— About Me —
My name is Joé McKen, and I am a liberal progressive and civil libertarian, a rationalist, a skeptic, a secular humanist, and a third-wave atheist living in suburban Québec, Canada.
… But you probably know all that if you found your way here from my regular blog, Preliator. Here’s more about what I do.
I compose music
I came relatively late to the music composition game; I never even considered it until my late teens, and somehow the guitar lessons I was taking at the time morphed into composition, first rock and later orchestral, which became my passion. I’ve always loved film scores in particular; I basically grew up on a diet of James Horner* (An American Tail, The Land Before Time, Balto, Titanic, The Perfect Storm, etc.). Nowadays I dabble in just about anything, though most of my compositions fit within the genre of film music – evocative pieces meant to follow along and underscore a scene, rather than stand on their own (though I like to think they can do so as well).
I write my scores in Sibelius (currently Sibelius 8), supported by various virtual instrument libraries, including:
- Audiobro’s LA Scoring Strings (LASS) v2.5
- Cinesamples’s VOXOS Epic Virtual Choirs
- Garritan Personal Orchestra 4 and 5
- Native Instruments’s Kontakt 5 Factory
- Native Instruments’s Session Strings Pro
- ProjectSam’s Orchestral Brass Classic
- Sibelius 7.5 Sounds (comes with Sibelius 8)
I’m always adding more libraries whenever I can afford it. (Next on my wishlist: EastWest/Quantum Leap’s Stormdrum 2.)
I also write the occasional non-orchestral tune, typically alternative rock, for which I use Guitar Pro (currently versions 5 and 6).
I do all my mixing (really just adjusting instrument volumes, fades and other details) in Audacity.
As of now, I compose for fun and practice, but I intend to get into the business properly someday once I have the skills to support it. That said, anyone interested in something for a project of theirs can give me a shout. I welcome the practice.
You can find all my original music under the Music label.
I write stories
I’ve been writing stories (or attempts at stories) almost since I was old enough to hold a pencil. I wrote my first novel, The Path to War, at the age of fifteen – don’t ask to see it, I’ve memory-holed it thoroughly – and I’m continually trying to improve my craft. I don’t read nearly enough mainstream published authors to give a list of inspirations, but it’s safe to say J.K. Rowling first got me into it (as was the case with many writers my age, I’d reckon), and she holds the largest influence over my style, both creatively and technically, though I’ve also learned from reading Stephen King and Terry Pratchett. The majority of my reading these days is done online, the world’s largest repository of amazing talent.
My method is simple – Microsoft Word 2010 (to hell with the later versions) and a run through ProWritingAid when I’m nearly done for some final polish.
My current long-term writing project is my novel Inhuman, which I swear I’ll revise for the final time someday. Maybe. I hope.
You can find all my original writing under the Stories label.I draw … drawings
I’ve been sketching since before I knew enough alphabet to fake writing. I could never fit in with other kids, but dang if I couldn’t get a crowd of them to assemble around me every time I started drawing whatever caught my fancy – be it the school itself, or a character from a movie I liked (my bedroom trashcan was perpetually half-filled with abandoned sketches of Ashitaka from Princess Mononoke). Modern technology and the advent of graphics tablets were a godsend. No more ruining hours’ worth of work with a careless swipe of the eraser that tore half my paper! Ctrl+Z! Truly, these are magical times.
I do very little sketching or drawing nowadays; it’s more of an offline thing for me. Still, now and again I’ll feel the urge to doodle something, usually a character reference sheet to keep my descriptions straight in a story, or something for a personal project that’ll never see completion, and it’ll likely end up on this site.
You can find all my original art under the Art label.
— About Creativitas —
Creativitas (my pseudo-Latinization of “creativity” because I’m utterly terrible at naming things) was launched on July 10, 2017 as my repository for all my creative works. It is a recreation of the original, which is now archived and no longer maintained.
Everyone is welcome to comment, though readers are advised to familiarize themselves with my (very lax) commenting policy before sounding off. Rule-breakers and nuisances may end up with a commenting ban and a permanent home in The Dungeon over at Preliator.
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09/02/17 1:28 AM ET
* I was more than a little upset when I learned about his death … six months after the fact. The man practically scored my childhood.
