For the magazine Bed Bug, this variation: a canon on the letters BEDBAG.

[Read more →]

Bed Bug: A Magazine of the Arts is now available from Black Scat Books! Here’s the description from its editor, Norman Conquest: As the world comes to an end, and the bed bug infestation spreads from France throughout Europe, it is time for a journal devoted to infestation, invasion, and chaos. Featuring works by Alphonse […]

[Read more →]

I’ll perform some historical musical oddities, drawn from my upcoming book Music from Elsewhere, at the symposium at Lily Dale, NY, July 27-29. The conference is organized by Shannon Taggart, and includes presentations on art, the paranormal, and the history of Spiritualism by Phil Ford, J. F. Martel, Amy Hale, Emily Hanger, Charles and Penelope […]

[Read more →]

Some fairly lush piano music, based on the major sixth chord (or minor seventh chord) in various inversions. According to the composer and music historian Alec Wilder, the major sixth chord has a “compelling power,” so here’s a string of them.

[Read more →]

An Afternoon in the Arboretum is now available on Bandcamp! This album contains solely instrumental music, mostly for keyboard, from as early as 1976 to as late as 2022. All selections were composed and performed by Doug Skinner, and recorded and mixed by Brian Dewan: An Afternoon in the Arboretum (2020) Radio Valentine (1976) Ulterior […]

[Read more →]

A piano piece, all in the middle octave of the keyboard: G3 to G4, extended briefly to F#3 to G#4 every ninth measure.

[Read more →]

In this song from “Doug and Mike’s Adult Entertainment,” I gave the recipe for our signature cocktail, the Gibsonetto, while Michael Smith followed the directions. It was a Gibson made with Amaretto instead of gin; in the puppet show that followed, Doug and Mike explained to their horrified guests that “it’s really not that sweet.”

[Read more →]

What’s Christmas without frankincense? I wrote this for Meg Reichardt’s annual Holiday Recording Party, and recorded it with Brian Dewan at the controls. It marks my debut on the bass recorder. Here’s the first page, and you can listen to it here.

[Read more →]

Some music for psaltery and harpsichord: a diatonic melody with chromatic accompaniment.

[Read more →]

A lively piece all in the treble register, for sopranino recorder, piano, and desk bell. “Yet” is a word with many meanings; among other things, it’s the antonym of “not yet.”

[Read more →]