Commenting on the tracks

Hi!

Since my music is instrumental and has no words to indicate its meaning, I leave here my commentary on all of the tracks I've created so far. I divided them according to the album they belong to. You can press control + F and find the specific track you want to know about.

Saga

Saga was my first adventure through musical grounds. Before I started composing the songs in it, I had tried doing some other material – around four or five songs, which were all recycled and transformed/mingled into new songs later on. I created the whole thing in a few weeks, in 2010, and it was supposed to be a concept album. It was all composed in MIDI sequence, on purpose, because, by the time I made it, I had no idea that such things as virtual instruments existed. I tried to remaster it using virtual instruments once, but it didn’t work out. Believe it or not, the album lost the essence completely. I didn’t like it at all, so I left this idea aside. The album is hardly an album at all: 38 minutes long. But it lasts how much it is supposed to last. The artwork consists of two towers, being it related to the album concept, and, if you pay attention to the clouds, it has the shape of a girl, that is my dear friend Priscila.

The concept behind the songs is simple (kind of silly, too): the old story of a hero who goes through many obstacles in order to save his beloved princess from the hands of some evil king. The different thing is: in the end of his journey, the hero dies and fails his mission. My main inspiration was the video “The Dance”, by Within Temptation, which has a similar storyline. What I meant to do was to create this scenario using songs, as follows:

Epitome: it’s just an ordinary prelude. Nothing too special about it.

Auf Wiedersehen: it’s when the story really begins. It represents the departure of the hero towards his journey. The low strings represent the father’s voice and the whining choir, the mother’s. The tone of the song is a little mysterious and it has all to do with what awaits the main character.

The Breakthrough: probably the second “most epic” song in the album. It represents the grandness of what is to come and the first steps or the journey. There are some moments of excitement, like the short strings solo, then some quieter passages, but the main theme is always present. I composed this song having in mind those “world” scenarios of RPG games, where the main character walks towards a specific town and fights monsters along the way.

Towards the Winter Chasm: it represents a specific scenario in the story, when the main character reaches a cliff near cold areas. The picture is: he is somewhere he doesn’t know, then he finds himself on the edge of this cliff, near an upland or something, and then the edge surrenders and he falls. It’s hard to depict this scene, but it made sense in my head when I idealized it. Then he finds a cavern.

…Of a Derelict Cave: he enters the cave and it’s very quiet inside there. He fights bats (when the choir strikes in) and keeps walking aimlessly until he finds the exit, just like in those ancient Final Fantasy games.

Land of Concordia: when he leaves the cave, he finds this town (here we go RPG again) where he can rest. He’s probably hungry and thirsty right now, and the people in this town receive him very well. There are bells, flutes, calm guitars and our hero is ready to follow after a good night of rest in a very comfy chamber.

Palace of Snow: this is the oddest track in the album. There is a completely different tone, comparing to the others, but I like it enough to keep it among the other tracks, not considering it a kind of bonus track. You can imagine that the main character finds this palace of snow during his walks and thinks that it is the place where the princess is, but he’s wrong. The palace is like a maze (represented by the sequences played by the harp) and leads him to nowhere. So he leaves,

Rescue (The Battle of Zaeon): and then, near the shores, finds the real place where his princess is being held captive. A castle, I suppose. He enters the castle and wanders through its various and various chambers and halls and bridges and monsters until he finally meets the final boss, Zaeon. I don’t remember anymore if Zaeon is someone’s name or if it’s the castle’s name. This is the longest track in the album, with nine minutes. The battle is tough, you can assume.

Last Breath: but our hero dies. During his last breath, he remembers everything he’s been through and laments his failure while the evil king takes over his soul.

Meadows of Elysium: it’s where the character rests in peace. This is one of the most peaceful (and probably sad) songs I’ve ever composed. It is also featured in the new Ruins Of Elysium EP, “Prince”, which you can buy here.

And that is the end. Although the album is midi-based and very “amateur-ish”, I think it’s my most thoughtful production to date. Please visit the download section to download Saga and my other albums.

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Against

Against is actually a compilation of tracks that I had created in different moments of life (including some pre-Saga stuff) which I decided to gather in an EP – there weren’t enough tracks to create a full-length album. Although the tracks were created in different moments, not in a sequence, they all have the same feeling. Differently than in Saga, I didn’t use many instruments and different kinds of ambiance: it’s all piano-based, with a simple guitar accompaniment, a string instrument and some minor background effects. The title of the EP is based on the romantic line/quote “it’s you and me against the world”, which combines with the track title “We’re Two”, about which I’ll talk in a minute. The artwork consists of an oneiric glance of loneliness: there is the rain, there is an urban concept, there are flowers, but you can’t clearly identify everything separately.

All of the songs are related to feeling lonely and lovelorn. Although I didn’t create them all at the same time, most of them were made while I was in this very intense relationship, and I used to compose when I was feeling sad because of it; it could be because of an argument, or a disappointment or a night when not everything went too well. This EP is very heartfelt and, even nowadays, is still sad for me to listen.

In Umbris Habitat: it means “lives in shadows”, in Latin. This must be the first song composed in the EP. It was the first track I created after Saga and it was meant to be part of my then next album, that would be called Shadowland, but never came to exist. It’s a prelude as well and, as you can listen, there are different pads in it. The reason is this next album would be a kind of sequel of Saga, when the hero would come back from aether to get his revenge on the evil king.

Restless Night: one of those tracks composed in a bad moment. I don’t remember what happened by that time, but I was wide awake late at night and decided that I would make a song to help time go faster. It helped. It’s a fast paced song, suggesting that I was, in fact, very restless.

We’re Two: one of the most meaningful songs I’ve ever composed. As I said, it was created while I was in this relationship. More than that: it was a 1 year anniversary gift. It was supposed to have lyrics on it, but, as I can’t write lyrics, I gave this idea up and kept only the instrumental. It dialogues directly with the title of the EP, building a phrase like “we’re two against the world”, which was something very true to us. I tried to make some tweaks on it after it was finished, but nothing worked too well, so I left it as it was.

Everlasting Sleep: also one of the first tracks I composed in life, back in 2009. It was not meant to be in any album; was just a song. When I made it, there was only the piano, but then I added other instruments to fit in the EP vibe.

The Saddest Day: same thing as Restless Night, but in an opposite way. This track is more eerie and represents these moments of sadness when all you want to do is go to bed and sleep your pain away. I made it in a very very sad night – can’t remember what happened though. It was late at night and, again, I decided to make a song. This was the result.

Heavenlight: meant to be the ending track of Shadowland, Heavenlight was initially called Land of Concordia #2, because it would indicate the return of Saga’s hero to earth, where he would find peace again. It didn’t happen because Shadowland never got out of the paper (and probably won’t (although I had a name for every track in it)).

Against is an EP that I try not to listen. Not because I don’t like it, but because it brings back a heavy load of deep memories, which I prefer to avoid. You can find a link to download it in the downloads section.

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The Time a Broken Heart Takes to Mend

The Time a Broken Heart Takes to Mend is a big step in my musical production “carreer”. After studying and researching a lot, I finally found the tools I needed to create more real-sounding music. Now I see that the effects and softwares that I used still were not the best possible, but the results are way closer to reality than in Saga, of course. The Time was composed after I ended that relationship I mentioned in Against. It left my heart broken in different ways, moments and degrees. What I initially wanted the album to be was a musical translation of all these feelings of broken-heartedness that take over us after a very meaningful relationship ends. There are 14 tracks composed in sequence – no outsiders here – and the artwork consists of a very representative image: black and white, as the extremes of emotions, being them either very happy and peaceful or terribly hurtful, and the diamond in between, representing the idea of timelessness, as every relationship leaves everlasting memories in anyone. The title follows this idea of healing process and the moments one faces while overcoming and old love.

If Only I Had Known: this track was meant to converse with the album title (If only I had known the time a broken heart takes to mend, …), but I changed my mind later, because there wouldn't be a third song title to complete the sentence. The moment I made this song I knew it would be the opening of the album. Dust in the Wind guitar line was my strongest inspiration to compose it. If Only I Had Known is one of my personal favorites.

Too Close: song created in less than two hours. Some minor adjustments were made later, but the first version was made in record time. I made Too Close especially to be part of the intro of a short film called “Perto Demais” (Too Close), written by a very dear friend of mine. I had less than two hours to create it because that was the time I had between knowing that he needed an opening song and appointments in my agenda (meaning I would have to go to work, haha). This track sounds very romantic to me; I like it.

Sparkle of Joy: probably one of my happiest songs. I don’t remember the story behind it. I just wanted to create something happy, then this song popped up in my head.

Sunlit Waltz: another happy song which I also don’t remember the concept very well. I think I just wanted to have a waltz in the album. The strongest inspiration to compose it was In Motion #1, by The Gathering, one of my favorite bands.

Frank: No story behind the song: I just had in mind that I would create a song and name it Frank (as a given name, not as “honest, truthful”). I think it’s the first time I use distorted guitars in a song. The guitars were meant to be some other instrument, but they fit so well that I let them be there. I also had in mind that I would like to create a song with a short but strong strings passage. Frank was the chosen track to let that happen.

Remember: chosen to be the sad track. It’s a track that rescues that essence of loneliness present in Against. It was initially meant to have a solo piano arrangement, but then it felt kind of empty, so I added more instruments. It is a song about the good but lost memories.

My Endless Shore: another favorite. I composed My Endless Shore back in 2010 in honor of one of my best friends, with whom I had lost contact by the time the song was done. The song features an ocarina and there is a story behind it, but the ocarina represents him, in a way. The image I had in mind when I made the song was that of being alone at a desert beach, watching the waves come and go endlessly. This image still comes to my mind today, when I listen to the song.

Deliverance: in this song I wanted to rescue the feeling of the songs in Saga, using very bold strings and brasses to give the song that feeling of grandness. Yeah, that’s it.

Lament: the first song I created for this album. Also, my very first attempt with reverb and equalization, as well as with virtual instruments. My inspiration for this song was Roads, by Portishead, and Missing, by Evanescence. I wanted to create something with very expressive strings. This song also was meant to be sad-ish, but I don’t think it is.

Long Since Gone: just as Remember, a song about memories. The difference is that in Long Since Gone I had an ideal of “gone” meaning “dead”. Interesting thing about this track is that the focus is on the left hand of the piano, not on the right.

Streets of Eternia: another favorite to complete my top 3. This song was meant to be a dialogue between the jazz guitar and the harp, a kind of duet. I think it worked well. It represents the feeling of being lonely in a crowd, or feeling something that is inconsolable, and you walk around with earphones on and paying attention to nothing and no one.

Deep Sunken Sleep: another track related to sleep and probably one of the most personal to me. This time I wanted it to be really oneiric, and I used many tools to give this impression, such as sound effects like sirens, telephone beeps, indistinct conversation etc. The song is also a progression: there is a sequence of chords and it starts over and over again, always having some different element. There is also an excerpt from “Funeral Blues”, my favorite poem, and some other random love quotes. This song is very personal because it represents a very inner world that I lived in while in this relationship that founds the whole album (as well as Against).

Somewhere (Within Temptation cover): I created this cover long ago and it was not supposed to be in any album, but, when I was finishing The Time, I felt that there was this gap between the last two tracks, so I found it perfect to place this track between them to make the album more cohesive.

Nightlights (bonus track): Nightlights was my first trip through electronic music. It was practically a ready-made song: it came ready in my mind. I wanted to mix the orchestral thing with some electronic beats and then the song came to life. My inspiration for it was Sinéad, by Within Temptation.

The Time represents a great maturing process to me, both musically and personally. And, hopefully, the time a broken heart takes to mend has come to me after finishing the album! Feel free to visit the download section to download it and other material too.

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Rendition

About Rendition, there is nothing too special to say. I took some of my "earworms" and created renditions for them. These tracks don't exactly represent my favorites ever, but they represent music that had been stuck in my head for some time and some reason. And my idea was to recreate them using different arrangements, and, as you can hear, something more acoustic. Most of the songs are from synthpop artists of my taste (except for three or four tracks) and I experimented with them to see how they would sound without (almost) any electronic accompaniment. Two tracks (Vanessa, by Grimes, and Marble House, by The Knife) were supposed to be part of the album, but were not included due to lack of compatibility with the general atmosphere of it.

Rendition was a fun album to make. You can visit the download section to download it and other material too.

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Symphony of Dissonance

There isn’t much to say about Symphony of Dissonance track by track either, but I’d like to state that the album as a whole represents a huge step to me, “professionally” speaking. Between the release of Rendition and SoD, I took my time and relaxed, saying to myself: “I’m not in a hurry; I’m going to catch my breath and study a little before publishing anything new”. Unlike Saga and even my other recordings, I dived deeply into learning about mixing, mastering, making things sound better, cranking up volumes, compressing when necessary, that is: trying to make things sound as professional as possible.

I wouldn’t say I accomplished all of these goals, but I can say that I’m rather satisfied with the results. Compared to my previous releases, SoD sounds much more mature and well-thought/developed. I learned a lot while making it and really did my best to deliver something with a good quality, which is the complete opposite of what I thought when I created Saga, which was just making music for fun, without any commitment.

As for the songs themselves, there is not too much to say. The title summarizes a little bit the concept behind everything: not having a concept. SoD happened really naturally to me. The ideas would come to my mind, I’d put them on a score, create the whole thing and archive it. At the end of the process (“The Woods” was the first song I made, back in December 2013 (that not considering “Symphony of Dissonance”, which was the third song I ever created, back in 2009! (with innumerous modifications now, of course))), I had eleven songs after making “Laurels of Victory” and felt it was time to call it an album.

I think my main inspiration to create this album was Groove Armada’s Black Light, which is probably one of the most genial albums I’ve ever heard; and, just like them, I wanted to create something that would comprise different genres, instruments, styles and still be cohesive. Hopefully I achieved that goal! Besides Black Light, soundtrack from Castlevania and Valkyrie Profile games gave me lots of ideas, as you can notice in “The Woods” and “The Chapel”, for example. Also, using electric guitars, electronic instruments and orchestral instruments is something that I aimed at—at a slow pace, still, but I’ll get there. My favorite songs are “Nighttime Blues”, “The Woods - part 2” and “Secret Garden”, and you can visit the download section to download it and other material too.