Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Video: pexels.com
A song in many parts. Like walking from room to room. From straight to swing. From light to dark. "Blanc" to "Noir". A black and white video with the mystery of the red shoes. Why "red shoes"? I hear Paula practicing cello parts often. Recently it was Rossini's (red) La Danza and Schumann's (shoes) Cello Concerto in A minor. While I only paraphrase short bits, if you know you know. But the thing is: I usually change things enough that I think it becomes a challenge for PT to adjust from what she has been so diligently practicing.Bruce S Cridlebaugh - Time Has ChangedChalkbrook Music2026-06-30 | From the playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZoJKtnncEYE9EjBUoPDzKyrXU3CX2Gjd
You used to play those games with me You'd try to put me down But I don't care if you care for me It doesn't matter now
Makes no difference what you say I'll get by alright Never thought I'd feel this way I'll be alright tonight
There was a time when I Could believe That we Were as one But that time is gone Like the feeling once strong Like you, I have changed Like time, I have changed Time Has Changed
I won't look back to yesterday The past is far behind No more time to turn around The future's on my mind
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Clouds: pexels.com
Like a summer wind Like a spirit flying free I'm rising in love with you Laced between mist and clouds Riding on waves of dreams I'm flying in love with you Once so uncertain and so unsure Of how you were thinking of me I was falling in love
Verses and lines And countless rhymes Have played on the notion That falling was emotion But out of the blue You came and you caught me And kept me from falling Falling in love with you
Moving effortlessly In the ways of Icarus I'm soaring in love with you Changing but remaining Constant in my devotion to you I'm moving in love Once so uncertain and so unsure Of how you were thinking of me I was falling in love
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Video: pexels.com
Another in the MCS series, this song started as a step-entry project (one note at a time) on an Apple IIgs computer in 1986. As an experiment in what was possible, it was very dense and synth-heavy; the computer couldn't keep up. Now I've rearranged and expanded it with more traditional instrumentation. Something like putting Robbie Steinhardt (violin - Kansas) in front of an orchestra.
In updating the piece, it came to have a heavy half and a lighter half. A challenge in instrumental music: a title...and these days: a subject for video imagery.
The dichotomy of the music led me to consider Science versus Humanities. Tech does great things to advance our lives, but as we've seen lately, the power can be abused with Greed and Waste. The Humanities can be inspiring as we search for Meaning, but can send us into a ditch of Tribalism and Superstition.
We can look at the Pale Blue Dot we call home and think that either: it's an insignificant mote of dust on the vast cosmos -- or we truly are special, if not divinely, but just for the fact that here we have life and awareness. We know of nowhere else that is so special in the observable universe (nothing more complex out there beyond chemistry and maybe microbes of a sort). We make our own Meaning. We can each harbor Vulcan and Psyche. We can do great things together, or we can fight over scraps. No one is coming to save us.Bruce S Cridlebaugh - Stage Torn DownChalkbrook Music2026-05-05 | From the playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZoJKtnncEYE9EjBUoPDzKyrXU3CX2Gjd
I'll never understand the changes Or the colors in your eyes I don't know the reasons And I can not ask you why You never seem the same Turning differently each day A fresh, new face Another phase Like actors in a play
The stage torn down The sun is set Dark replaces light And through the night I think of you I dream with all my might
The places in my life Are just a change of scenery People and objects Sometimes mean that much to me And it falls apart Just like my heart Each time you speak my name You can see What it does to me And I wish you felt the same.
This video is all Pittsburgh. (Extra points if you can identify all the places; extra points if you can guess who Joe is…though the points aren’t redeemable for anything really.)
About the music: I was recently watching a movie (Whiplash) about a jazz drummer and his intense (and abusive) teacher. The teacher gives them music that says a quarter note is 300…then of course, counts it in at half that. So, I set my metronome to 150 beats per minute and went at it. The bass gets to wail on a couple places (even if it really is me on the keyboard). Here we go!Bruce S Cridlebaugh - Praying For RainChalkbrook Music2026-04-14 | From the playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZoJKtnncEYGMx4ugumB9bsvnyesNn4Ka
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Video: pexels.com
Showing some influence of Mark Isham (Group 87 -- and later prolific in soundtracks), especially since Mark plays trumpet as well as keyboards. I didn't set out to write program music, but once the recording was complete and I had to think of a title and create a video, the piece suggested a distant storm...just add water.
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Video: pexels.com
I reached the point where I was sure All love was in the past Or maybe saved for someone else And nothing ever lasts But against it all, I took the chance That's when I found you A perfect Match, so unexpected Dreams somehow come true
You are every love song written An unending happy ending Every dream ever dear to me For every pain that I've endured For every step that felt unsure For all I've worked to be You are my reward
I never believed in silly love songs I though the words cliche And even those that seemed sincere Surely fade away And through all my life those songs of mine Played in minor key Now you've opened up your heart and brought My voice back to me
You are every love song written...
So I stumbled over words unspoken To tell you I Love You And though filled with words, I've not enough The feeling still is true Now I think of you; I smile aloud How can we be blessed? You hold me close and I am sure Life saved the best for last.
“Pushing Through” is a rock instrumental with some jazzy bits. Someone said they can hear some Vince Guaraldi piano influence (alot of us remember the Peanuts music). So, I’ll add that I like melodic/singable guitar leads like Andy Latimer from Camel, not just noodling and scales. But everything on the channel so far is original…except for that time I quoted Tchaikovsky and that time I quoted 7 notes from Beethoven.
This song could easily be a road trip song, but the background of the video is from a trail-free trek through 11 inches of snow – 20 minutes compressed into just under 3 minutes. Bruce-whacking!Bruce S Cridlebaugh - Voices Empty EchoingChalkbrook Music2026-03-03 | From the playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZoJKtnncEYE9EjBUoPDzKyrXU3CX2Gjd
Bruce Cridlebaugh - Piano, Guitars, and all other instruments
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Video: pexels.com
There’s a hum beneath the argument A whisper in the wire We’re talking past each other While they calculate desire Screen light paints our faces We amuse ourselves to death Auctioning attention They know what you like best
The CEO quotes Machiavelli While he cashes in We get shown the door And he takes the win The night, it feels like forever Empathy, it doesn’t make us weak Things that should be said But there’s a pause, before we speak
We build our walls of certainty And lock ourselves inside Data becomes identity The algorithm divides Trading on our weaknesses Pretend to be profound Between the loudest of extremes Wisdom seeks the middle ground
The CEO quotes Machiavelli While he cashes in Outsource and offshore It’s millions more for him We’re just living on junk food Whether in a box or served online The more claims on the outside The more suspect what’s there to hide
The CEO quotes Machiavelli While he cashes in The system serves the system And loyalty runs thin The top makes the middle hate the bottom Loudest in the room rules the day We can't unsubscribe Dark patterns make us stayBruce S Cridlebaugh - Drops of RainChalkbrook Music2026-01-06 | From the playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZoJKtnncEYE9EjBUoPDzKyrXU3CX2Gjd
Bruce Cridlebaugh - Piano, Electric Guitar, and all other instruments
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Video: pexels.com
Drops of rain bead down the glass People and things so quickly pass Hushed is a moment, thoughts all my own What will it be like when I get home?
Time is so hectic; they're so many changes I've seen all new things and so many places Love right now takes a new meaning For short intervals of time Let it only be Temporary
Sometimes I sad, most times I happy Controlled as it is, fear finds its way Only at night when all is quiet I lay wishing And I close my eyes To dreams of mine
Drops of rain bead down the glass People and things so quickly pass I've been so long and far on my own What will it be like when I get home?Bruce S Cridlebaugh - Our Love Has Made Us Sure (featuring Paula Tuttle)Chalkbrook Music2025-12-23 | From the playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZoJKtnncEYGMx4ugumB9bsvnyesNn4Ka
The video concept follows a river from its outlet at the ocean, upstream and growing wilder through hills, to its mountain source -- with the music changing through each geographic "room".Bruce S Cridlebaugh - Sign Of LeavingChalkbrook Music2025-11-25 | From the playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZoJKtnncEYE9EjBUoPDzKyrXU3CX2Gjd
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Video: pexels.com
I tell myself it's not supposed to happen This feeling coming on I tell myself I might not have the time Still, I stand on this other end And I look into you For a mirror of myself I hope to find
I won't try to tell All the things you think I try to leave it all for you All your thoughts deep inside And the words you're about to say I wait for a blink, a whisper, a sigh A sign of things to come
You always say you're leaving And someday I will too But why do we always have to know it? I'm living past imperfect and future tense Waiting, now watching for a sign A sign of leaving
I won't try to tell...
I'll stay here still reaching out Arms outstretched to you Hoping you'll come back and stay this time I've been afraid to show my feelings But this time that's all changed I'm straining to see A sign A sign of returning
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Video: pexels.com
From deep inside From Hell itself A frightening tumult builds Pristine mountain Now ashen shell The life once lushed is killed
Rushing down canyon streams Choking desolation There is no Hope There is no chance Darkened resignation
But given time The light returns Persistence of a seed Patient for The Love and Care A tiny sprouting tree
Seed Of Hope
Trampled beneath Foot and wheel Falling to the saw Forest thick So dark; surreal Soon forever gone
Parking lots And mini-malls A blanket built of stone Boxes made For selling boxes A hazy setting sun Yet struggling through A sidewalk crack Persistence of a weed And soon below In tangled leaves Others drop their seed
Seed Of Hope
False starts In innocence Blindly reaching out Risks rewarded In simple embrace A tiny flash; a spark
Growing passions Turn commonplace Just another day Laziness Forgetfulness Promises betrayed
Yet cowered under Real Life A persevering need Crushed beneath Oppressive shadows A frozen heart won't bleed
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Video: pexels.com
Painful memories Come to me Ooh, you can feel I care And the past returns From the darkness burns But now, we've got love to share
Let me help you wash away The things that trouble you If it turns out O.K. I know it's all for you I do
The daylight comes The pain is gone Now, it you and me Lose the bad for good Cause it's understood The way that we feel
Through the night into the day You keep me close to you If it turns out O.K. I know it's all for you I do Now like all the rest For the worst or best Comes the time to leave The winter's coming It's got you running Far beyond my reach
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Video: pexels.com and pixabay.com
I taught myself how to play piano by sneaking into any music room, church, or auditorium stage with a piano. After a college art class, I gave one of the girls a ride home. I said, “This looks like the kind of a house that would have a piano.” She said, “It’s in the garage under a bunch of boxes. If you can get it out of there, you can take it home.” A few days later in a light drizzle, I pushed it up into my brother’s pickup truck. After sliding the old upright into my mother‘s basement, I roughly tuned it with Vice-Grips pliers. I just wanted to play all the time…and now I could. I recorded some of my first piano songs on a crude Dictaphone secretarial recorder.
The sun climbs up Clouds move to obscure A beginning becomes an end We draw together We're forced apart It's happening again
I don't want to lose the things I've done Don't want to forget what we have begun The time that we share seems destined to end I don't want to lose you My most special friend
When something starts And soon falls apart I lose a little hope and faith Does it have to end? Do we have to give in? I need to feel a friend's embrace
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Camera Op: Kate Cridlebaugh
I don't believe it's better To have loved and lost. It only reminds What the love has cost.
This is where all the good ones have gone. Beaten down by love that’s gone wrong.
There's the thing and how you feel about it. Emotions only cloud the issue, sure. Strip away all of the passion. It is what it is and nothing more.
I don't believe it's better To have loved and lost. It only reminds What the love has cost.
This is where all the good ones have gone. Beaten down by love that’s gone wrong.
Oh, I give you credit for leaving when you did. Consider how it hurts now It's better than it might have been.
You save yourself by leaving me behind.
I hate it when they ask me how I'm doing. I don't think they really care to know. It seems they're only asking out of habit. They don't see their apathy's exposed.
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Video: Pexels.com
Whether running too fast or moving too slow We're drifting apart and away From each other You come to me with the look of love But you know I'll soon turn away
Maybe you know we tried to make it work Gave away more than we took Maybe the road of compromise is dark And middle ground is shaky ground
You argue with me You say it's not fair You say I don't understand I can quote all your words to me But you can't recall the things I say Yeah, you can't recall the things I say
When the smoke clears away from embers of love The fire that burned itself out You come to me wit the look of love But you know I'll soon turn away
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Video: pexels.com
I've played that exact upright piano in the lobby at Lake McDonald Lodge at Glacier National Park in Montana. But it took some fancy video editing to make this shot happen.Bruce S Cridlebaugh - Barren Trees / Windswept (with Paula Tuttle)Chalkbrook Music2025-03-18 | From the playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZoJKtnncEYE9EjBUoPDzKyrXU3CX2Gjd
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Video: Pexels.com
Barren Trees was the first song I ever wrote (February 1979, I didn’t get the girl). Windswept is an extended instrumental featuring a piano/cello conversation (I did get the girl!).
I've watched the sky darken A tthousand times too many Without you Though I believe it's getting lighter Please don't make me wait Without you
Barren trees in silhouette Turned with the seasons Without me And every night when no one sees They reach out for the wind Without me
I'll close my eyes and wait for you I'll never close my heart Without you Sometimes it seems the only trace I'll leave Is footprints in snow Without you
There's an important solo in Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Sleeping Beauty". In Act II, the Pas D'Action (Dance of Action) is a piece of choreography that tells a story through movement rather than just being decorative. And in this instance, it is the first time Princess Aurora and Prince Désiré dance together to show the beginning of their romance.
Cello is always the most romantic instrument. I hear Paula practicing in the next room. Sometimes it gets into my head and I play along to myself. As she works through the Pas D'Action theme, I decide to quote a passage in my own song. But since my song is much faster and has completely different timing...Aurora can't be Sleeping. She must be at least "Sleepwalking Beauty".
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional video: pexels.com and pixabay.com Satellite Aerial: PEMA
Ring around the moon, he stepped outside A gentle breath sounded the chimes And the emptiness that filled the sky Gave perspective to the emptiness inside
And he thought he'd face the challenge of it all Withstanding every storm and never fall And soon, but not today He'd feel the ice melt away Wondering where and when he finally got some sleep
Resentful of movies and of sports Following a script and following a course The conflict helps to move them along Not to bury those who suffer on
And he thought he'd face the challenge of it all Withstanding every storm and never fall And soon, but not today He'd feel the ice melt away Wondering where and when he finally got some sleep
Aimed between the lines of the parking lot His restless wheels rolled to a stop And with touches on the radio He fell into a song romantic and low
And he dreamed that he was living every word And every lilting note was meant for him And for the first in many days He felt the ice melt away And there and then he finally got some sleepBruce S Cridlebaugh - Leaves LeftChalkbrook Music2025-02-04 | From the playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZoJKtnncEYGMx4ugumB9bsvnyesNn4Ka
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional video: pexels.com and pixabay.com
Into the sun Into the cold Everything a child needs Was given to me. As I learned to trust And I learned to care Somehow I thought More would feel like me.
They said to play fair Be good to each other Play by the rules And you can win the game
We're taught that we're strange. It turns out we're normal. We're told that things change But it's hard to be sure. Everything's a defense. There are no straight answers. So we hope for the best And then, we're outta here.
I thought it was fair. I thought it would matter. I thought it was possible to Win the game.
Now here I am, yeah, I'm getting older. All the hopes and the dreams Are catching up to me. Mediocrity. Complacency. All the things that I say Will never happen to me.Bruce S Cridlebaugh - Opening (with Paula Tuttle)Chalkbrook Music2025-01-07 | From the playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZoJKtnncEYGMx4ugumB9bsvnyesNn4Ka
Words cascade and linger They must not make a sound Every one I offer Just makes it worse
All that's in the past All that's gone before All that still remains All that we have left
Lay down beside me Forgive or forget Choose the one you Haven't tired of yet
We try to reconcile But when we say Always - every - never We know were wrong
All that's in the past All that's gone before All that still remains All that we have left
It's like we're watching a movie So hard to believe There's a happy ending There's a reprise It's like we're stuck in the jailhouse But someone believes In the story of innocence There's a reprieve
What you allow to happen Is what you have done No one takes the blame When none is laid
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Video: Pexels.com
Driving through the night The rain is streaming off the glass And we don't have a single thing to say Another silent night Of trying hard to be polite It seems that anything could start it up again
If I could give you anything I wouldn't give you trouble If everything were right There'd be no pain
All the years together We would talk about forever Now we just turn and look our separate ways You insist that I am angry Til at last I become angry You're mystified at would could start the fight
One insists and one resists It just keeps grinding Nothing melts And nothing blows away
Insulted you move away Do I follow; do I stay? Do I set aside my pride to prove my love? Time upon a time, I said We're forever intertwined. You should Only expect the best there is from me
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Video: Pexels.com
I appreciate songs that need to get alot done in a short amount of time -- like TV themes and bumper music.
I had just purchased a Roland D-5 synth and the piano sound lent itself to the creation of this song. That seems to be a common mode of inspiration for alot of music: a sound/timbre/patch leads in a direction and a whole song gets built around it.
But one problem with naming an instrumental piece is that they don't always sound like a particular thing. Does "La Mer" sound like The Sea or have we just been conditioned to think that? I'm thinking of parallels of "program music" to the visual shortcuts we use in graphic design. A heart shape does not really look like a heart, but everyone knows what it is.
Anyway...I was standing in line at an Old Navy retail store...with this new wordless song in my head...and I needed a name to remember and differentiate from other songs. There on the wall: "Returns & Exchanges". In time, it seemed to fit. A phrase, answered by another phrase, a conversation. And now this video makes it all a bit more literal.Bruce S Cridlebaugh - Right AgainChalkbrook Music2024-10-15 | From the playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZoJKtnncEYE9EjBUoPDzKyrXU3CX2Gjd
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Video: Pexels.com
He's working at the factory Makes the parts you throw away Sure the effort isn't wasted And he works late every day Tries to join in conversation There's two kinds of polite: Some folks are politely social Ah, but some won't put up a fight
Maybe we're both a little lazy Maybe a little is too much Oh, you're right again
Really wants to say he loves you But he doesn't have the touch And the feeling won't be coming 'Til her heart's been filled enough Radio narrates his life Is it just coincidence? Driving home he's late again He can't proffer a defense
Maybe we're both a little lazy Maybe a little is too much Oh, you're right again
Walking through the darkened house now Locking doors and closing blinds Cleaning while eating from a tin can He pretends he doesn't mind Each child receives a light kiss They stir but do not wake His wife's been long time sleeping It's been far too late to wait
Audio and Video Production: Bruce Cridlebaugh Additional Video: Pexels.com and Pixabay.com
Gotta make a living Gotta make a killing Hurry up! The first - the best - the most Feel the pressure mounting Building up
All of the fantasies The things left undone All of the things you need You can get it at home
If there were only one more day Would it still turn out this way?
The inviting package The turn of a phrase Can't wait for tomorrow Gotta have it today The only present we care for Is the one with a bow Out hunting and gathering We forget about home
Right Here Right Now Is passing you by When you wake up You're wondering why
I was flipping through some photos Conjured up some feelings From the past Pretending it was perfect Learning all too soon it Wouldn't last
In the style of Jackson Browne, a song about listening without hearing.
My first graphic design position was creating all of the on-air artwork for Warner Cable. They had a slate of local programming; one of the shows was a kind of a Gong Show (like America's Got Talent but more brutal) where the people at home could press the buttons on their interactive QUBE remote and vote up or down. Too many downs and the act got pulled. I performed this song live/solo and was one of only two acts that made it the whole way through. The other surviving act was my first exposure to breakdancing.
I try to look into your eyes But you turn them away They're your disguise Won't you ever show me who you are? Oh, it's gone too far
I know you told me how you feel But I can't believe I know that words aren't always real I'd rather hear the things locked in your heart
But I can't take And you won't give I can't pretend I like to live this way Something's got to change Something's got to change (how I feel) Something's got to change
Just another one in line That's how it feels sometimes Like I'm losing time I am not afraid I'll give too much to you The change I fear is losing you
I know you told me how you feel...
Somewhere in a song You tried to tell me something was wrong It had to change My eyes aren't hiding anything My words are true The change, my love, must come from you