Tag Archives: Crazy Composer

Casa Batlo

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Casa Batlo - Barcelona, Spain

      1. Casa Batlo
This song was inspired by a building I saw in Barcelona, Spain that was designed by the architect Antoni Gaudi in 1877. His buildings are works of art that seem to be from another time and place. It moved me to see this one lit up at night. I had this feeling stuck in my head for weeks after seeing it, and wrote this song to capture that feeling. I used Ukulele, Classical Guitar, Bass, and Strings for the arrangement.

Avalon Morning

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Russian River Valley

      1. Avalon Morning
I wrote this song while on vacation in the Russian River Valley (California’s Wine Country) in the summer of 2012. I tried to capture the sound of the morning among the redwood trees and vineyards surrounding the place we were staying.

Park Bench

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Park-Bench

      1. Park Bench
I wrote this song to capture the vibe of an elderly couple sitting on a park bench. I was going for an innocent, sentimental sort of vibe that might be used as background soundtrack for a scene in a movie, or a TV ad. To capture this sentimental, old-fashioned vibe, I made use of my favorite quirky-sounding instrument the Dobro, along with my favorite innocent-sounding rhythm instrument, the Ukulele, to add a bounce to the accompaniment. I used the Dobro in the same way that a slide trombone might be used in a song like this, to add that old-time kind of southern sound to the piece.  This song was placed in an episode of “Return to Amish” on the TLC Network.

Late Night Stomp’n

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Comedy-Club

      1. Late Night Stomp'n
I’ve always loved some of the theme music used in late-night-comedy shows. This song is my own experiment in coming up with a theme for a late-night-comedy show, using all of the elements that I like so much about this kind of theme music

Las Ramblas

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Las-Ramblas-photo

      1. Las Ramblas
I wrote this song to capture the feeling of shopping at an outdoor market, much like the way I’ve felt when visiting an area called Las Ramblas in Barcelona. I used handclaps, acoustic guitar, and other acoustic sounds to get a more earthy sound as well as to add a more organic rhythm sound.

Space Age Man Cave

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Space-Age-Man-Cave-Image2

      1. Space Age Man Cave - Space Age Man Cave
I wrote this song as a tribute to the genre known as “Space Age Pop”, made famous by composers such as Henry Mancini and Juan Garcia Esquivel in the late 50’s and early 60’s. This style of music was used in so much of the TV and film of the 60s for shows like “The Pink Panther”, “I Dream of Jeanie” and lots of others. I had a lot of fun working on this tune, but it really tested my skills in coming up with interesting horn parts that sounded authentic. I still love listening to these composers for inspiration

The Lost Dutchman Trail

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Lost Dutchman Trail

      1. The Lost Dutchman Trail - The Lost Dutchman Trail composed and recorded by Jim Pfeifer 2013 All Rights Reserved
I wrote this song as a self-imposed assignment to write a piece of music in the style of a spaghetti western films of the 1960s. I’ve always loved that music! This piece is the result of a few months work on the song ideas and arrangement I came up with. Not only did I have to spend some time working up my my whistling technique, I also called on my friend John Ryan to play the harmonica part to get that old-west vibe that I was going for. He nailed it. The real Lost Dutchman Trail is not far from where I live in Arizona. This song is an attempt to capture some of the magic and beauty I see in those picturesque Superstition Mountains.

Winter Twilight

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Winter-Twilight

      1. Winter Twilight
I started this song ideas as a simple experiment with a guitar part and vocal melody behind it, but the song took on a new life as I started writing orchestral parts to go with the guitar and vocal part. As the song developed it sounded like a Winter theme, so I re-titled it, even though I wrote it the midst of the Arizona summer heat, probably wishing for cooler weather.

The Desert

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Desert

      1. The Desert

Being an Arizona resident for most of my life, I’ve spent a lot of time in the desert. I wanted to write a piece to capture the feeling of the harshness and beauty of the desert, but add an element of excitement also. To combine these elements I came up with this piece, where it opens as a stark, atmospheric soundscape but then moves into a groove-oriented action piece. If there were an action-movie made in the Arizona desert, this might make a good track for the opening scene as they endure the desert heat, then get chased by bad guys. This song was placed in the show “The Escape Club” on the E! Channel.

Attic Treasures

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      1. Attic Treasures
I wrote this song to depict the feeling longing you get when you explore an old attic and find keepsakes or old photos that remind you of people from your past that are no longer with you. I wanted to capture that emotion in music. I used acoustic guitar, sparse piano melody, and a string quartet for this piece.

Twangfest at the Sock Hop

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      1. Twangfest At The Sock Hop
 This is a short Rockabilly instrumental that I wrote as a tribute to all of the various rockabilly guitar players that I’ve learned from over the years. I’ve always loved this style of guitar playing as it is a uniquely American style and represents a mash up of genres that collided in the 1950s including Country, Western Swing, and Blues, and represented the beginning of Rock-n-Roll.  This song was placed in an episode of “Ozzy & Jack’s World Tour” on the A&E Network.