Wednesday, September 30, 2015

August Winner and October Announcement!

Man, this song writing thing definitely was put on the back burner.  I always skip September because I run a homebrew beer competition every year, and just wouldnt have the time to write and record a song.  But this year it got so far away from me that I never even announced the winner from August!  Ugh.  Well the homebrew competition is all said and done, so I have some time to dedicate to the Song Writing Game again for the next 11 months.

First, we need to pay homage to the last winning song we had.  It was Danny Imig's Diminish +1.  If you hadn't listened to it, check it out here:

Second, it's time to announce our next song genre and subject.  As always the subject is optional.  For this one, we will be returning to the VERY FIRST genre of the song writing game from December, 2011 (That can't be right, can it?  Holy shit, it is!)...

GENRE: Jug Band Music
(Optional) SUBJECT: Gambling

There you have it, have fun and good luck everyone!

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

August's 5-Note Songs and September Annoucement!

August has come and gone and we have a few songs to show for it.  If you recall, we opted to go with a simple song with a limit of 5 notes, regardless of octave.  When writing mine, I found that the 5 note limit was not very limiting.  A two or three note limit would have been a lot more challenging.

Well, while we are talking, I will make the announcement for September that has slipped through the cracks...

TAKE A BREAK!

That's right, we will be taking September off.  I organize a large homebrew beer competition and it will be taking up a lot of my free time this month, so everyone gets a break.


So now without further ado, here are the songs from August.  Have a listen and vote for your favorite below!

Danny Imig - Diminished +1
My comments:  Danny put together a cool little piano instrumental.  It's got a great feel to it, almost along the lines of "danger."  Alone, it would be a little too simple, so the drums were a great touch.  They really amp up the song as a whole.  I like it a lot!

Jack Eggleston - Joney loves Charlie
My comments:  Jack utilizes his "stage name" (found embedded in the mp3) of DJ Jazzy Jack.  I only hope that is a reference to BB Jazzy B!  Again he goes full-on electronica for the song.  I have a hard time telling if he utilizes only five notes, but it definitely throws the "minimalism" theme out the window.  No worries though, because what it does, it does well.  Good job, Jack!

Brian Salapek - 5 Notes
My comments:  I chose my key as A# and every one of my notes was a sharp, which is a little different of a key for me.  To be honest, I wasn't feeling super inspired but trudged through and came up with this.  It's pretty, I guess, but that's all it's got going for it, if you ask me :P

Rene Zansman - Late Night in a Terrible Hotel Eating Potato Chips and Listening to Jackson 5
My comments:  Rene wrote a small piano instrumental as well.  Unfortunately it seems like he mistook the 5-notes as 5 single notes, rather than 5 notes regardless of octave.  This must have been pretty difficult to put something together, and I commend Rene for working with such a HUGE restriction!

Vote for your favorite here!