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Musical Background | My Compositions | Popular Tunes | Covers | Favorites | Equipment List

John P. Willis

Opinions presented here are held in all of my roles and capacities, both personal and professional.


Summary

Politics: Leftist (AnCom)
Religion: Militantly Atheist
Occupation: Software Engineer
Preferences: View

Social Networking

Diaspora*
Mastodon
Twitter

Organizations

The GNU Project
The Free Software Foundation
American Civil Liberties Union

Computers & Programming

Programming Languages I Know
Greatest Common Divisor in 19 Languages
Microcomputer OS History
UNIX Tricks
The Datashed (personal datacenter)
Computer Collection
ChivaNet Internet Services
The VAX Pirate's Lair (my old website, ca. 2002)
YOUNGMUMPSTER (my tech blog)
GitLab
GitHub
GCC OS Test Macros

Genealogy

Genealogy Home
English Notable Kin
Scottish Notable Kin

Hobbies

Music
Telephones & PBX

Other Sites

Polls

Geek Code

-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.1
GCS/E/G/H/IT/L/MU/P/SS d-- s+: a+ C++++ UBLAVHS++++$ P+ L++ E++ W+++$ N+ o? 
K- w++ O+++ M V+++>$ PS+++ PE-- Y+ !PGP t+++ !5 !X R tv b+++ DI++ D--- G e 
h---- r+++ x++++
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

Site Info

This site is hosted on a Sun SPARCserver 20 running Apache 2.2, Perl 5, and a home-built CMS.

RSS feed generation is done with a BASH script I have implemented, called Syndicator.

This site contains no JavaScript, no CSS, and should render in any HTML 2.0-compliant browser.

Musical Background

I began playing the piano by ear at the age of three, and began lessons with Jessica Woodul from the ages of five until approximately the age of fourteen. Ms. Woodul, my first and favorite teacher, felt at this time that I had progressed to the limits of her teaching abilities, and referred me to further lessons with Dr. William Leland at New Mexico State University.

Dr. Leland was a very capable teacher and profoundly talented pianist, but there was some degree of personal incompatibility between us, most of which derived from my own lack of drive.

In 1996, I began lessons with Dr. Stefan Bardas, who had himself studied under such prestigious pianists as Artur Schnabel. Dr. Bardas was a talented and challenging teacher, especially when it came to his deep knowledge of Beethoven, whose 32 piano sonatas he was widely known for performing in their entirety in a seven-concert cycle.

An interesting bit of trivia surrounding Dr. Stefan Bardas is that through him, I can trace my musical lineage back to Ludwig van Beethoven:

  • Stefan Bardas taught John Willis
  • Artur Schnabel taught Stefan Bardas
  • Theodor Leschetizky taught Artur Schnabel
  • Carl Czerny taught Theodor Leschetizky
  • Ludwig van Beethoven taught Carl Czerny

I also provided piano accompaniment at University Presbyterian Church and First Evangelical Free Church in Las Cruces, NM for a number of years, as well as providing incidental music for real estate showcases, and playing full junior and senior recitals. My junior recital, at the Thomas Branigan Cultural Center in Las Cruces, NM, was standing room only, having attendance in excess of the building's rated capacity, and featured advanced works from Mozart, Scriabin, Chopin, Bach, and others.

I had an opportunity to study abroad with Alfred Brendel, but rejected it, as the concert piano circuit was never my own professional or personal interest.

Music remains an enjoyable avocation for me, and I also play guitar, flute, clarinet, and drums, as well as retaining an interest in multitrack recording. Most recently, I provided piano accompaniment for a circus event at College Heights Kindergarten in Las Cruces, NM, which involved the re-scoring of 15-plus musical arrangements.

Jessica Woodul Treon Dr. William Leland Dr. Stefan Bardas

My Compositions

These are compositions I have created from early childhood to the present. They are presented here in several formats.

Title Op. Year PDF Ogg Vorbis MP3* MIDI
The Andro Singer - 1986 View View View View
Hada Luna - 1987 - - - -
Alligator Munch-Lunch1 - 1988 View View View -
Presentation to the King of Gogubozxk - 1989 View View View View
Conci Feddia - 1989 - - - -
March2 1 1991 View View View -
Siamo Amici3 2 2002 View View View View
Waltz No. 1 in D-minor 3 2003 View View View -
Sonatina No. 1 in C-major (Child's Morning) 4 2013 View View View -
Minuet No. 1 (Miri's Minuet) 5 2013 View View View -

Popular Tunes

These are pop tunes I've created.

Title Year PDF Ogg Vorbis MP3 MIDI
Aet p0bi 2006 - View View -
Bury You Alive 2007 - View View -
Cathedral 2002 - View View -
Dance 2002 - View View -
Drive Down ? - View View -
Fruitless 2003 - View View -
Hereditary Influence 2007 - View View -
His Act of Love 2001 - View View -
In That Place Again 2000 - View View -
Into The Sky 2002 - View View -
On My Knees 2003 - View View -
Rock and Roll, Jalapeno (The Chorizo Song) 2002 - View View -
Love Reminds Me 2009 - - View -
The 16th Bit 2017 - View View -
The Faith That Died 2001 - View View -
The Idol's Prayer 2002 - View View -
I've Got A Little Purple Folder 2017 View View View View
Gold-Plated Orange Ego - - View View -

Covers

These are pieces of music that I've covered and recorded.

Title Original Artist Recordings
Stars Fell on Alabama Frank Sutherland Perkins II (my great great uncle) and Mitchell Parish Open Ogg Vorbis
Open MP3
What Ever Shall We Do, O Lord? Stella Gibbons Open Ogg Vorbis
Open MP3
Open Sheet Music (PDF)
Beginning (from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse) Konami Kukeiha Club Open Ogg Vorbis
Open MP3
Sonata Domenico Scarlatti Open Ogg Vorbis
Open MP3
Love Story (New Piano Part) Taylor Swift Open Ogg Vorbis
Open MP3
Wind's Nocturne (The Boat Song from Lunar: A Silver Star Story) Noriyuki Iwadare Open Ogg Vorbis
Open MP3
Repent Jonathan Ian Whalen Open Ogg Vorbis
Open MP3

This cover was created with Joel Martinez in 2001. Joel contributed the guitars, bass, half of the lyrical reconceptualization, and a great many of the production concepts, and narrated the spoken part at the beginning.

The inspiration for the overall feel of the production came from the song "One", as performed by Rebecca St. James on the album "Transform".


Favorites

Artist Favorite Selections
Classical
W.A. Mozart Piano Sonatas KV 283, 310, 330-333
Piano Concerto No. 9, Jeunhomme
Le nozze di Figaro, KV 492
Il Zauberflote, KV 620
Frederic Chopin Nocturne, Op. Posth. 72, No. 1
Ballade No. 1 in G-minor
Franz Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
Folk
Steeleye Span Tonight's the Night
The Weaver and the Factory Maid
Gentleman Soldier
Padstow
Joni Mitchell Carey
A Taste of You
Judy Collins Both Sides Now
Tony Elman Pig Town Fling
Sarah McLachlan Building a Mystery
Classic Rock
The Beach Boys Sloop John B.
Fun, Fun, Fun
Kokomo
Wouldn't It Be Nice?
The Beatles Let It Be
I'll Follow The Sun
The Long and Winding Road
Penny Lane
Progressive Rock
Nature By Numbers Skeleton Closet
Dream Theater Surrounded
S2N
As I Am
Erotomania
Liquid Tension Experiment Biaxident
When the Water Breaks
David Maxim Micic Satellite
Alex Argento Moving Around E
Jordan Rudess Bar Hopping With Mr. Picky
What Four
Time Crunch
Ra
Insectamongus
Pink Floyd Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
Metal
Unleash the Archers The Matriarch
Call Me Immortal
Tonight We Ride
Serenity Wing of Madness
Protest The Hero Bloodmeat
Angra The Temple of Hate
Leprous Captive
Rock
Joe Satriani Starry Night
Raspberry Jam Delta-V
Satch Boogie
Summer Song
Turkey Man
Seven String
Steve Vai I Would Love To
Whispering A Prayer
Viv Woman
Ya Yo Gakk
Banda/Duranguenze/Norteno
K-Paz de la Sierra Mi Credo
La Vecinita
Y Aqui Estoy
Los Horoscopos de Durango Mi Amor Por Ti
Los Canarios De Michoacan Se Que Piensas En Mi
Banda Sinaloense MS De Sergio Lizarraga Cahuates, Pistaches
Los Tigres Del Norte Agua Salada
Alacranes Musical Si Yo Fuera Tu Amor
Anexo El Tao Tao
Los Cuates de Sinaloa La Reina Del Sur
Reggaeton
El Chombo Chacarron
Dennis Fenando, Robert Taylor, Nicolas Tovar Estar Contigo
Latin Pop
Thalia Mujeres
Paulina Rubio Causa y Efecto
Danna Paola De Aqui Para Alla
Todo Fue Un Show
N.U.N.C.A.
Nuestro Amor
Shakira Estoy Aqui
Chinese Pop
Jane Zhang Wo Shi Wo De
Jolin Tsai Prove It
The Spirit of Knight
Magic
Japanese Pop
American Pop
Emo

*If possible, please refrain from using MPEG Audio Layer III (MP3) files. The MP3 format is encumbered by fascist software patents, and owned by Fraunhofer IIS, a known patent troll. The Ogg Vorbis format provides better quality, better compression characteristics, and is a free (as in speech) format.

1Alligator Munch-Lunch was inspired by the Alligator In My Room sketch from Sesame Street, and won second place in the elementary division for the 1988 New Mexico Music Teacher's Association Composition Contest.

2March was used in the WERC/TV Earth production of Captain Polymer and the Colloid Caper, a student-led animated environmental cartoon and documentary produced on Commodore Amiga computers running NewTek Video Toaster and Deluxe Paint IV in the summer of 1992, under the direction of Barbara Powell, Darrell Leland, and David King. Six area students--myself included--were selected to participate.

3Siamo Amici is an aria for Paola e Rudolfo, an aborted opera project I was working on. The librettist was a certain Stefanie Castellano, a music major. It is roughly an exchange in which the antagonist is making fun of the protagonist's exceptionally large forehead. Long and short, they make up and decide to become friends. The middle section (beginning with caro Rudolfo, non potete videre...), was intended for an alto. Having none available, I had to sing it myself. My voice is terrible, I know.


Revision History

$Log: index.shtml,v $
Revision 1.26  2021/11/10 13:20:33  jpw
Add link to equipment list

Revision 1.25  2021/01/31 15:16:18  jpw
Correct spelling errors.

Revision 1.24  2021/01/04 02:23:13  jpw
Add lineage to Beethoven

Revision 1.23  2020/01/30 15:04:06  jpw
Add Love Reminds Me mp3 reference

Revision 1.22  2019/10/07 17:09:22  jpw
Add Chorizo Song and Beginning

Revision 1.21  2019/09/17 14:15:41  jpw
Further expansion

Revision 1.20  2019/09/17 03:41:29  jpw
Expand popular tunes section

Revision 1.19  2019/09/05 00:48:39  jpw
Add license

Revision 1.18  2019/09/05 00:27:28  jpw
Fix more formatting problems

Revision 1.17  2019/09/05 00:25:39  jpw
Fix various formatting problems

Revision 1.16  2019/09/05 00:24:34  jpw
Add Ogg Vorbis files

Revision 1.15  2019/09/04 19:33:22  jpw
Add covers

Revision 1.14  2019/09/03 15:28:42  jpw
Add Favorites section

Revision 1.13  2019/09/03 03:02:12  jpw
Fix sidebar

Revision 1.12  2019/09/03 03:01:25  jpw
Add sidebar

Revision 1.11  2019/08/29 16:04:57  jpw
Fix TITLE tag

Revision 1.10  2019/05/31 02:59:09  jpw
Fix broken links for LPF

Revision 1.9  2019/05/31 02:57:14  jpw
Add popular tunes

Revision 1.8  2019/05/29 01:12:11  jpw
Add Siamo Amici score and MIDI file

Revision 1.7  2019/05/28 21:53:39  jpw
Add Presentation to the King of Gogubozxk links

Revision 1.6  2019/05/28 21:07:27  jpw
Add musical background section, teacher photos, nav links

Revision 1.5  2019/05/28 16:45:03  jpw
Add "The Andro Singer" links

Revision 1.4  2019/05/28 16:09:32  jpw
Fix footnote formatting

Revision 1.3  2019/05/28 16:08:23  jpw
Expand footnote for Siamo Amici

Revision 1.2  2019/05/28 15:59:48  jpw
Add Siamo Amici MP3 link and footnote

Revision 1.1  2019/05/28 15:41:49  jpw
Initial revision



Copyright © 2019 John P. Willis
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