Steve Kirk: News

Two new entries are available on my blog on Gearwire.com:

• Writer's Block And Composition Or Songwriting Strategies: Rhythmic Diagrams, Melodic Stream Of Consciousness And Form Structures
• Learning New Music: A Methodical Approach To Practicing

Keep watching this space for future entries, or subscribe directly to my Gearwire blog with your favorite feed reader.

I am excited to announce that I now have a blog on Gearwire.com. My first entry is Efficient Alternate Picking Techniques and Syncopation Lesson. Keep watching this space for future entries, or subscribe directly to my Gearwire blog with your favorite feed reader.

Sheet music for the ultra-popular Zynga Facebook game, FarmVille, is now available for download right here on my site. Full score, electric guitar tabs and notation, upright bass and piano parts, all free in PDF format.

Greetings! Yeah, I know it's been awhile since I've had any news. Recently, I was asked to write a short theme for a game called "FarmVille", put out by the game company Zynga and available as a free game on Facebook. Now there are 19 million people a day playing this thing, and it seemed like a good idea to announce it and perhaps post a video of me playing it at the Zynga party this October. Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0HYi7YZfNc

Also, I've just finished the music for the Disney/Griptonite game "The Princess And The Frog". The game will be released along with the Disney movie of the same name (movie music score by Randy Newman!). This was a blast to work on, and I got to hire some of the best players (and friends to play on the recordings:

Chris Grady trumpet

John Hanes drums

Casey Filsen piano

Sheldon Brown sax and clarinet

Andrew Strain trombone

Greg Stephens trombone

Rob Reich accordion

Alisa Rose violin

Charith Premawardhana viola

The game and the movie should both be out by the end of November.

I've got a couple of new pieces at the top of my music page for you folks to download if you want. Both have orchestral origins and both are under three minutes.

Mixed and mastered at Steve Kirk Pop Studios in Oakland, CA (plus I played guitar on it!).

So, Everyone-

I'm just now finishing up guitar parts for the latest and upcoming version of the Konami game Keraoke Revolution. Hopefully, after that I will be settling in to a summer of relatively subdued mayhem- recording some new pieces featuring drummer John Hanes, trumpeter Chris Grady and vocalist Jani Mussetter. Maybe some some other good friends will join in as well. It's been awhile since I've been able to dig into my own work with any measure of consistency, and I'm hoping the next few months will aleviate that situation to some degree.

If all goes well, there will be new bitchin' stuff available for free download on my website by the end of summer. As you can see, there are already a bunch of full length, free, downloadable, hi bandwidth mp3s of previous works, including music suites from the Voodoo Vince game and orchestral (and not so orchestral) works not accessible on my commercially available CDs. Help yourself.

I'm also working on an extended multi-media/opera/oratorio work with monologist/poet Gilbert Marhoeffer, and recording, arranging and performing on new pieces by singer songwriter Keady Phelan. I'm gonna try to pull all this off in some kind concurrent fashion- wish me the best, and the best to all of you.

-Steve

For those of you that don't already know, I operate a recording studio here in sunny Oakland, California where I work on projects not only for myself, but for a variety of clients.

With a tracking room and a control room that includes a collection of high quality microphones and mic-preamps, ProTools, Digital Performer and Logic recording software, Steve Kirk Pop Studios is fully equipped and ready to take on your next project, whether you are a singer/songwriter, a video game developer, or a film, television or video artist seeking a composer, instrumentalist or arranger.

Tracks or music arrangements can be done remotely!

If you need a guitar track or an arrangement for your song, you need only send me your ProTools session or a stereo sub-mix of your piece and I will create a guitar part(s) or instrumental arrangement to your specifications and send it back to you- all lined up and ready to mix.

For more information, contact me at steve@stevekirkpop.com to see how this would work.

It's been a few years since the site has been updated, but here it is.

In the time that has elapsed, I’ve done a few things, including composing music for a few video games, some music for myself and my students and some album production.

In the late seventies a band called the Symtoms played at the Mabuhey Gardens in San Francisco with their own unique brand of punky goodness. After their reunion gig, their first show in more than 20 years, I was asked to help them with a reunion CD, which I also played guitar on. What a blast and what a fun project it was! I believe it will be available on some scale for consumption early in 2008. It does indeed rock.

I’ve been teaching privately for a while, and last year I began teaching at Blue Bear School of American Music and the Community Music Center- private lessons, group classes and band workshops.
So far, this has been a great experience and I’ve made many new friends.

So, on the BUY page of this site you’ll be pointed toward my CD’s- Pop Quiz, Steve Kirk Pop and the Voodoo Vince Original Soundtrack Album and what ever new release thingy that comes down the pike, and on the MUSIC page you’ll be able to download complete, high quality mp3’s that don’t live anywhere else. Free free free.

Have fun!

-Steve