music can be heard in everything around us. Rain is another one of my favorites. It's like the circle of life. The rain washes away the pain and replaces it with gentle calm.

This is the theme and inspiration behind my latest piano track "Autumns Fall". You can hear my track on SoundCloud at http://soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens/autum-falls . I hope you enjoy my new track as much as I enjoyed creating it.

My Isle of Peace

Imagine if you will, the sun is just setting over the beach. Beautiful streaks of purple and reddish orange reaching out like delicate fingers across the evening sky. As you sit under a comforting shelter, a gentle rain begins to give delicate and tantalizing sounds. A great sense of peace and god's love wraps you and brings you a meditative comfort.

As the rain clears, the gulls settle at the calming dusk. Here, there is only peace. Here, there is only beauty. Here there is only you and me, my love. I see your radiant beauty shimmering in  the evening light as you dance to the song of love. Our souls enraptured in melody, your heart in mine.

You are my love, my beauty...you are My Isle of Peace.

Come listen to the music track on SoundCloud at http://soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens/my-isle-of-peace

Dedicated to my soulmate and love of my life. To my wife, Kimberly

Melancholy Odyssey

Wow, what an insane week I've had. Tonight was the first night in 10 days I haven't been utterly too exhausted to sit at the piano and compose...and compose I did :D. My wife, Kimberly is opening a Fashion Boutique "Haute Swan" here in Virginia Beach. I have been working hard at getting her store built out in my spare time. My day-job has been insane as it is the end of my company's Fiscal Year. So I've been working insane hours on top of helping with the Haute Swan. The last two weeks has presented it's fair share of ups, downs, hills, valleys, challenges, and rewards.

But I'd do it all over again, in fact, I'd do anything for my wife and my family. So I have tried to express my whirlwind week and emotional experience of the last two weeks into my new track "Melancholy Odyssey". Based on the last two weeks, I'd say it is aptly named.

You can hear my new creation at http://soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens/melancholy-odyssey. I have thoroughly enjoyed being able to sit down behind the piano and composing again, and I hope you equally enjoy listening.

Thank you for stopping by.

Until next time, be well and do good things for others :D.

Interesting Times

It's been an interesting couple of days for me. I haven't had much chance to compose music over the last couple days, which is now making me want to sit at the piano. My wife is opening a new store and that has been eating at all of my families free time, but I am very excited for her and hope that the store takes off with smashing success.

Today is Friday! The good thing about Friday is I don't have to wake up early on Saturday. This in turn means I can stay up late and compose. I wonder what will come out of the piano tonight? Good or bad, sweet or sour, you can rest assured that whatever I create, I will be posting it for anyone who wishes to hear.

This week has provided me alot of inspiration to work worth. Ranging from a Bar Mitzvah we attended for our friend's son, to Kimberly's store, to all of the crazy developments at my place of work. Who knows what music will flow...we'll find out :D.

Until next time, be well and do good things for others.

This Heart of Hearts

Life, a great roller coaster ride with thrilling loops, steep drops and high rises. Everywhere you look, emotion springs from life. The good lord has truly blessed me with mercy, patience and love.

There have been times in my life where I thought I would never crawl up from the deep hole I was in. Other times in my life have been so blessed I felt I was on top of the world. I have, for the better part of my life,  been a very private and emotionally guarded person. Always cautious to let others close to my real self. I was slowly climbing the top of the roller coaster.

Then, the steep drop and double loop. At first very scary, so much vulnerability exposed. My heart pounding, my blood pumping, the world moving at me so fast. So many entered my life during that drop, and so many were there for the exciting loops and turns that followed. I fell in love with my wife...my most precious and best part of me. We have our children, incredible blessings and spirits of joy.

It was just a matter of time before the music I had put away locked in the closet would make it's way out.

This Heart of Hearts is my tribute to the life my family and friends have helped me find. My tribute to the pain of losing ones I love, and gaining new love in my life. It is my tribute to my children who warm my heart. It is my tribute to the good lord, my tribute to my savior, Jesus Christ.

Regardless of the shape your roller coaster has taken, the spirituality you may have found in your life, or might have yet to discover, I hope you find something to take from this new track. Enjoy!!!

You can hear "This Heart of Hearts" and my other music at http://soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens/this-heart-of-hearts . You can also follow me on Twitter at @clintonstevens.

My Musical Re-Awakening

I love to write music, probably much the same way that some enjoy writing journals, sculpting, or oil painting. For me, composing has recently become both therapeutic and slightly addictive. I started playing piano when I was 18. I am self-taught with a remedial ability to read sheet music. By profession I am a business analytics architect so music is something I enjoy doing in my past-time.

I spent 4 years during my time in the U.S. Air Force moonlighting as a professional performing musician, during which time, I adopted a variety of playing styles through my exposure in bands playing Jazz, Latin, and R

Lighthouse: A Great Collaboration

 Lighthouse

Well, folks, I have had my first experience remotely collaborating on a music piece. It has been a lot easier to pull of then I would have expected. With modern professional tools, good internet and SoundCloud, it was a snap technically.

But I digress. Eve Williams and I have labored to produce a collaborative Piano/Vocal track. I am very happy with the outcome, and hope you will be too. Let me start by saying that Eve is a very talented vocalist with a great voice.

Our collaboration started with me composing and arranging a piano track. I used my MacBookPro, Logic Pro 9 and my Alesis QS8 to lay down the track. I mastered modified the EQ slightly to remove a couple of peaking points, and mastered my bounce to .WAV format. So now, the piano instrumental track was laid, next stop, time for Eve to do her magic.

I uploaded the piano track to my SoundCloud profile, but set it as a private track and added Eve Williams as the only person that could access the track. This worked out great, since the .WAV was over 50MB large and couldn't easily be sent via email. We corresponded via a email to hash out the details, Eve went to work on the vocals and lyrics. Using her Pro Tools she recorded her vocal track over my piano, mastered and sent the music back. Awesome sound music was born.

Given that we are in different countries on completely different continents, I thought it was very cool to be able to pull something like this off.

I shared our collaboration with my wife, Kimberly, and and our kids. They loved the piece. After some more correspondence, Eve and I decided to go ahead and push the new track to SoundCloud. If you'd like to hear our creation, you can do so at http://soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens/lighthouse-featuring-vocals-by.

Also, I'm an Eve Williams fan (I've favorited several tracks). Her music can be found on SoundCloud as well at http://soundcloud.com/evewilliams

Well that's all for now folks, hope you enjoy.

Fire from Ashes

Well, this week has had a fair share of trials and opportunities for character growth. I have found that when life around me mounts with stress and tribulations, music makes a great records keeper. I often find it much easier to express my feelings through music, and so I have written Fire from Ashes. It is my latest creation and expresses how I feel during some of those lost and trying times. Fire from Ashes, though, is a tale of triumph over failure, victory over loss, and release from pain.

For me victory and release can be especially difficult when your family or those close to you hurt you. You know beyond everything, the hurt they may cause is not enduring, but it is hurt nonetheless. Even when the hurt or pain may leave you spent to ashes, the fire of love and forgiveness will find a way to light from those ashes. As a christian, I put my faith in the good Lord to heal all wounds, and so he does.

You can hear my latest music on SoundCloud at http://soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens. You can also purchase and download my music at http://clintstevens.bandcamp.com.

Fire and Ashes is available for streaming at http://soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens/fire-from-ashes. Until next time, be well, and god bless.

The Workspace

Bergmann Grand Piano

So, what tools do I use and how is my workspace organized? Well, first off, my greatest inspirations are from nature and the people around me. I've always gravitated toward ambient piano and piano styled music. I have during, my journey done a fair amount of live performance in a variety of styles both solo and in groups and bands, but I have always returned to the basics.

With the advent of computerized synthesizer sounds, I have departed from my overly crowded walls of keyboards, sound modules, and rack modules down to a much simpler setup. Today my workstation looks like this:

Alesis QS8 Midi-Controller and MacBookPro

Laptop HQ

The desk I "try to keep" clean

Me on the Alesis

I do most of my recording using my Alesis QS8 synth and Apple Logic Pro 9, which, BTW, has been a true pleasure to work with. I do some sampling and live instrument recording using Sonar X1, however, I've found that the midi response rate on Sonar X1 with my Alienware laptop is not nearly as responsive as my Macbook Pro and Logic Pro combo, so I will usually only use Sonar if I want to master a live recording.

I do love to play on the piano for inspiration and enjoyment. For that, I have a Bergmann baby grand piano which plays wonderfully, for the great price I was able to get it for.

Well, there you have it, my music studio. It's not elaborate, it's not super-cool by some standards, but I call it home. Thanx for stopping by.

Don't forget to stop by my music collection on SoundCloud at http://soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens or buy and download my music at http://clintstevens.bandcamp.com/. Until next time, ciao.

The Ballad of Cara and Amber

Cara and Amber are my two wonderful and charismatic daughters. They do just about everything together when they can. They are often found spontaneously making cupcakes or hats to wear and giving their various wares away to us, the mom and dad units.

They can often be found taking pictures of all the crazy things around them, quoting poetry on Facebook, and many other things together.

I found it only fitting to craft a piano ballad for them, so here's to you girls:

"The Ballad of Cara and Amber" http://soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens/the-ballad-of-cara-and-amber

It's been an exciting month for me. I've just started composing new music at the home studio, and I am very excited about the music that has been coming out of my efforts. I have always been inspired by nature and powerful emotions like love, passion, and rising from above the odds.

Music to me is a joy and a way to express who I am better than my words ever could. All my new music has been posted to www.soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens for streaming, so please come on by and explore my music with me.


All my music is also available for purchase and download at http://clintstevens.bandcamp.com.