Songtember 2020

This page contains all my entries to the Songtember 3 Jam.
The Sheet Music are also included, for those up to the task to perform such beasts.
And if you want to listen to my songs, check out my SoundCloud!

          Day 1: Lone Wolf [Forgotten]
Theme: The piano 'voices' represent the people around me. Slowly, through time, we all forget the people we once hanged out with. And in the end, we descent into desperation.
New: Never slowed down or sped up a song. Never changed tempo before. Used really intertwined melodies.
Feedback: Stick more to one 'theme'.
Todo: Try out more instruments, and more complicated chords.

          Day 2: NoNoTes [Minimalist]
Theme: Using as little notes as possible, I created a slow reverb-rich song.
New: Never added Reverb before.
Todo: I couldn't use more instruments for the theme, so that is still on the list.

          Day 3: Cat Park [Funny]
Theme: Using a YouTube song called 'Dog Park' (found in a 'Funny Song' compilation) for inspiration on the instruments and composition.
New: Never used many instruments besides piano before.
Todo: Learn to identify instruments better, and try out a bunch more compositions with different instruments. Try out more of an intense theme, like a battle theme.

          Day 4: Carpaccio [Separate]
Theme: Using a lot of separated chords (or: broken chords / arpeggio's). Worked out quite nicely!
New: I tried a new time signature (3/4), a new instrument (guitar) and a lot of arpeggio's. There's no chord to be found!

          Day 5: Drunken Sailor [Storm]
Theme: Many ideas were had today, all worthless... This has the instruments from a version of 'the Song of Storms' from Zelda, but it sounds to me more like a failed version of a sailor's song (which I now really want to make), hence the name.
New: A new time signature (6/4), new instruments, sticking to a theme, and just practicing some old techniques.

          Day 6: Live Band [Chat]
Theme: As the name implies, my thoughts on 'chat' went out to date locations, like a restaurant. I immediately got excited to create a jazzy live band feeling. It worked out... decently.
New: For the first time I tried to add a drumset, and I used a lot of triplets (or: "irrational rhythms"). I have also never used 'interdominants' before (used for 'tonicization' - a quick back and forth to another key and back).

          Day 7: Odd [Happy ?? ]
Theme: I didn't quite follow the theme, as I didn't want to make a happy song. Instead, I intended to made a song with odd time signatures, yet ended up with a song which just goes off beat a bit. Still fun!
New: For the first time I added large off beat parts.

          Day 8: Cosmos [Alien]
Theme: Cosmic eerie Horror theme. Well... it is eerie at least (it sucks).
New: Dissonance... a lot of dissonance.

          Day 9: Trigger [Melancholic]
It seems I forgot to publish. Oopsie.
Theme: I TRIED to make it sad, but it didn't quite work out. Oh, and warning for loud sounds.
Feedback: Way too loud at the end...

          Day 10: Knife Triplet (ShitSheet) [To please]
Theme: The title didn't spark any creativity, but the reverse title did - something to displease. So I made the wordt sheet music ever! Written in C# (7 sharps), with sneaky key transitions, and with double sharps and even triple sharps (!!), this impossible to figure out song cannot be fully appreciated by only listening to it.
New: A new key (C#), which took me enough time already to get my head around.

          Day 14: Puzzle Theme
Theme: I ignored the theme and went with my own: Puzzles! Inspired by the music of the Professor Layton games, I made a theme of my own.
New: The use of surprising amounts of dissonance, also found in the puzzle themes. Major seconds (or major ninths) to be exact.
Feedback: The simplicity and repetitiveness is perfect, but some parts are unnecessarily complicated and difficult to listen to.

          Day 15: Modulation Madness
Theme: Again, I didn't follow this theme, but instead chose the theme: Modulation! I had attempted simple modulations before, but this piece is full of them! (not really, only two, but subtle!). Do you notice the change from C to Ab and from C to Bb?
New: Subtle modulations sprinkled throughout the chord progression.

          Day 16: Confusement
Theme: I chose the theme: Earie. An attempt at creating a song that could fit in a cave without end, or in a boss dungeon.
New: The time signature changes about 4 times in the song to give a sense of unease. Can you figure out how the time signatures work, purely by listening?

         Day 25: Revelation
Theme: 'Happy'. I wanted to create a song that is not too happy, but not too sad either. Major key, but slow and lots of consonants made it work. I could have added a nice violin, but nah.

          Day 27: ClockTower
Theme: 'Clock'. The repetition of the clock sounds made me want to make a song about it! Repetition is perfect for music, especially in the bass. I changed the tempo trying to fit in more notes, and got an awesome sound! One of my favorites for sure!

          Day 30: Final Hours [End]
This is one of my best yet. It is a wild solo piano piece with a time signature change as learned in day 27, a lot of arpeggio's as practiced in Day 4, a build-up as tried in Day 1 and Day 9, and is overal just a wild exciting piece! I love it. It is a beautiful end to the Jam!
Feedback: My family listened to the piece beforehand, and even though they classified it as wild and unexpected, it never felt 'wrong'. What do you think?

That wraps up my first ever Jam. Have a nice day :)

-Nick Schuitemaker