Young Loves

Over the span of one's childhood, interests in certain activities begin to develop and the roots of the longest-lasting loves take hold. Personally, there were three things that mesmerized me as a child that I now use on a daily basis, whether it be for business or pleasure. The first and most important of the three was learning. Growing up two years younger than my eldest sister, Alannah, I was at a great advantage being surrounded by knowledge that what just out of reach of my understanding. Being ever so slightly behind my sister in means of an education proved to be enough of a motivator to encourage me to essentially catch up to Alannah's level of intellect. Being less than equivalently educated was not acceptable. This behavior gave me a head-start in anything from multiplication to chemistry to physics, but began with something as simple as teaching myself to read while in preschool.

The reading, writing, and comprehension of literature was my second love. I found the ability to mold an environment and its inhabitants to the limitations set by your own imagination absolutely fascinating. Not only does every individual have a unique train of thought that allows for new combination of concepts, actions, and even representations of age-old archetypes, but that same sense of individuality allows for the interpretation of even the slightest slivers of a story to have a new face that is produced by the reader's own imagination, built to fit with their vision of how each sliver coincides with the next.

My third love was initially established by my parents, but has been continuously shaped and altered by my social and emotional viewpoints. Some of my many vague memories from my early youth involve my father strumming on an acoustic guitar or my mother's fingers sliding up and down the ivory keys of our piano. Even when it was not produced by my family, I grew up surrounded by music. With as much of a Pink Floyd fanatic as my dad is, I was able to experience unique atmospheres and feelings within songs that peaked my interest in the art form behind what is heard. Though the majority of my youth was spent solely on the observation and appreciation of melodies, harmonies, rhythms, and dynamics, my desire to take in as much of them in their massive amount of variety proceeded to derive a sense of curiosity when it came to the performance of music. I fed this curiosity by participating in both my middle school's band and choir, but it still was not enough to satisfy my need to find correlations and patterns within the music and how the slightest adjustment to said patterns can completely change the sound that is produced. I decided that my school had neither the programs nor the students with a sufficient grasp on music theory to be able to provide an adequate learning environment. I was a carp whom had outgrown its pond. I had to take on a new sense of responsibility to ensure the continuing expansion of this exponentially increasing knowledge. I was diving headfirst into this new side of music that I was beginning to thoroughly enjoy. I was feeling the emotion behind the progressions. The music was beginning to tell a story. It painted a picture. I began taking techniques that I enjoyed from a variety of music scenes and compiled them into a sound that fit me. It told my story. It painted my picture. Composing is one of very few things that I can spend an endless amount of time on and still find adjustments to be made. There are always modifications to be made if you prevent yourself from getting caught up on a specific sound. You can let the music write itself, using an act 

and react kind of mindset as your guide.