WELCOME!

A QUICK-FIND DIRECTORY OF MY STUFF ON HERE:

ALL OF MY MUSIC

SOME OF MY PHOTOS

MY STUPID VIDS

Otherwise just use the chronological directory to the right. =)

VIDEO: Kittens!

A video I put together of my cat Ginger about to have babies, a retrospect of her own youth, the new babies and the babies after a few weeks. Cute as hell! Put to my song "Hiding Place".

VIDEO: "Dreams of Flying" by Danvian

This was kind of fun to do. I wanted to put this song on YouTube but couldn't think of appropriate footage to go along with it so I took a handful of my favorite photographs from my archive and did an emboss effect then transitioned them in - what I think - is an interesting way.

You be the judge.

Mostly, it's about the music though. =)

SONG: "Anger" by Danvian

A heavier industrial feel to this one.

Still fun to listen to.

Not too fast, just...

BIG...

HEAVY...

and...

ANGRY! lol

Music player requires Adobe FlashPlayer 9 or later, or just click the song link to listen.
SONG LINK:  Anger.mp3

Comments are welcome, good or bad. =)

Thanks!

Sketchy Bounce on XBox LIVE featuring my song

My nephew Hayden Allred is published as of today on XBox LIVE with his game SKETCHY BOUNCE. Think pong, but WAY more fun. It's only a dollar to download the indie game so if you have an XBox, like retro-style games and can spare a buck for a cool new game, go get it.

Here's the link to Microsoft's page for it: Sketchy Bounce

As a footnote, I did the music for it. =)

63,000,000 people is a wide audience!

Congratulations HAYDEN ALLRED!

If you want to listen to more music by me, click here

Clicking the link will filter all the songs I've written and uploaded to this blog onto one page for you. More songs to come!

OTHER RESOURCES TO MY MUSIC: my page on SoundCloud.com

PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS! =)

-Sanvean

SONG: "I Was Once Young" by Sanvean

I had one of those moments.

That fleeting instant when you remember clearly being a child and feeling carefree, but then the reality of the impossibility of you ever having that moment to live over again smacks you in the chest like a train, and it's gone.

This is that moment, stretched out in music to over 4 minutes.

Hopefully it will give you a bit longer to soak in that cherished moment.

NOTE: The media player I use on here doesn't like the thickness of the bass sounds I used in this song so it makes a wierd ringing (only noticeable in the quiet parts tho). To hear it correctly, the way it SHOULD sound, click the SONG LINK below and listen to it on your iTunes or what have you. =)

Music player requires Adobe FlashPlayer 9 or later, or just click the song link to listen.
SONG LINK:  I Was Once Young.mp3

Comments are welcome, good or bad. =)

Thanks!

VIDEO: The Marriage Sentence: Ep. 2

Episode 2: The "Other" Woman

It's about a couple completely oblivious to how much they could care less about one another, though they have different ways of dealing with it. She's in utter denial and plays the agreeable and loving wife on the surface though she has nothing but contempt for him and openly mocks him with her sweetness. He on the other hand shows no respect or patience for her and spews venom at every turn knowing she doesn't care anyway. Think Al and Peg Bundy but less laughtrax. lol



Comments are welcome, good or bad. =)

Thanks!

VIDEO: The Marriage Sentence: Ep. 1

Episode 1: The "Question"

So I made this little 2 minute comic piece on xtranormal.com, a text-to-video site where if you can type, you can make an animated video.

It's about a couple completely oblivious to how much they could care less about one another, though they have different ways of dealing with it. She's in utter denial and plays the agreeable and loving wife on the surface though she has nothing but contempt for him and openly mocks him with her sweetness. He on the other hand shows no respect or patience for her and spews venom at every turn knowing she doesn't care anyway. Think Al and Peg Bundy but less laughtrax. lol



Comments are welcome, good or bad. =)

Thanks!

SONG: "Polyester" by Sanvean

Started this the other day with the bass line and a simple 4/4 beat and went from there.

Now it's a svelte 70's-themed production.

Fun bass-line and tight drums. I guess that means it's funky. lol

BIG chorus, as in it's really thick with sound.

Give it a listen.

It'd be fun to rollerskate to. =)

Music player requires Adobe FlashPlayer 9 or later, or just click the song link to listen.
SONG LINK:  Polyester.mp3

Comments are welcome, good or bad. =)

Thanks!

SONG: "Dreams of Flying" by Sanvean

Just finished a brand new song!

It's 4:30am. (normal for me)

It's LUSH and it's beautiful.

As I wrote it a storyboard unfolded in my mind, so I'll share it...

It's the story of a young bird, warm under his mothers wing on a rocky shore by the ocean on a normal, calm, sunny day.  cont'd below

Time markers are in bold for reference.

Music player requires Adobe FlashPlayer 9 or later, or just click the song link to listen.
SONG LINK:  Dreams of Flying.mp3


"DREAMS OF FLYING"
(0:00) Watching the older birds fly above him, he is daydreaming what it must be like to be up there, flying free, longing for that time to be his. (hear the waves?) He's not ready yet, but so wants to be.
(1:23) He closes his eyes and imagines himself up there, floating on the breeze above the waves.
(2:05) He's now totally immersed in his fantasy, losing himself in the daydream and forgets the world around him as he flies high up into the blue sky.
(2:47) He opens his eyes to the disappointment of being too young, still bound to the earth. Just another daydream. The smile drifts away with a gentle wisp of ocean air and the daydream is gone.
(3:08) Then his mother nudges him. He looks up at her to see her gesture him to the sky. He questions her sincerity. She nods with a smile. "It's time".
(3:28) He stands up bravely and steps to the edge of the nest, though slowly, tentatively. He's excited but has doubts.
(3:49) He opens his wings, stretches them wide and flaps a few times as he was taught. He squints at the sun, then turns to look at his mother over his shoulder with a smile of "thank you", wings still outstretched.
(4:09) Suddenly and without warning a breeze scoops him right up off his feet and he learns in an instant that he's a natural, effortless flyer. Born not to dream, but to fly. In moments he's high above the rocky shore.
(4:31) The magic of it all overwhelms his senses. The birds he used to look up at with envy are now flying far beneath him and he's overcome with a sense of joy, freedom and awe as he flies higher and higher toward the sun.
(5:01) He returns to earth, overjoyed, tears in his eyes, to a proud and waiting mother.

~ THE END

Comments are welcome, good or bad. =)

Thanks!

PHOTOS: Backyard nature, pets & beauty

The other day I was sitting in the den working on music and noticed the orange light of a perfect sunset coming through the window, so I grabbed the camera and went out to take some snaps in the backyard. Mind you, these aren't fancy pro shots, just snaps I took. But the lighting was niiiice. =)

Of course the kitties had to follow.

Clicking on a thumb opens the larger uncropped image in a new window.





All images property of Sanvean

Enjoy!

SONG: "There'll Come A Day" by Sanvean

Did a marathon on this one...

Sat down at the computer with no song ideas at 8:30am on Sunday and now 20 hours later I'm uploading a new creation.

It starts out kinda gentle but it quickly builds into a lush intro followed almost immediately by a foot-tapping dance beat and then it gets even bigger and more fun.

There's a kind of driving-technoey feel to it.

Music player requires Adobe FlashPlayer 9 or later, or just click the song link to listen.
SONG LINK:  There'll Come A Day.mp3

Comments are welcome, good or bad. =)

Thanks!

SONG: "Prayers" by Sanvean

Okay, this one is really a departure, even for me.

It's simple, pretty, gentle and sweet.

Think "laying in a meadow staring up at the fluffy clouds".

Holding back from overcrowding it musically was an exercise in restraint for me but I wanted to write something simple, clean and pleasant that my mother would like.

=)

Music player requires Adobe FlashPlayer 9 or later, or just click the song link to listen.
SONG LINK:  Prayers.mp3

Comments are welcome, good or bad. =)

Thanks!

ALBUM: "HIDING PLACE" Preview my debut album!

Listen to my album in it's entirety or step forward to any track:

Track listing (updated 2-12-2012):
  1. The Rest Is Just Me
  2. Hiding Place
  3. Polyester
  4. Never Slow Down
  5. Occupy Me
  6. Bedtime
  7. I Once Was Young
  8. Alone
  9. Anger
10. Racing Towards Destiny
11. Love Is Not A Game
12. Dreams of Flying
13. Eta Carinae
14. Stephenie
15. Midnight
16. The Arrival
17. Melancholy
18. Sleep (bonus track)


Other than needing to go into an actual studio to have these tracks mastered by a professional I think the album is ready to go.

If any of you know of a producer or record company that you think might want to release my album, please let me know. I also need singers for the songs. Right now the melody lines are played but there are words to many of them and I simply don't want to be the singer.

Please share this post with anyone and everyone you think might like my music. Also, let me know which tracks you like and which ones you don't. I think I should shave off 2 tracks but not sure which ones. Oh, and the track order isn't in cement yet either. All input is welcome!

Thanks!

PHOTOS: Closeups of Mars from HiRise

The images below are tight croppings/edits from photographs taken by the HiRise camera (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) mounted to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). To the right is an artists concept of it.

I was playing around in Microsofts Worldwide Telescope recently and started zooming in on these images and couldn't believe the beauty and detail. These are just a few that I made into wallpapers for home use.

Doesn't even really look like the surface of a planet. Looks to me more like microscopic images taken here on good ol' mama earth.

Click on these to see the detail. You won't believe the textures.

All images property of NASA

SONG: "HaydenPong" by Sanvean

ABOUT THIS SONG...

Written April 4th, 2011.

I have a genius of a nephew who's been hard at work making a game for Xbox 360's Arcade (I think that's what they're calling it anyway).

Well he asked me to write music for this game. He said he wanted it to be "technoey" and even sent me a link to a song that he thought it should kinda be fashioned after.

I took him up on the project but inside I was thinking "holy crap I can't do that".

After a week of stressing on it and trying again and again to do a song he'd approve of I finally got on a good track and busted it out in one night. One looong night.

He approved! Phew!!!!

So here's my fun, happy, addicting, technoey song that I wrote for Hayden's pong reincarnation coming soon to an Xbox near you!

Music player requires Adobe FlashPlayer 9 or later, or just click the song link to listen.
SONG LINK:  HaydenPong.mp3

Comments are welcome, good or bad. =)

Thanks!

VIDEO: "Midnight" by Danvian (aka Sanvean)

I made this video to accompany the song "Midnight" that I originally wrote back in the 90's but didn't actually get around to arranging until 2009 while living in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The lyrics are in the video.

PHOTO: Snowstorm brings visitors

I was working on my song "Alone" when I glanced out the window and saw this scene so I grabbed the camera and snapped it quick.

I LOVE MY HOME!

SONG: "Alone" by Sanvean

ABOUT THIS SONG...

I wrote this on April 5th, 6th & 7th, 2011.

I'd just finished the final mix for Hayden's pong game project (see the blog for HaydenPong) and once I'd uploaded it to his server and notified him it was done I decided to start a brand new one.

I started with the simple but driving rhythm (made up of 4 different kick drums) you hear near the beginning and that took about 10 minutes but since it was 5 a.m. and I was too pooped to go further, I went to bed. When I woke up I jumped back in the saddle and started playing with layering sounds and samples over the rhythm. Very soon I had the melody line in place and then added more layers to thicken the ambience. The song contains 39 different instrument tracks, 19 of which are percussion. I'm using just 9 effects sends.

Oh, and it's all done on this computer I'm sitting at. I have a synthesizer but no way to hook it up to my PC so every note and cymbal is placed with a mouse click, in case you were wondering.

As for the very first sound you hear (the scratchy record sound), that's a blend of two different samples that I EQ'd the hell out of, a blend of rain (sped up) and white noise (slowed WAY down). I wasn't going for the "scratchy record" sound initially but that's how it ended up sounding and I liked it.

Anyway, I've spent the past 2 weeks messing with this song incessantly but as usual, I like the way I first wrote it the best and that's what you're hearing here. All my hours trying to tweak songs after I finish them are just wasted time since I rarely like the tweaks better than the first effort. lol

Anyway, this is my first blog EVER (YES, EVER!) so I hope you like it and I hope you'll come back for my blogs to come.

THX!

Music player requires Adobe FlashPlayer 9 or later, or just click the song link to listen.
SONG LINK:  Alone.mp3

Comments are welcome, good or bad. =)

Thanks!