The Minimalist Mixtape

I’ve spent the last couple weeks trying something new musically. I created a 14-track album of minimalist music. I call it The Minimalist Mixtape.

How the Minimalist Mixtape Came About

I’ve been writing music since I was a kid. I’ve literally written near 1000 songs. With time, I’ve developed a fondness for songs that are simple and minimalist. Still, most of my songs are not truly minimalist because they usually have words and melody.

I’ve wanted to experiment with music that’s strictly instrumental and steers clear of words and melody for years. But I’ve always struggled with what I thought was a monotony of the sound.

All It Took Was a Road Trip to SanFrancisco

I’ve posted at my other blog, Hip Diggs, about how vacations and road trips can do wonders for the soul. In December of 2016, my daughter Annie and I drove from our home in Yakima, Washington, down Highway 101 to SanFrancisco. We came back up the winding Highway 1.

Sheer beauty.

The trip provided me with many grand sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean, Sonoma Wine Country, and The Redwood National Forest. The combination of those expansive and grand views and the hum of driving for hours on the highway led me to realize something:

Minimalist Music Is The Soundtrack of Life

The Minimalist Mixtape is a reflection of that road trip to California. The sounds, the sights, and the experiences are somehow all wrapped in the songs on The Minimalist Mixtape.

The sounds of the ocean, the city, and the road are are all present. The feel of the heights, the sky, and the trees, are also in the mix. The ambient sounds of nature and humanity, water, wind, traffic, heartbeat, can all be found in this music.

The songs were all recorded on an iPad using the Garage Band app. Each song took a few hours to create and a little more time to edit and mix. I kept my instrument choices down to just a handful.

And here’s the good thing. The Minimalist Mixtape is available for you to listen to for free at SoundCloud. Just click the following link. Enjoy!

The Minimalist Mixtape

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