In the early-1990’s, I met a fellow teacher who also wrote music, and he introduced me to a midi keyboard that he connected to his laptop computer. I bought the same type of keyboard and the same software that he used to script his music. The keyboard came with numerous “patches”—essentially, differentiated instrumentations, such as strings, flutes, voices, guitar, etc.—that allowed the composer to experiment with different sounds in composition. Several of the pieces that I wrote during this period were experimental pieces that employed these sounds.

One of the patches was called, “Oceanwatcher”. It had an ethereal, opaque sound that was lighly echoed. This brought to my mind the experience of being at the ocean on a foggy day. Out of this, I created a new composition and named it after the patch. This piece sounded wonderful (if I may say so) when played through this patch and is, perhaps, a bit less convincing on the piano, but it remains one of my favorite pieces. Unfortunately, I lost access to this software shortly thereafter (a friend “borrowed” it, then moved out of state and never returned it) and I never replaced it. I should have, but never did. Now that I have learned to play this piece again, I am committed to buying a new keyboard and software and bringing “Oceanwatcher” back to life as it was meant to be.

“Oceanwatcher”, written in E minor, is, essentially, an etude—in this case, a study piece in syncopation. Much of the melody and most of the accompaniment is played on the off-beats. A chromatically-descending motif in the left hand is prevalent throughout the piece. The synchronizing of the downbeats and upbeats between the two hands is the most technically challenging part of playing this piece.