briantippets.com | a digital workshop

"Sometimes a song does it best.
The words unite the heart,
the music does the rest.
Reaching your soul and getting stuck inside your head,
twirling around like the wind."

Ever since I can remember I've been drawn to music. Listening to it, playing it and creating it. I've been told stories of a young Brian, just learning to speak, singing the lyrics to the Beach Boys' Barbara Ann. I could only get the "Ba ba ba ba ba..." part, but it was the beginning of a musical journey which I am still on to this day and hope to be on for the rest of my life.

I have been playing - or at least trying to play - the piano for a number of years now but I've never learned to read music. I mainly just play songs by ear or make up my own. The negative to this is that none of the songs I've composed are actually written down anywhere except in my head. I also have a few songs with lyrics, where I'm playing guitar and singing but those only get shown to a select few. I'll never claim to be a singer or guitar player; heck I barely claim to be a piano player. Below are a few instrumental songs I have recorded.

Lights of Tomorrow
Piano Solo, ©2004

This is a song I wrote back in 2004. I was over at my church one night and decided to go try out the piano. I plunked around and came up with a basic melody which later turned into this song.

This is the first song I composed with my new keyboard. I liken it to an "awakening", hence the name. The song starts out fairly mellow but transforms into something more vibrant and alive by the end.

Pachelbel's Canon in D is one of my favorite songs to play because you can do so much with it. So one day I decided to hit record and see what would happen if I just started playing without really thinking about it. I didn't have a plan laid out, I simply played what came to me at the time. This is the result. It's a bit long but I tend to forget the the time when I'm playing. It's also not perfect; there are a few places where I mess up but I think that adds something to it as well (good excuse Brian).

This song is a bit different. I recorded it using an old synthesizer via the computer so it has a more electric/weird sound. I wanted to take a simple progression and just build on it as much as I could. This is what I ended up with. One day I hope to be able to re-record it with my newer equipment but this will have to work for now.