WAAPA Music : Composition : WAAPA Musicians Blog

Hi, my name is Mikaela Davies. I am a 3rd year Music Technology student. I am really enjoying my time at WAAPA and loving the experience of being able to collaborate with people in any way possible. It’s fun, enjoyable, and generally a great experience.

The main instruments that I play at the moment are piano, bass, drums and guitar, but have also had training in playing clarinet and trumpet. I taught myself to play the flute and saxophone while I was at school, because I loved music and wanted to know how to play several instruments and see how they work. I also taught myself to play the bass guitar and then later joined the band because we had lost our bass player.  I’ve been playing music since the age of 7, which was piano based with AMEB exams, but didn’t follow that through to the extent that I would have liked to. I want to pick it up again and finish off the rest of my exams. Learning to play these instruments have helped my compositions greatly, because each instrument that I choose to compose with, brings out a different style in my process of writing.

I love to work with synth sounds and software such as Logic to make my compositions as detailed as I want them. I like the sound of string instruments with classical piano type compositions, and sometimes for something fun, I like to add a techno beat behind them, which adds an interesting texture to the piece. I also write alternative songs, with acoustic guitar, bass, drums and vocals, which has been a hobby of mine for a while, but I have also enjoyed writing more rock songs, techno beat songs, ballads (with either piano and vocals, or acoustic guitar and vocals, sometimes with blends of both), and am currently in a band with a couple of other students from WAAPA.

I have been writing compositions for as long as I can remember. I started with writing poems, and then later turned those poems into lyrics. When I write, I try not to stick to a certain style/genre of music, because I believe that to be a good musician, you need to explore every possibility and have an open mind. I like my songs to sound different from each other but at the same time, just write and play what comes to mind and go from there. My compositions of late have been based around various styles such as, rock, alternative, ballad, techno/dance, blues, and variations of a few in one.. Over the last couple of years I have completed a Certificate III in Music Performance and Technical Production, but wanted to further my knowledge and gain further experience in the industry by attending and being involved in all areas possible at WAAPA.

Last year (the middle of 2009), I entered the Revel 8 Film Festival and won “Best Soundtrack”, which was a great achievement and an even greater experience. I have done a few collaborations associated with film, ranging from the film department at ECU, to the Screen Academy at WAAPA. My long term goal is to become a film composer, because I love to capture the emotion in the film through music, though I am open to any other collaboration experience, for example, the dance department. My inspiration comes from many areas and composers. I tend to lean towards life experiences as a compositional basis, but the film composer who I get my most inspiration from is Hans Zimmer (especially the “Pearl Harbour” theme).

I have a few samples of songs I have written below, so feel free to check them out and please let me know if you could use these or would like some writing done for you. I am eager to work with anyone who likes the style of music I write, and please know that I am open to any suggestions that could better my music. Thank you

Please feel free to contact me on:  billabongmik at bigpond.com
I’m Watching Every Moment
I think the title says it all

im-watching-every-moment.mp3

Stay With Me

I wrote this on the weekend (14/3/08). I sat down at the piano and started playing how I was feeling at the time. Basically it’s about losing someone you love, whether they have passed on, moved away, a break up etc. It’s free to be interpretated to your own life experiences.

Stay With Me

Believe In Me

This a song I wrote when a few things were happening, and thought I would get it out by writing a song about it.

believe-in-me.mp3

Sean’s Theme

Sean’s Theme was written when I was 11-12 years old for my cousin who died when I was younger and I’ve only just recorded it and made something out of it.

seans-theme.mp3

Hip-Hop

I used the Hip-Hop template in Logic and came up with this song.

hip-hop.mp3

Burning Out

This is a piece that I wrote for a video. It seems strange to post it without the visual aspect, but I quite like the intensity. The video is on YouTube if you want to check it. Either search “Burning Out” or “Mikaela Davies” or both and I’m sure you’ll find it

burning-out.mp3

Techno Piano

I haven’t thought of a title for this song yet but this one of the pieces that I came up with the piano tune and put some Cello’s behind it, then added a techno beat hope you like it

techno-piano-song.mp3

Below are some examples of songs I wrote 2 years ago. I am unsure what to do with them, but they are more of my emotional pieces. Getting into the heart of life experiences.

Walk With Me

walk-with-me.mp3

Still Here

still-here.mp3

Free To Be

free-to-be.mp3

The End Is Coming

This song is left unfinished for the time being. This was one of the first things I wrote in Logic when I bought the program, so it is just based on a “muck around” session on the keyboard.

The End Is Coming