He began taking piano lessons at a young age, and was always surrounded by instruments at both his mother's and father's house, who had separated shortly after his birth.
Carpenter's first major musical contributions were to Vampires (1998) and Ghosts of Mars (2001), where he is credited as playing keyboards.
Differing from his composing work and his collaborations with his father, Carpenter's solo work falls more in the genres of progressive rock and jazz fusion, with Carpenter listing such artists as Genesis, ELP, Vince DiCola, and T-Square as major influences.
[10] He would follow up with 2019's Force of Nature and 2020's Control, both featuring many of the same guest musicians as well as PJ D'Atri, John Konesky, and Junior Braguinha.
[11] That same year, Carpenter worked with English composer Mark Day on Shadow Spirits Vol 1.