I made this little tune to essentially function as a prelude to "Stage Fight!", a battle theme I posted a few months ago. Because this song needed to be a bit less bombastic than the other battle theme, I decided to make this one mostly chiptune, with only a piano and some faint strings in the background. Compositionally, the accompaniment is based on "Stage Fight!" while the melody is based on "From The Stars". It's only around a minute long, so I made this version of it that loops once.

Stress Rehearsal

With this song I tried to focus on writing a main melody that was simple - in the range of about an octave - yet emotionally resonant. I was particularly inspired by music from EarthBound, which often have very strong pop song-esque hooks. All of the instruments in this song are from the EarthBound soundfont, which I’ve discovered has some pretty nice lo-fi synths in it. The sawtooth synth sounds especially nice with an echo effect added to it.

Sunrise, Together

I had originally intended for this to be a fairly short and atmospheric piece, but as usual I couldn’t resist writing a super catchy hook, so the second half of it is a lot more of a banger. It still has a pretty chill vibe all throughout, though. The main idea that inspired this piece was the concept of a ferry ride down into the shadows of the underworld. There’s this tinge of melancholy and trepidation hanging over it, which I think gives it a really interesting mood...

Last Ferry

The first thing I wrote for this song was the piano line at the beginning, which ended up being very pivotal in establishing the entire tone of the piece. The meter constantly switches between 6/8 and 3/4, giving it a bit of extra bounce and intrigue.

The chord progression is also pretty interesting, since this song begins in the brighter Dorian mode, which has a sharp 6th, but then the last four bars of the main melody prominently feature a natural 6th from the darker minor scale, which even hits the flat 9 of a G#7 chord, and I think the emotional effect is just hauntingly beautiful. Elsewhere in the song there’s a few pretty cool key changes as well.

Into the Subterrane

Happy Halloween! Here’s a song I wrote in November of last year and then procrastinated on long enough for it to become seasonally relevant again. It’s a fun spooky-forest-romp sort of thing. The main motif established in the first section ended up being very useful, since it formed the basis of most of the song’s melodies, including one part at the climax where it’s transformed in a way I think is very, very cool. Enjoy!

Which Way Through Eerie Glade?

I’m a few days late for Christmas, but it’s still the holiday season, so here’s a festive town theme I wrote. When I was arranging it I decided to throw in a wind quintet, which was kind of tricky to write for because there’s a lot of independent lines, and at several points I had to rewrite certain parts because the notes were creating some jarring dissonances, but the end result is very warm and lively.

Little Village of Eventide

This is a theme I wrote for a character who is, in short, a cool and collected scientist doing research into a supernatural mystery. This song is pretty interesting rhythmically, especially in terms of the little bleepy-bloopy synths in the background. I've recently been using this free synthesizer VST called Synth1, since I was looking for something fairly simple that would pair well with the soundfonts I use. It took me a while, but I think I'm getting a better hang of its various settings, and it's something I'd like to play around with more in the future.

Pursuit of the Unknown

The project I've been working on recently has necessitated me to make songs that are more evocative of urban environments, which I'm enjoying a lot. This is a theme I wrote for a subway system. I decided to incorporate the low-fi crowd noises from the Mother 3 soundfont, which I had fun with; I think the way they bookend the piece really enhances its atmosphere and feeling of taking the listener on a journey.

Restless Nexus

This song is primarily inspired by "Sammer's Kingdom" from Super Paper Mario in terms of its vibes and sonic palette. There's a lot of cool key changes in it as well.

With This Brush, I'll Paint A Legend

This song is probably a bit long for where it's intended to play in the project it's written for, but the way it evolves as the piece goes on is really captivating and emotional, and my absolute favorite parts of it are in the more energetic second half. Compositionally, a lot of the motifs here are based on an older song I wrote, "Bird of a Feather". I decided to use the Mother 3 soundfont for the instruments in this piece, as I thought they have a sort of warm and fuzzy tone that fits the atmosphere I was going for here well.

Home Before Dawn

This is a battle theme I wrote for the first boss fight in the RPG I've been working on, against a famous jazz-singing cat who reigns over a nocturnal city of (adorable) vermin using psychic powers which manifest whenever she's asleep. It's got a bouncy, jazzy swing vibe that blends a strong, sing-song melody with an interesting chromatic chord progression. I'm very happy with how this one turned out!

Image source: Raphaël Vavasseur, modified

Stress Rehearsal

actualized animal

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