Fantasy TOP - land of best fantasies

I never wanted to be one of those kids who’d open up GarageBand, lay down tracks in twenty minutes, then call the end result music, but admittedly I’ve been dabbling in exactly that – and it’s so much fun.

These are two short melodies that I improvised, both strangely in the middle of the night. Think of them like an artist’s doodles in a sketchbook. I’m calling them “Space Junk” because 1) the name seems appropriate to my love for Super Mario Galaxy, 2) the two improvisations are named after celestial bodies, and 3) the songs are junk. They make me smile, though.


No. 1: “Hello Moon” 
December 30, 2009

This was my first time messing around on GB. I won’t lie, there was a little bit of Bomberman and MegaMan on the brain.

The first thing I “doodled” was the chordal texture, then the drums, melody, and lastly the twinkling countermelody. The idea here (and with my thought process in general) is something that my dad taught me about prioritizing: imagine trying to fill a jar with stones, pebbles, and sand. The most productive way to do that is to start with the larger stones, then fill in the gaps between them with the pebbles, and finally, when the sand is poured into the jar, it’ll naturally fill in the rest of the holes. For me, texture and harmony are the stones, and my main priorities: they determine the overall feel and movement within a piece. The pebbles are the melody: of course I value a good melody, but I think a line of single notes provides a lot more flexibility than a line of chords. And finally, the countermelody is the sand: its main role is to complement all of the elements that are already there.

This method of composing seems better suited to certain kinds of music (like GB doodles) but it works for me, especially when I want to get an idea out there quickly.

No. 2: “Skylights and Stars” 
February 6, 2010

I remember waking up in the middle of the night, feeling a little sad. I ended up opening my laptop and recording this tune, before falling asleep again. I think my subconscious influence here was the Tekkon Kinkreet soundtrack by Plaid (which is fantastic, I should mention.)

It’s pretty fun to see how I make music when I’m sleepy and uninhibited. Thank you, GarageBand!