Tempo of this Slope || By Soulfully (☄)
｢ I don't have any... because my "favorite thing" is just this moment, right now.」
As a tribute for Sakamichi no Apollon, I tried my hand at making this jazzy and playful piano solo with a bit of cello and music box sounds. It’s a nonsensical and boisterous tune to illustrate the essence of Kaoru, Ritsuko, and Sentarou’s friendship altogether. Because through all the conflicts and mishaps in this story, you learn that when words aren’t quite enough, music will say the rest.
This would be one of those songs where the idea of it initially sounded very good, then it turned out very different when executed. My confidence took a sharp drop with this song, but regardless of that there’s still some interesting, worthwhile things I learned.
Kyoto Serenade » Journal #26 ♫
Notes: I tried building this simple melody to a great sweeping, sentimental atmosphere. It was based off a haiku I read a few weeks ago about a man waiting for a loved one. It’s also my attempt at creating a fictional romanticized scene from 17th century Japan: imagine somewhere in the humdrums of Kyoto, a haiku poet rests quietly below wind-blown cherry blossom trees, carefully painting several words of poetry into parchment paper. But ink spills, his brush nearly slips out of grip; he’s caught by surprise.
This tune illustrates the stirring feeling of joy and anticipation of meeting someone after a long wait; a moment where poetry doesn’t matter quite as much the person in front of you.
Fall or Fly || Soulfully
all i’ve ever needed
was someone to believe in
kindle faith with light
as darkness burns inside
all i’ve ever gotten
was your gift of goodbye
with silence leading night
will I fall or fly?
(full lyrics) (download)
I spent nearly all of this month working on “Fall and Fly”. Making this exerted more mental energy than anything else. Whether the end result sounds awful or awesome to you, I’m glad I tried new stuff, and in no way does it take away what I learned. (OTL I don’t like my voice all that much) In summary:
half written melodies
stars without their wings
below withered blossom trees
that’s where you will find mebut where were you
in expanse of solitude
where were you
in deep depths of blue
The biggest breakthrough in this song is definitely this fluttering “sparkly marble”, or “cascading waterfall of coins” atmosphere — which sounds really pleasing to the ear, I think. I wanted to give a very enchanting, magical vibe, and experimented around with that effect. When I put “marble” as one of the instruments I used — I’m really happy since I just mean a customized sound I created. :O The other milestone was using vocoder, copy + pasting the melody, and giving this warped industrial drum beat in the background.
Interesting trivia about the introduction: I’ve been keeping that melody as an idea since November last year, I had over five versions of that part. Then I realized it fit with a melody I thought of yesterday. Really happy moment, it’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. As a last note, I was reminded of some magical scenes in Harry Potter, so it’s also a HP tribute. As usual, the art credit is by Nibi, a wonderful work and a favorite artist of mine.
Today’s song is a Yiruma-inspired piano ballad. It happens to be my sister’s birthday today so I spent this afternoon eating a nice lunch because of that. C: Er, well, I think I’ll just tack a “happy birthday” note on this song and give it to her. This song’s also based off this post from Enoqi. (PS: There are some minor volume mistakes in the file so it’ll be periodically replaced.)
Anyway — I’ve been looking to make more sentimental songs. Not sad songs, but songs that spark feeling. Last Flower will explain itself so I won’t say anything about that. What I learned was in short:
↳ Awakening || Soulfully
wake up, wake up, it’s spring ☼
sounds: voice, violin + guitar, piano, synths, tribal drums (download) (more notes)
A generally difficult-to-make song finally comes to an end. n_n This song has a lot of backstory — it was a lyrical song until I decided to scrap words away last minute. I figured the instruments “speaked” for itself. (Trivia: I was recording my voice on top of a laundry machine LOL, it’s as lame as it sounds) I also made it for a good friend whose relentlessness reminds me of the energy within the song. Although they struggle a lot, their tenacity to continue really impresses me. (I think, in the end, I really love to see people make progress. That sounds like a creepy hobby but.. yep.)
↳ Cloudwalker’s Waltz || Soulfully
you’re a walker of daydreams ✩
sounds: music box, strings, piano, ambient synths, electric guitar, and various misc. samples
(download) (more notes)
And here’s where I shove all my blah blahs and notes like what I learned, and why I made it. The song is about how I’ve been feeling lately as well and mostly as a tribute to a character called Pino from my favorite show, Ergo Proxy. She’s this very cheerful, adorable character who I absolutely adore, so much that I made a song for her LOL… uh, yeah, feels. I also named this “cloudwalker “as a symbolism for daydreams. 15+ sounds were used, and about 8 hours in production time.
Starry Heights || Journal #23
a sort of playful, cosmological tune.
(25) sounds: electric guitar (samples), synths (five), violin, music box, drums (bass drum, etcera)
notes: this is a very heavy synth song made for the heck of it. I learned that electric guitar & violins together make a deadly good combination. While acoustic guitar is great for a refreshing & natural vibe, electric guitars are able to sound a lot more emotive (thanks to distortion), and become the driving force of a song. I also learned how to make a very big, epic drumroll transition through unconventional methods.
Stay Classy | Soulfully
it’s better to say see you later.
(30+) Sounds: saxophone, plucked bass, music box, finger snaps, electronic synths, drums, glitchy sounds, and several others.
Notes: I made a “jazz” song for the first time. This tune doesn’t follow any jazz structure or anything. Instead, I sort of went with the flow and experimented — it crosses between swing jazz, electronica, etcera. Hope that you are able to ‘see’ a sort of film noir scene with this tune. c:
Arguably the most advanced song I’ve made so far, so I would be absolutely and undoubtedly stoked and grateful to whoever takes a listen or two! :o My greatest satisfaction is when a listener enjoys a song that I make, and they’re all free so you’ve got nothing to lose. ^u^ (Edit: song updated.) Here’s what I’ve learned in the process:
Under the cut are some more specifics:
