Jam #1

Theme: Sunrise
Name: Sunrise at Repique Beach
Explanation: I wanted to make a song with a beach theme, which I found fitting the theme. As I usually do, I name my songs to an uncommon instrument I've used, this time being a Repique tom of sorts. I don't care about the name of the instrument, just the sound. As I am still new to my DAW 'Logic Pro', I learned quite some new things during the making of this song:

• Region Automation
• Using the Humanize tool to make the Marimba play at semi-random intervals
• Making a guitar strum
• Finding the right instruments within Logic Pro for a beach-vibe
• Using a `bIII` chord. I used both `I-IV-bVII-V` as well as `IV-bVII-bIII-I`, which I have not yet tried. Makes for a cool melodic half-step progression.

Jam #2

Theme: Moments before disaster
Name: Final Boss, on your Final Life...
Explanation: I envisioned a song where you were on your final life when beating a final boss. I think that fits the theme well (and I wanted to make a boss theme!). I explicitly used a sound similar to the 'low health' sound that plays during Pokemon battles, to give a feeling of being on your last health. I tried some new things again, namely:

• Region Volume Automation
• Switching time signatures (from 12/8 to 10/8 and back)
• Using a weird chord consisting of two diminished chords stacked on top of each other (e.g. B-D-F-Ab), while adding a seventh note for extra sharpness (e.g. A#). I noticed that such chords work well for intro's, so I made my intro this way as well!
• Trying out a sort of '-IV+III' progression (e.g. Cm-GM-Bbm-FM-.....). It has some cool eerie properties.
• Trying out some cool divisions you can do in 12/8. Since it is technically both 3/4 and 4/4 in one, you can make all kinds of cool stuff!

Jam #3

Theme: Cave
Name: 7 Perils Underground
Explanation: I had a small theme in 7/8 time signature that I wanted to try for a while now. This was the perfect theme to allow me to finish that theme! I am done with trying wild time signatures though, as they just too often fail to work... Anyway, I tried these things:

• Making a custom theremin-like instrument using sine waves, a bit of vibrato, and some glide.
• Trying to make a weird time signature such as 7/8 work. I don't think I succeeded well though..
• Trying out a weird i-VI-vi-V progression for some soft movement.
• Using a choir saying both 'Ee' as well as 'Oh'. Cool!
• Adding a cool delay effect to my Kalimba.

Jam #4

Theme: Crystal Castle
Name: Fragile Prayers
Explanation: Whenever I think of 'castle', I usually think more of a church-like song than a trumpet-and-marching-band song. I just really wanted to include a church organ! Did you know that a church organ cannot have note-velocities since every note can only sound in one loudness? Never really considered that. Anyway, here are some things I learned:

• I found a cool church organ sound and learned about its features.
• I found some cool vocal sounds (which sounded quite meh, until I added the reverb!), which can articulate both 'Aa', 'Ee', 'Oo', and 'Uu'.

Jam #10

Theme: Thunderstorm
Name: Watching the Rainfall
Explanation: I know that there are a lot of 'lo-fi piano + rain' songs out there, so I wanted to give it a try myself. I have been learning a ton about seventh chords, different progressions, etc, so I wanted to stuff as much as I could in here. To make it not a 'rain' song but a 'thunder' song, I added a few strong chords and thunder sound effects in there as well. Here are some things I learned:

• I have experienced with getting a lo-fi soft piano sound instead of the harsh sounds that Logic Pro comes with. A little low-pass and high-pass filter combined with a bit of reverb does wonders!
• This is my first time adding seventh chords! Major sevenths, dominant sevenths, and even a V7-b9 in there! Yes, FLAT NINE! Past Nick would be proud :)
• Oh, and the rain sounds are a synth, not a sample. Cool huh!

Jam #14

Theme: Shop theme
Name: Jazzy Buyin'-Beats
Explanation: Gotta love that theme! I just happened to have made a compilation of shop themes for myself. Jazzy seventh chords, vibraphone and piano playing quick notes, a bossa-nova-like back-beat... these are the kind of vibes I got from other shop themes. Here are some things I improved on:

• I learned how to make that classic "jazzy" vibe, including what kind of chords and instruments are typically used.
• I used seventh and flat-nine chords again, and I better understand when you would use these. And I used some applied dominants (which I want to use more in my works), namely the V/ii and V/iii.
• I learned how to use the sheet music feature of Logic Pro! It took some getting used to, but I managed to make my sheet look pretty neat, just like back in the old Musescore days!