Will's Music

Darkness into Light    Other Audio    Gear

I began playing guitar in 1986, influenced by the hard rock/heavy metal and shred guitar scene of the time. The first few years I regularly did the 4-12 hours a day of playing guitar as I tried to quickly improve in order to be able to play the music I loved. While that style of music still tends to be my preference, I dabble in other styles as well. I more or less gave up guitar playing for a few years in the late '90s as I focused on my IT career and writing, but picked up the guitar again in 2001. While I don't have the same level of technique I had in the early '90s (time constraints, other priorities have made the days of practicing multiple hours a day a thing of the past), I still enjoy playing and writing and recording my own music. After I got back into playing, I fulfilled one of my earlier goals of recording and releasing my own album (Darkness into Light). I hope to record another one in 2007 after finishing my master's thesis

 

Darkness into Light

Darkness into Light was officially released in December of 2002, and is still available on Amazon.com and CDbaby.com. However, the CD has been successful enough for me that I'm ready to simply make it available as a download on the honor system. What I mean by that is, you are free to download the album, but I would request that you make a donation of the equivalent of $5 (USD) to the charity of your choice.

 

Darkness into Light is an instrumental, epic journey through the transformation from nonbeliever to Christian. This is a deeply personal album for me, I grew up in an unreligious family and it took the power of the Holy Spirit for me to overcome my distaste for Christianity and religion in general. While Darkness into Light is about the transformation from the "dark" worldly ways to seeking and following the "light" of Jesus Christ, as an instrumental album the music stands on its own and should be enjoyable to anyone who likes guitar driven instrumental music.

Below is a track listing with a running story I wrote as I was writing the music but prior to recording. What is interesting is the descriptions of the songs don't always match what the particular song turned out as. In some cases the songs went in a different direction than what I originally envisioned. The following are 192-bit MP3 files, created directly from the source WAV files used to make the CD.

1. Prelude (:40)

The album begins with a short symphonic style "prelude," featuring harpsichord and orchestral hits. Kind of a minor key dark sounding start, it gives way at the end to the beginning of the next song.

2. Missing Inside (6:23)  Reached #7 in Classical on MP3.com

A slow acoustic piece, as the subject of the story starts contemplating a life that is filled with material possessions, a successful career, and a great family ... but wonders why he feels something is missing. He is slightly depressed, but doesn't know why when everyone around him thinks (and tells him) he is doing so well...

3. Introspection (5:18)

Our main character, determined to find what he is missing, turns within. Because of his past, he first turns to the world for solutions ... becoming his own pop psychologist along the way and thinking that maybe a little bit more money and a little easier lifestyle is the answer he's looking for. Maybe? But ... what if there's more? Our character is fighting to come to grips with mortality as he feels his youth slipping and feeling transformed into his own father. Part of him is constantly striving towards new accomplishments and moving forward, part of him is scared to leave the past behind. The dichotomy creates a tension within the song, from the searing electric guitar segments to the peaceful classical guitar and piano moments.

This song started out in 1994 as a piano piece written by Donna Duncan for my then fiancé Melissa and me. Donna, now my sister-in-law, wrote it as a wedding gift. The original focused on the piano, with the bass and drums adding support. The little counter melody that starts this current version she had written, but decided to scrap out of her final version. Sometime in 1999 I was going through cleaning up my hard drive and ran across this song that I hadn't listened to in a couple of years and played it back. I grabbed one of my guitars and came up with a rough idea for a guitar solo to go over the piano part, but didn't do anything with it at the time. I just sort of filed it away as something fun to play with, but didn't consider taking it beyond that. One day earlier this year while practicing soloing over it, I decided to start playign around with the music some and recording some variations to practice different soloing ideas over. My first step was to come up with the idea of having each instrument come into play one at a time from the start. After that, I put together some of my ideas for the lead guitar section, and knew what I was going to record there. Lastly, once I figured out how this song could fit into the theme of this longer project, I started working on fleshing it out and adding more dynamics ... in came the classical guitar section, the choir vocals and flutes, etc. I then wrote the closing build-up section and reworked a lot of the drums to fit the changing moods of the song. Without Donna's original inspiration though, this song wouldn't exist, so I am indebted to her for that. Thanks Donna!

4. The Longing (5:04)

Realizing that his emptiness has begun to affect his temperament and is adversely affecting his family, our character longs to find the solution to his unhappiness. This song is a brooding piece, from melancholy electric guitars to woodwinds and strings that cry out longingly for answers. By the song's end, a twinkling of hope begins to emerge as our character's heart begins to soften and he rediscovers a pathway long neglected and grown over.

5. The Moment Before (5:02)

In life, there are many times that there is split second moment in time before something happens, when anticipation and excitement reach a dramatic peak. This song uses dual classical guitars playing a dissonant chord progression against a reaching electric guitar line and a hard rock power chord progression under a more uptempo lead guitar line to simulate the ebb and flow that pulls us between peace and tension. The moment before an anticipated event always brings us to an uncomfortable place that strains for resolution, which comes next...

6. The Awakening (7:54)

As our character sleeps, he dreams of a tower of light at the end of a great meadow. An angel sweeps him up into the sky, where he is able to briefly see the most beautiful scenes and hear the most beautiful sounds he has ever seen/heard. Alas, he cannot stay in this place. The angel then takes him to another place, a place of great darkness and anguish. It is the saddest place he could imagine. Scared, he asks the angel why he is here. Without a word, the angel drops him back where he started. For the first time, he looks around and sees how dark and dreary the land around him is. The angel shows him the path to get back to the tower of light he saw, to his dismay down the path that has been grown over in his own neglect and fear. Remembering Robert Frost's immortal words, he looks at the difficult, narrow terrain of the path the angel pointed to and staying on the other path, which is wide, flat, and easy to navigate ... but which ends in the darkness of misery. He contemplates the choice, and faces his fear.

This is the lengthiest song on the album, and as the story would suggest covers a wide range of emotions through the music.

7. Illumination (4:13)  Reached #2 in Christian Rock on MP3.com

Awakened from his darkened slumber, our character finds himself seeing as clearly as he ever has. He basks in a warm glow of light as his heart warms and his mind refocuses on what is important in life. Money and prestige become less important, and making a positive impact on people's lives becomes more important. As a new Christian, he is unsure of himself when it comes to sharing his faith in Jesus Christ with others, but he still feels a strong connection and the desire to continue seeking the light. He realizes that the narrow path he saw grown over in his dreams represents a righteous life. It is a more difficult path to follow, but as the angel showed him, the reward at the end of the path is much greater than that at the end of the wide and easy to navigate path. Illumination is a happy song, with a strong major key chord progression.

8. Righteous Fire (6:20)  Reached #5 in Christian Rock on MP3.com

Invigorated, our character approaches everything he does with renewed energy. He is focused on doing what is right, and the mood of the song is very upbeat with soaring electric guitar lines. This is probably the most "straight forward" song in terms of structure and doesn't have any mood shifts. It remains energetic and upbeat throughout.

9. The Revelation (4:06)  Reached #3 in Christian Metal on MP3.com

One day it occurs to him that the source of his happiness is something to be shared with others. While he has been enjoying the light of Jesus Christ, he has been hesitant to share it with others for a number of reasons. Fear of ridicule is most prominent, as he doesn't want to be thought of as a "religious nut" or "holy roller" or any of the other derogatory terms thrown at Christians who are strong in their faith. Fortunately, God gives him the strength to stand up for what he believes in regardless of how unpopular his views might be in a world that increasingly favors doing whatever makes you feel good without accepting responsibility. With renewed purpose, our character conquers his fear and seeks to show others the joy and peace that comes from the salvation provided through Jesus Christ.

10. Inner Peace (6:47)

As the album began, it closes with an acoustic piece. However, this time the mood has changed. It is tranquil rather than depressed, and filled with hope for the future. Our character is at peace with his mortal life on Earth, knowing that eternal life in the great meadow of the tower of light that the angel showed him in his dream (Heaven) awaits patiently, everlasting. He smiles as he looks upon his family, knowing they will be there with him, along with many friends that he has met along the narrow path and has helped show the narrow path to the light. The song itself is actually a medley of two popular Christian hymns, "As the Deer" and "You are My All in All," with the MIDI arrangement being done by Bruce Milleman and I supplied the guitars.

11. Into the Light (3:40)

Originally I intended "Inner Peace" to close the album, but at the last minute I wrote Into the Light, which is kind of a long freeform solo. The chorused acoustic guitar part is consistent throughout, and the deep resonating drums and bass add depth. The solo is without structure in terms of a memorable melody line, but is more about one pouring their heart out, much like we do when we pray privately. This outpouring of emotion culminates with some wild playing in the last minute.

 

Other Audio

Here's a clip I did demonstrating the neck pickup of my Carvin DC131T. I didn't record the backing track, just the lead:
FunkyBlueJam

Here are a couple of more goofing off jams that I did just doing some "tone samples" of my Bogner Ecstasy 101B. Both were recorded direct into a Palmer PGA-04 cabinet emulator, patched into my Mackie 1202-vlz mixer, and then into an M-Audio Firewire Audiophile and into the computer. The playing itself is a bit bleh, but I didn't spend more than 15 minutes on either clip.

Red Channel - rhythm and lead guitars both are the red (lead) channel. EQ setup was treble 2:00, mids 12:00, bass 11:00, presence 9:00. Pre-EQ set to B1, "old" voicing, full power. I should have increased the presence for the lead track, but oh well. For effects, I added a bit of reverb to the rhythm track and a delay mixed very low (5%) to the lead track. I added these in software after the fact.

The guitar was my Carvin DC131 running into a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, which was setup with gain at 0, clean at 3:00, and level at 11:00. In other words, running straight as a clean boost only. Rhythm was played on the bridge pickup, a Duncan Custom Custom. Lead was a combination of the bridge pickup and the neck pickup, a Carvin Twinblade.

Green + Blue Channel - rhythm is the green (clean) channel. Treble 2:00, mid 10:00, bass 1:00, presence 1:00. Lead is the blue (crunch) channel, set to the same EQ settings as the red channel in the clip above. To me, the blue channel has a more open and less compressed tone than the red channel, though both are cool sounds for doing different things. Effects-wise, there is just a splash of reverb to give some ambience.

Same as the above clip, Carvin DC131 into Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive. Rhythm was played on the neck pickup(Carvin Twinblade) and the lead was played on a combination of the neck pickup and the Duncan Custom Custom in the bridge.

Gear