Pittsburgh in Love

Folks are familiar with the idea of commissioning portrait paintings,  photographs or videos to capture themselves with loved ones or commemorate important family life events (such as weddings, births), both recent and in the distant past.

Far less common is the practice of commissioning songs to give to a loved one, or memorialise a heartfelt family story.  And yet, music is often experienced as the most directly emotional of all the arts. Who hasn’t listened to a love song at least once in their life and found themselves in tears? Who doesn’t recall a song, or series of songs, that have provided the ‘soundtrack’ to a significant relationship?

And who doesn’t wish that one of those love songs was, really and truly, dedicated to you, or someone in your family?

A bardic service

I am offering a service where I write songs custom made for special occasions.  There are many important events and experiences in our lives which deserve to be powerfully commemorated through words and music.  For example, a custom made love song is the perfect way to

Whatever the occasion, if you want to bring joy into the hearts of those you love, then music is the perfect way to do it.

How it works

I come to your house and listen to your story.  You tell me about your loved one and  what occasion you’d like to commemorate. We work out the the kind of musical genre that would work best (maybe your sweetheart adores sweet, slow country music, for example, or maybe they like fun/ fast dance music). I go away to my studio, draft up a rough version of the song, and give it back to you on CD to see if you like the way its heading and make any adjustments to lyrics or arrangement.

The next step then depends on your needs and budget.

If you just want the song in sheet music form, this is the cheapest option.  You get a print out of the sheet music which you can then give to other musicians to play and sing. Prices start at $200.

If you’d like the sheet music, plus you’d like myself and some other musicians to perform the song at your occasion, that can be happily organized for an extra fee. Prices start at $500.

If you want a professional recording of the song (broadcast CD quality) with cover artwork, this is my speciality.  Although this is the most expensive option, it is the most satisfying because you get to hear the song exactly as it was intended to sound, and you can play it anywhere, anytime.  The cost of this option depends on the nature of the arrangement you want: if its just a singer with a guitar, then recording costs are minimal.  If you want a full gospel choir and 6 piece band, then of course recording costs are going to be a lot more! Prices start at $1000.

Finally, maybe you’d also like a spoken word piece to introduce the song.  We can work on that together, and I can record you speaking the piece or I can do it for you.

Why choose me?

There are three main reasons why I can provide clients with songs they’ll be happy with.

Experience

I have over 15 years experience listening to clients and generating compositions to meet their needs through my work in film, TV and theatre.

Flexibility

I can write in a variety of music styles to suit different tastes – rock, pop, ballads, folk, country, electronic dance music, ambient, and even hymns.  In addition, I am an accomplished writer and lyricist – while love is a universal emotion, we can avoid cliches and i can help you express the uniqueness of your loved one.

Empathy

I care. If I didn’t have to make a living, I would do a service like this for free, for the sheer joy of it.  I sincerely want to create a truly memorable song for each client.

Here are a couple of examples of love songs I have written over the years:

Indrawn Breath

The Child

Want to know more? Then please contact me using the form below, I would be delighted to have a chat with you – or  have a ‘chin-wag’, as we say in Australia:-)