It's done! Download the album here.

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/inondazione.zip

This is all 40 songs, along with the artwork and lyrics. It's in a zip file...if you don't know how to use a zip file...ask one of your moderately smart friends. The file names are conveniently labeled to put onto two CDs...the first 21 songs go on CD 1 and the other 19 go on CD 2.
("201" is CD 2, track 1, etc.)

This includes the final version of the songs "No Rhyme or Reason" with Maria singing (I sang the original because I was short on time), and "El Mar Es Un Dangerous Place" with my good friend Tom Klind singing (again, I played his part because of time constraints).

Also, witness the fabulous playbill artwork designed by the illustrious Greg Shutters, who has been providing the always-perfect visual aspect to my projects for years now.

So download the CD, and give it to all your friends/any rich people you know. Or save it for Christmas time...it'll make a great stocking stuffer. Or play it on a long car trip, and have an underwater adventure whilst on the road. Or fall asleep to it. I don't care. Just download it and enjoy it. It would make me happy.

Day 40 - "The End/Baby Beluga"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day40.mp3

Well folks, this is it, day 40. It's ending on a good note. If you don't like this one, you're a jerk. I was going to do a long-ish "intermission" type thing with people talking at the end. Instead, I put in 2 people clapping and one person coughing, which I see as a very plausible response to my show as a whole if it was performed onstage. Then, I sing a Raffi song, and we all go home.

IMPORTANT PART: I'm going to be re-recording some vocal parts this week, and compiling everything into a file so you can put the songs on 2 CDs, if you so desire. So check back here in a little while. I'll probably spam everything with the link to the CD, so you won't have to work too hard to find it if you want it. It'll be free as a download (in a zip file.) Mr. Greg Shutters will be making me some "playbill" artwork for it, and that will be fun. So when the time comes, download it and listen to it in your car. It'll sound awesome.

So yep, I did it. Was it hard? Yeah, it was pretty hard...but not that hard. It wasn't hard writing the songs, but it was hard giving up all of my video game/internet time to work on music. I think I could have done better on various songs and whatnot, but overall, I think I did pretty close to my best, given the limitations. Would I recommend that other people try it? Absolutely. Do I want to do it again? Not really.

One of the things I can't really figure out is this: would I have done better if I had just written 40 unrelated songs, with no continuous story? On one hand, I was pretty limited lyric-wise. On the other hand, I always had something to start with each day (the next part of the story). So, who knows.

Other things I learned: don't be afraid of short songs. Don't be afraid of repeating sections. Write down melodies whenever and wherever you think of them, or you will forget them. The more vocal tracks, the better, always. The more reverb the better...usually. Don't yell a lot if you're going to have to sing a lot. Don't write anything in Db, it sucks. Fake trumpets are OK after all. Hand claps are awesome. Shakers are awesome. Sometimes people like things you hate. Metal still rules. I may never be able to break out of the prison of basic rhyme schemes. Ukulele is awesome, and I hope to purchase one soon.

Thank you to everyone who listened and commented and whatnot, it would have been a lot tougher if I felt like absolutely nobody was enjoying it. Thank you thank you thank you. I'm sure this won't be the last ridiculous project I do, so you all will be getting lots of annoying spam from me in the future.

Alrighty, time to go enjoy a composition-free rest of the day! Goodbye friends!

Day 39 - "Overture"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day39.mp3

So this one is just what it sounds like...an overture. It messes up the whole order of the project, because this is going to go before the first song...obviously. I did this one very quickly, and it shows quite a bit, but it gets the job done. I introduce 4 of the main melodies of the show...pretty simple really. Plus some crowd noise so when you start listening to the CD you can get settled in without feeling like a disruption.

I also had to write this one in D-flat, because it's the only key I still had not written anything in throughout the musical. So I did it, and I gotta tell you...Db is not that fun. Not only that, I had to somehow modulate from Db to G in this song (day 1 is in G), and I didn't do it very gracefully. But probably the best part of this song is that it establishes the work as one of the first (if not the first) musical with a blastbeat.

For tomorrow, I'm going to do a little end-of-show talking bit similar to the intermission, and then I also want to record a celebratory cover song. This is another idea I stole from Jonathan Coulton, who finished his song-a-week-for-a-year project by recording his own version of "We Are the Champions" because he was so happy to be done. So I'd like to ask for suggestions of ridiculously trimphant or happy songs that I could try recording a cover of for tomorrow. I know what I'm going to do if I don't get any better suggestions, but I'm sure there's some perfect song that I can't think of. Help me!

Tomorrow will be a joyful day.

Day 38 - "All Wet (reprise 2)"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day38.mp3

So this is it folks, the end of the show. The very end. Tomorrow's and the next day's will make sense, but this is the end of the show. Trust me. This is how the musical ends. Noah wanders around his house, then has a snack and a glass of water.

I really like this one a lot, especially the end (there isn't really much there to like at the beginning). This one is basically the exact same thing as the very first song...but this is what the first song should have been. But it's good that it turned out the way it did, because this one sounds like an ending, and the first song doesn't. Everyone seems very pleased that I did not choose to go with the happily-ever-after ending, and so am I. Of all the big stretches that I make in the plotline, that would have been the biggest stretch of all. Maybe next time.

A cool little thing I just found, made with Wordle...I pasted in all of the lyrics from the whole project (there won't really be any new ones), and it creates a "word cloud" for you. The most often-used words are the biggest. The results were sort of interesting...I'm pretty sure you could psychoanalyze this thing quite a bit and find out way too much about me.

Click here for the big version!

Anyways, hope you like the song. Until tomorrow!

Day 37 - "Fin"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day37.mp3

This song just destroyed the record for most work so far. I spent a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG time on this one, and recording-wise, it's all over the place. There are about 30 tracks total, and it took me probably about 10 hours to do it. However, I really like it, and it's probably one of the best songs in the whole thing. My vocal cords are still being very frustrating, but I think I did OK on this one.

This one is basically the end of the show. There are going to be a few more songs obviously, but nothing big, and it'll all make sense very soon.

As far as the story goes...Luna and Noah finally come up to the surface, and Noah gets dropped off back at his house. The flood is over, and his house is dry. Then Luna sails away once again...this time, probably forever.

I'm hoping to get Nathan back to sing as the captain for those few lines in the middle of the song, hopefully for the final version. My magical techno drumline returns as well.

The lyrics on this one were sort of interesting. I wanted this one to be another one that could be taken out of context, and just be a cool pop song with simple pop song lyrics. For the most part, I think it worked. And to be honest, I'm not really sure what the lyrics mean for the most part, but I like them.

Here they are:

Do you remember all the years before I knew your name?
Or all the time we spent over a thousand miles away?
I’m thinking fondly of the time before I saw your face.
What did I tell you before there was anything to say?

Good or bad I know you’ll never be
someone good or bad enough for me.
Say my name and just forget the sound
Toss me in the flood and pull me down

Maybe I’ll see your pretty face below the waterline.
Maybe I’ll be able to look you in the eyes sometime.
My only thoughts of you are right before I go to bed
And so I know that soon you’ll stop hanging around my head.

I am left with nothing left to say
I will turn and walk the other way
Say my name and just forget the sound
Toss me in the flood and pull me down


---
The title...it's like "end" and like a fish fin too...I am SO CLEVER!

Day 36 - "A Fishy Thank You"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day36.mp3

OK, now these titles are just getting preposterous.

This song is a few of the fish waving goodbye and saying thank you to Noah and Luna. I really don't like the way this one turned out, at all. I did the vocals VERY late last night, and you can literally hear how tired I am in my voice. On top of that, it sounds similar to just about every song I've done in this project...while it isn't a reprise of anything, it's got tiny elements of just about every song. Which is sort of cool, but in a frustrating way, because this was supposed to sound all-new.

But man do I love playing the ukulele. When I finish this, I'm buying a real one in celebration. Ukulele by itself is great, but ukulele + palm muted guitar is extra great. That's the good part of this song. Also, special thanks to my mom for her snapping skills...that's 5 tracks of snapping, folks. My snaps just don't have that snappy sound, probably because my fingertips are slowly being eaten away by the pool chemicals that I sell by day.

Other than that, umm...I'm running out of things to say. Tomorrow's song is going to be great, I think. It's the big ending number, so don't miss it. After that, there are just a few more things to tie up, and then it's over, and we can all go home.

Day 35 - "To Sir Noah"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day35.mp3

You missed it. All of it. During the commercial break, Noah pulled a daring stunt and saved the city. He killed Mr. Squid. He rescued the king. The king made him a knight. He is a hero. Sorry, but money is money, and when it's time for a commercial break, it's time for a commercial break.

So as of today, the story is coming to a close. Just a few days left, and I've got them mostly planned out. Today has probably my favorite vocal performance by Maria...I'm not sure why, but I really really like it. This one is really laid back...the mix feels like it's missing something big but I kinda like it that way. I also like the big cheesy guitar solo. Oh, and it's a reprise of day 10.

Umm...not so much else to say about this one. I like it. I hope you like it too.