Shows
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsThe More I Know... The Less I CareObstinance and apathy: when the quest for knowledge and truth has soured reality.
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]2022-09-1903 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsGleaming SpireA humble entry for HydraTek's first Modern Composer Domo challenge: a short, ambient piece written in G minor (based on an initial idea generated by the Lemonaid AI plugin) and performed by the following virtual instruments:
Cherry Audio Elka-X, Dream Synth, and Polymode
KarmaFX Synth Modular 2
Krotos Concept
Toontrack EZ Drummer 3
A big thanks to Modern Composer Dojo and HydraTek for motivating us music creators to create and finish some music. I really dig the idea of creating a piece of music to accompany a visual image and hope to create more music with this inspirational method.2022-09-1701 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsSnot Rocket SciencePropulsion by snot rocket... because... science!
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]
Zen and the Art of the Snot Rocket: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58hBIWUIvEA&t=3s2022-07-2502 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsThe Divided States Of America"United we stand tall... divided we fall."
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]2022-07-0102 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsRunning Up That BillWith energy costs always on the rise, conservation is imperative. It is foolish to continue running up that bill with reckless abandon.
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]2022-06-2102 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsTheme To Racing Destruction SetRacing Destruction Set: the best slot racing set ever. Gripping spinouts, collisions, and spectacular end-over-end crashes galore. It's fast. It's funny. It's action-packed, and it could be yours. You pick your vehicle, its tires, and its engine size. You pick the track and its racing conditions. Then you put the pedal to the metal and go for it.
A rock re-imagining of Dave Warhol's wonderful opening theme music for this popular classic computer game from 1985.
Here is a YouTube link to the original Commodore 64 music for "Racing Destruction Set": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq8smZ_3f84
[Please note...2022-06-1902 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsBe Careful What You Wish For"Be careful what you wish you for... you just might get it."
This electronic rock instrumental is in Gb Major and has a tempo of 90 BPM.
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]2022-04-2104 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsWorks For Me"I dunno... it works for me."
This electronic rock instrumental is in D minor (with a brief incursion into B minor) and has a tempo of 102 BPM.
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]2022-01-1401 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsTyrannosaur Stomp [Reworked]A rework of my entry for the October 2021 Tone2 Demotrack competition for Saurus3.
The original version can be listened to here: https://hearthis.at/tonedef/tyrannosaur-stomp/2021-10-3101 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsAwhirl Divert"Suffer the suffering no longer"
This electronic rock instrumental hops around between the keys of Bb and G and has a tempo of 89 BPM.
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]2021-09-0203 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsHieroglyph (a collaboration with Peter Rand)"Every man's condition is a solution in hieroglyphic to those inquiries he would put. He acts it as life, before he apprehends it as truth."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Hieroglyph" is an instrumental demo of the collaboration between the multi-instrumentalist Peter Rand and myself. Peter named the track "Hieroglyph" because some of the MIDI patterns used in the track "looked a bit like hieroglyphics".
Key: Eb Minor
BPM: 130
All Virtual Synthesizers: Peter Rand
Virtual Bass Guitar, Virtual Drums, Virtual Electric Guitar: The ElectroMetal Minstrels
Check out Peter's other 1100+ collaborations over at Kompoz.com: https://www.kompoz.com/music/artist/peterrand
Also...2021-09-0105 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsJungle King"Only the Jungle King can overcome every perilous obstacle to rescue his Jungle Princess from the clutches of an indigenous tribe of jungle cannibals."
This is a rock re-imagining of the soundtrack to Taito's arcade classic, "Jungle King" (not to be confused with "Jungle Hunt" or "Pirate Pete"). To spice up the track, Foley sound effects were added along with special vocal appearances by Johnny Weissmuller and Cliff Richard.
I composed the music for the final stage myself, since the original arcade soundtrack for the cannibal stage was essentially just sound effects.
The song is in the key of F...2021-05-2904 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsCognitive Dissonance - Selective Reality [Reworked]"The truth is whatever suits your belief system."
"Cognitive Dissonance - Selective Reality" was originally composed for the 140th KVR One-Synth-Challenge. The key of the track is D and transitions between the Aeolian and Dorian modes. This updated version of the track features a more traditional rock arrangement (e.g. rock guitar, rock drums, electric bass guitar, rock organ).
The original track may still be found here: https://soundcloud.com/tonedef71/cognitive-dissonance-selective-reality
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]2021-01-0802 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsHalloween 2020 (cover of John Carpenter's Theme to Halloween)A rock-oriented arrangement of John Carpenter's theme to Halloween suitable for a video game soundtrack.2020-10-2003 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsTheme to ARCHON: The Light And The Dark"Power points are proof against magic."
In dull, old-fashioned board games like chess and checkers, the "defending" piece gets removed quietly from the game board with the "attacker" taking the square without an ounce of hostility. In ARCHON, such docility and rank defeatism on the part of the defender is not permitted. The squares on the board must be fought for! Any attempt to occupy a square held by an opponent results in the expansion of the disputed square into a full-fledged combat arena, and then "IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!!!"
This track is a re-imagining of the theme music composed by...2020-10-1301 minToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsCognitive Dissonance - Selective Reality"The truth is whatever floats your boat..."
The sounds in this track were created exclusively by Newfangled Audio's Pendulate virtual instrument plugin for the KVR One Synth Challenge 140.
***Track Statistics***
Key and scale: D minor/D Dorian
DAW: Studio One 5 Pro
New Fangled Audio Pendulate: 12x
Stock DAW FX plugins on channels and group busses:
--------------------------------------------------
Compressor: 10x
Limiter: 3x
Pro EQ: 8x
Channel Strip: 2x
Mixverb: 1x
Room Reverb: 2x
Gate: 1x
Analog Delay: 2x
Beat Delay: 1x
Additional stock DAW FX plugins on the mix bus:
-----------------------------------------------
Limiter: x2
Fat Channel: x12020-10-0902 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsA Musical JourneyA reworked version of a rap-rock track written and recorded in August 1990 by the KY Posse (ToneDeF and a longtime childhood friend)re-recorded in August 2020 to commemorate its 30th anniversary. The musical inspiration for this new version should be obvious.
*LYRICS*
[Spoken intro]
What's the song about?
It's sort of a musical journey, really... you know.
It's a musical journey.
It's about music... I hope.
At least that's what you said it was gonna be about.
[Verse 1]
Alone with my monkey just passing the time.
Waitin' for my best girl to arrive.
I fell asleep on the sofa and I...2020-08-0303 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal Minstrels100 Seconds To Midnight"With the Doomsday Clock now being measured in seconds, there is no time to waste."
This track is composed in D minor with a side-step into C mixolydian for the bridge.
The distorted electric guitars are performed by UJAM's VG Carbon. All of the remaining instrument parts are performed by the KORG M1 virtual synth.2020-06-0403 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsCon Descending"Catch the grift?"
This track is composed in F# phrygian with a brief interlude in C lydian.
Several new virtual instruments were put to work in this track: UJAM's Virtual Guitarist Carbon; Babylon and Imperfect from W.A. Production; and Soundspot's Unison.
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]2020-01-2702 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsStomp Stone Steel-tip StilettoEven slabs of solid stone tremble from the stomp of a steel-tip stilletto.
This swinging mid-tempo track is composed in A-Phrygian/A-Minor.2020-01-0303 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal Minstrels26 To 3Twenty-six minutes before the witching hour... a time of night whose distinct numeric sequence seems to reveal itself uncannily at every opportunity. What could its cryptic ubiquity possibly be trying to convey?
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]2019-12-1902 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsVert Der Ferk?Even when you find yourself left speechless, you can still muster up the breath to exclaim: "Vert Der Ferk"?
Vad fan?!
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]2019-08-0204 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsThe Fourth Of July"The Fourth of July: the emotional turning point of summer in North America"
Another concept piece performed by Cubic Audio's Ascension virtual instrument along with Addictive Drums 2 laying down the beat.
I composed it during the long Fourth of July weekend shortly after binge-watching season three of "Stranger Things" on Netflix.
It is written in C Lydian Sharp 6 with a short excursion into G Major for the bridge.
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]2019-07-0603 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsNow Is Not The Time"There is a time and a place for for everything. The place may be here, but the time is not now."
This track is written in D Dorian with a brief dalliance into D Minor. All of the sounds are being performed by the following BeatSkillz virtual instruments: Synthwave Drums; Synthwave KZ; and Dark KZ.
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]2019-06-2103 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsSpace InvaderIf you were hoping to find a cover of the Pretenders' song, "Space Invader", this is not it. This track is a re-imagining of the theme from the classic arcade video game "Space Invaders" with its "fee-fi-fo-fum" descending bass motif. It is written in F# Dorian flat-2 because I like how easily the mode can be made to sound haunting. All of the synthesizer, percussion, and sound effects are being performed by just one sample-based virtual synthesizer: "Ascension" by Cubic Audio.
By the way, another really cool "Space Invaders" track is the "Invader House Club Mix" from the "Space Invaders...2019-04-2702 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsExercise In FutilityAn exercise in futility: trying to pin down the exact tonality and scale (or scales) for this track. There is about a 25% chance it is Db Major. Inevitably, it is what it is, and I guess I will just have to leave it at that.
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]2019-04-2002 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsGruesome Foreshadowing [Reworked]Captain Quint unwittingly alluded to his own demise.
"Gruesome Foreshadowing" was originally composed for the 79th KVR One-Synth-Challenge using sounds exclusively created with Archetype Instruments's "Lokomotiv". This updated version of the track features a more traditional rock arrangement (e.g. guitar, drums, bass, organ, strings, synth).
This track is composed exclusively in the key of E Blues Diminished (+ perfect fifth power chords).
The original version of the track may still be found here: https://archive.org/details/OSC79Lokomotiv/g5ToneDeF+and+The+ElectroMetal+Minstrels+-+Gruesome+Foreshadowing.mp3
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I...2019-01-1903 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsTraipsing Thru Terror [Reworked]Traipse through terror, if thou dost dare to live dangerously.
"Traipsing Thru Terror" was originally composed for the 55th KVR One-Synth-Challenge using sounds exclusively created with Pekka Kauppila's "MauSynth". This updated version of the track features a more traditional rock arrangement (e.g. guitar, drums, bass, organ, strings, synth).
This track employs a triplet rhythm and is composed exclusively in the "Double Harmonic Scale" (AKA the Arabic/Byzantine Scale).
The original track may still be found here: https://archive.org/details/KvrOsc55Mausynth/26Tonedef71-TraipsingThruTerror.mp3
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it...2019-01-0304 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsTheme to M.U.L.E."M.U.L.E.: Multiple Use Labor Element. Mining, farming, general hauling - this mule-like machine can do it all. But if treated carelessly, M.U.L.E. could go berserk and run away. Although you loathe him, you've got a distant planet to settle. And for now, he's all you've got. Good luck. You're gonna need it."
A re-imagining of the theme music composed by Roy Glover for M.U.L.E., the seminal multiplayer video game from Ozark Softscape released by Electronic Arts in 1983. This rock-oriented cover of the theme music is inspired by the game soundtrack from...2018-12-2202 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsStylin'"Stylin'. Always in style. Always in tune. Dübreq Stylophone. Simply stylin'."
A simple track composed for the Dübreq Stylophone 50th Anniversary Global Music Competition. https://www.facebook.com/notes/stylophone/stylophone-50th-anniversary-terms-conditions/1805186966208182/
This song is comprised of six generously processed instances of traditional Stylophone sounds along with some drum loops and a little synthesized speech.
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]2018-07-1202 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsSleepless (Up All Night, Up All Day, Up All Night) [Reworked]When sleep has eluded you for days.
"Sleepless" was originally composed for a KVR One-Synth-Challenge and used sounds created by Synapse Audio's Dune synthesizer; this updated version of the track features a more traditional rock arrangement (e.g. rock guitar, rock drums, electric bass guitar, rock organs, and lead synth).
The original track may still be found here: https://archive.org/details/KvrOscSpecialCm/46Tonedef71-SleeplessupAllNightUpAllDayUpAllNight.mp3
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]2018-06-2904 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsMuckety Mux [Reworked]"The muckety mux keep lying all the time. The muckety mux keep screwing us big time."
This bombastic track began with a simple rock lick, and took off from there. It is composed exclusively in D Dorian. "Muckety Mux" was originally composed for the 80th KVR One-Synth-Challenge and used sounds created by MuTools's modular synth, MUX; this updated version of the track features a more traditional rock arrangement (e.g. rock guitar, rock drums, electric bass guitar, rock organs, and lead synth).
The original track may still be found here: https://archive.org/details/OSC80Mux/tonedef71+-+Muckety+Mux...2017-10-2304 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsThe Night Is Dark And Full Of Terrors [Rock Version]"The Night Is Dark And Full Of Terrors... Lord of light, cast your light upon us."
"The Night Is Dark And Full Of Terrors" was originally composed for the 52nd KVR One-Synth-Challenge. This updated version of the track features a more traditional rock arrangement (e.g. rock guitar, rock drums, electric bass guitar, hammond organ, mellotron strings) along with a couple of instances of the excellent Podolski synthesizer plug-in from U-He.
The original track may still be found here: https://archive.org/details/KvrOsc52Podolski_430/53Tonedef71-TheNightIsDarkAndFullOfTerrors.mp3
[Please note: as this track was mixed using inexpensive headphones, I recommend...2017-08-2004 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsTraveling AloneThe trials, tribulations, tragedies, and triumphs of traveling alone.
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]2017-04-1804 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsSphereThe most used unusable piece of game music ever?
Described by Owen Good in his blog as the "most used unusable piece of game music ever", "Sphere" is a piece of music featured in an included demo from Activision's 1985 software hit, "Garry Kitchen's GameMaker". According to the software's manual, Sphere is "an animation program featuring electronic music and multi-colored spheres".
It is re-imagined here as an electronic rock tune.
You can read Owen's blog about the tune here: http://kotaku.com/5911299/activisions-sphere-the-most-used-unusable-piece-of-video-game-music-ever
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via...2015-12-3100 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsAmbush At The Oasis [Rock Version]They thought that the oasis would be a safe place to take shelter... they thought wrong.
"Ambush At The Oasis" was originally composed for the 53rd KVR One-Synth-Challenge. This updated version of the track features a more traditional rock arrangement (e.g. rock guitar, rock drums, electric bass guitar, hammond organ, mellotron strings).
The original track may still be found here: https://archive.org/details/KvrOsc53Feldspar/30Tonedef71-AmbushAtTheOasis.mp3
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones/earbuds to ensure the best listening experience.]2015-06-2904 min
ToneDeF & The ElectroMetal MinstrelsSong of the Grid (Theme to 'Ballblazer')Ballblazer: the simplest, fastest, and most competitive sport in the known universe.
A re-imagining of the Ballblazer theme song for 2012. The original track composed by Peter Langston for the game "Ballblazer" (released by Lucasfilm Games in 1984) was algorithmically-generated and could play forever, without repeating itself and without straying too far from the original theme. My modest adaptation of the music instead plays a consistent arpeggiated melody. I chose this track to practice sequencing, arranging, and mixing with my new DAW software.
[Please note: as this un-mastered track was mixed using headphones, I recommend that it be listened to via headphones...2012-07-1804 min