MIDI FILES I played these pieces on my synthesizers. I improvised some of them.
Piano Study An improvisation with a fast backup. Many of these files are studies of ideas that I never brought to perfection.
Xylophone Piece This was done live and fast. It has shifts in timing because I always played alone, so never learned to keep in time with an ensemble.
Three Part Composition This is one of the few multi-part pieces that I was able to do. It is all instantaneous improvisation, so while playing the first line the other lines had to be imagined and then played after the first line was completed. I can't do that now. The same piece in Four Parts is below.
Ain't Misbehavin I think Margaret used to sing this with a band. Here is my rendition of the song.
Ain't Misbehavin Variations Margaret calls this "wandering"
Piano and Xylophone Piece I like this one.
Third Man Theme This is an old piano piece from about 1945. I remember that my cousin Juanita Waller played it for me.
Ragtime Piece The synthesizer plays the rhythm, under control of the player, while the player has fun improvising.
Trouble in Mind This is an old song. I did it as a three part piece on my old computer and music system.
Country Music Piece Margaret and I would go to Moose Lodge dances. After an invigorating square dance the band would play a slow dance like this, so we could cuddle.
Here are a couple of Christmas songs. What Child is This and Christmas Stars
FAMILY The following files were done by family members.
Margaret She has been doing music all her life. In high school she was in the band. As an adult she sang in the Sweet Adelines for many years. A few years ago she decided to take piano lessons for fun. She played this country style piece for me.
Bryan Wood This was recorded when grandson Bryan was less than 1 year old.
Zachary Steppe This was recorded when grandson Zachary was about 1 year old.
Daniel Steppe This was recorded January 29, 2002 when Daniel was about 2 1/2 years old.
Moninna My daughter did this for me on one of my synthesizers..
Moninna My daughter and I play a violin duet, when she was taking violin lessons at school.
Moninna She sings a Christmas song at about 5 years old.
Duet I play the Mandolin and daughter Moninna plays the Violin, when she is about nine years old and taking violin lessons at school.
WAVE FILES Wave files are large even at low resolution, so there won't be many. On some browsers the file loads and plays one part at a time, which I haven't learned to fix. But when it is finished loading you can play the whole file again, or save it. These are low resolution sound files. If you would like a high resolution file please let me know.
In The Mood A song we always like to dance to.
Mexican Piece I finally got around to adding another music piece to the website.
Another Mexican Piece Added July 2005.
Yet Another Added October 2005
ORGAN INTRO, MALAQUENA, ORGAN FINALE Here are a set of three organ pieces. You will need a speaker system external to the computer to hear these three files well. If you can add reverberation it will improve the sound.
BACH PIECE I play a Bach melody, "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring."
A COUNTRY SONG It starts with the line "Well, I never felt more like singing the blues."
A SHORT INTRO Something I did without thinking.
OLD PIANO This is a piece that I played on my present old piano. See the OLD PIANO links below for other improvisations that I played on my old pianos.
OLD GUITAR I taught myself the elements of classical guitar playing. I enjoyed learning this piece.
OLD GUITAR A second piece on the old guitar.
A THIRD OLD GUITAR PIECE I played and recorded this piece years ago. The name of the piece is Lagrima, which means 'tear drop' in Spanish.
VIOLIN LESSON When my daughter was taking violin lessons at school I practiced with her and tried to teach her somewhat. Here she begins by wanting to tune her G string. I tell her that we are supposed to end together, so we try it. She loudly verbalizes her ending: e-e-e-e. She ends by saying "Let's play it again."
VIOLIN AND CELLO PIECE Played on my synthesizers.
PIANO ETUDE A short piano piece.
GUITAR AND XYLOPHONE Played on my synthesizers. A four part composition, the same as the three part composition above with drums added.
PIANO PIECE Another piece that I like. Added summer 2007
BASE PIECE When Margaret and I first moved to Timberlake Drive we would go dancing every Saturday at the Moose club. While Margaret was dressing I would improvise with a Base on my Synthesizer.
UNUSUAL INSTRUMENTS I have been collecting interesting musical instruments for many years. Here are pictures and sounds of the instruments. To hear the sound again click your 'refresh' button. Most of the music files are short and will start playing quickly. But the OLD PIANO file is long and may require a minute or more to load.
SHAKERS These hand held percussion makers belong to my wife Margaret, who had them before we met. They have a name but we don't know it.
OCARINA This is a small ceramic blowing instrument. It is homemade, brightly painted and makes a whistling sound.
OCEAN DRUM A finger percussion instrument which can also make a sound like waves on a beach.
GOURD PIANO A small plucked instrument made out of a gourd and steel vibrators. I can play simple tunes on it.
MANDOLIN A mandolin with an unusual body that I bought in Sicily.
GUITAR I bought this guitar at the same time that I bought the above mandolin.
FIRST OLD PIANO I have had a couple of old pianos. They have a nice slightly out of tune sound.
SECOND OLD PIANO This one came to me, free, late in life.
OLD VIOLIN A violin that belonged to my grandfather, and which I used to teach my daughter.
COW HORN This a trumpet made from a cow horn when I was a kid.
MY FIRST MUSIC SYSTEM
COMPUTER SOUND This page tells how a file stored on our computer becomes sound to our minds.
My first computer music system. On top are a MIDI switcher box and a Digital Signal Processor. Then a Casio CZ5000 synthesizer which I no longer have. Then a Korg DW-8000 synthesizer. Then a dual deck cassette tape recorder. On the bottom shelf is Roland drum machine and a Roland mixer/amplifier. In front is maybe a Yamaha PSR-SQ16 synthesizer. To the left is a Radio Shack Color Computer. I purchased it in 1980 before IBM came out with their PC design that we all use now.