UPDATE [9-17-23]: Free downloads have been removed from music that is currently hosted on Bandcamp. If you like this song, please visit my BandCamp page to download it at cost. Support your favorite audio slut.

AIM 2023 Submissions Thread / Discussion Thread

[Change Log 6-15-23] I added some strings, a negligible amount of panning data, and changed the velocity of one note. It's a new song!

[Change Log 6-17-23] Was listening to this on the kitchen speakers for funzorz and realized the tamb during the climax was ripping way too loud. I lowered the volume slightly. BASK IN THE GLORY OF SLIGHTLY QUIETER TAMBORINES.

[Change Log 6-23-23] Actually nothing was changed today. I realized I should have used some church bells in the climax but it's after the comp due date and I just wanted to say I'M SO STUPID, URGH.

Joining AIM was a last minute decision. Saw the deadline fast approaching with about a week left and felt a tug of sadness that I wasn't planning on participating. To be honest I try to avoid music contests; don't like getting competitive or the feelings that come with competing. Plus the older I get the more I want to stand back and let the kids do it up. I'm just a weird adult now D:

Since I should say something about the art piece that inspired me, I'll point to the above image by CaptionPanic and gush a little. Harvest Moon A Wonderful Life was the first farming game I ever played, back in High School. Having worked in agriculture for 15 years, as an adult I find the farm genre oddly relaxing. There's something nice about a no worries farm sim where everything can go right. No pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides to worry about. No obnoxious customers or bosses to deal with. All you have to do is care for some farm animals, harvest some crops, make some friends in town, and get paid. Gustafa is the town musician that regularly gets festivals together. In the "girl version" he's a bachelor you can marry. I never married Gustafa but he's an all around good spirit, always playing guitar and chilling. The entire rhythm of the song is focused around the strings, metaphorically putting Gustafa in the middle of everything.

After getting the guitar stuff lined up I improvised some piano licks and sprinkled in synths for the harvest sprites. The sprites are visible in the image but they take on a background role in the game's story. From a functional standpoint, the sprites spy on you and help the farm by notifying when animals give birth. The piano licks and synth pads are supposed to be the sprites playfully interacting with the farm animals in their strange and magical way. I chopped the piano recordings up and layered them around somewhat randomly to give the forest sprites a sense of spontaneity. The rhythm also flows somewhat freely with a little rubato here and there. Farm sims kind of let you do things at your own pace. If you just want to scrounge around in the woods for forage you can make some healthy money doing that. You can also make bank by stopping by the waterfall in the forest to fish. Some natural elements like birds, and chimes were recorded in Georgia a few years ago during covid but I did use additional samples from this website called freeanimalsounds.org.

I wish they had more info on their webpage about how recordings were collected but they used the word "FREE" a lot and I found that very convincing :0

I've always enjoyed jam sessions and drum circles. Between the piano and guitar the melodies are reaching out to find each other. This gentle symphony is meant to be a communication between the participants. Since it's just me jamming with myself I can always correct and finesse little things but jam sessions with other people always have elements of spontaneity, suspense, and wordless communication. Melodies don't always resolve but it's ok because it's the joy of playing music or sharing it with others that makes the experience safe and fun <3

One more thing I thought to point out, there are a couple of wood blocks being used to "gallop" like a horse. The piano echoes the gallop during the climax by alternating between two notes. Like a prancing pony, imagine a prancing melody? Classic piano romanticism, sorry if its too conceptual...

tldr; this is not a grindcore song.