Usually I do a whole album in a month for Novembeat but this year I was dealing with some annoying physical and mental health issues so I took it easy this time around and just made some small video game soundtracks. But what happens, happens, and some music is better than no music.
Also I’m not pretending to be a whole band this time. Sorry for breaking the illusion. It’s just me.
This is the background music from Snack Stacker.
A preparation song from the game Pawmune
#CD #GameJams #Novembeat #OST #SeattleIndiesSlowJam #Classical #Folk #Jazz #Instrumental ]]>An attempt at making a bunch of background music for video games that may or may not exist.
These are available as loopable game assets
Novembeat is an annual song-a-day challenge where folks from around the world are encouraged to make something musical every day in November.
For 2021’s Novembeat, Sockpuppet decided to stick to a theme: songs that capture the feeling of various coffee grinders.
For much of the month, the band was displaced from their recording studio due to a plumbing emergency, so they were only able to produce around an hour of music over 17 tracks, instead of the original planned two-hour epic coffee journey. It’s probably for the best, since there’s only so many feelings that coffee grinders can evoke.
Many of the tracks from this were also used in the game Hallowed Grounds, which was developed alongside the recording of this album.
My fifth annual song-a-day expression for Novembeat.
You don’t go places that you used to You don’t enjoy the stories that you’re used to You can’t stand anyone you’re introduced to Sitting home alone is what you’ve been reduced to
Something happened long ago inside you Now it’s back, your life won’t be the same All of the signposts that used to guide you Got pulled up by something, don’t know when it came
But change is coming It’s funny and it’s faint Yes change is coming With noses thumbing Oh, change it is coming The running refrain So humming and strange Our upcoming change
Your friends they act like they don’t recognize you And all these parts they say now that comprise you They preferred the skin that once disguised you So hard to shake the thought, that they all now despise you
But change is coming It’s funny and it’s faint Yes, change is coming With noses thumbing, oh Change it is coming The running refrain So humming and strange Our upcoming change
The you that you are now’s the only you you are You can’t go back to who you once were before Got no choice, you gotta be true to who you are Genie won’t go back inside that bottle any more
Yes change, change is coming It’s funny and still faint More change, change is coming So I’m succumbing to What you’re becoming like an Oncoming train It’s humming and strange This upcoming change
We just don’t know If it’s gonna be all right We cannot know When it’ll be all right We gotta know That it’ll be alright I just don’t know When it’ll be all right
When it’ll be all right
We’re gonna know When it’ll be all right We’re gonna show When everything’s alright Don’t know where to go When everything’s alright But we’re gonna know That it’ll be alright
It’ll be all right
Music courtesy of the itty bitty ditty committee.
Don’t let the door hit you on your way out We all know you are going to just scream and shout Take it back to Twitter with your remaining clout, don’t let the door hit you on your way out
At least half of the nation is so sick of you You are so much worse than the “just a flu” Nobody cares what you’re going to do, don’t let the door hit you on your way out
The past four years have been a tragedy And we have a long way to go we can all see To get a better world for you and me Well maybe not for you
Don’t let the door hit you on your way out We’re better off without you without a doubt Twitter says they’ll ban you so just quietly pout, and let the door hit you on your way out
As is tradition I tried to record one short song every day in November. I didn’t get every day this year and some of the tracks really sucked but a lot of them were a lot higher-effort than usual for Novembeat so I’m satisfied enough I guess.
binaural microphone experiment
I don’t know what I’m saying But I’ll say it to you
I don’t know what I’m saying But I’ll say it to you
I don’t know what I’m saying But I’ll say it to you
I don’t know what I’m saying But I’ll say it to you
I don’t know what I’m saying But I’ll say it to you
I don’t know what I’m saying But I’ll say it to you
I don’t know what I’m saying But I’ll say it to you
I don’t know what I’m saying But I’ll say it to you
The Song Fight! version of Lumetri
try me you want to fall to sleep try me i’m better than counting sheep
try me you’ll finally rest at last try me don’t think about the past
try me it’s time to tuck you in try me you’ll be asleep again
what it says on the tin
smooshing keys until something interesting comes out
I needed a new outgoing voicemail message
[dial tone] [DTMF tones spelling out NOVEMBEAT#]
I can’t take your call right now Or I’m not picking up anyhow I will try to get back to you If you leave a message at the beep
I can’t take your call right now Or I’m not picking up anyhow I will try to get back to you If you leave a message at the beep
I can’t take your call right now Or I’m not picking up anyhow I will try to get back to you If you leave a message at the beep But I’d rather text
A song I wrote while waiting for the bus
it’s a bit long innit
an ode to what keeps me functional
i don’t know what i’m doing
this is problematic and appropriative
more garage than garage
like something from a vidya game
It all goes downhill from here
I don’t know what I’m doing But I’ll do it to you
images of childhood
A song done to celebrate the birthday of my friend Heather “moboid” Kelley.
Specific works referenced:
What’s going on there is nothing to do Everything I have makes me think of you What’s on the TV please give me a clue Maybe I’ll try to find something that’s new So I try to play a game But they’re all just all the same
Throw me some blocks flying through outer space Wearing a helmet that’s strapped to my face Something artistic, something with grace Something experimental that takes place In a world I call my own Makes me feel at home
I think that I’ve played that game I think that I’ve played that game
I think that I’ve played that game I think that I’ve played that game
Experiment with all the feelings inside Help me to find something i can provide Give me ideas, try not to hide from the Animals concrete the organs implied (I wanna pet the rabbit) (please help me pet the rabbit)
Look around corners that no-one could see Making a difference quite expressively Craving rapport as we drift to the sea What are we saying, let’s talk about me, ‘cause I’m Valid and I’m proud Quiet scream out loud
I think that I’ve played that game I think that I’ve played that game
I think that I’ve played that game I think that I’ve played that game
Falling down through space Make friends with a place Keeping a straight face Save the human race
I think that I’ve played that game I think that I’ve played that game
I think that I’ve played that game I think that I’ve played that game
I think that I’ll play that game I think that I’ll play that game
I think that I’ll make a game I think that I’ll make a game
Sort of a fitting conclusion to the month I guess
another video game soundtrack in my head
#Novembeat #SongFight #Instrumental #Lyrical ]]>in 2018 i tried to do my usual thing but i got busy and only made it halfway
A sort of sequel to Pawn Shop Bunny.
i don’t know what your problem is but i think you might be right no i don’t know what your problem is but i think you might be right
October has Inktober, where artists are challenged to draw one ink drawing every day throughout the month.
November, therefore, has Novembeat, making one short song every day.
This is the second such album I have done, and I feel that it is some of the best music I’ve ever made. It also follows the emotional arc of the month, due to some rather unexpected setbacks.
Think of it as a musical diary spanning one month in a not so great year.
I really liked Stranger Things, or at least its soundtrack.
It was cold out and my leg was hurting and I had a cat sleeping on my lap, so I decided to have some fun with a sonic soundscape that captured the feelings of winter cuddles.
The dark days were getting to me.
The depression was getting to me.
On Black Friday weekend I upgraded to KOMPLETE 11 and decided to play around with some of its presets.
This came out.
I started composing a tango song but it just wasn’t coming out very well. So I scrapped it and worked on a second take for the day.
The pain from the previous four days turned out to be due to a clot in my leg that was growing rapidly, and part of it broke off and went to my lungs, giving me a pulmonary embolism. Because of the clot I had to cease taking my HRT and start taking blood thinners. I was told I may not be able to get back on HRT ever again.
I was happy to still be alive but not looking forward to the impending hormonal crisis.
But I am still around, and defiantly making music.
My leg was hurting even more and my other cat wanted to get in on the action, so she wrote a song with me.
At this point I was just completely falling apart, due to basically going through menopause and feeling worthless, useless, and futureless.
I had been without hormones for a week and a half and my emotions were all over the place. Everything would set me off and I would cry and I was not in a good spot. So I wrote this thing to capture my feelings.
Without HRT I was losing track of time and my mental state, and every day was running into each other. I wanted to be kind to myself after my near-death experience but I also wanted to be productive. And everything felt the same as everything else.
I attempted to self-medicate my ongoing depression with some THC.
I may have used a little too much.
Hello, the Internet Hello, the Internet Hello, the Internet Hello, the Internet Hello, the Internet Hello, the Internet (Internet) Hello, the Internet (Internet) Hello, the INternet (INternet) Hello, the Internet (Internet) Hello, the Internet (Internet?) Hello, the Internet (Internet!) Hello, the Internet (Internet…) Hello
I had trouble sleeping due to the increasing pain, and this music wafted into my consciousness.
I was spending way, way too much time reading Twitter instead of doing anything productive. The senseless repetitive noise of everything around me was more than I could take.
This is a song about a pawn shop bunny
going around as if it’s made of money
trying to buy some milk and honey
but it doesn’t quite care.
Just a little introduction to the album.
I woke up barely able to breathe, and went to the hospital.
It was an embolism, from a DVT in my leg that threw off a clot.
I composed this track from a hospital bed, using GarageBand on my phone.
A little scrap I had lying around, which was begging for a fuller orchestration.
It seems like every album of mine these days needs at least one semi-algorithmically-generated weird-time-signature experimentation.
And Werner just wouldn’t shut the heck up while I made it so I decided to record him meowing.
Oh and there’s scissors for percussion.
The first song I wrote on this day was not very good, but then I was noodling around and came up with this better song. It made me think of a wood elf in a forest grove or something.
The lack of hormones was really starting to get to me. Constantly tired, constantly struggling to wake up in the morning, but this music project kept me going.
Shout out to the Cupcake Royale in Capitol Hill, Seattle, WA, and the restroom cooling fan that was making this really cool grinding noise.
(It has since been fixed.)
This day didn’t go so well, so I was looking forward to a better one.
feeling like drowning, no escape
Met up with some friends at a coffee shop, took up way too much table space while I composed this attempt at making something Lemon Jelly-esque.
I was feeling aimless from my recent health issues, and felt like nothing was going anywhere and nothing was worth doing anymore.
I decided to make some disorganized fun.
My leg was still hurting. Really, really bad. And I was starting to have a pain in my shoulder as well. The pain was getting to be unbearable. So I wrote this track that captured the agony I was in.
Just a little tune that popped into my head that morning.
Ga ga dabba gagabagada baga Da ba baga dadabagada bada Ba ba bada bagagabada baga Ya ba bada yabadabada baga Ba ba baga dababadaba bada Bum ba bada bagagabada bada
Bum bum bum, ba Bum bum bum, ba Bum bum bum, ba Bum bum bum, ba Dum ba bum, ba Dum ba bum, ba Dum bum bum, ba Dum bum bum
I took a little trip down to my platonic cuddle-buddy’s home and I composed this while lying on his lap. It was nice.
Back in the early days of Song Fight! there was an occasional contributor who entered under the name Mouth Reliant. I felt like doing a tribute to his style for some reason.
I didn’t have the energy to clean my home but I made a piano-and-cello tune to help me clean myself, at least.
Pachelbel’s Canon is the bane of every cellist’s existence.
Inspired by the name of the previous track, I decided to go on a spelling spree.
The notes of the musical scale can spell words.
Not very many, though.
dead cabbage dead cabbage dead-ead, dea bae d dead (dead) cabbage dead-ead, ea bae d dead cabbage dead cabbage dead
#CD #Novembeat #Soundtrack #Instrumental #Lyrical ]]>Throughout November 2016 I recorded one short song every day. Because why not.
I went downtown to buy me a stapler So I could put together a couple pieces of paper Office Depot was shutting down They had all the best deals in town For the low, low price of 27 bucks I got a bunch of stuff, who cares if it sucks Anyway I completed my task, it Is great they even let me keep the shopping basket
He actually said “proggy as fuck” but I didn’t want this song to get marked explicit on the streaming services.