Humankind cannot produce a paradise until it can agree on what constitutes a perfect social order. More relevantly, a rambling piece which doesn't want to maintain tempo, instrumentation, or even themes. Perhaps there's artistry in that.

This came out quite different from what I set out to do. And much more squashed, since I butchered volume on the instruments, I think. But there's a few things I rather like in.

Just a little thing that I made outta a short midi I made a while back, wanted to explore it as a possibility for a project. Used GBA soundfonts so I wouldn't kill myself on instrumentation. So it sounds pretty... rough.

Some light and sylvan strings and such. And I love using pan flute. Heavily influenced by Ori music.

Been experimenting with some Game Boy Advance soundfonts, so this was done with instruments (?) from Sonic Advance 3, F-0 GP, and Mega Man Zero. Not the worst, I'd say.

"With the last of the grant funds, we've corrected the calculation error which resulted in Attempt 748's catastrophic backfire. 749 will be the final iteration, be it a success or otherwise. To inspire some confidence in the team, and to protect my pride should it fail, I will use myself as the subject of this, my 749th experiment in wormhole production."

Starting by recycling something I made last year. Turned into something of a build-up for an adolescent bird's attempt to master the key function of its species, beginning gentle and light as it works its way into a bold burst of effort.

Really riding the deadlines lately. Really simple arrangement, some eastern instruments and such.

Droning pipes, long chords, whistles and strings. For airplanes? Sure.

Also called the Ancient Dragon. The original source is a solemn, forceful choir peice which paused me a good few minutes when I first encountered it (largely because very few areas in Dark Souls have bgm.) So... I turned it into an ambient, spacy thing.

But it's in!

Scrapped something together, a little variation, a little folky.

Basically just changed instrumentation and added a rhythm section with the guitar.

Arrangement of Ikana Castle, From Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

I've had a midi of this lying around for a while, waiting for a chance to give this piece a spin. The castle in game has long since fallen to undeath, its kingdom deteriorated and still. I wanted to capture some militant grandeur while mainly clinging to the grim, haunting nightmare of the undead halls. The piece is named for the undead king's gift to Link after being bested by him in battle: "I grant to you a soldier who has no heart. One who will not falter in the darkness."

Sort of a rock orchestra thing. Had some fun with expanding/embellishing some parts, this thing was fun. I'm rusty on the mixing, but at least I'm not late this time.

Just a hastily tossed together thing, I really think this source would sound awesome as a proper Mario Kart styled thing, but... I couldn't pull it off. Still a really fun source to work with.

Been a long time, I'm outta practice. I just took the last two sections of the song and worked with them, had a bit of fun.

Bonus entry, etc, etc.

Not proud of this piece of work, but I like to always make a bonus for my source picks. Maybe someday I'll redeem it.

Didn't have much time to devote to this, so went with space sounds. Which seems to work well with Ape Escape music.

Something of a more dramatic arrangement, loosely inspired by the music of Sekiro and Monster Hunter Rise. Trying to flow between dark and bright, much like how the game has the overarching theme of light being restored. Had some fun with instrument effects, wish I had better control over the shakuhachi vst.

Simple, repetitive bass drone, some drums, and an odd assortment of strings and synths for melody and such. I imagine driving at night would be more enthralling if you could see the galaxy in the sky.

Droning pipes, vaguely highland inspired instrumentation, and nearly halved the tempo. Reckon I made it too long or neglected to keep it fresh, but I like trying out this kinda stuff.

All woodwinds tonight, just because NickC said so last week. Ceder flute, pan flute, Irish whistle, and bagpipes.

Space ambience stuff. Shoutout to C.Weeks spurring me to commit to not using stringed instruments. Maybe bagpipe next week.

Little orchestra, little rockin'. Tried to focus on tweaking the guitar's performance more and having some tempo variation to keep it fresh. This source has a strong, classy heroic theme to it, real fun to work with.

I wanted to try something dramatic tonight. And Wordbuilding. Which kinda ruins it, but at least it isn't just aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh the whole way through, right?

I must have done something horribly wrong in mixing, couldn't get the volume right. Still. An ensemble of Japanese instruments, gongs, taiko drums, and some choirs. I was largely inspired by the harp part of the source, it gave me the impression of the hero's departure from safety and familiarity to answer the call of destiny in the dark of night. Which, incidentally, is how the game started.

The title is more complicated than the piece. Just some guitar, mandolin, and violin being slow and tired.

Tried something completely different: a piano solo, which forced me to try making an expressive and believable performance. Makes me wish I spent the time to learn to play the piece. More effort than usual on dynamics, individual note velocity, and some mild tempo work. My working image was a pianist practicing in the cathedral, becoming a little more reckless and forceful over the course of the piece.

Soup is sick, so we get strings and piano. The latter being recorded on a digital piano and then horribly picked at until it seemed passable. Then some strings slapped on for atmosphere. You know how it goes.

Tried more ambient and dark tonight. The little orchestral freak-out rise thing didn't turn out nearly as well as I wanted, but I had fun with pads and creepy sounds.

PRC goers: Cool, a rockin' source!

Souperion:

This remix is made for Flame Mammoth's stage after the player has beat the ice world boss, which (for whatever reason) causes the molten magma factory to become frozen over. I tried to liven it up with a more faithful section, but it just didn't come out right. So enjoy the source slowed down about 60 bpm with sad strings, piano, and crotales.

These lines, boundaries of color, they run and soar across the land, never touching, never nearing.

Or, more accurately, my original idea died halfway through so I just pulled out the string ensembles. :P

Just Mega Man X soundfont tonight, I've been working with it a lot recently and wanted to see how I did under pressure. You be the judge. Just some upbeat, rockin' 16 bit for FIRE.

A little strings work to decorate the pads. Elongated things a bit. Probably should have gone for a few more sfx work to emphasize the atmosphere.

Journeys come to their end, but the path ever sprawls out before us. This starts out cheery and becomes more somber, yet hopeful.

Lost too much time trying to find synth leads and the sort, so it feel underdeveloped. Oh well.

Barubary is an impressive SNES era villian, a demon with honor whom lets the main character choose to fight him with his allies or alone. This is named partially as a pun, and to signify that I would so totally try to solo this boss.

More importantly. I used Mega Man X soundfonts, which I've been experimenting with for a while. Elongated most ideas in the song, expounded on the bass and screaming synths, variated the melody with plenty of longer notes in there, and some pitch bending fun. The source feels more complete now, methinks.

Astral bodies and seascape horizon? It's strings and pads night. Something of an epic cosmic piece to play when realizing one's true potential.

I have something of a soft spot for SHMUP style music. There's lots of room for interpretation, catchy repetition, and arps.

I mixed 5 instruments from 5 different countries; Washburn guitar, Shakuhachi, Yanqpin, Uilleann pipes, and a middle-eastern string ensemble. I like to think it tells a story of the wanderers gathering and traveling as one in the mutually strange land of life's journey.

Tried featuring a woodwinds ensemble with curious results. But the important thing is that I didn't give up and bust out the strings.

Trying synth stuff still. Not as fancy this week, but a heap of high-speed electronic noise for for all the cars crossing the bridge. At night.

Panning, cut off automations, and arps, oh my! A mess of synthy goodness for man's continual creation and experimentation. And hey, I made a song without stringed instruments! Those things are purely synthetic!

Other projects denied me time to give this its due, but here's a plucky little thing for banjo, guitar, ukelele(?) and a ceder flute. Maybe I'll finish it someday.

Mixed both sources individually and squelched them into one MP3. Bit hefty of a listen, but I wanted to tackle 'em both.

-"Soaring Circuitry": Synth-lovin' take on Chrome Gadget. I'm as good at classifying this stuff as I am making it, but had fun playing with some different synths than usual.

-"Claimed by the Deep": Sector 4 dominated by strings, pads, and a pan flute. I sum it up as thus: It was not the darkness below which claimed her, nor the depth nor the terrors, but the splendor.

My initial opinion is that there are more wheels than doors, but since there's no practical way to test this, nor reason, here's a little symph-rock thing with a surprising amount of restraint. Wanted to capture wheels with the arpeggios and fast bass, then doors with slower long notes.

Fairly faithful to the source, got some piano, bass guitars, synthy pop guitar thing, bit of brass. I indulged a brief bout of space pads and choirs for a slower section. The drums are pretty much the midi's, but it sounded good enough.

This turned out kinda weird. Was trying for some big ol' chords with those strings I always use, then slipped in a couple synths I sorta like to capture the electricity of light bulbs, and, well, we got something. Was more looking at the stark lighting of the 2nd image than the water, shoulda added more wet reverb to justify it. And definitely should have tried making the chords all in one track first to better hear it. Eh.

Or perhaps more accurately called "Strings and pipes for nautical theme." Tried a bunch of ideas which sort of turned into a whole tale of the journey across the sea. Uncertainty, adventure, tribulation, sorrow, loss, and perhaps more. Let me tell you of the voyage.

This short piece hardly does this source justice. A brief, spacy arrangement of the first bit of the song with big ol' pads and just enough melody. But at least it's something!

Some kinda highland dancin' piece or something. It has fiddle, pipes, pan flute, and guitar, and sounds vaguely rustic. And there's a sample of a bow being fired, so you know it's on theme.

Sometimes you produce something that only has enough anchor to keep you wandering around it. More importantly, I started playing with slide notes on the synths, and that's probably the best part of this thing.

Having trouble setting up an alt thasauce account to submit this, so I'll just dump it here. A burgeoning (bludgeoning?) mix of Blood Drain using a Mega Man X soundfont. Cheers.

https://soundcloud.com/user-704340806-894102688/bloodrush-highway-blood-drain?si=66716feb3175466da72e27e3206c06c4&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Song uploaded by Bundeslang. Artist is Souperion.

Straight Ahead slowed down with an emphasis on it's tense atmosphere. I'll admit to getting worn out on this one, so it's mixing and balancing is a bit poor. Then again, I say that on all my pieces.

Recycled some parts from an OHC last year involving wolves and the moon. Felt like using Secret of Mana sound fonts, and clearly I need more practice in this kind of stuff. Best time to do it, eh?

Remix of Zero Wing's 2nd Level, "New Day For Me." You know, that game that created the AYB craze back in the early 2000s.

More importantly. A mostly synth take on the highly energetic source. Was going to try a symph rock thing, but that died and left the strings. I probably made some glaring mixing errors, but had some fun.

Gentle and contemplative. The primary thought is: I'm far too high for my own good.

Been too long since I've been here. Started wanting to make something wet, specifically wet reverb, but it got a bit muddy, so I made it drier (more dry?) for a finale.

The theme of Gwyn, Lord of Cinder, as a sort of bardcore thing relying heavily on a washburn guitar and harp. Aimed to capture some mystique and longing of a doomed, dead age. And there's a bit of wordbuilding vocals I tried:

Plin plin plon, plin plin pling plin plon

Plin plin plon, now the world is gone, fade to ash

Plin plin plon, now the world is gone.

Kind of reminiscent of having vocalists make sounds to imitate an instrument and a direct reference to how the Dark Souls fandom refers to the sad first 3 notes of the song as "plin plin plon," as the original was a piano solo.

Bit of a hack job, but I used exclusively chinese instruments for a slower afternoon walk version of Dragon Road. Impersonator syndrome is strongest when I try using exotic instruments in what I imagine to be their intended styles, but heck with it. I had some fun.

We have here a rare glimpse of the humble beginning of a chicken club sandwich.

Just some rustic stuff in 6/4, experimenting with a melody which doesn't begin on beat one. Had some fun.

Mostly Forest Labyrinth with a touch of some tweaked Rosenkranz that Wassup T helped me make. This song has long been one of my favorites, especially thanks to old OCR remixes by TheWingless (Rosenthorn and Scarlet Halls of Night.)

Pan Flute takes the lead in a sort of forest fantasy arrangement with my go-to strings, taiko and frame drums, and choirs. I actually had to play the piano solo and edit it to be in time with the rest of the piece. I only wish I had time to do Rosenkranz in its entirety.

Repeated attempts flopping drove me to desperation and simple synths. The product reminded me of SHMUP tracks, so I threw in some SFX from The Guardian Legend, one of my old favorite SHMUPs. I like at least a few things I did.

Weep not for the days bygone, but be glad that they were.

Had a tune in mind for a couple days, largely inspired by Kirby's Epic Yarn's "Flower Fields," and this theme made me nostalgic enough to plug in my midi keyboard and bludgeon ya'll with my single-take piano skills*. Enjoy hearing me stumble through my attempt at an expressive piece.

Actually looked up dyson spheres for this one. The notion of encompassing a titanic stellar object to harness it's power is mind boggling. More relevantly, I recycled some notions from an older OHC which pictured hands holding cosmic stuff. Slowed down to about half speed, the stellar force is caged and sullen.

Some kind of orchestral thing for my favorite parts of the song. Tried minimalistic percussion, it's a bit flat methinks, but had fun with some parts.

Barely 2:20, and I even forgot to do drums. Heh. A little orch-rock piece about working together and reaching higher as one. Or something like that.

Been a while since my last poorly mixed/balanced symphonic metal(?) thing. Pretty sure I goofed with the bass along the way, but I liked some bits from the melody. And the quintessential piano.

Attempted something more atmospheric than usual with far more automations and effects than I tend to use. I wanted to touch on the unearthly mood this song accompanies, an ancient ruin haunted by a force from the underworld, drawing local townsfolk into it under a possessive curse. Used Tibetan singing bowls to create a ceremony or ritual feeling along with the koto and shakuhachi. And I had to add a gamelan to match the original sound. The chanting is a favor from my sister, who speaks Japanese and was willing to recite a haiku by the ancient Japanese poet Bashu:

Getting sick on the journey,

my dream runs about

the desolate field.

Hence the name.

Mutilated the style with my attempt to add my "symphonic metal" template to a few synth sounds. Kind of a throwaway with the mixing and balancing, but there's a few touches I like in there.

My attempt at pure atmosphere, ambience, and mood. At least for a little while.

Only kinda know where this all came from. Was trying something along the lines of Lost in Lost Vegas again, then decided to use the same loops for about 2 minutes. And there's a sine whistle, because Metroid Dread comes out tomorrow.

Some times, I need to do rich orchestral strings. And some metal tuned perc and other things. The dynamics aren't what I'd like 'em to be, but the ideas are there.

My take on this is inspired by the main character of the game, Marche. Transported into a fantastic world where he is suddenly capable and important, he has the strength to see it for the fiction it is and desire to return home, even if it means dragging his friends and family back there too. But the lessons they all brought back with them made the real world so much more than the fantasy.

Very disappointed in how this one came out, and it's length, but I'll probably recycle the good parts in a future project.

Something totally out of my repertoire. Acoustics, more guitars than usual. No big orchestra, Asian strings, or metal. Dunno how to classify the thing, but I think it has some good bits.

Experimental tonight. Thought I'd try to do something like Two Steps From Hell's Lost in Los Vegas (Miracles album.) It uh... yeah.

Just don't vote for this one.

Life conspired against me this session, but putting even a short thing in is a victory.

Through moor and fen they followed the light, ever fleeting, ever beyond reach.

A tired trainer reclines on the park bench while poke buddies frolic. Ah, youth.

Ended up with a sort of rhythm between somewhat lively peace and energetic activity. And an entirely different instrument palette which I won't even try to place in a genre. Thought it was worth the experiment.

Wassup Thunder told me to use Uilleann Pipes in tonight's compo. I so jammed 'em in with stuff from my space ambience template. Mayhap it works?

What better way to celebrate us getting the midi fixed than to slow it down half speed? Used spacious, reverberating pads for some ambience, then goofed around with some electronics for a little middle section before ending on the same note it started on.

These walls and windows we loved, the paint was your favorite color. An abode, a dream, a cherished hope, now left to quietly rot and repose.

Some more quiet stuff this week, more strings and woodwinds.

(to the chorus) Why did you lock me away and throw away the key?

The guy thinks he can write lyrics. Heh. More symphonic rock or whatever it is. I had this melody idea a while go, finally got to use it.

Far beneath the soaring splendor, weary eyes gaze up in futile longing. Used some highland pipes for a nice drone. Long notes, quiet drums. Inspired by the song Moorland Sunrise.

Pension, wonder, and just a little thrill with the day's last light on an open sea. And I used a triangle for pretty much the first time.

Inspired by symphonic metal by bands like Within Temptation and Delain (but European sopranos are too expensive). I was trying some actual EQ work to blend the busy soundscape and let it boom out a bit better (you be the judge.)

Takes it's name from the U.S.A. army motto (This we'll defend). Straightforward, trying to be epic and courageous without breaking sound thresholds.

An amateur's string quartet telling a somber, sometimes freakish tale of mortality and the inevitable.

Employed some new vsts, including some "Tibetan singing bowls", new chimes, and glassy things. Something lonely and desolate for the departed who linger about a passageway to their realm, or something like that.

Ye olde bonus entry to not be voted on.

Nothing really fancy, but I was feeling something organic with subtle variations and some countermelodies. Featuring my plucked friends the koto and yangqin.

Wanted to hear how it sounded more sick and twisted, but ran out of ideas halfway through. The first part is pretty sloppy, but I guess the rest of it is alright.

It sounds latin, so it's cool, right? Naw. More "symphonic metal" stuff from Soup. Salvaged some musical ideas from an entry a few months ago.

Kinda went at a country/bluegrass ballad of sorts, perhaps a bit melancholy. Kinda like the artistic imagery of a clean, shiny lock over a rusty door, but I didn't feel like making lyrics. And definitely not singing.

Been listening to old Within Temptation stuff today. Why not start the song with a chorus?

Pads and reverb and stuff. Probably needs more bass. Kind of inspired by space ambiance, my current genre of interest.

Experimenting with my attempt at a sine-wave lead inspired by the Metroid Prime "whistle." So, most of my mastering time was spent making pitch bends.

More mishaps of mixing with rock/metal elements! Someday, I'll get those drums right.

Kinda sweet and snobby, went for a vaguely classical feel, since chocolate was rich folk's food long ago. And some warm strings, cuz I like strings.

Remix of a piece I did for that one eclipse kinda picture. More tinkering with metal elements to compliment(?) my favored orchestral and synth stuffs.

Don't vote for the bonus, etc.

I guess this is Lip's theme while on Yoshi's island. Buncha African drums, asian/middle east strings and woodwinds, and some plucky bits.

Some weird product of bluegrass, jig, maybe some country, and washboard. Fiddle, pan flute, and guitar strumming among others. For titular reference, Puffoon is the name of the planet Bena Rikashi is on.

Soup thinks he can guitars and such. Pfft. Maybe I'll salvage the melody for a future project.

More space ambiance experimentation. Still lacking in the stylistic effects and whatnot. And the title could refer to cosmic grandeur or just having snacks, I guess.

It's uh...got some Asian instruments in it.

Been wanting to try my hand at space ambiance music. So... I did. Mellow choirs, pads, reverb, delay, and a string ensemble heavily phaserd. Best viewed with a panning panorama of space objects.

Just something mellow for hiding from the cold. Its got triplets in it, too.

A bit of orchestral stuff, beginning at the fringes of the great empire and traveling along storied highways to the very heart of the sunless domain before quietly departing into subterranean depths.

Kinda turned into a jig-inspired thing at points. Guess folks will dance for laundry if they want to. Wasted maybe 15 minutes trying to find the sfx for this one.

At first, unresponsive. Then erratic, then completely haywire before ceasing all together.

Synths, drumkit, guitar, distorted stuff, and some strings. Guess it works.

Some mess of choirs, organs, and such in a vaguely hymnal/worshipful fashion. Huh.

For the paths made quiet by our friend COVID.

Trying some more rustic instrumentation and even that panning stuff I keep hearing about. Made me think of a buncha blokes gathered around the fire, kinda jamming.

Accidently created something in 5/4 time. Cool. Went for a mix of deep and high sounds to represent the blackness enrobed by light.

[Don't you vote for the bonus, now.] Made with Kirby Superstar and Kirby 64 soundfonts, horribly misused. Aw well, I had some fun with it.

Just Soup being soup. A pleasant little ditty for returning.

A multi-pronged title. For one thing, the arrangement and mechanics feel a bit sloppy. More relevant, the song went rather different than I expected. Set out to make an apprehensive, spacious piece to capture being lost in underground ruins full of monsters. The piece kept devolving, perhaps reminiscent of the darker elements of Undertale. Oh well, I had some fun with it.

This odd thing is what happens when I try to use mainly synth stuff.

Went with something a bit more campfire oriented, something to go with folks swapping stories while the fire dies down into a warm smolder. Much shorter a piece than I like, but sometimes it just tells you when it's done.

Wanted to try something more ominous and dire. Maybe it's because I've been playing Metroid Prime. The dynamics aren't where I want em, but hey.

For the cunning predators who hunt and worship by night. Or something poetic like that. Alt title: Yup, another song with violins.

Never thought I'd compose for dinosaurs. Hauled out some more exotic samples for this. Think I might have made the rhythm wonky in a few spots. Made in vision of the long-dead reptiles lumbering about the prehistoric world in it's fantasy-world-class scenery.

First song I've ever used multiple apostrophes in the title of! When I first heard this delightful song, my mind wandered to a sea shanty of sorts so I busted out the hurdy-gurdy samples, laid out some droning bass, and this happened. It's a bit slower than the source, but I tried to keep the melody and such faithful so I could focus on better mixing. Maybe it worked. At any rate, hopefully some of it sounds good.

Don't vote for the bonus. Started out wanting to make a sea-shanty of sorts, but got distracted, partway through. A little piece about leaving familiar things behind, nice as they are, to find new horizons, although you'll always miss what couldn't come with.

More inspired by resource #1. A little journey into the majestic cosmos to find things strange yet familiar before returning with just a little bit of what was found. Kinda wish I had time to flesh out the 2nd half more :P

A little piece for a fine sunrise on frozen landscapes.

Don't vote for the bonus. The sad thing is, this is me trying to stay conservative in my arrangement XD

Light and sound ringing off of icy walls with much tuned percussion. And I almost made it without violins.

Goofing around with my newish euro brass samples and those violins I just can't divorce myself from. Got a minute in before I realized the tempo was drastically slower than the originalsc I had some fun. Hope you do listening to it.

Something of a sister song to my piece from last week's contest, stole a number of melodies from it. Just a plucky little ditty for some cold flowers.

First time composing with a time limit. The thing is sloppy as spaghetti, but I kinda like the last couple minutes of it. Hope it doesn't hurt your ears too much.

Metroid Prime 3: Bryyo Cliffs. In a world brought low by petty strife, forever scarred, only the stones remember the lost glory of a once great people. Or something like that.

Kind of chill bumpsy plains, like a smooth stroll downhill.

Super Metroid Title Theme. A tribute to the lone hunter who stands between the galaxy and ruin.

A piece for the anxious dread of a dawning revelation.