Don Dailey

An abstract journey through some disturbing neighborhoods.

The title is a little play on words since the piece is loosely based on a rondo form, with the "heartbeat" section serving as the refrain. A mix of synthesized and vocals "mouth" sounds.

A State of Flux (7:41)

All the sounds used in this piece were created in a Reaktor ensemble called Fluxus, by Rick Scott. The resulting sound files were further process through a number of FX plugins. These were then edited, sculpted and glued back together to create what you now hear.

Complicated Insomnia (8:00)

I wanted to write something the was very dreamy and delicate with little "interruptions." Complicated Insomnia was a result. I used Omnisphere, Zebra, and Jopy's Reaktor ensemble called PcOnTrApTiOn2.

Did I Stutter? (4:16)

The sound material in Did I Stutter? is taken from parts of spoken word that aren't words. The sounds we make in between words while we're we're trying to find the right words. Edited together to create a variety of rhythms and processed through a Granulator plug-in.

Kaleidoscope (2:53)

Kaleidoscope explores the whole tone scale. All sounds were created using Metasynth.

Soox (3:25)

Reaktor and Metasynth meet in a back alley ...

My music career started with playing trumpet in 4th grade. A year later I switched to tuba and also started playing guitar. I studied tuba all through college with a double major, the other being composition. During college got turned on to contemporary avant-garde and electronic music, with early influences of Igor Stravinsky, Iannis Xenakis, Morton Subotnick, and George Crumb that continue to haunt my music even now.

As a composer, I've always had a leaning towards storytelling and almost programmatic music, although I'm as likely to create purely abstract tone paintings, working sometimes like a painter gradually building up layers of aural color and other times working more as a sculptor, starting with recorded improvisations and then carving away until the essential bits remain, which can be assembled into something cohesive.

In addition to working as a composer, I spend much of my "music time" working on sound design and patch building, with many banks of sounds for Absynth and Reaktor. Many of my compositions are available for audition on Soundclick.com, Reaktions.com, and GarageBand.com. Outside of music, I also spend time woodworking, carving, painting, and cooking.

I've released a commercial CD to accompany yoga, massage or meditation with long-time friend and percussion virtuoso, M. B. Gordy. The CD, "Inner Aura" is available on CDBaby.com.