Music

Music is a huge passion of mine. Rarely am I not listening to something as commute or work on projects. Though I grew up during the rise of iTunes and other streaming services, I began collecting vinyl records in my freshman year of college. I love the beautiful album art and care put into most releases, as well as how the experience slows down the process of listening,makes what you choose to listen to more intentional, and can help me relax. There is something very personal about owning physical copies of albums that really makes vinyl feel more tangible than the millions of digital playlists.

A portion of my vinyl collection.

In the summer of my sophomore year during peak COVID, I decided to combine my interests in music and video games to begin making my own arrangements of music from games. I set about learning how to use music tracker software used to make chiptunes for my favorite retro console, the SEGA Genesis.

Unlike traditional writing and music notation that is read horizontally from left to right (for Western countries at least), tracker software runs vertically from top to bottom and divides measures (called "patterns") by the number of available hardware channels. Many of these design choices were necessary to squeeze every last bit out of the tiny amount of memory these games used to have. The fun of composing chiptunes that are faithful to the restrictions of the original hardware lies in following the self-imposed limitations of the chips.

The Deflemask tracker playing one of my arrangements. The SEGA Genesis uses a combination of two chips for a total of ten channels of sound.

 More than two years later, I've released over than twenty- covers and learned lots about music composition, early sound chips, FM synthesis, and the process of music production. Listening intently for instruments has helped hone my ear and enable me to enjoy compositions as both a consumer and a creator.

Selected Arrangements

Lost Patrol ~ Main Theme.mp4

Main Theme of Lost Patrol

Pizza Tower ~ The Death that I Deservioli.mp4

The Death that I Deservioli, escape theme from Pizza Tower

Deltarune ~ The Legend.mp4

The Legend, cutscene music from Deltarune Ch. 1

VIDEOBALL ~ Next.mp4

Next, level theme of VIDEOBALL

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World ~ Cheap Shop.mp4

Cheap Shop, shop theme of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Final Fantasy VII ~ Let the Battles Begin!.mp4

Let the Battles Begin/For Those Who Fight, standard battle theme of Final Fantasy VII