Albums (42)

Originally created for the 2010 RPM Challenge (rpmchallenge.com), Adversapolis is a unique collection of songs written and recorded in a month. These are really "songs", too, as they all (save for one) have lyrics, unlike most everything I do. 

The words were largely written during a particularly self-reflective time in life, and it's hard to identify completely with the sentiments contained therein nowadays. Still, despite the hasty and crude recording of some of it, it's a time machine to a certain time in my life that I want to remember.

Good ol' square, triangle, and saw waves mixed together with shaped white noise in a lo-fi, NES-style package.

These are simple tunes with simple rhythms and melodies, and I like it that way.

Sometimes you make a track and it never quite finds a home in an album, EP, or other collection. It needs a home, however, and here it is. In other words, here are some B-sides, singles, and other minutia that didn't fit on a proper album. Enjoy!

My first album ever (that wasn't just MIDI->WAV)! Written over several years, but recorded in a month, all using Cakewalk Guitar Tracks 2. Its content's inspiration comes fresh off of many repeated listenings of Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Eric Johnson, only with a fraction of the talent, and yet a significant amount of originality. 

CS13 was my initial foray into the world of instrumental guitar rock and, while it sounds pretty dated now, it was a masterful accomplishment for me at the time. Listen to Zoetic after listening to this and (hopefully!) FEEL the difference.

Handful of groovy, electronica covers/remixes of all the NES games I could find that start with "Metal". It doesn't get more metal than that, right? 

Note: Metal Max gets more of its share than the other games on this album, but that's because its soundtrack was so catchy, I just had to cover several tracks from it. To be honest, I'd never even heard of the game before this project, but the composer, Satoshi Kadokura (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Kadokura), now rules my world. 

Note, again: each individual track has the source material for the track. Example: Metal Mech NSF1 = "NES game named Metal Mech, track 1, as per the Nintendo Sound Format file"

Album cover made with Canva (canva.com)

Op. 1, No. 1 is a loooooooong bout of off-and-on work. Many iterations and reinventions have lead up to its final form. After 11+ years, I think I'm finally done with molding it into existence. 

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Affectionately known as "Dumeh", this piece could be referred to as contemporary classical, but I really don't know the "correct" genre. Regardless, Dumeh is in a modified sonata-allegro format with piano being the star. The string section is no slouch, however, and I had fun writing those parts to complement the keys. It's the one piece of music in my repertoire that I'd love to hear performed live at a concert, just as if I were one of those stodgy, yet eminently professional composer/conductors. 

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"To be is to do." - Socrates 
"To do is to be." - Sartre 
"Do be do be do." - Sinatra 
"Du. Meh. Dumeh." - Me

Since the age of 4 I've been playing video games, and since the age of 16 I've been making music. The crossover potential finally made enough sense to make a video game soundtrack. Fifteen tracks of adventure, fantasy, and aqueous delinquency await you.

A few humble requests that may or may not succeed.

Selected tracks from various NES games, all remixed or rearranged in some fashion. 

1. Batman 
2. Kick Master 
3. Goonies II 
4. Golgo 13 
5. Solar Jetman 
6. The Immortal 
7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 
8. Pictionary 
9. Willow 
10. Solomon's Key 
11. Magician

Covers and remixes of various video game themes, ranging in style from rocking guitar to pulsing electronic. Most are a bit obscure, but I figure it increases the chances of standing out from the rest of the remixing community. 

01 Startropics (NES) 
02 Bionic Commando (NES) 
03 Maniac Mansion (Various) 
04 Ufouria (NES) 
05 Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (NES) 
06 Shadowrun (SNES) 
07 Final Fantasy 1 (NES) 
08 Metal Gear 2: Snake's Revenge (NES) 
09 Dragon Warrior 4 (NES) 
10 Mega Man X (SNES) 
11 Bubble Bobble (NES) 
12 Shadowgate (NES) 
13 Magician (NES) 
14 Sword of Hope (Gameboy)

Cover art courtesy Kathy Peterson of faintidea.net

A collection (a stew, you might say) of video game covers and remixes spanning several eras that are lovingly caressed and at the same time mangled into my own creations. 

While I can't always stay away from the popular, I tried to pick some less-covered soundtracks (or at least some less-covered tracks) as they deserve to be highlighted, cherished, and then reinterpreted by my own unique flavor. 

01 Drop Zone (NES) 
02 Final Fantasy 4/6j (SNES) 
03 N.A.R.C. (NES) 
04 Uninvited (NES) 
05 Fez (Various) 
06 Golgo 13 (NES) 
07 Faxanadu (NES) 
08 Rez (PS) 
09 Bonk (TG-16) 
10 Deja Vu (NES) 
11 Strider (NES) 
12 River City Ransom (NES) 
13 RC Pro-Am (NES)

5-song EP about anything and nothing. 

Melodies and lyrics, but no singing. Sometimes, you just don't get to that part in time.

1. "Totes Plents Parks" track title by my wife, Robyn. 
2. "One Bark and a Couple Murfs" inspired by my dog, Penny. 
3. "Polygonal People" track title inspired by discussion on Slack. 
4. "Ruse" is a cool word. 
5. "Humble Obscurity" is a cheeky title. 

Album cover by Canva (canva.com).

Original soundtrack contributions for Joel Kelley's freeware space puzzler Impulse (deck16.net/impulse). An album of thinky puzzle music meant to keep you somewhat off-kilter, yet hopeful as you guide your rocket ship through 100 levels of atmospheric spelunkery.

Collection of quiet, solo instrumental acoustic guitar pieces to lull your baby to Dream Land. 

All tracks are generally first takes, with minor editing, so they represent the honest extent of the can-do spirit that one can muster when one is the newfound father of an infant.

Robyn, for her love; Fliss, for inspiration; Grandparents, for the opportunities.

M.U.S.I.K. - Music Unsolicitedly Started Idiosyncratically for Karma 
October 2003 

One piece of music each day, done over the course of a month. Anything is possible (but rock or electronica is likely).

M.U.S.I.K. - Music Unsolicitedly Started Idiosyncratically for Karma 
August 2006 

One piece of music each day, done over the course of a month. Anything is possible (but rock or electronica is likely).

Aggressive electronica with strong rock elements. Basically, a crushing tsunami of drums, bass, and synths.

Soundtrack created for 2014 Accessibility Jam entry "Marco's Minefield", by Joel Kelley. Marco's Minefield is a game that relies on your ability to, well, play Marco Polo...in a forest...with mines. 

Game Jolt entry: gamejolt.com/games/puzzle/marco-s-minefield/27291/

Sometimes, other people want audio for some reason or another. This is a collection of music I've made for those people.

Ideas sketched while visiting cities in the Pacific Northwest. Done completely in Garageband on an iPad, but cleaned up a bit in Garageband on a Mac. Bebot and Thumbjam apps were also helpful.

Pure Yellow Colour's first, and only, album

Mini-EP of laid-back electronica tunes to act as the soundtrack for Jimmy Cuadra's GitHub Game Off 2012 entry, "Pushing Hands". Play the game at pushing-hands.perceptes.com. 

Created using Nanostudio (blipinteractive.co.uk).

A mini-plethora of pleasantry meant to perforate the pall over our collective pathos.

Written, recorded, and produced for the RPM Challenge, April 2020.

Official, and unofficial, musical cues for the Quibblings Podcast.

An oft hard-hitting, but occasionally reflective, Logic-produced handful-o'-beats soundtrack to DrupalCon 2017 in Baltimore, MD.

A Speak 'n' Spell has a breakdown.

Some of my favorite tracks from older projects that never quite got their due reappear here in finer form. Beats rocked or grooved so hard/smooth that they just needed to be brought some justice.

Soundtrack to the game Rorasuketo ("Rollerskate" in Japanese). It uses several SNES soundfonts for its orchestration, including Final Fantasy 4/5/6, Secret of Mana/Evermore, Earthbound, Starfox, Lufia, and more.

Fly Like Venus's first, and only (so far), album released.

Drums: Rusty von Dyl

Bass: Denver Miranda

Rhythm and Lead Guitars: Tom Nawrocki

Rhythm and Lead Guitars: Michael Chadwick

Vocals: Tom Nawrocki and Michael Chadwick

A bunch of ideas and sketches (i.e. "scraps"), mainly done via Logic virtual instruments. All tracks are 2 mins or less to keep it real.

Just some kicks and snares and synths and drnts and beats and hard-edged tunes to bounce along to.

First full-length release full of whimsy and snark.

A short soundtrack to the recent travels of my life.

A collection of solo acoustic guitar pieces, mainly covers, but also several originals, that represent my interests and talents. 

I can play these (and others) at your social event, if need be. Contact me at guitmike@nebyoolae.com.

Devjam EP1 - https://devjams.com

The Escort Mission (tem.nebyoolae.com) was a trio of guys (with the occasional guest host) who wanted to talk on the Internet for a while, and I was honored to be a part of it. They liked to talk about gaming, TV, movies, books, technology, and essentially anything else they experienced during their daily lives. TEM recorded 50+ podcast episodes over the course of a year or so, and it was grand. 

In that time, I created an intro and outro theme for the podcast, as well as several variations for specific episodes, usually appropriate to the subject matter (or current band influence of the time). I owe a debt of gratitude to the composer for the Good Eats TV show, as they had one main theme that got countless variations made to use during their run, and I was greatly influenced by this compositional technique.

This album is a collection of themes, varying in their mood and meaning. Unlike my other albums, each piece corresponds to a video, making the music only one part of the whole. 

Videos for the pieces featured herein.

Devjam EP2 - https://devjams.com

Soundtrack for the unfinished video game "Vox Venio". These pieces are meant to evoke one being on Mars, alone save for your trusty rover friend, wrestling with conflict. Not that any of us have been in this situation (yet), so you'll have to imagine. 

Made (for the most part) with Nanostudio (blipinteractive.co.uk). Deimos, Phobos, and Edge Fixer were all made with a combination of Garageband and Logic. 

Cover art courtesy of Candice Norcross and my amateur collage abilities.

3-song EP of inauthentic East Asian dance tunes

A collection of peaceful, and often contemplative, instrumental tracks that can make the time you're waiting on something else a bit more pleasant.

Zoetic, of or pertaining to life, is a valid moniker for this collection of bluesy, instrumental guitar rock pieces. When you don't write lyrics or sing, naming wordless creations is somewhat difficult. In fact, that is a large part of my musical persona: trying to say something, but not using words to say it. 

Whether I'm rocking out in "Megablues", slowing it down a bit for "Emerald", or going kinda weirdly experimental metal on "Indigo", the string instruments are my main vocabulary. I may not be in a band, but technology allows me to sound like it as best as I can.