Utilizing elements of body percussion, this piece develops playful themes from the children's game "Patty-Cake" over varying instrumentations.

This piece is inspired by assorted jargon and sonorities found in card games and casinos as well as textures and idioms from hip-hop/rap. It features elements of chance music from card decks and die rolls. 

An uptempo fusion piece that alternates between distributions of 5s and 3s, keeping the pulse shifting, and the listener on their toes.

The full score is available for purchase.

[$10 | SKU#: 024]

A tender ballad that daydreams about the future that love at first sight could potentially lead to - if you put in the effort a relationship deserves.

This lead sheet is available for purchase.

[$5 | SKU#: 023]

A soft latin ballad flaunting the effortless class and quiet satisfaction of an accomplished woman who can afford to leave nothing desired.

This lead sheet is available for purchase.

[$5 | SKU#: 022]

Written with the intent of being as accessible as possible to an amateur-level ensemble, Obey The Machine was originally premiered by the MUN Wind Ensemble. It is programmatic piece outlining the destruction of nature from the development of technology and consumerism, as well as the sacrifice of outdoor activity due to the digitization of entertainment. It features sections of ambience, a recurring chorale theme passed through the ensemble, as well as blues/mixolydian tonalities.

[$10 | SKU#: 021]

Bendigo is a city in Victoria, Australia, that was founded in pursuit of the gold contained within its grounds. Originally a mining town, Bendigo is home to multiple notable mines and rivers. This piece utilizes water related sonorities to evoke the setting of a mine, flowing water, gold panning, a slow leak that evolves into a rush of water that floods the mines - swallowing their contents (human, metal, and otherwise) into the earth, the sounding of alarms in an attempt to evacuate other personnel, until eventually the flooding and alarms shrink back down to nothing but an easing drip. The city name additionally provided inspiration to lean into unconventional pitch bending effects/timbres available on percussion instruments. Originally composed for, and workshopped with, TorQ percussion ensemble.

[$10 | SKU#: 020]

Composed explicitly for his 4th year recital, Kerr finally took steps towards an old but unfulfilled goal of just writing music for his friends. Putting players before orchestration led to an unconventional instrumentation that sparked outside the box thinking but also uncertainty. The performers brought security in their dependability/reliability and assembled a competent ensemble with ease on rather short notice. Drawing on themes and experiences from past performances with friends, Having a Time With The B’ys was written to accomplish exactly its namesake and to thank these absolutely legendary individuals for facilitating an enjoyable university experience (shoutout to Matthew Fillier, Noah Spencer, Peter Perez, Brandon Billard, and Nick Howlett).

[$10 | SKU#: 019]

Originally composed for and premiered by members on the PhoeNX Ensemble Sanya Eng and Patty Chan, as well as Les Allt and Allison Rich, Drowning outlines the story of a shipwreck. The crew and passengers are cast into the sea as the vessel crumples and sinks. As they are dragged into the depths of the ocean they have a vision of Poseidon leading a herd of horses towards them. These horses collect them and carry them back towards the surface but, as they ascend, they see their bodies still sinking beneath them.

[$10 | SKU#: 018]

Drawing on themes such as the THX intro and various marching hornlines, Requiem Airson Na Cnothan Sin aims to be bombastic and powerful in its journey from close, glassy, choral dissonances and clusters to expansive and powerful chords and chorales. Violin(s) and bass(es) are used to expand the overall range of the choir and support the choristers in the extremities of their registers.

Scottish Gaelic text set from the piece "The Best is Yet to Come" from Metal Gear Solid, which has been featured in such songs as "Shadow Moses" by Bring Me The Horizon. It loosely translates to:

The Earth,

It is a tormented heart.

It is but music at night.

Once an eternal love,

It is a misfortune.

It is a misfortune.

Go now and be...

Go now and be the Earth.

This score, as well as an arrangement for string orchestra are available for purchase.

[$10 | (SATB Choir/Violin/Bass) SKU#: 017A, (String Orchestra) SKU# 017B]

Originally composed for the Trinitas Chamber Ensemble (Michelle Cheramy, Nathan Cook, and Phil Roberts), this piece uses both tonal and atonal influence to reside in an unsettled pitch space. And Then There Were Three... draws inspiration from common patterns investors look for on candlestick graphs, known as three inside/outside up/down in the form of groupings of three and changes in contour/direction. After a jumpstart  into investing, this piece channels the emotions encountered in investigating finance: constantly looking through patterns and graphs, searching for keys and indicators, and feelings of triumph or defeat felt when yielding profit or loss. Moving between the fragile, glassy sonorities and heavy, syncopated sections that Kerr loves, using various extended/contemporary techniques, this piece embodies Kerr's compositional style.

This score is available for purchase.

[$10 | SKU#: 016]

A brief exploration of a single motif and its various arrangements utilizing common musical transformations such as retrograde, inversion, diminution, augmentation, transposition, interpolation, and nesting/overlapping.

This score is available for purchase.

[$5 | SKU#: 015]

Drawing on the sororities of gaming consoles from the late 90s and early 2000s encountering systemic errors or glitches, Game Over utilizes guided improvisation for two players to evoke the disconnect of something going fatally wrong. The four movements are as follows: I. Starting Screen, for electronics; II. Insert Disk, for written percussion; III. RSOD, for electronics and structured improvisation for percussion; and IV. Fearful Harmony, a continuation of the third movement. It was composed in collaboration with electronic musician Brandon Billard.

This score and accompanying audio files are available for purchase.

[$10 | SKU#: 014]

Trace uses graphic notation to convey the clutter that builds up in one's life or on one's desk over time, and how that can contribute to stress. It features the traced and placed outlines of 6 objects found on my desk (an optional performance method is to do the same with 6 objects from one's workspace). It can be interpreted in a multitude of ways, including: assigning different dimensional axis and shading/boldness to different musical properties like pitch, pace, velocity, and more; or playing sounds reminiscent of the different objects or what they mean to the performer, in varying orders/layers. Even the title can be played.

Individual interpretations and personal tracings/recreations are encouraged. The score is available for free upon request. Feel free to submit performances to be featured on David Kerr's YouTube channel as well as the Media Stream of this website.

[$0 | SKU#: 013]

Drawing inspiration from patterns of dissonance, tension and release, rhythm/polyrhythm, and syncopation commonly found in metal music as well as low ostinatos, pedal tones, and the concept of “riffs”, Trying focuses on the two most notable ways that music affects the individual: corporeal and incorporeal participatory attractiveness. This is done through the use of groove, strong downbeats, and breakdown-like figures/patterns to incite physical motion as well as the use of slower, more dramatic sections to elicit an emotional reaction. Originally composed for, and workshopped with, the National Arts Centre Orchestra.

The title and graphic draw inspiration from personal difficulties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Represented by cyclical or swelling gestures in addition to repeated patterns or sections, this piece is all about trying and failing. During the 2020-2021 year nothing went according to plan — no matter the scale. Everything was constantly being cancelled or rescheduled due to shifting provincial restrictions. On top of that, the new online educational paradigm was not well suited for many students and plenty of curriculums were poorly adapted. This led to a very hectic intrapersonal environment, represented by faster and more dissonant sections. With increased stress, decreased social support networks, and plenty of confusion, not a whole lot was accomplished, despite many plans being made. But that’s okay. Things will continue to go awry in the future, but in that same future there is time to try again. It is important to stop and take a deep breath, represented by pauses and silence, and continue to try until it finally works out — no matter how many tries it takes.

The score is available for purchase.

[$10 | SKU#: 012]

The Ghosts of Niushan is inspired by Niushan Island and Robert Eggers' "The Lighthouse" and originally composed as a birthday present to friend Noah Spencer and to be debuted by PhoeNX Ensemble members Patty Chan and Sanya Eng.

Niushan island is located in south-eastern China and was deemed a hazard to navigation due to the dangerous, rocky shoals that surround it. In 1873, a fifty-four foot tall, black, stone lighthouse was built on the island. The island was ravaged by war and weather, falling victim to several typhoons as well as having been a strategic position and point of contention between the Chinese and Japanese in WWII.

"The Lighthouse" is a 2019 black and white film. The plot summary on IMDB is as follows: "As the wavering cry of the foghorn fills the air, the taciturn former lumberjack, Ephraim Winslow, and the grizzled lighthouse keeper, Thomas Wake, set foot in a secluded and perpetually grey islet off the coast of late-19th-century New England. For the following four weeks of back-breaking work and unfavourable conditions, the tight-lipped men will have no one else for company except for each other, forced to endure irritating idiosyncrasies, bottled-up resentment, and burgeoning hatred. Then, amid bad omens, a furious and unending squall maroons the pale beacon's keepers in the already inhospitable volcanic rock, paving the way for a prolonged period of feral hunger; excruciating agony; manic isolation, and horrible booze-addled visions. Now, the eerie stranglehold of insanity tightens. Is there an escape from the wall-less prison of the mind?"

This small collection of character pieces is meant to tell a story of a great storm that hits the island which, in tandem with the glaring lighthouse (represented by metallic sounds on the harp/piano and rotary swelling gestures on the bowed instrument), wakes the dead. The spirits (represented by aeolian rustling and slides/pitch bends using metal implements) and skeletons (represented by the raking of a dowel) rise and commune with each other — mourning the life they once had. They soon grow weary and are called back to their graves by the beating of a lone kettle drum.

The first movement, Storm, gradually introduces whistling winds and the pitter-patter of rainfall which grow into a thunderous typhoon. Once the storm passes, the lighthouse comes to focus from out of the fog and the skeletons begin to stir.

The second movement, Lighthouse, features the last droplets of water dripping from the lighthouse as its creaks and whirs emerge from the dying winds. This flows into the melodic theme of the piece in addition to more lively rustling as all of this light and commotion has awoken the dead on and around the island. They emerge and marvel at the lighthouse that was built to save future travelers, or that they died for.

In the third movement, Spirits, the spirits and skeletons explore the island and socialize, trading stories of their past lives. Their activities slow as they begin to grow weary.

The fourth movement, Mourning, has the dead called back to their resting places by the sounding of a lone kettle drum. As they return, they take one last look at the lighthouse and their commotion slowly fades beneath the winds. All that remains is the lighthouse, still standing tall.

This score, as well as various arrangements for piano and common orchestral string instruments are available for purchase.

[$10 | (Erhu/Harp) SKU#: 011A, (Violin/Piano) SKU# 011B, (Viola/Piano) SKU# 011C, (Cello/Piano) SKU# 011D, (Bass/Piano) SKU# 011E]

In the 1980s hit memory game "Simon" (named after "Simon says"), randomly generated patterns between four different colours (and corresponding pitches, typically of a minor triad) of gradually increasing size are demonstrated by the game-machine and the player has to try and repeat them. This piece seeks to emulate said patterns. They start displaced between the two voices and, as they grow, they gradually overlap each other and themselves. The pitch pattern in this piece was generated through the rolling of a 4-sided die.

This score is available for purchase.

[$10 | SKU#: 010]

Obligatory Sledding is named for the consistent building of momentum throughout the piece, as if one were sliding down a hill. Drawing influence from metal music, there are many examples of polyrhythm, economy picking, chordal extensions, experimental tuning, and selective dissonances. This guitar duet gives both players  time to shine in soloistic sections and is sure to be a fretting-hand workout.

This score is available for purchase.

[$5 | SKU#: 009]

An uptempo fusion tune experimenting with different harmonies and tensions, as well as extended and abbreviated measures.

This lead sheet is available for purchase.

[$5 | SKU#: 008]

A waltz that playfully compares and contrasts feeling powerless, confused, and/or frustrated with a common technical limitation of the drawing program Microsoft Paint.

This lead sheet is available for purchase.

[$5 | SKU#: 007]

A melancholy ballad about the tedium of finding oneself in a rut — growing tired of what day-to-day life has to offer.

This lead sheet is available for purchase.

[$5 | SKU#: 006]

This is a piece for spoken voice and electronics. It is a musical setting of Kerr's poem "Deaf" created using only samples of a garage door opening, seagulls, a car crash, unflattering music written about him, and sounds generated in audacity.

The poem goes as follows:

Born into quiet, only to succumb to the silence.

New dynamics found frightening foster retreat beyond sound.

To run into the arms of familiar, thought foreign.

The faint frost of distant breaths not fading fast enough —

The only sonority to stick.

Lips sewn shut whose quivers bear no arrows,

violently recalling the plight of each plosive persistently reverberating off every last wall of social cathedral —

Taunting 'till no sound remained.

The voice, ignorant of the air it moves.

Reclamation, the nyquist of theft.

Deaf

Deaf

Deaf

I forgive you

For words quoted but never spoken;

For a heart thrown fully, blindly, recklessly, into all-or-nothing love;

For words spoken, not meant to be heard;

For sibilant reverberance stinging sharply, resonating within my heart.

I forgive you

For taking back every last love that left your lips,

For forgetting the taste of mine,

For meaning what you said,

For not meaning what you said.

I forgive you

For pessimistically reflecting like the last remaining puddle after a rainfall,

Barely indicative of the downpour that came before;

For remembering only what I wish to forget

And forgetting all that I cling on to —

Moments made worthy of their weight as a memory;

For rushing to reduce me to a short sob-story in ten movements

Rather than a memory;

For being a memory.

But most of all, I'm sorry.

Sorry that your naiveté kept you from the warmth of the sun,

much less "The Guy You Once Knew,"

That you gave "This Love" "Everything You've Got"

and now "You Can't Have Me."

I pity you

For surviving the wreck of the "Crashing Car" you wanted to be so badly,

For believing you're a martyr just because you "Don't Wanna Think" that your experiences aren't special,

For confusing "Reclamation" with "Fighting The Truth,"

For having known me.

I envy you

For having an outlet for your feelings —

Ineffectually discarding each emotion as it loses its novelty;

For being the composer of your own past,

to record and present each pound of crumpled alloy as if it were your own;

For carelessly casting each reverb trail to the congregation,

Carried by the smooth walls of conformity;

For having known yourself.

I forgive you

For not knowing the past is something you share;

For not knowing that love is something you share;

For just as much as I am sorry for;

For everything.

We are selfish,

We are ignorant,

We are deaf,

We are forgiven.

Beops is based on the German early electronic music practice of Elektronische Musik, which was composing using tape recordings of electronically produced tones and sounds (cutting, taping, changing speed to change pitch).

It was generated entirely through an approximation of the Ruby coding language in the music-based IDE Sonic Pi — utilizing tone generators and randomization tools within certain parameters.

The source code used is available upon request.

Drawing on feelings of isolation/loneliness, fragility, and despair brought on by a previous academic suspension, Really Suspended utilizes suspended chords and a 2nd/4th/9th/11th focused tonality to convey an incomplete feeling. Higher registers and softer dynamics are partnered to demonstrate fragility, while grander sections represent moments of frustration as one mentally spirals.

This score is available for purchase.

[$10 | SKU#: 005]

A premier exploration of woodwind writing, this suite is an atonal composition exploring the development of different themes and gestures over three movements: Finner Fib, Wumbify, and Cancer Emoji ;). Playful in nature, this piece contrasts the mentalities of art for art's sake and creating something as a cog in a capitalist machine using motifs from the Fibonacci sequence, diminution and augmentation, and planing.

This score is available for purchase.

[$10 | SKU#: 004]

A frantic exploration of added rhythms and irregular time that breeds high musical tension, novel devices to let the performers get that tension out of their systems are afforded.

This score is available for purchase.

[$5 | SKU#: 003]

A brief and energetic piano character piece developed with a focus on (and named for) economy of means that transforms a limited number of melodic cells over shifting rhythmic emphasis.

This score is available for purchase.

[$5 | SKU#: 003]

Written and premiered by members (current and past) of MUN's percussion ensemble known as "The Scruncheons" in Kerr's 4th year composition recital, this suite is comprised of the movements Drum Circle Triangle Hexagon, So no head?, and Sweeping ch-ch-chimneys is a chimney sweep must!, which were each written in different previous years. It outlines the difficulty in getting one's work performed and putting oneself out there, especially with such roadblocks as funding, time, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

This score is available for purchase.

[$10 | SKU#: 002]

Kerr's first composition at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Written for "The Scruncheons" percussion ensemble, Poly is Like 5, Right? is an exploration of themes and gestures that garnered attention and fostered excitement at that time in a gridwork of evolving groupings of 5.

This score is available for purchase.

[$10 | SKU#: 001]