Balboa Park

A friend of mine sent me a postcard of Balboa Park, in San Diego. She had been visiting up there and thought that it was absolutely beautiful.

I put the postcard on my piano and just stared at it while I was practicing. After a couple of days, I felt like I could almost see the action of the photograph. In my mind, I wondered, what if the leaves could fall down from the trees and dance across the water. It would be a beautiful way for these fall leaves to end their spiral decent as parteners on this reflective landscape.

And so sprang to life, my music of this dance.

Once, again, in my newfound compositional style, this piece is recorded at one sitting, with no previous practice or thought. I just closed my eyes, cleared my mind of everything but the subject and played the first thing that came to me. The music you hear below is the original and only recording. This is my gift to you, not necessarily from me.. the music was there in that photograph, I just recorded it for you.


Balboa Park 7.06 mp3 (c) 2002 William Cushman (7:06 / 6.6Mb)
To directly download to your computer click this icon:
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Want to use this piece in your project or website - royalty & commercial free at no cost?
Just ask.
Send me a quick email: Email

-Bill

Thursday Afternoon

This story begins in January 2002...

Up until that point, I had never really felt comfortable with any of my compositions. I had tried so many styles and directions and was thoroughly confused about what to do. One of my practice methods had been to relax and run freeform mods over key signatures.

It was early in the afternoon, overcast and drizzling. My son, Caleb, was just hanging out playing with toys. A sudden inpiration came to me..

I booted up our old iMac, turned on Cubase and clicked on my Korg X3.
I cleared my mind. And just thought about the beautiful scene that I could see out the apartment window. The leaves catching the drops, the water bouncing off the bricks..

And then..

I just played.

The piece you will hear below is the Actual piece. I have never played it again. I don't think I could unless I printed it out on sheet music and actually learned it. It is completely improvisational, stream of consciousness and completely unique.

I thought, "this is how I will write from now on."

I have found my style.

Thursday Afternoon 3.32 (c) 2002 William Cushman (3:32 / 3.4Mb)
To directly download to your computer click this icon:
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Want to use this piece in your project or website - royalty & commercial free at no cost?
Just ask.
Send me a quick email: Email

-Bill

Coming Along

It's absolutely amazing at what goes into blogging. I've been experimenting with multiple drafts of exactly how I need to go about linking my music into this blog and I'm almost ready. I'm aware that once I place my music on here, it will be completely naked and available for anyone. I've gone around and around about this over the years.

However, I know I'm ready to make it available.

My friends and listeners have all told me NOT to do this. They feel that once I make this music available for free, that someone else could come along and use it for whatever they wish.

The truth is.. that's perfectly fine with me. I'd probably be a little disgruntled if it was used for Porn or something nasty.. but otherwise, I want people to use my music for whatever the wish. Home movies, documentaries, whatever. I only ask one thing.. and that's to simply give me credit. And I will turn around and give God credit. I think we all know that God is the Rizzle for the Sizzle. :)

Visit back in a few days and I'll have my first piece ready for you.. it's called "Thursday Afternoon". It's cool.

Introduction

I found it!
Ok.. well, let me restate that.. After many years of searching, I was gracefully Given it.
I'm speaking of this Style, this compositional style... just a few years ago, the beginning of 2002 to be exact, I finally came across the piano style that fits me perfectly.
In a nutshell, it's improvisational. It's.. stream of consciousness mixed with impressionism. But most importantly, it's not mine to keep. God has graced me with this music, but only so that I can share it with others.
So please, listen, enjoy, try to understand what i'm trying to say with the music.. and please, pass on this gift to others.

****Notice on Commercial Free Royalty Free Useage****

Copyright Law of the United States of America
Circular 92
Chapter 1
§ 106. Exclusive rights in copyrighted works36
Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:
..
(3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
..

I have decided that I would like to lend, anyone who ASKS me, via email, comment, or other method, useage of my music for their commercial projects, free of charge and without me collecting the royalties on that specific production, once I have given them written approval. Once given approval (I am very quick to respond, and haven't turned anyone down yet), I will indicate that I will allow commercial useage for free and you can proceed. To quick-link to my email.. just click: here.
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Royalty Free Music

This blog contains Royalty & Commercial Free music at no charge with permission, also called "RF" Music, stock music, or in certain instances called "buy out" music. To learn more..

click here.

William Cushman's Ghost Notes Vol. 1

Click below to download (via DROPBOX) my FIRST royalty-free CD, "William Cushman's Ghost Notes Vol. 1". This CD contains the first 11 selections from this blog. All of the selections are recorded in full CD quality Aiff format, better for professional video and slideshows than the free posted mp3 versions. After requesting my permission (via email) you may utilize any of the pieces on my cd in any of your multimedia projects completely royalty free. Every Purchase helps me keep the free music available. 10% of every purchase will be donated to charity.
As a BONUS I am now including a MP3 collection of almost every single recording on this site, PLUS many recordings that aren't featured here At All!



Price $7.99.  This collection will ONLY be provided as a digital download link.