HappyChords
So I sat down at the piano and thought "I'm just going to play some 'happy' chords", and the progression I used for this composition was the result. Banal, most likely, simplistic, for sure, pedestrian, not a doubt. But the those chords are happy. When contemplating Donald Trump's influence on the world, a little banal happiness as an antidote isn't bad.
I did use this as an excuse to deepen my exploration of some of the synths I've gotten recently. I used my Behringer 2600 (ARP) synthesizer clone for the main chords, wanting to learn more about its patching system. I also used Max/MSP/rtcmix~ patches to drive the random-sequencer patterns in the last half of the piece. I used my Behringer Minimoog Model D clones for those. Moogs just sound good when sequenced!
For some reason, this music reminded me of one of the first mm- pieces I did. I guess it's the happy chords. Happy!
Brad Garton
June, 2026