My Journey Into Music

New Track: Jump Gate X

2022-08-09T11:46:00.002-07:00

This is my newest track that shows off Xenon, the newest sound set from Sonic Underworld for Diva by u-he.

This piece is my attempt at marrying the cinematic genre and anime soundtracks. It is shorter than most of my other pieces, but there is a lot going on in the track. My challenge in mixing was to bring out everything while giving each part its own space to be heard.

Listen to the naked version with just Xenon sounds here:

https://soundcloud.com/patrickwoo/jump-gate-x-naked

Also, I created part of the artwork (the lines and the composite)!

I write a bit more in this article:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/patrickwooky_soundscape-dramatic-hybrid-activity-6962830524922941440-SdtL

You can listen to more demos for Xenon here:

https://soundcloud.com/sonicunderworld/sets/diva-xenon

https://soundcloud.com/luftrum-1/sets/xenon-for-diva

New Track: Approaching Ultear

2022-04-13T11:33:00.007-07:00

patrickwoo · Approaching Ultear

Approaching Altear is a demo track for Sonic Underworld's upcoming sound-set for Omnisphere 2: Pandorum II.

The following instruments are used on top of Pandorum patches: orchestral strings, brass, and percussion

Listen to the Naked version with just the sounds from Pandorum 2 here:

Patrickwoo – Approaching-ultear-naked

Listen to demos of Pandorum II on the official playlists here: soundcloud.com/luftrum-1/sets/pandorum-ii-for-omnisphere2

soundcloud.com/sonicunderworld/sets/omnisphere-pandorum-ii

New Track: Concurrency

2022-02-19T11:19:00.000-08:00

patrickwoo · Concurrency

Here is my latest track entitled Concurrency. I am very honoured to have the track up as part of the list of demos for Sonic Underworld's Convergence for Repro-5.

This time around I decided to sprinkle a bit more acoustic elements into my track. These include a piano, a guitar and strings. The percussion parts consist of a laid back electronic drum kit.

You can listen to just the Convergence sounds in the "naked" version without external elements (mostly acoustic instruments) here:

patrickwoo · Concurrency(naked)

I enjoyed working with this library. Lots of inspiring sounds!

The artwork that you see here is my own creation. It is procedurally created and rendered in Houdini, then composited in Nuke. From time to time, I try to create visuals for my tracks. This is a still image from a moving sequence. I may show the movie at a later time.

New Track: Guiding Light

2021-11-09T10:30:00.005-08:00

patrickwoo · Guiding Light

Guiding Light is my latest track showing off the newest sounds from Sonic Underworld's Omniscient for Zebra 2.

This time around, I wanted to make a track that sounds a bit more positive and upbeat. I wanted to take a break from bleak, moody and dark sounding tracks.

I also created my own artwork for this track. The imagery accompanying the image is created and rendered in Houdini Mantra, then composited in Nuke.

Here's Guiding Light in Sonic Underworld Omniscient demo tracks playlist.

On my SoundCloud tracks list I also have a naked version of Guiding Light (the naked version is the track with just the sounds from Omniscient).

I hope you like it!

New Track: Our Hearts Beat

2021-09-02T10:45:00.001-07:00

patrickwoo · Our Hearts Beat

Our Hearts Beat is the title of my latest track for Enigma, the latest sound-set for Sonic Underworld Enigma. Instead of creating something mysterious and perhaps dark, I ended up with a track with an upbeat and a somewhat positive feel.

There is also a "naked" version with just the Enigma presets. https://soundcloud.com/patrickwoo/our-hearts-beat-naked

Find out more at the product page: https://www.luftrum.com/enigma/

https://soundcloud.com/patrickwoo/our-hearts-beat

New Track: When Darkness Stares Back

2021-02-24T13:05:00.003-08:00

patrickwoo · When Darkness Stares Back

My latest track on Soundcloud.

Here's a dark track with a disturbing lead. When we stare into the darkness, sometimes it stares back. This track features Sonic Underworld's latest sound set, Axion for Dark Zebra.

Listen to the naked version featuring just the sound set here:

https://soundcloud.com/.../patrick-woo-when-darkness...

This cover art is my own CG creation in Houdini based on a photograph as texture. I will show the piece in its entirety soon.

Here's a link to the naked version of the track with just Sonic

Underworld's Axion for Dark Zebra.

https://soundcloud.com/patrickwoo/patrick-woo-when-darkness-stares-back-naked

Creating a Camera Frustum in Houdini

2020-06-11T12:20:00.005-07:00

Creating a Camera Frustum in Houdini from Patrick Woo on Vimeo.

In this newest video tutorial, I show how to quickly create a camera frustum in Houdini.

Having a polygon geometry that outlines the camera frustum is useful as a visual indicator of the camera's direction and shows immediately which objects are inside or outside of the camera.

It also allows for a geometric image plane and opens up visualisation options for clipping planes and projection mapping operations.

Addendum: I have discovered my mistake months after I published this post. I have posted this in my music blog. It should rightfully belong in my VFX blog. If this is first time reading my blog post, please access my VFX blog here.

New Track: Ancients Lived Here (for Sonic Underworld Synchron)

2020-05-22T11:49:00.001-07:00

patrickwoo · Ancients Lived Here

Ancients Lived Here is written for Sonic Underworld's Synchron for U-he Zebra.

This track brings me to the remains of a place that holds secrets to a civilisation long-forgotten. Her people are long gone and their ways of life but a faint memory.

The inclusion of a live violin part in the arrangement marks the first collaboration with Huisze, a dedicated musician and a long-time friend of mine.

I hope you like it!

Also, do check out the "naked" version from Sonic Underworld's Synchron demo tracks playlist.

Sonic Underworld · Patrick Woo / Ancients Lived Here (Naked)

This naked version is the track with just the synth sounds without the orchestral elements, to show off Sonic Underworld's sounds in their playlist. It also serves as a kind of breakdown or behind-the scenes for the track, peeling off a layer of selected instruments and having a peep at what's underneath :)

Update: My First Release on Major Streaming Platforms

2020-05-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

I am super excited to have taken the first step getting my music out there in major music platforms under my own capacity as a composer musician.

Winter in May is now available on Spotify, iTunes, Tidal, Amazon Music, Google Music/Youtube, QQ Music, KuWo (and a couple more).

I'm thankful and inspired.

Please let me indulge myself and post all the captured images of where I spotted my track. :)

New Track - The Alternatives (for Sonic Underworld Atrea)

2019-12-25T19:25:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas and a very happy new year to all of you, my valued readers!

To end off this year, my last track of 2019 is entitled The Alternatives. This is a demo for Sonic Underworld's new sound-set "Atrea" for Uhe Repro 5.

The sounds in this track are solely from the Atrea sound-set and I find them to be very useable. Unlike many of their previous sound-sets, a cursory glance across the sounds category will reveal that the familiar percussion section does not exist in Atrea this time round. Upon auditioning the sounds, I found that there are many sounds that can be used in a percussive role in a composition to fill up that "gap". It serves to remind me that labels and classifications are really just names we give to things in order for us to make sense of the world and things around us.

The track is going in the direction of a cinematic, movie soundtrack, something that can be used alongside a visual narrative in film or TV.

There's something different in the style of this piece. Personally, I feel that it is the instrumentation on the mid-high ranges in the track.

I hope you enjoy it!

New Track: Mind Meld

2019-11-29T01:16:00.000-08:00

Here's a new demo track I wrote for a new Kontakt library named Meld.

The library has quite a lot of pad sounds, so I played it slow, give it space for the pads to evolve. At this time I was longing to use some orchestral sounds in my work, so I had some of that at a later part of the track to drive the intensity of the mood to a high point at the end.

Here is the Core MeldDown version.
This Core MeldDown version of Mind Melding has just the Meld instruments and light percussion, without the orchestral instruments from the fully arranged version. This arrangement is re-mixed-down and re-mastered.

I will post a link to Meld when I have more information.

My New Track: Orbital (for Sonic Underworld Solaria)

2019-05-31T21:37:00.000-07:00

Here's a new track I wrote for Sonic Underworld's Solaria sound set for u-he's Dark Zebra.
This was a lot of fun for me

Musically, the track is simple. From the sounds, I want to express the serenity and beauty of endless space. I was never fluent composing and working with electronic sounds and instruments. This was partly due to the fact that prior to auditioning the sounds from the set, I can't imagine how the end composition will sound like. Not being able to visualise the final sound is like working blind.

Thus, I tried to keep the premise simple and to express more through the naturally evolving sounds from the sound set, to let the patches sing. I listened closely to each patch noticing the kinds of feelings they evoke. Then I think about how to use them effectively, playing to their strengths.

At the end of the piece, I felt like I achieved a new sound that isn't originally in my commonly used musical "vocabulary" if that makes any sense at all. :)

Please leave a comment if you like it, and I hope you do!

Hear this track and others in the Sonic Underworld Solaria playlist: www.soundcloud.com/sonicunderworld/sets/dark-zebra-solaria

NewTrack - Grow

2019-05-15T00:03:00.000-07:00

My latest instrumental track features a piano in an orchestral setting. Giving the music a swaying movement of the waltzing 3/4 beat, I hope to bring out swelling and ebbing emotions of warmth, gentleness and love, as well as that of bitter-sweet heartbreaks. These are all part of growing, as we strive to be versions of ourselves.

I hope you enjoy it! Leave a comment if you do.

Lunar (Chinese) New Year

2019-02-05T19:36:00.000-08:00

Happy Lunar New Year to one and all. The new year in the lunar calendar is celebrated in many Chinese / Asian traditions.

This celebratory track is done for a greeting video for the church where I attend. Robin the staff laid the percussive and melodic track with a synth patch. I fleshed out the rest of the arrangement.

I hope you enjoy it!

New Track - Skyward!

2019-01-30T20:37:00.000-08:00

My newest track is entitled Skyward!

This is a demo track created for Sonic Underworld's Nyah soundset for the Uhe's Zebra synth.

For this track, I tried to evoke an uplifting and dare I say, euphoric feeling of breaking through at the end.

Instruments and mixing wise, I included orchestral elements like brass, light strings and voices. With the exception of the final swell, I try to keep these non-synth elements at the back, so the synth sounds can shine through.

In the Nyah playlist, there is an additional "naked" version that contains only the Nyah patches. You can find it at the second last entry of the following playlist.

When I start writing a new piece of music, I usually start clueless what I was going to write. Usually the first one or two ideas would not be usable. By 30% into the track, I would usually get a good feel of whether the idea is worth developing to the end.

For Skyward, it was different. After coming up with an opening section, the direction of the song just continued to write itself in my mind.

It was not all uphill, unfortunately. At about half-way through the song (around 1 minute 30 seconds), I hit a block and did not know how to proceed. How do I start to resolve and bring the music to an end. As I continued to build up and bring the tension along, the mood of the piece seemed to get darker and darker, and my hope of ending it in a strong and positive light became further and further from my grasp. At that point I was even wondering if I should start with another idea. This part of the production took the longest.

After I managed to resolve it, the rest of the song became almost automatic. I was merely executing the plan that would resolve the idea to the end, and the efficiency spiked at that point.

My Featured Interview on the 8Dio Blog!

2018-12-21T07:43:00.001-08:00

https://8dio.com/2018/11/14/interview-with-our-top-facebook-fans/

I recently got approached by 8Dio to be part of an interview article on their page. What an honour and privilege!

Super excited to share my works and experiences with the music community out there!

New Track: Christmas Medley 2018 for Grace Assembly of God Singapore

2018-12-04T10:28:00.000-08:00

It's the Christmas season, and I want to wish all my readers a very merry Christmas!

This track is an instrumental medley of a few Carols and songs:

1. Joy to the World
2. Hark the Herald Angels Sing
3. Lord I Want Nothing More (an original worship song from Grace Assembly of God Singapore)
4. We Wish you a Merry Christmas

This is a music video project that my church is producing. It features is a medley of a few songs, some are carols, some are original songs composed by the church. The MTV will feature church staff singing and a few pastors saying some greetings in between the different pieces.

I was asked to creatively arrange and plan progressions of the transitions, constrained to the number of bars present in the guide track. my arrangement will also set the style and mood of each piece. It means I can set a traditional piece to disco or EDM, or hip hop, etc. i have a bit of free-play.

Before the media team goes out to shoot people singing, they need a "guide track" for timing, duration and tempo, so they know much to shoot, how long (duration) to edit, and what to show in the MTV, while I go off arranging the music.

Here I'll elaborate a bit on the challenges I faced.

- creating smooth transitions in tempo at portions that had to go slow then bringing it back up again naturally and smoothly for the finale ending on a high

- making smooth transitions on key changes which had a lot to do with Chord and scale changes, and that must make sense.

- this one may not be so apparent if done "well". It is to fit each transition within a fixed number of bars.
this challenge is similar but not as tough as something I also do: writing music to picture. Take that first transition from a capella hark the angels which I had the slower and then the rock version. The transition is 12 bars. Coming from a pop biased background like myself, my mind is mostly wired to multiples of 8 bars, it was a challenge to fill up a musical space with the usual 8, 16, bars etc.

- realistic and believable arrangement/"recording" /programming (whatever you call the process of composing with virtual instruments on a computer with no "real players" native to those instruments.) Since I also play-in those parts myself in the end, I need to know how each instrument would need to sound, in the context of the music style.

- finally, something that I personally try to achieve whenever I do "cover versions" is to create a combination of style and chord progression of the song that is somewhat different from the common/original version. That makes my time spent more worthwhile since I have get to leave my fingerprint on it in the end. But of course, in my years of doing arrangements, I started off with trying to replicate and imitate. That definitely has some learning value in itself.

New Track: Set Free (for Sonic Underworld Aquatica)

2018-06-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

Here's another track for Sonic Underworld's Aquatica for U-he's Zebra 2.

And here is that same track on my Soundcloud profile.

Aquatica is a sound-set that has heavy references to oceanic themes in the names of the patches. The sounds themselves are quite awesome. Some of them instantly transport the listener into the deep waters. As I was exploring the sounds I was a kid in the candy store. The sounds took me away to the depths of the ocean, and the finished track is that end result.

In the track, I want to portray the feeling of calm and weightless freedom, submerging in deep water. As the track progresses I want to portray a realisation of that freedom, that the viewer's new-found freedom urges him/her to go forth and explore the vast expanse of the ocean.

New Track: Circular Emotions (for Sonic Underworld Sensai)

2018-05-10T10:03:00.000-07:00

Today I present you with my newest demo track for Sonic Underworld's newest sound-set Sensai for U-he's Diva.
Here again is that same track under my user profile.

Circular Emotions has a few moments that surprised me despite my own involvement in the composing and arrangement process.

At the time of writing, something that was also going on my personal life was that I was involved in the practice of Taiji (the gentle flowing Chinese martial arts). I am very fond of it. When I wrote this track, I had decided to stop this for a while. This piece was dedicated to that point in time. It also just happened that the Sensai sound-set had an oriental name to it.

All these factors added up to shape the track the way it is. I surprised myself by using the synth sounds to replace and sound like elements of traditional Chinese music. By the way, I am also not trained in traditional Chinese music. But being Chinese gives me a real advantage when writing Chinese sounding tracks. :)

New Track: Desert Scape (for Sonic Underworld Valiant)

2018-02-18T09:38:00.000-08:00

After the first taste of writing moody cinematic demo tracks, I quickly jumped on board the Sonic Underworld's next soundset Valiant for U-he Zebra and Dark Zebra.

Here's the track

Here is the same track posted under my own profile.

With Desert Scape, I try to go for a feeling of a broad horizon as far as the eye can see, and always being on the move. I think the evolving elements and short percussive sounds give a sense of movement.

New Track: Going Down (for Sonic Underworld Meridian)

2018-01-18T09:25:00.000-08:00

I'm super excited to be invited to write a demo track for Sonic Underworld! Sonic Underworld is a cinematic sound design company that creates cutting edge synth patches for popular virtual synthesisers, like U-he's Zebra, Diva, Repro, Spectrasonics Omnisphere, and many more.

Here's the track on Sonic Underworld's playlist

Here's the same track under my profile :)

This is my first time writing a demo track for such a big name. I'm naturally very honoured and I do feel the pressure when I was doing this.

Sonic Underworld is very sound-design in nature. My music style has always been far away from ambient and electronic. This was definitely one of the biggest musical challenges I face in the last 3 years of my musical journey.

Meridian is a sound set for U-he Repro 5 synth. It is a sound set with a balanced and overall great sounding set of sounds. Many of the patches invoke a particular mood just playing a single note.

In my track Going Down, I tried to do something dramatic and towards something that can be used in a film's underscore.

I hope you enjoy it!

Huge Announcement from Cakewalk Sonar

2016-06-01T10:10:00.001-07:00

Cakewalk announced huge news today.

Cakewalk Sonar (one of my beloved DAW softwares that I have grown up using for years), has just announced that it will soon be releasing a version that will run on Mac OS !

Also it has announced a time-limited offer for lifetime upgrades, with a one-time payment. The offer to jump on to lifetime upgrades will end 31 Aug 2016. Go to the official website for details and more information. http://www.cakewalk.com/June-2016#SONAR4Life.

I am not a Mac user, have never owned an Apple computer. But I'm still excited. I am glad that musicians on Mac will get one more alternative when choosing their DAW platform, and that the excellent software that Sonar is, will get more exposure and appreciation in the DAW community.

Somehow with this decision to adopt a new OS, I feel Sonar has stepped up to a new status. More widely used, more "international / universal", is the best way I can describe how I see this move.

Fight Through It!

2015-12-08T08:31:00.002-08:00

For all the struggling artists or people picking up a new skill, here's a video to inspire you to keep up the good work, and never give up!

The World's Largest Sound Library is Now Made Public, Online!

2015-10-16T07:31:00.000-07:00

From an article on VideoAndFilmmaker.com I came across this amazing piece of news!

The Macaulay Library, with over 150,000 recordings of 9,000 species is now digitised and has been uploaded to an online searchable database.

The library, housed at Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology, has made available over ten terabytes of recordings, with a runtime of 7513 hours of natural sounds.

Visit the page and take a listen to the amazing library that represents the tremendous effort of a multitude of passionate professionals, spanning lifetimes of effort and dedication.

A Collaboration Album Published on YouTube

2015-10-05T09:22:00.002-07:00

I'm proud and excited to present a collection of songs I have been working on, in collaboration with the very talented +Alex Bett. Alex has publised this compilation on YouTube.

The video is embedded here:

In this album, Alex arranges and performs the guitar tracks while I arrange and record the piano, strings and the flute.

Please enjoy and share the love, joy and relaxation.

If you wish to license any of the tracks please feel free to approach +Alex or myself (+Patrick Woo).