“The Artifact and Living” by Michael Andrews...

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“The Artifact and Living” by Michael Andrews (Original Soundtrack from Donnie Darko)

from Wikipedia (emphasis, mine):

Andrews considers himself primarily a guitar player, but Kelly told him he didn’t want any guitar in the movie. So, Andrews taught himself to play piano. It’s part of the reason that the score is, as Andrews describes, so simple. “The film was pretty low budget so my portion of the money was pretty thin. I couldn’t hire anyone, it was just me. I played everything; piano, mellotron, mini marimba, xylophone, ukulele, organ. I also brought in two female vocalists Sam Shelton and Tori Haberman.” “In a way,” he says, “YOUR FAULTS BECOME YOUR TRADEMARK.”

As someone with little-to-no knowledge of music theory, who’s taken a only a handful of drum lessons, and someone who writes music on a variety of instruments without any formal training on them, the excerpt above not only rings incredibly true, but has been and will continue to be an inspiration.

Andrews’ compositions for this film score have been almost as influential in my writing as any rock band I’ve ever listened to or admired, consciously or subconsciously.

Highly recommended listening.