Chris Cooke
BIOGRAPHY
Chris Cooke played keyboards and sang in choirs from childhood until he graduated from college, writing the occasional tune in high school. After college, he directed his energies elsewhere for over 10 years, finally returning to music, composition, and songwriting in 2004 when Apple released GarageBand.
Strictly a hobbyist, he writes primarily for himself, but invites those who dare to listen in. His music has been featured in several podcasts, and he has participated in several online music competitions.
Chris's music may be found online at http://macidol.com/jamroom/bands/682.
BAND MEMBERS
Chris Cooke
composer, keyboard, vocals, production
YEARS COMPLETED
2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012
GENRES
Experimental,Classical, ,IDM/Experimental,Chamber Music
OTHER BAND SITES
http://macidol.com/jamroom/bands/682
Completed Albums
Family Portrait(2007)
Most of this album is my first foray into algorithmic music, though there are exceptions. All of the pieces relate to my family life in some way.
Many of the songs use Tim Thompson's Tune Toys, seeded with different facets of my life (family photos, my social security number, our names, etc.) I took the MIDIs generated by the Tune Toys and made them my own through arrangement, changing instrument voices, writing accompaniments, or mashing several MIDIs together.
For more information about each individual song, see the song info at my artist page, http://www.macidol.com/jamroom/bands/682.
Special thanks to my family for their love and support, the MacIDOL community for their encouragement, Tim Thompson for creating and sharing his Tune Toys, and The RPM Challenge 2007 for getting me going!
This album is (c) 2007 by Chris Cooke, and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Orchestral samples on tracks 1, 2, and 10 are from Garritan Personal Orchestra(TM).
Tweak(2008)
Chris explores his musical production technology in this multi-genre celebration of the power now available to the amateur composer.
Sketching Divinity(2009)
In "Sketching Divinity" I humbly offer ten short musical sketches inspired by some of the attributes chosen by the Bab for the Badi calendar used by the Baha'i Faith.
Conductance(2010)
Live from my basement, 2/20/2010.
Timeless(2011)
In this primarily electronic album, Chris explores a little of this and a little of that. From loop creations to tuned water glasses, a sampler frenzy to meditation using a Wii balance board, and winding up with an audio interpretation of the _Principia Discordia_, "Timeless" will leave you wondering where the heck you've been all this time, and why you didn't get there sooner.
Following Sea(2012)
Modern chamber music in traditional style, "Following Sea" develops as the CD progresses, starting a solo piano "Sonatina" and adding one instrument per CD track until a veritable nine piece chamber orchestra celebrates "Fair Wind". From the light-hearted "Duet for Flute and Violin" to the moody "Valse Funebre"; the traditional style "Following Sea" to the contemporary "Seethe"; and the mix of both worlds in the robot madrigal, "My CPU Runs Hot", "Following Sea" will delight both casual classical music listeners and hard-core art music fans taking a break from the Masters.