Music & Me
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A NON COMMERCIAL PRIVATE HOME PAGE. NOTHING TO BE SOLD OR TO BOOK HERE.
There is so much music in this world. So many different yet great types and styles of music, so many well crafted instruments that help to transform a music idea into something we enjoy to listen to.
I enjoy to listen to a lot of music, however, this page it about the music I love to perform in my private life – with others in various bands, with my family, or alone in my little home studio.
A little below you will find some of my own music productions, I invite you to listen and enjoy.
Please use the navigation bar (mobile: “hamburger menu”) at the top to check out in which bands and music projects I am currently performing in.
Also you can listen to some of my contributions to music contests, and also you will find the history of the “Sawobona Music Jam” project of the past.
I hope you will enjoy at least some part of my music. CU in the real world!
Greetings,
Carsten
All cover artwork below is AI generated
I CAN’T LIE (to my baby)
Written and performed by Carsten Trotzkowski
Drums: Jan Trotzkowski
Bass: Simon Trotzkowski
Originally written for a former band “7 Play”, we now give it another try with GROOVENUS
NOW YOU DON’T DREAM WITH ME
Written and performed by Carsten Trotzkowski
Another of my songs from the early 90ies, which was later refurbished with virtual orchestra and proper recording.
In my kind-of classical tradition, the orchestral line was progressivly composed through the whole piece for some more drama.
DIDN’T LIKE ME
Written and performed by Carsten Trotzkowski
Bass: Simon Trotzkowski
This was my own little experiment how to slice
8 beats into 3 + 5
to make it sound like prog.
ICEBERG LOVE
Written and performed by Carsten Trotzkowski
This is a very old song I have written in the late 80ies. Having no access to any studio equipment, the demo of this song was created by a weird ping-pong technique using my small “Ghetto Blaster” and by father’s stereo – with the latter playing the previous track(s), and the blaster recording this again via the build-in mics together with the next track.
20 year later, I made a completely new recording of it with plugin orchester and virtual choir.
SECOND LOVE
Written and performed by Carsten Trotzkowski
This song was actually written at the beginning of the Sawubona Music Jam Project in 2008, when the project team was still considering the concept to launch a world music project with international collaboration on the then-hipp internet platform “Second Life”.
Having toyed a few hours with it, I found it rather unsuitable for such task, and also the collaboration possibilities with all those possible spoilers (if you seek to be open) made me think of a pointless relartionship happening on that Second Life platform.
IN THE COLD OF THE NIGHT
Written and performed by Carsten Trotzkowski
I have written a hundred songs or more, many before I had access to proper recording equipment. Here’s another one that was created 1993, and completely recorded anew after two decades.
Just don’t be so serious about music styles
Did you ever wonder why music is categorized? And why there are so many barriers between those categories—so much so that they’re even split across different radio stations?
We all accept that someone came up with conventions to label music as Blues, Rock, Blues-Rock, Funk, Funk-Rock, Hard Rock, Metal, Country, or Western.
However, when a movie producer chooses to pick something from any of these categories and places it into a prominent scene in their film, people suddenly start calling a piece of rock music a “film score.” Many bought movie soundtrack CDs only to find they were merely playlists of rock or pop songs.
The same seems to apply to classical pieces. Meanwhile, film score composers often struggle to gain recognition from their classical peers—simply because the richness and complexity of their scores aren’t presented in famous concert halls with expensive admission tickets, but instead as a sub-component of a movie — or worse, of a TV series — or possibly worst of all, of a bloody computer game.
Sure, sometimes these conventions help simplify things, making it easier to reference music when talking to others.
But believe me, I’ve witnessed countless pointless prejudices and even conflicts between musicians. Classical instrumentalists once redlined me when I arrived as a metal musician, and metal musicians grew skeptical when they learned I had seven years of classical training on the violin, plus the same amount of time for classical singing — from Bach to Verdi.
To me, it never made sense to lock music into rigid categories. I once invited a metal band to perform at a classical concert, and today I love surprising metal audiences with a sudden violin performance.
Having spent many years as a singer-songwriter, composing film music, and singing in various choirs, I’m now a member of a Happy Metal band, a soul band, and a gospel band — all at the same time — while also supporting theatrical musical productions behind the scenes.
I’ve also never understood why orchestral sections like “strings,” “woodwinds,” or “brass” often act like natural enemies. To me, an instrument is simply a tool to make a musical idea audible. Since I have more than one type of musical ideas to share, I’ve invested time in learning various instruments to at least a presentable level. On stage, you might find me playing guitar, keyboard, violin, percussion, or using a breath controller for woodwind/brass solos — whatever the song needs. In my home recording studio, even more physical or virtual instruments might find their way into my recordings.
If you resonate with the ideas I’ve shared above, you’re warmly invited to listen to some of my songs using the player below. You can also explore my bands, music projects, remixes, and excursions into world music via the navigation bar at the top.
With all my best wishes,
:+) Carsten (+:
