#theme

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #175: Musical Interlude – The Thirteenth Hour Theme in Piano Part 3

Episode #175: Musical Interlude – The Thirteenth Hour Theme in Piano Part 3

https://archive.org/download/Podcast175_201812/Podcast%20175.mp3

Way back in episode 130, I took one part of the main Thirteenth Hour theme and created a short electric guitar part to accompany an introspective part of the book, and two weeks ago, I took the first verse of the theme and made it a slow guitar part.  The last 2 weeks (eps 173 and 174), I slowed down the tempo and eliminated notes to get at what we have this week.   These two IG posts show a little of the progression:

View this post on Instagram

Part of an instrumental fill on the keyboards – this week, I’m take The Thirteenth Hour Theme and turning it into a soft keyboard introspective piece. Will be finishing over the next episode or so. I think I may slow it down a bit further and change the tempo in some parts but just synth strings to fill in the gaps. The Facebook show page has more of this clip, and check out the show notes for more and to listen to the whole episode of The Thirteenth Hour (#173) directly. It’s also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Googleplay, and Tunein, all now easily accessible by clicking on the linktree bio in @the13thhr.ost. You can listen to the recording of the actual play though on YouTube (link in the show notes). . . . . . #podcast #podcastersofinstagram #creativeprocess #synth #newwave #indie #keyboard #songwriting #songwriting #soundtrack #songwritersofinstagram #musiciansofinstagram #keyboard #authorsofinstagram #author #synthesizer #musicproduction #musicproducer #soundtrack #writersofinstagram @applepodcasts @itunespodcasts @stitcherpodcasts @tunein @googleplaymusic 🎤

A post shared by 🌄 Joshua Blum 🌌 (@the13thhr.ost) on

I imagined this track will eventually fit a contemplative scene in one of The Thirteenth Hour stories, especially an upcoming short storycalled “Empty Hands” set during the time of The Thirteenth Hour, so much so that that’s what I’m going to call this track. You can see little clips of past iterations on the soundtrack IG page as well as this podcast’s FB page.

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Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #174: Musical Interlude – The Thirteenth Hour Theme in Piano Part 2

Episode #174: Musical Interlude – The Thirteenth Hour Theme in Piano Part 2

https://archive.org/download/Podcast174_201812/Podcast%20174.mp3

Way back in episode 130, I took one part of the main Thirteenth Hour theme and created a short electric guitar part to accompany an introspective part of the book, and two weeks ago, I took the first verse of the theme and made it a slow guitar part.  Last week was a variation on those episodes where I took the same theme and reworked it on the piano to be even slower.  This week is very similar, though it’s become kind of an exercise in minimalism – how many notes can I eliminate and still retain the essence of the theme’s melody?  In addition, I’ve been making the tempo slower and slower to fit better with the introspective mood I imagine this track will eventually fit (I’m picturing a contemplative scene in one of The Thirteenth Hour stories, where one of the main characters is lonely or contemplates something weighty, like the state of the world, their place in the universe, etc).  You can see little clips on the soundtrack IG page as well as this podcast’s FB page.  Next week, I’ll have a better idea what the final thing will look like, and we’ll probably add the backing layer to give it more depth.

In this episode, I include two excerpts from instrumental tracks I was using as inspiration: “A Private Showing” by Stephen Hague and John Musser (from Some Kind of Wonderful, discussed in episode 154), and “Tommib” by Squarepusher (from Lost in Translation).

The track entitled “A Private Showing” scores the art museum scene above.  It is found at around 6:29 in the first clip.

“Tommib” plays during this scene in Lost in Translation where the lonely main character, a neglected young wife accompanying her husband on a working trip to Japan, contemplates the state of her life (I guess) while the track fills in the gaps.  Check out this page for more information on how the track may have been created,

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Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #173: Musical Interlude – The Thirteenth Hour Theme in Piano Part 1

Episode #173: Musical Interlude – The Thirteenth Hour Theme in Piano Part 1

https://archive.org/download/Podcast173_201812/Podcast%20173.mp3

Way back in episode 130, I took one part of the main Thirteenth Hour theme and created a short electric guitar part to accompany an introspective part of the book, and last week, I took the first verse of the theme and made it a slow guitar part.  This week is very similar, though I’m using a piano for the same effect.   You can see little clips on the soundtrack IG page as well as this podcast’s FB page.

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Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #172: Musical Interlude – Electrifying The Thirteenth Hour Theme Part 2

Episode #172: Musical Interlude – Electrifying The Thirteenth Hour Theme Part 2

https://archive.org/download/Podcast172_201811/Podcast%20172.mp3

Way back in episode 130, I took one part of the main Thirteenth Hour theme and created a short electric guitar part to accompany an introspective part of the book.  Unlike the track we created then, the track uses a much more subdued effect – very little gain, more minimalistic, quieter – for a different feel, though the process was about the same.  You can see little clips of the guitar part on the soundtrack IG page as well as this podcast’s FB page.

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Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #160: Summer Schwarzenegger Series 2: Reflections on Rewatching The Terminator (1984) with Adam from @mom_gave_them_away 

Episode #160: Summer Schwarzenegger Series 2: Reflections on Rewatching The Terminator (1984) with Adam from @mom_gave_them_away 

https://archive.org/download/Podcast160_201809/Podcast%20160.mp3

This week marks the second in a four-part summer Arnold Schwarzenegger 80s action fest where Adam from the Instagram page @mom_gave_them_away and I rewatch four classic Arnold movies we originally saw as kids and discuss our reflections (listen to last week’s show here).  Today, continue where we left off last week with 1984’s The Terminator, which of course is one of the films that continued Arnold’s push into the stratosphere of stardom but also birthed one of his most famous lines (“I’ll be back”).  Part sci fi, part fantasy, part film noir, part cyberpunk, part horror, it’s a film that defies easy categorization, though, as we discuss during this episode, it’s part love story as well.  Neither of us felt that Kyle Reese (played by Michael Biehn) really got enough credit in the film (or the series), so we spent the better part of the episode on Reese.

The podcast now has a page on Facebook, so head over there and to Instagram to check out some scenes from the film.  One of my favorites I’ll link to here.  It’s a rare moment of respite for Reese that is not surprisingly disrupted – always felt bad for him in this scene since he loses one of the few things he has to comfort him:

If the music in between the introduction and when Adam and I start talking sounds familiar, it is, of course, the rendition of The Terminator theme that we made back in episodes 146 and 147.  More information about the making of the soundtrack for the film and the different ways the theme was used in the film can be found in the show notes of episode 146.

To end on a humorous note, despite the fact that these movies had a degree of badassery that no one could deny, the video games that came out in association with them with pretty horrendous.  But I’ll let the AVGN do the honors:

These ones are specific to the Terminator games:

Speaking of NES games, check this out:

File:Snake reese.jpg

Yup, the painted cover of the original NES version of Metal Gear Solid is basically Kyle Reese with slight variations.  He may have died in this movie, but he lives on in other ways.  Not sure if this was a homage or just a blatant rip off, but hey, imitation is the best flattery, and it’s not the only instance where NES game art did this (more soon).

Adam will BE BACK next week for Commando  In the meantime, check out all the excellent custom action figure work he does for a taste of some truly heroic work.

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Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hourplaylist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #147: Making The Terminator Theme Part 2

Episode #147: Making The Terminator Theme Part 2

https://archive.org/download/Podcast147_201806/Podcast%20147.mp3

This week, we have one simple goal – adding a guitar parrt to the Terminator theme we started last week.  I experimented with a few different electric guitar effects, and in the end chose two – a quiet one with an echo and one with distortion.  Both are included in the podcast (in that order) – see which you like best!

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Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #146: Making The Terminator Theme Part 1

Episode #146: Making The Terminator Theme Part 1

https://archive.org/download/Podcast146_201805/Podcast%20146.mp3

To piggyback off the last few weeks talking about 80s memories, this week (and probably next), we’ll be making a version of Brad Fiedel’s Terminator theme.  Here’s three version of the main theme – the one from the first film, a slower piano version from the first film, and slow synth string version from T2 – a great example of how a central score can be voiced in different ways to fit different scenes.

I’m actually not sure which key the score is done in since I don’t usually use sheet music, but the version I figured out is in the key of Eb, I think.  I’m not sure I’m using the same syncopated chunking drum beat that the movie theme uses, but the version I’m using in this track uses a low synth bass sound that I originally figured out by hitting a toy hand drum my son was playing with.  Next week, I’ll try to add an electric guitar overlay.  I can’t recall if there are official guitar versions of the theme, but I always thought it’d sound great electrified like that.  Stay tuned for that coming next week!

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Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #140: Creating “Aurora’s Lullaby”

Episode #140: Creating “Aurora’s Lullaby”

https://archive.org/download/Podcast140_201804/Podcast%20140.mp3

This week, we’re making a lullaby that was partially written as something to help my children go to sleep.  But it was also a little song that Aurora, from The Thirteenth Hour books, sings to help young children in the orphanage (where they are living as children) go to sleep.  Later in the books, she learns to play the lute and she and her husband (see the cover art) will sometimes play it with him accompanying her on the flute. When Logan is alone later in the story, he will sometimes sing it to himself to remind himself of happier times.

Aurora’s Lullaby

C Am
When the sun goes down and stars appear
C G
Comes a time when you shall hear
Am F
For now it’s time to close your eyes.
G C
And to you, I’ll sing this lullaby.

C Am
Rest your soul, lay your head
C G
The hour’s come to go to bed
Am F
For now it’s time to close your eyes.
G C
And to you, I’ll sing this lullaby.

Solo
E D E C
C D E G G E D
G F E F G C
G F E F G C
C E D C C

C Am
And so the day is done.
C G
Your failures, your kingdoms are won
Am F
For now it’s time to close your eyes
G C
And to you, I’ll sing this lullaby.

Am F
For now it’s time to close your eyes
G C
And to you, I’ll sing this lullaby.
G C
Yes, to you, I will sing this lullaby.

 

It took a few months to finish since I wanted ti try to learn to play the penny whistle for the little instrumental break in the middle.  You can hear the final version at the end of the show and stream or download it from Bandcamp.

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Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #130: Electrifying The Thirteenth Hour Theme

Episode #130: Electrifying The Thirteenth Hour Theme

https://archive.org/download/Podcast130_201802/Podcast%20130.mp3

This week, we’re making an electric guitar fill for future soundtracks to the Thirteenth Hour books using a part of the theme music.  It runs about 30 seconds long and is intended to accentuate parts of the story where a little theme music is appropriate (future Kindle editions of the sequels will hopefully have external links to the soundtrack on Bandcamp or Youtube.  Here’s some of the gear used this episode:

Coming soon, I’ll be posting about a little side work-in-progress.  Remember when I talked in the past about Hero Forge, the site that allows you to create 3d printed miniatures of characters of your own creation for tabletop games?  I’ve had an inkling to try casting little resin miniatures along the lines of those little pink M.U.S.C.L.E. (keshi) toys from the 80s.  The first step is creating a sculpt, so here’s a wireframe skeleton of Logan on Lightning.  Stay tuned!

Speaking of toys, check out the Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/mom_gave_them_away/ for some great 1980s movie and toy nostalgia.  Haven’t seen some of those toys in years.  I mostly never knew what many of them were called or had just vague memories of them from commercials or just bits and pieces from various yard sales.  So it’s been cool finding out more about these artifacts from a few decades past.

Speaking of which, if you’re into new music that sounds like it could have been from an 80s movie soundtrack, check out the Spotify link in the bio of  https://www.instagram.com/ironskullet_synthwave/ – there are thousands of songs there, and the list keeps growing.

Lastly, speaking of synths and pixels, this podcast now has a new logo for 2018.  I figured that since fantasy, scifi, and electronic music collide so frequently here, why not showcase these things with background art for Long Ago Not So Far Away, and the pixelart dragon I made for that vaporware Thirteenth Hour game I worked on decades ago when I probably should have been studying for math tests or something 🙂

podcast new logo_edited

Title image courtesy of http://www.orangecoast.com/life-style/better-together-best-group-activities-saturday/

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Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #22: 80s Music! (Alphaville, When in Rome, Van Halen)

Episode #22: Musical Influences from the 80s

https://archive.org/download/13thHrEps16On/13th%20hr%2022.mp3

This week, I experimented with playing music in the background while recording this episode in music that influenced the writing of The Thirteenth Hour.  The sound quality leaves something to be desired, but I only played a few short clips anyway.  I may experiment with ways to make the sound quality better in the future but clearly opted for the low-tech option today 🙂

So … here’s youtube links to the full songs discussed so you can hear (and see) them in all their 80s big hair glory:

–(Alphaville) Forever Young (courtesy of Atlantic Records at the time)

–(When in Rome) The Promise (courtesy of EMI Records).  This is the song I pictured as Logan flew on Lightning:

I'll Fly Away Flying IG_1

–(Van Halen) When it’s Love (courtesy of Warner Bros at the time).  This is song I had in mind for these scenes in the book:

marriage b and wWM

island in dreamRM

The theme song to The Thirteenth Hour, heard in the intro and outro of the podcast and influenced by these kinds of 80s songs, is found on the audio page, as is “I’ll Fly Away”.

More details on these and other musical influences come from this original post:

https://13thhr.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/influences-behind-the-thirteenth-hour-part-4-music/

As always, thanks for listening!

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thunderclap 13th hr picture_edited-1

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The Thirteenth Hour Theme done!

I was finally able to record the theme to The Thirteenth Hour after first starting to compose it while creating the book trailer.  It took me awhile to be able to play it through without making mistakes, and even so, it took many takes to get it to an acceptable point.  I wanted to make it a bit longer and add an electric guitar part but have stuck to just a synthesizer track for now.  As I mentioned in this post on film influences, there were a lot of 1980s sci-fi/fantasy films brewing in the pot of inspiration that created the book, and the synth soundtrack is my homage to the music of these films.

Nothing too fancy in terms of recording – just the voice recorder on a phone and a old Radio Shack keyboard I had from a number of years ago.

Here’s the stand-alone link again if you want to download it (in .mp3 format):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B069Riqr1ie_X2NuWTlyYW5tTDg/view

Stay tuned for the next project – venturing in to music video territory with one of the poems from the book!

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