Music Notes: This was a piece I composed as a companion to a review I wrote for Storm 2 for SA Computer Magazine. The piece, bar one small section, uses only default preset loops available with the software, as well as default samples that are installed as part of the program. My intention was to show that is is easy for novices to get started with the software and create something before even knowing much about the program's capabilities. (Additional notes - written for the review - are included in the zip file.)

Title Notes: I composed this right after The Matrix Reloaded was released. The title actually refers to agents in the Matrix and the Matrix, itself (although it has a nice double meaning for people who have read the review of the software, downloaded the piece, and perhaps don't like it, so it may get deleted). I tend to have images in my head as I compose music, which lead the direction of the piece as I work on it, or a title will come about from images that the piece later inspires. Titling music is usually a struggle for me.

Music Notes: This was my "I'm going to compose a proper piece in Storm 2, dammit!" piece. I created all the instrument loops and sounds from scratch, except for one (the "Hawaiian" sound that's introduced in the middle), which I found while looking for a preset bank I could clear and, instead, just had to use. I especially like the way the piece ends.

Title Notes: I tried to explain the title to a friend once, and received an emailed equivalent of a blank stare in reply. Computer geeks should get it, though. It's about that moment (or equivalent experience), after you've been hunched over a keyboard for hours, or days, trying to crack a code or problem solving a tricky piece of code for a piece of software you're developing, right before you nail it, and you realise you're about to do it, and you just pause, briefly, in that "YEAH!" moment.

Music Notes: This is what happens when you're arbing around the Storm 2.0 sample library. I found the intro sample, and liked it so much that I had to use it in something (I edited it to lengthen it in places, so it's a slight modification). The "different" bit towards the end is another sample I found while I was composing this piece. I learnt a lot about Storm 2.0 while creating this (including a number of annoying things). In certain places the clap sound is stereo, which required me to isolate the sample from the Psion instrument and edit it manually, before reimporting it into the H30plus instrument (if you've never used Storm you won't know what I'm talking about, but just take my word for it: doing certain things, like creating stereo effects, is a nightmare). There are also - I must admit - a couple of clicking sounds that I still have to get rid of (so we'll call this a demo, then), although part of me want to keep them because they give the music a slight retro effect, which I rather like. Otherwise, I really like this piece. I composed everything except the above-mentioned samples. It's some of my hardest Storm-based work.

Title Notes: The music makes me think of the Mega Mall track in wip3out (or, more specifically, the city - which I believe is called Mega City - in which the track is based), as well as the waterfront area in which the Porto Kora track is based; hence the title: Mega City Waterfront. It also reminds me, a bit, of the stratosphere level towards the beginning of the game Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere (I play too many console games). The music is about a moment at the fictional Mega City Waterfront towards the end of the day when the sun is just about to set. There is a slight, warm breeze; it has been a beautiful day. The sea is calm, the area is strangely deserted, except for a few seagulls nearby, but there is a feeling of tranquility associated with this. It's about a perfect, odd moment that happens unexpectedly and can't be repeated.

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