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The Third Rule; comedy

This comedy starring Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins, Joel David Moore and Jason Biggs, is currently making the festival rounds. It’s a short, awaiting a feature production, and it stars Hopkins as a self-help guru and Moore and Biggs as his opportunistic protégés.

Video 1

In this scene, Hopkins’ character Fabian Hogarth introduces Moore and Biggs to his “three rules.” 1:20

Video 2

In this scene Biggs and Moore attempt to put Hogarth’s plan into action. 1:12

Music 1

This is the music-only version of the first video clip. 1:14

Music 2

This is the music-only version of the second video clip. 1:06

Hangman’s House; silent movie

From a composer’s standpoint, I don’t know if it gets much better than this – scoring a film directed by the legendary John Ford and featuring Oscar-winner Victor McLaglen and John Wayne. This was for part of an award-winning DVD box set called Ford at Fox, produced by 20th Century Fox. I had three players – Bryan Pezzone (piano), Sheridon Stokes (flutes) and Sebastian Toettcher (cello) – who did incredible jobs helping me bring the gothic, dramatic music to the screen. 4:41

Disney’s Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attraction video

For part of its recent Disneyland Resort website overhaul, Disney hired me to score a bunch of attraction videos, including this one for Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

Video 1

In this creepy cue I used a “cell” of just five notes, C through E. It was originally a longer video, with a couple sections of the music more developed. You can hear that version in the music-only version. :32

Music 1

This is the longer and more developed first version. :40

Iron Man; main theme

I composed a number of main themes for a series of Disney brands illustrated in time-lapse video on Etch A Sketch by artist George Vlosich. This one’s Iron Man; others included Pirates of the Caribbean, Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, TRON: Legacy, Cars and Mickey Mouse. Music-only; 1:17

Memories of Twelve O’Clock High; documentary

This is from a score I composed for documentaries produced for the 20th Century Fox Cinema Classics Collection release of Twelve O’Clock High, starring Gregory Peck. The score needed to invoke the tragedy, psychological torment, patriotism and ultimate triumph of WWII.

Video 1

Underscore for one of the four documentaries; the sweeping “patriot” theme comes in for the end titles. 2:28

Music 1

This is the “emotional” theme, which underscores the loss at home and abroad during WWII. :47

TRON: Legacy; main theme

This is another in the series of Disney brands illustrated in time-lapse video on Etch A Sketch by artist George Vlosich. The jumping-off point for this was to update the TRON sound to the Daft Punk-era style Disney was looking for — darker, moodier, but with enough up-tempo elements and dramatic arc to help push the visuals. 1:17

Lazybones; silent feature; dir. Frank Borzage

A year after they produced the Ford at Fox box set, 20th Century Fox came out with Murnau, Borzage and Fox, an acclaimed set of films by influential filmmakers F.W. Murnau and Frank Borzage. The Lazybones score featured Bryan Pezzone (piano), Sheridon Stokes (flutes) and John Goux (guitars), and called for a more pastoral approach, though with plenty of drama, action and comedy. 2:35

Bell Helmets: “Evel Knievel”; national TV spot

Ad agency DMNA hired me to score this TV spot of Evel Knievel practically breaking in two on a jump. I now wear a Bell helmet everywhere I go. Even inside. :30

Music for Six Guitars and Percussion; product demo

An audio technology company said they needed a piece of music that would help demonstrate their proprietary, wireless, seven-channel surround-sound system. I composed this for six guitars (one in each speaker) and percussion. Fino Roverato, Grant Geissman, John Goux, Joe DiBlasi, Mitch Holder and Joe Jewell played on it. Legendary sound mixer Dan Wallin recorded it. The resulting seven-channel version sounded amazing. To recreate that listening experience, simply imagine this stereo mix with five more channels…  Music-only; :55

National Mining Association; national TV spot

Ad agency R&R Partners produced a series of animated TV spots for the National Mining Association, using this cute elliptical-headed miner as the main character. They wanted the music to be simple and a perfect match to this animated world. Easier said than done. I wrote the parts for solo clarinet and hired the inimitable woodwind master Dan Higgins, who added subtle nuances that brought it to life. :15

“The Princess of Chaos”; animated comedy

In this animated scene, an otherworldly princess lands on Earth and immediately embarks on a series of chaotic misadventures. Music-only; :53

The Extra; comedy

In The Extra, Joe, an earnest-but-dim-witted aspiring actor from Louisiana, takes up residence on a soundstage of the Paramount Pictures backlot. As I recorded this score, the various instruments that lay strewn about my studio included harmonicas, guitars, a banjo, a washboard, a spoon, a manila envelope and brushes, shakers, a small sauce pan and a 6-quart pot and matching lid. Music-only

Music 1

“Joe Wakes Up” is the main title cue and scores Joe’s morning routine as he gets out of bed on a deserted soundstage and hurries to his gig as an extra. :42

Music 2

This is the climax of the film, as Joe mistakenly puts on the lead actor’s suit and is chased in over-the-top-Hollywood style throughout the studio lot. 1:30

Dinner Party; dark comedy

Adapted from an award-winning play, Dinner Party is a sparse, dark comedy that was great fun to score. I used a lot of repeated sequences in it, along with some delay effects on flute and pizzicato strings, with the goal of creating a surreal, claustrophobic feel. Music-only

Music 1

This is the main title, which underscores a prison inmate being strapped into an electric chair. 1:42

Music 2

This cue has a more minimalist feel to it, lighter and more orchestral than the main title, but builds to an undulating climax later in the scene. 4:12

The Grasshopper and the Ants; animated storybook

Abcmouse.com is a kids’ education site that I write music for: for games, fables, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, songs, you name it. This classic Aesop’s fable was particularly fun to score. 3:15

Sound Machine; psychological drama

This independent film chronicles a disturbed and gifted man’s struggle to convince the outside world that he can communicate with nature in remarkable ways. Abstract little movie, and one that offered me a wide-open canvas for music.

Video 1

This montage captures the broad arc of the film (and the different moods and themes the music had to reflect) – from suspenseful to pastoral, and from psychologically torturous to quietly tragic. 1:43

Music 1

Speaking of psychologically torturous, this cue accompanies the main character’s spiral into insanity. 3:23

TV Broke; comedy

TV Broke is adapted from a Brazilian story, and the score I composed featured nylon-string guitar (performed by the lovely and talented Fino Roverato), alto saxophone and alto flute to give a nod to the story’s geographic origin.

Video 1

When a couples’ TV fizzles out, they are forced to have an actual conversation. What is revealed in the plot required a quirky, though not too comedic, score. 2:01

Music 1

Remember that quirkiness I referred to earlier? Here’s a music-only sample of that. :56

Jack and the Beanstalk; fairy-tale score

Composed for the folks at abcmouse.com, this is the full score I wrote for their illustrated storybook version of Jack and the Beanstalk. Music-only

Music 1

In the first cue, Jack and his mom must sell their beloved cow. Jack goes to the market and ends up exchanging the cow for magic beans. Mom’s none too happy. But then the beans grow into a giant beanstalk and Jack climbs up…  3:13

Music 2

Here, Jack discovers a strange new world at the top of the beanstalk, including a nice giant woman. Her husband, also a giant, not so nice. Fee-fi-fo-fum, all that stuff, you remember. The giant comes in all cranky, eats dinner, orders his goose to lay him a golden egg, then nods off to sleep…  3:16

Music 3

In the final act, Jack slips out with the goose while the giant sleeps, but the giant wakes up and chases them, all the way to the beanstalk. Jack and the goose make it down unscathed. Jack then brings the goose to his mom, they get rich off the golden eggs, and here endeth the story. 3:00

“Memorial Day Auto Sale”; radio spot

In the Biography portion of the site, I mention my first commercial gig, a jingle for a local car dealer. Here it is, in all its glory. It features performances by longtime Portland jazz musicians Steve Christofferson (piano), Jeff Homan (saxes) and Carlton Jackson (percussion). I made $50. Music-only; 1:02