Pícaro

Listen to sample of "Pícaro"

I started this piece by opening up Cubase's Key Editor with a pizzicato strings patch selected on the E-MU Proteus X. I then started the clock and did some mostly random clicking on the keys with a mouse as the time scrolled by, leaving bits of MIDI triggers all over the page. After that, I looped a basic drum beat underneath it with ezDrummer and played with the pizzicato note timing and pitch to make a composition that I liked. Next, I programmed the drums start to finish, putting in fills and taking out unnecessary hits. But it wasn't until I started adding sound effects--stuff that I found royalty-free on the web (amazing!)--that the piece really started to take shape. Pícaro means "rogue" in Spanish. I see this little gremlin breaking into the house and quietly (or not so quietly) wreaking havoc.