The 21 Day Composition Challenge - October 2018

First day of the 21 days of VGM challenge!

Playing around with some strings on this one.

After The Battle (strings)

Quick piece for a player getting a major upgrade. I had a cutesy retro platformer feel in mind for this.

Day 2 - Power Up

Day 3 - Beach Time

Some ideas for a piece in the style of snail's house. Not much time today, so a bit of an abrupt end!

Day 4 - Space Hopping

A harpsichord ditty for the "If it Ain’t Baroque" prompt

Day 5 - Baroque

Trying out 7/8 today. Blended some odd stuff together, started out with orchestral strings, then added some drums and synths. I quite like the combination! Keen to develop this idea further, so I can get a better handle on hybrid instrumentation

Day 6 - Coalescence

Lots of experimentation today, mashing up sounds I recorded from walking on a stony beach earlier today. Still needs a fair bit of work.

It's loosely based on the artwork attached - credit to @abetana, http://abetena.com/ for the art.

The idea is that you're in an old city, with some strange sounds in the distance. A bit of exploring later, you're suddenly facing this enormous robotic creature.

Day 7 - Goliath

Working with the "Uni-pitch" today, I made a little disco track with chippy little one-pitched lead.

I found this one pretty tough! You'll notice that I cheated a little, with the pitch rolloff on parts of the melody. The last section makes use of octaves as well.

I enjoyed this one! Wish I'd had a little more time to play with the uni-pitch idea.

Day 8 - Mono

A sketch of a sombre tune for a samurai warrior. Not much time today, so mostly just trying to get a decent collection of sounds.

Day 9 - Lone Samurai

Day 10 - Recollection

A quick piano sketch of a slightly comical chase sequence using the whole tone scale.

I might have a go at orchestrating this one if I get time.

Day 11 - Chase

Very little time today, tried getting some chiptune together. Just about got an outline for an intro in place. I quite like the sound of it so I'll probably come back to this and develop it some more!

Day 12 - Chippy Intro

Short on time again, so some quick ambient guitar sounds

Day 13 - Underground Lake

Sketching with a piano and cello. A tune for returning home when you've been gone for a while.

Day 14 - Going Home

Experimenting with vocals run through guitar rig. 
Reverb for days!

I had a cathedral like location in mind for this.

Day 15 - The Choir

Four dramatic ideas roughly stitched together. Not sure where I was going with this but it was a fun process!

Day 16 - Confrontation

Quick sketch of brass for a swing piece. Needs percussion, and a fair bit of work on the arrangement

Day 17 - Casino

Doing the "The Name Game" prompt - I had DADAE to use as a motif, and built around that

Day 18 - Above The Forest

Something a bit more dramatic. I'm trying to work on my arrangement for more dramatic pieces. Still feels like I'm missing something... think I'll come back to this and experiment with adding different textures and playing with the mix some more

Day 19 - Invasion

Doing "The John Williams" prompt today. This was fun!

Shuttle Launch (orchestral)

Composer and sound designer based in London. I also make small ( and generally audio focused) games.

The 21 Day Composition Challenge - October 2018

Dave Allen