It's February, and that beloved Hallmark holiday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallmark_holiday) known as St. Valentine's Day is nigh upon us. So, with that in mind, I'd like you to write a love song.
But wait, there's a catch! You have to use the following snippet of music, possibly modified slightly but still recognizably present, in your song:
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/4331617654_b3a4a533d8.jpg)
For the notation-impaired, here (http://www.box.net/shared/1z4uq2bxal) is a MIDI file. Note that there's an up-beat (or pick-up note, or anacrusis, or whatever you want to call it), so your sequencer may incorrectly try to align the first beat with the beginning of a measure in your song.
And if you're wondering, yes, this tune is intentionally rather awkward. This serves both to stretch your imagination in coming up with harmonies for it, and also to make it easier to recognize in your song.
Rules:
- Your song must be a love song, serenade, etc. Since most entries probably won't have actual singing (although feel free to do so), evoking a general "love" sentiment is fine. I realize this is pretty subjective; therefore, as long as the music doesn't make me want to drive a railroad spike through my skull, you're probably fine.
- Any genre of music is permitted.
- Your song must be at least one minute long.
- The above tune must appear somewhere in your song. It can appear as a melody, a bass line, or anything in between, just so long as it's clear where it appears.
- You are free to use or ignore the chords suggested in the notation above.
- You may alter the tune above somewhat by transposition (changing the key it's in), repetition, ornamentation (adding a few auxiliary notes), alteration of note lengths, and alteration of tempo. However, you must leave all the notes in there, and the tune must be recognizable.
- Yes, this is a love song, but no naughty stuff, please. Think of the kids!
Examples:To fire up your imagination, here are a couple of examples of how this tune could be used in different genres of music.
- Pop music (http://www.box.net/shared/g9fvkzy3n2). I transposed the tune into E major (a more guitar-friendly key), syncopated the rhythm, and added an extra note or two. The tune is played by a cello but is intended to be sung, accompanied by electric guitar, bass guitar, drums and piano. I used the same chords that were notated above, transposed into E major. Please forgive my lackluster song, nonexistent mixing, and unimaginative percussion here; I'm more of a classical composer, and this was generated straight from a music notation program. :)
- Classical music (http://www.box.net/shared/xla8k6gz5u). I changed some note lengths to make the tune fit in 3/4 time, but otherwise it's the same as it appears above. However, the accompaniment is completely different than the suggested chords. The tune is played by an English horn, accompanied by tremolo violins and viola, with harp chords punctuating the beginning of each chord change.
- This would not be too hard to make a techno bass line, but sadly I lack the software needed to produce a techno song.
Have fun!
It's in 2/2? And the point of that being.. Might as well make it 4/4.. lol
i'll try and get an entry in :) should be fun.
There's a subtle difference between 2/2 and 4/4. 4/4 indicates that each of the four beats should be "felt," which lends itself to slower tempos and/or heavier-feeling music. 2/2 indicates that only two beats should be "felt" per measure.
I look forward to your entries!
Arabian Love Nights:
http://spectrum.agsarchives.com/archiv/ArabianLoveNights.mp3
Changed a bit into quarter tones and other values...hope it's ok.
Oh by the way:
From my current point of view beats in music don't even exist...
If we choose to keep the notes the same, can we instead opt to change the timing of each note?
Sure, you can alter the note lengths, no problem.
Le Woltaire:
Great entry, thanks! I could certainly pick out the tune in a couple different places, so your alterations were sufficiently subtle to be acceptable.
Regarding beats, they don't exist in all music (e.g. plainchant, some modern Western classical music). However, in my opinion, they certainly exist in most forms of classical and popular music in most cultures. For example, it would be well nigh impossible to write a waltz, or a pop song, let alone house or club music, without any well-defined beats. And even the most modern classical music usually has beats, they're just arranged in a more complex manner, such as Nancarrow's polymetric music.
I have not a clue of what I'm doing.. But I'll pretend that I do if it makes you happy?
Anyway, I made this thing. Make of it what you will.
(http://tindeck.com/image/ohqx/stats.png) (http://tindeck.com/listen/ohqx)
As always sloppy and incoherent ...
A Love So Dark (http://www.longwayhome.de/down/ALoveSoDark.mp3)
It's meant to be a rather dark love song, played in an old dark castle of something.
Hello hello, I'm new here. I am entering in this contest. What time does this end? Time zone wise? I'm on Pacific Standard in the US.
This site is in England?
I just wanted to make sure I wasn't late. I am working on a song right now and would like to see how far I can take it before I turn it in. :)
Cheers,
Warmer
Good point, I forgot to mention time zones! To cover all the bases, I'll accept entries until 2/15 12:00am GMT-0900, which is 1am Pacific time (I think). To be honest, I won't be likely to log on until around 7pm Eastern on February 15 (midnight 2/16 GMT), so you can probably sneak an entry by me until that point. But the official deadline is 2/15 12:00am GMT-0900.
Have fun, and thanks for all the good entries already! This is going to be a tough one to decide. :)
LoveQ (http://www.alpha72.com/AGS/LoveQ/LoveQLow.mp3)
Nice work Wretched I really like how deftly you placed that melody.
Very natural. :)
Good stuff. Good production as well. :)
Hey Wretched
great work...simple, easy, beautiful like a river
amazing, thank you very much :)
Hello all, here is my entry into the tune contest. I used the main melody to open the song and then it evolves from there coming back to the opening melody before evolving again through a bridge and back into the chorus (I guess you could call it)
shes somewhere im not.mp3 (http://www.fileden.com/files/2010/2/14/2761115/shes%20somewhere%20im%20not.mp3)
Here are the lyrics in condensed form (no repeated lines)
"She's somewhere I'm not
so far from my love
and I would do anything to get near you
and I would do anything for you my love
My heart beats
it skips one
and you are so far away my love"
if anyone has trouble downloading the song please PM me so I can fix it. :)
Thanks to everyone who listened,
Warmer
Here's my entry, hope you like it!
(http://tindeck.com/image/tgsz/stats.png) (http://tindeck.com/listen/tgsz)
Nice arrangement Something13. Good stuff. You really go places and find your way back in a really smooth transitional way. :)
Wow :D
@sth13
this really is Love song from the time of magic and dwarves and fairies. Mystery forrest of all the fairies. I like it
@warmer
a very nice and polished experimental way... the more you listen the better and deeper you get in this piece :o
Sometimes it evokes me Marilyn Mansonesque (this is a funny term) style, especially the voice. Is it yours?
;) ;) ;)
great entries
Most definitely all those sounds were made by myself in my studio. I'd live in there 24/7 if my girlfriend would let me.
The Guitars are all played live.
The vocals are multi tracked 3-5 times per part.
The strings and piano are the midi portion of the song. Good old point and click style.
*shameless plug alert*
If you want to hear more of my stuff check out my myspace.
www.myspace.com/warmer
It's all done solo style. Just me and loads of time.
*edited for content
Wow, thanks all for the fantastic turnout and the great entries! This is going to be very difficult to decide.
I'm re-listening to all the entries now and will post my thoughts on each, along with the winners, shortly.
Thanks all for entering! Here are my thoughts (pros and cons) for each entry.
Le Woltaire:
- + Great to see a non-Western-influenced entry (and yes, I see your entry lacks beats ;) )
- + Wonderful instrumentation -- authentic-sounding and effective contrast
- + One of only two entries with genuine, bona fide singing!
- - Seems somewhat directionless except toward the end
- - Not sure that traditional Arabian music tends to meander modally as much as this entry
Haddas:
- + Driving beat
- + Neat post-processing/effects
- + Effective use of pause before the bass line comes in
- - Awfully short
- - Rather repetitive
Nihilyst:
- + Wonderful, nebulous tonality
- + Nice instrumentation
- + Great mood
- - Could have some more variation
Wretched:
- + Lovely, lyrical music with nice phrasing
- + You didn't shy away from the theme at all, but used it effectively; I liked the constant play between the C and C# at the top of the piano line
- + Good instrumentation
- - Seems like it should be longer
- - Some chord sequences seemed rather forced and/or awkward -- e.g. D major followed by a Bm chord with a C in it, resulting in a slight "lurch" in the lyrical music
Warmer:
- + A real song! You clearly put a lot of work into this.
- + Great mixing and post-production (of course, I'm impressed by anyone's mixing and post-production because I'm pathetic at it)
- + Nice use of the theme -- again, you didn't shy away from it at all, but used it effectively
- + Nice buildup and decay
- - The string sample you are using has too much dynamic "swell" in it
- - Some chords in the introductory string section are awkward or incomplete
- - The ending doesn't seem to fit the rest of the piece (to me)
Something13:
- + Nice instrumentation and samples
- + Satisfying ending
- - Seems rather bare; in particular, the more complex harmony of the middle section cannot be adequately carried by only two instruments playing mostly long notes
- - The required theme seems rather "forced" into the middle section, resulting in some harmonies that do not fit the outer sections
And the winners are:
(http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/8761/bronzeq.png) For his lyrical entry,
Wretched gets the bronze.
(http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/9379/silverwp.png) For his dark entry,
Nihilyst gets the silver.
(http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/4839/goldw.png) For his song,
Warmer gets the gold.
(Please forgive my woeful attempt at pixel art.)
Congratulations, Warmer! Please start a new contest in this forum at your earliest convenience.