Arrangement of Mine Played by Live Orchestra

Beauty and the Beast, performed by the Brampton Rose Orchestra, conducted by David Warrack, written by Alan Mencken, string+percussion parts arranged by C. Custer, and all wind instrument parts arranged by...ME! Long story short, I was given the opportunity by Shane Wieler and David Warrack to write in wind parts for this arrangement, which originally had only string and percussion parts written. So, when you are listening to this, keep in mind that all of the wind instruments you hear are playing music written by me, Aristacatte (totally not bragging right now). If you've gotten this far into the video description, then I'd like you to know that I am aware that a potato could probably produce better sound quality than the iPhone this was recorded on. However, due to the circumstances, I wasn't able to get a better quality recording. Hopefully when you listen to this, you will hear the beauty, and not the beast.

 

More Compositions of Mine to be Played Live!

I mentioned to my teacher about some music I've been writing, and she said that the jazz band and string ensemble at my school will be playing two pieces of mine! She didn't really ask me if I wanted my music played, she just said "your music will be played," and that was it. That's perfectly fine though. If you are interested in the details, I have a Celtic piece already written from 2 years ago that I am re-arranging for the string ensemble, and am currently in the process of writing a jazz piece. WOO!

Entry for Round 2

Finished this song a couple minutes ago! It is the exact opposite of "Dark Side of the Mind." This is the song I wrote for round 2 of the songwriting competition I entered. Here is the criteria I had to follow: "Envision yourself waking up for the first time in a new world. Try to capture the newness of the place you're in, the strange animals and exotic plants, and write them into your piece."
Did I follow the criteria well?

New Music for the Psychedelic lovers!

It took me longer than I had expected; every time I thought I was done, I went back and experimented a bit and then ended up working on it even more. Plus, the vocals was a whole project itself. This is the first song of mine that I have ever sung in, and is also the first time I ever really sang at all, so please be forgiving if it's not that good.

Anyway, enjoy!

Lakeshore Jazz Band Plays "Kiss the Girl" and "Hound Dog"

I'm totally proud of my school jazz band for sounding so pro. I'm not proud of my on-stage dancing though; that needs some work. (I'm the lonely awkward trumpet player in the middle)

The first song we play is "Kiss the Girl" from the little mermaid, and the second is the real rowdy "Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley. (The second song starts at 3:16)

New Page!

I now have a gallery of Aristacatte art for you to use as you wish! You can use it for backgrounds, profile pictures, and anything else you want. It's all free to download, so don't worry about stealing!

Art Gallery

Found this Cool Band!

I went to a Foster the People concert last Tuesday (which was awesome by the way), and the opening band was St. Lucia. It was the first time I was exposed to their music and saw them live. I knew there was going to be some sort of band before Foster the People, but I didn't care; I take that back! I have to say, they not only sound great live, but they sure do put on a show!

My First Date with Bassoon

The Most Epic Drummer Alive

Gotta love those men in sparkly gold jackets singing "Sharp Dressed Man." 

New pages on my blog!

This is just a notification that I have created three new pages , "Understanding Studio EQ", "Musical Terminology", and "Software Terminology"

Epic Dubstep Christmas Light and Synchronized Music Display

My step-brother was telling me about this, and I had to post it here.
He told me that he was driving in the country and saw blinking lights ahead on the road, and when he arrived to them he found himself in front of this house with all these blinking lights. There was a sign that said to tune in to a specific radio station, and he did. This is the light show he saw that night on a house in the middle of nowhere:

Just got Cubase 7.5, Steinberg's latest installment! I'm already making so much music! Hopefully If I am able to finish a song and get it copyrighted soon, I'll have a few pieces published within the next couple of months!

Angriest Guitar Player in the World

I always thought I totally lost it when it comes to practicing music, but I think I have some competition: 

Great News for Foster the People Fans!

In fact, these news are great for anyone who enjoys great music. Foster the People are releasing their new album, Supermodel, on March 18 2014! They've released one demo song, Coming of Age. Here is the music video, which is actually of them painting the mural that is their album cover.

Call it What You Want - Foster the People: arrangement by Aristacatte

I made this arrangement in fall, 2012. I did this by ear, meaning I listened to the song and wrote what I heard, which made it very tedious. Not to mention that I also hadn't discovered that I was able to copy and paste measure in Noteflight... I do now though.