Miika Warsell aka Aural Night was born in 1975 in Helsinki, Finland. Early on he had keen interest and talent playing the piano, which he began at the age of six. Soon after he composed his first piece and more have come out sporadically ever since. When he was 8 he dressed up as Mozart at a school party and when other kids had posters of KISS and WASP on their bedroom walls, Miika diligently collected pictures of composers - Beethoven, Bach, Sibelius etc. much to the amusement of his 'normal' friends. He was so keen on composers that he even learned their birth and death years by heart. His favourite composer, the most talented music maker ever, is J.S. Bach. Miika has studied music theory, music history (at the Open Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland), orchestration, composition (Classical, under Professor Harri Wessman of Sibelius Academy), composition (MIDI) for several years.
Miika has written numerous piano pieces, a full-length suite for a string orchestra, music for an amateur theatre play "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" , scored Carlo Collodi's fairy tale "Pinocchio" and composed other miscellaneous music.
In 2006 he released two albums. The first one, Voyage, is an instrumental, soundtrack-like album, portraying a ship's travels across the dangerous seas of life - with ups and downs. The album was composed, recorded, mixed, and mastered in Espoo, Finland in 2006 by the artist himself. It is now being distributed worldwide and produced by the U.S. distributor Peaceworkmusic Net. The second album Avian Dreams is a solo piano album with peaceful melodies. www.aviandreams.com is the home site for Aural Night's piano music whilst www.auralnight.com more soundtrack-like, keyboard-based music.
In 2007 and 2008 he wrote music for two little Finnish edutainment- / online games, Ota maidosta mallia (Drink milk!) and Kauho kouluruokaguruksi! (Eat Thy School Lunch!), which were done by Solinet.fi. Also in 2008 he wrote music for a student short film "Jäätynyt Tähti" (Frozen Star). In 2010 he completed a score for a short film "Running from Me" (directed by Ian Sanders). In fall 2010 Miika also began training for a Music For The Media - diploma course in media composing, organized by London School of Creative Studies.
In 2010 customers started to become interested in his music. This was evident by a theatrical music licensing gig from a Long Story Short Media from Washingon, D.C. and further, in 2011, he won a $1,000 investment company sound logo contest. The future looks bright.
Discography / Catalogue
2011
Licensing:
Jan 18, 2011. A Tender Kiss on the Cheek was licensed by Jessica Stuart, from Long Story Short Media at Washington, D.C., as a background music for Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation's performance "Florence".
Nov 23, 2011. First prize in a sound logo contest organized by Audiodraft.com The task was to create a 5 second sound logo for a new investment company, GeisterZähmer.
2010
Short film
Running from Me (2010, dir. Ian Sanders)
Short album
-a small gift for my listeners on Jamendo
*I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI
-music for commercials, unpublished except part of VI can be found on the audio show reel
Ypsilon
-an electro-vibe piece, unpublished except a part of which can be heard on the show reel
2009
-instrumental piece in the style of Depeche Mode
-a dance (trance) single which has been around the top 10 techno tracks at GarageBand for a long time
2008
*Frozen Star (Jäätynyt Tähti)
-soundtrack for a short film by Ilja Rautsi
2007
Edutainment / online game: Drink Milk (note: in Finnish)
Edutainment / online game: Eat thy School Lunch (note: in Finnish)
*Digitalia
2006
Albums:
Individual pieces:
*Bass Intro
*Hold That Thought
*Military
Caravan
Snowboards
-can be heard on the show reel
*Baroque Vampire Hunters
*Deep is the Grave II
2003
Baroque-style pieces:
*Alla Hässler I, II
*Gigue I, II
*Invention I
*Fugue I (unvoll.), II, III (unvoll.)
Fugue IV
-the beginning of this fugue can be heard on the audio show reel
*The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
-music for a local amateur theatre play
-unpublished, except "Jubilant" (this was originally the main theme for the play) and "Faun's Hut" which can be found on the piano album "Avian Dreams"
2002
*Organ Fugue (unvollendente)
Piano pieces:
*Fantasia
*Alla Chopin
*Two Pieces for Piano
*Invention II
Misc:
A Wedding March for My Sister
-performed at the chapel in Panarea, Italy in 2002
*The Madness at Maarat
-a piece for alto voice and piano, lyrics also by Aural Night
2001
*Pinocchio - Soundtrack for the fairy tale
-unpublished, except "A Very Kind Fairy" can be found on the piano album "Avian Dreams"
*Tears of Nature - A Piece for Brass Quintet
2000
*Mennemariyan - A Suite for String Orchestra
*Inspiration for Piano
*currently unpublished