Composing

Writing your own songs – riffs, arrangements, scales, harmonies, notation.

2025-11-05

MIDI – The Ultimate Guide to Get Started

Do you want to make songs, but can’t play all the instruments needed? Virtual instruments to the rescue! And MIDI is the way you control them – what they play, and how they play it. In this video you will learn everything about how MIDI works in a DAW – especially in Reaper, but valid for any DAW.

We will cover recording, editing, instrument plugins, velocity, quantizing, humanizing, pitch bends, drums and advanced track routing. Go from MIDI curious to MIDI expert in 22 minutes and 19 seconds.

2023-02-16

How to Write Your First Song

Have you always dreamed of writing your own metal songs, but don’t know where to start? In this video I share my workflow, let you in on some tricks to get your creative juices flowing and overall tips on song arrangement. We’ll also cover how to come up with riffs for verses, choruses and other parts, and how to match your drum patterns to those riffs.

2022-04-14

Once Upon a Time… Space – 40th Anniversary Metal Cover

Growing up, I was mesmerized by Once Upon a Time… Space. This year it celebrates its 40th anniversary and still comes across as futuristic and visionary. So I made a metal cover of one of Michel Legrand’s songs from it: Hyper-espace.

2022-02-03

I Finally Released a Song on Spotify

I’ve wanted to publish a song on Spotify since forever. And now I’ve finally made a song I think is good enough to do that.

2021-12-17

Get the BBC Symphony Orchestra Plugin for free

Get the Discover version of Spitfire Audios BBC Symphony Orchestra for free, a great plugin for making symphonic arrangements in your DAW.

2021-09-13

The World’s First Viking Metal Song with AI-generated Lyrics

I made an AI listen to 5000 hours of viking metal, and then I made a song from the lyrics it came up with.

2021-09-03

Learn How to Growl

Learn how to growl, starting from scratch – doing it safely without hurting your voice.

2021-08-25

Hack Music Theory – Music Theory Meant for Me

Hack Music Theory – a great YouTube channel for those of us who want applied tools and tricks instead of lengthy abstract teachings.

2014-04-26

Making Programmed Drums Sound Real

Even with great-sounding VST drumkits, it can be tricky to make them sound real – here are some great tips!

2013-05-21

How To Do Lead Guitar Harmonies

Having two guitars that play the same melody but at different intervals in a scale, you can create the same beautiful effect for your lead guitars that choirs use for vocal harmonies.