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.

Day 34 - "Commercial Break"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day34.mp3

In the future, this will actually happen. In the middle of a musical, possibly during the most intense action scene, the performers will drop everything and sing the jingle of the corporation that is sponsoring the show.

So, I'd like to take this time to point out that this show is brought to you by FreeCreditReport.com. Come on people, did you really think I could put on such a high-caliber performance with just a bit of recording equipment and imagination? Of course not...this costs money, and a lot of it.

I'm posting this one very early, partially because I really like it, partially because I really hate yesterday's. I knew I wanted to do these for a little while, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to do a straight up cover or blow them up. Obviously, you can hear what I ended up choosing.

My voice is still kind of screwed up, but I don't have time to let it rest. That kinda sucks. An interesting part of this project though: for backup vocals I usually do some auto-tuning, and you can hear it in the very early songs of the project...after that, I actually got pretty decent and I haven't had to use it since. Until today's, that is...you can hear it on the vocals at the very end.

The bad news: I had to sing these all a bunch of times, and now I know all the lyrics by heart, and now I won't sleep for a week. The good news: after you listen to this song, I won't be the only one with that problem.

Sorry, it had to be done!

Day 33 - "Push/Pound"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day33.mp3

This one didn't turn out nearly as well as I had hoped. Doing an a capella metal song is one of those things that we metalheads always joke around about, but nobody actually does it. So I did it. Was it worth it? Not really. I couldn't get anything that sounded remotely like a bass drum...or a snare drum...or anything that wasn't a cymbal. I was going to do a whole song of just mouth-sounds, but it got really boring really quickly, so I turned it into the "real" version after about 30 seconds. Then there wasn't really much else to do with it, so I finished it, and here it is.

This song is about Mr. Squid carrying out his brutal attack on the city. For a while I've had the little 4-over-3 "push/pound" section at the very end floating around my head, and there wasn't any reason to use it, until now. But this is the first metal song without all the happy major-scale stuff all over the place...but to me, it just sounds kinda generic. I'd say this song is one of the weakest yet, but maybe some people will get some entertainment out of it.

Tomorrow's, though, is ridiculous. So...be here on time.

Day 32 - "Inky Heart (reprise)"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day32.mp3

I think this one is pretty cool, personally. It's a reprise of 3 different songs...days 2, 12, and 25. I don't have much to say about it.

Basically, this is Mr. Squid beginning his attack on the city.

This one probably was the smoothest recording I've had thus far. I knew I wanted something short, but with a pretty huge sound, and I did the whole thing in a little over an hour. There are a LOT of tracks on this one, most of which you can't even hear. Probably somewhere around 20 tracks total, which isn't that much compared to usual for me, but it's a lot compared to what I've done with these 1-day songs....I just don't have time for more tracks.

I can't really think of anything else to say about this one. Tomorrow's is going to be weird, and the next day's is going to be extra weird. I'm getting close to perfecting this type of songwriting, so I'm basically coasting through to the end now. I've been listening to the previous songs a lot, and they all flow really well into one another...when I put together the CD version, it's going to work out great. I'm going to put them in a zip file for download, and it will be free. If you want to put them onto CD for whatever reason, it's going to have to be 2 cds, so I'm going to label the songs as such. It will be worth the download, especially if you've only listened to it through your computer. A lot of these songs sound pretty darn good.

So anyways, enjoy this song. Until tomorrow!

Day 31 - "Blue and Cold"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day31.mp3

So, the story here is taking a bit of a strange turn, only because I didn't really put anything in the music to show what happened in between yesterday's song and today's song. It goes something like this: the fish's celebration is cut short by an unexpected guest. On the fish's sonar systems (yes, they have sonar, and you can hear it in this song), they spot a visitor: Mr. Squid, coming to destroy the city! Mr. Squid's motivations are dark and mysterious, but all you need to know is that he's on his way, and it's going to take a fish army to stop him.

(After reading that paragraph to myself, I'm starting to fear that this project is starting to eat away at my sanity.)

So this is the fish captain, marching his fish army out into battle. The hardest part of this was lining up the marching sounds with the music...I wanted it to sound slightly off the whole time, which took a lot of editing. Also, I really need to stop shouting in my songs...my voice is starting to go, and I'm going to need it for the ending I'm sure.

The credit goes to my mom for the idea of an army chant for a song. I was going to write an actual march a few days ago, but I've done that before...this is better. At this point, it isn't really "what should I write this song about?" it's "what style haven't I done yet?" If anyone has a request for a style of music they'd like to hear, I would be very interested.

This song is really short, but I feel like it's too long. The next few songs are going to be rather short, because a) I'm working most of the weekend, and b) this song hit the 70 minute mark for the project. I don't want the whole thing going over 90 minutes. That's just too much.

Day 30 - "Fish Party"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day30.mp3

This one wins the "so bad it's good" song title award. Now I kind of wish I had named the whole project "Fish Party."

This song was going to be something completely different, but then I saw Gogol Bordello perform last night, and I just felt like making something...dance-y.

Basically, this is just a big party underwater, and it uses the Tubi Belli Plumbing theme as the melody. The only thing you need to know about it story-wise is that this party is about to be cut short...but you won't hear that in this song.

This is also the debut performance of Dan's Magical Techno Marching Band Drumline. It's just like a real drumline, without any of the annoying marching band snobs. That's what makes it magical. Oh, and DMTMBD always keeps perfect time, and never has to practice. They're marching perfectly as well, but obviously you can't see that...it's just a recording.

This is day 30! 10 days to go. This isn't so hard...

Day 29 - "Hey Luna!"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day29.mp3

Today's song is definitely not for everyone. I had to do something quickly, and I tried to figure out what musical style would make for the absolute fastest composition and recording. The result: a hardcore punk song! A straightedge hardcore punk song, to be exact. As a mixing and compositional reference, I used the album "Lowest of the Low" by the band Terror, one of the most entertaining CDs in existence. What really makes the CD is during one of the live tracks at the end, the lead singer yells "I NEED MORE STAGEDIVES! SOUND GUY, CAN I GET MORE STAGEDIVES IN THE MONITORS, PLEASE?!?"

I'm not going to type out the lyrics, because they sound like they were written by a 5 year old (which is on purpose). All you need to know is that this song is Noah trying to convince Luna to stay and live with the fishes.

Obviously, since I was mimicking a Terror song, I had to do all the yelling. It isn't really as painful as it sounds to do, but I tried to get all the vocals done in about 5 minutes, which I did. The strange part isn't that it hurts your throat, it's that in a semi-small room, it's so loud that it almost hurts my ears to do it.

Then, for the chorus, I had to do the really awful half-singing. I tried to make it sound as bad as possible, for accuracy's sake. Same thing with the guitar tone. But I really think the "Oi"s and the yelling of "straight edge" brought it all together (Parents, if you don't know what straightedge harcore is all about, look it up. You'll approve.)

Not many people will like this one, but I love it. As far as sounding like a real hardcore song, I think I pretty much nailed it.

Also, we just passed 2000 hits. Sweet! Thanks!

Day 28 - "A Long and Weary Day"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day28.mp3

Another extremely special treat today! Lending his vocal talent for day 28 is Mr. Mark McLennon (that's Mr. McLennon to me). In this song, he plays the king of the fish colony, who is inviting the protagonists to come stay underwater forever, because it will be such a fun time. If you ask me, he makes a pretty convincing argument. I also really like the lyric "By the power vested in me/I now declare you'll be OK." If that's not a powerful king, I don't know what is.

I absolutely love how this one turned out. When I was recording the instruments, I just couldn't get it to sound "country" enough. I even put in a honky-tonk piano...still not enough. Then Mr. M came over and brought the whole thing together. After that, my sister and I added some background vocals and harmonies and I think that put it over the top. I also like the slide guitar quite a bit. I'd say it's in the top 3 songs of the project. It should also be noted that the "chorus" is a sort of reprise of day 14, but a little different.

Because of the success of these past few songs, I've got a lot of enthusiasm back. That, and I'm getting close to the end, and I've still got some tricks up my sleeve. That being said, I spent a LOT of time on this one, and I should be working on tomorrow's right now, and I have no clue what I'm going to do or how this thing is going to end. So tomorrow you might get a real short one...but who knows. Not me.

Again, I can't thank Mr. McLennon enough for his vocals on this one...he really made it awesome. Everyone say thanks!

Day 27 - "Fishy Polka"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day27.mp3

After Luna and Noah get pulled underwater by Mr. Squid, he takes them to an underwater city ruled and inhabited by singing fish, and they sing this song. Come on, you all saw it coming.

This is a polka (by request), I think...maybe it's not. The main part I'd like for you all to appreciate here is the shaker part...I had no idea how hard it was to play a shaker that fast. I went to bed with a very sore wrist last night.

The vocals were recorded at half speed, and then played back at normal speed...nothing really fancy. I really like the section with the music box and glockenspiel.

Another thing about this song...although I think it turned out really well, I have never gotten so sick of a song so fast. About halfway through recording the instruments I just thought to myself "I can't listen to this anymore." I guess that's what I get for doing a polka. But I pushed through, and now I really like it. Lesson learned!

The lyrics, since they're impossible to hear:

Hello
Good day
We knew you’d find your way
Just let us help you open up the door

Come in
Sit down
We knew he’d bring you down
To live with us here on the ocean floor

Just fol
-low me
You’ll find quite easily
The wonders at the bottom of the pool

We love
to sing
We’ll show you to the king
He’s brave and kind and loving and he’s cool

He loves
To swim
We know that you'll love him
He took us in and made our dreams come true

Just sit
And wait
You'll see that he is great
He's got a place especially for you.

Hello
Good day
We knew you’d find your way
Just let us help you open up the door

Come in
Sit down
We knew he’d bring you down
To live with us here on the ocean floor

---
Also, this is an absolutely terrible title.

Day 26 - "Going Down"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day26.mp3

I knew I wouldn't have much time to do this one, so I wanted to try something different...a capella but with NO processing, no touching-up, no editing, not even any mixing. All I did was record the tracks and pan them left to right. So what you're hearing is me...naked! No instruments to help everything sound more in-tune. I think my shaky pitch is quite charming, actually.

At this point in the story, the squid is pulling the boat (and the two main characters) down underwater. If this song doesn't really get that point across, I don't know what will.

For those of you who can count REALLY well, you will see that there are 14 days to go. 2 more weeks of songwriting. Hopefully I can make it through.

Also, it looks like this whole project has become very topical, with the recent happenings of the weather. I would like to point out that all the floods are not my fault, and hope you don't get mad at me for trivializing them. But still, you gotta admit, pretty good timing on my part.

Day 25 - "Inky Heart, Shreddy Beak"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day25.mp3

I absolutely cannot express how happy I am with this song. It's by far my favorite so far, and while the masses probably won't like it much, it's definitely my biggest success so far. With the exception of one or two of the death-vocal takes, I absolutely nailed it. Speaking of that, if you have small children, or are easily frightened by scary voices, this song is not for you. I have a feeling this might be some of my listeners' first experience with growling vocals, which is quite sad to me. Storywise, this song is pretty straightforward, it's a giant squid attacking the boat Noah and Luna are currently on. He tears it to pieces, and pulls it down underwater.

What makes me even happier is that I found a major part of the sound I've been looking for forever...one of my favorite artists, Devin Townsend, would get these HUGE melodies, usually guitar supplemented by keyboards, and I knew he just used a lot of tracks but I could never figure out how he got that massive, cheesy, blaring sound. Then, just for the heck of it, I doubled the guitar melody on a keyboard patch set to "big band section", and my eyes lit up. You'll hear it in the "sung" sections...BUM BUM BUUUUUUUUUUM! It's so ridiculously triumphant, and I can't believe I didn't think of it before. Just that little trick almost makes this whole project worth it. I absolutely love this song.

Also, the riff in the very middle...I had this weird thing saved on my computer in one of my guitar tab programs...it was just a bend way up and way down, and it was saved as "bounce". Then I started playing it, and realized it was just a really bouncy riff. So if you're listening in your bedroom, take the opportunity to jump on the bed at that part.

Also, I did some research on giant squids for this song. Apparently they have the biggest eyes of any animal, and they use 2 extra-long tentacles to pull food into their beak (!) and tear things to shreds with it. So that's where most of the lyrics come from. Lyrics are here:

(OH!) I’m a squid
I’m saying hello
I came all the way from the ocean below
I’ve got (OH!) big eyes
And a black inky heart
I’m here to tear this boat apart

(OH!) I’m a squid
Just hangin around
Here to pull your tugboat down (DOWN!)
As you die, you’ll scream and shriek
Right into my shreddy beak

I hope someone else likes it, but if not, I don't really care, because this one's for me.

Day 24 - "A Watery Lullaby (reprise)"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day24.mp3

So, there's not too much to say about this one. What happened was, I wrote what was going to be today's song yesterday, then I recorded it and almost finished it. Then I realized that it sort of comes out of nowhere, and I didn't really set it up properly. So this morning I recorded this little interlude to make tomorrow's less...unexpected. I have to assert that with each of these songs, I'm keeping the big picture in mind...I always take into consideration how the previous song ended and how the next one will begin...how they would work when listening to it on a CD or something.

In this one, Luna sings her little lullaby again...but something seems to be coming closer...something ominous...something metal.

This mix is definitely pretty thin...I'll probably add more eventually.

I'm starting to get some severe burnout on this thing. I had all of these good ideas to start out with, and then I used them up after, oh, about 5 days. But luckily, I'm not one to make excuses. There will be 16 more songs in the next 16 days, and a bunch of them will be really good, including tomorrow's.

Day 23 - "Captain's Song/Dear Mr. Squid"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day23.mp3

Today I bring you a very special treat: the vocal stylings of Mr. Nathan Thompson. Nathan is the vocalist and pianist of Muncie-based rock band A Bad Idea, and a good friend of mine at Ball State University. Since he's in Muncie for the summer, we did a bit of remote recording; I sent him the acoustic guitar track and a version of the song with me singing it, and then he sent me back his vocal tracks. The wonders of the internet! Of course the track sounds great, and if you enjoy his singing, you should check out his band here. No recordings yet, but very soon, from what I gather.

This one starts a little subplot. Every boat has to have a captain, and every captain has to have a dark history. The captain of this boat (the one that picked up Luna and Noah) is on a mission to kill a giant squid that ate his family. This is the captain, gazing off the side of the boat, singing his murderous message to Mr. Squid himself.

This one turned out great, I think. Everyone leave comments thanking Mr. Thompson for his performance!

Day 22 - "El Mar Es Un Dangerous Place"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day22.mp3

And we're back on track! I really really like this one. If you recall, Luna and Noah were floating around in the ocean at the end of act one. But help has arrived! Our two heroes are picked up by a fishing boat, run by what seem to be beginning Spanish students. At first I imagined simply a spanish-speaking crew, but then I began writing lyrics and I ran out of words I knew in Spanish that had to do with fishing and boats, so they start rattling off random, nonsensical Spanish phrases instead. And then I added a line (in spanish) about how they are in school in the winter, and on the boat in the summer, and that was that. This is a fishing boat, apparently crewed by high schoolers, coming to save our protagonists.

On top of that, a lot of the Spanish doesn't even work, even in a nonsensical way. For instance, the lyrics "Estamos nublando porque estamos muy tristes"...I wanted it to say "we are crying because we are very sad. But I didn't know how to say "to cry", so I used what I thought was "to rain" instead. Only then I looked that up on the internet, and apparently it's more accurately "to cloud." So what you get is "we are clouding because we are very sad." I also am quite happy with the title/last line of the chorus...I just had it there to fill the space in my lyrics because it sorta rhymed, then I realized it's a pretty brilliant lyric, so I kept it. Good work, me.

Here are the lyrics:

Estoy en un bota
Tu eres float-a
Nosotros estamos en mar.
Nosotros buscamos
Por los pescados, pero
Nosotros vamos ayudar.
Estamos bailando
Por que los pantalones
Estamos nublando
Porque estamos muy tristes.

La la la la la la la la
Somos el Pescadores
La la la la la la la la
El mar es un dangerous place.

En la primavera
La biblioteca
Es un luego de los ninos
En la invierna
Somos en escuela
En verano somos en la bota
Estamos bailando
Porque mis plumas y mis lechugas
Estamos nublando
Porque estamos muy felices.

La la la la la la la la
Somos el Pescadores
La la la la la la la la
El mar es un dangerous place.

---
I even changed acoustic guitar strings for you guys! Also, if all goes according to plan, tomorrow is going to be a real special treat. Enjoy!

Day 21 - "Intermission"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day21.mp3

I don't think many people will be surprised that I'm putting this one in here. There's no story to explain, obviously. It's the intermission.

To explain a few somewhat-inside things: this musical is actually the 2nd to be performed at the DTB Theater (as referenced in today's piece); the first being last year's absolute smash hit "5 Floors of Cash", written, recorded, and performed by the Dart Throwing Bartenders (Tom Klind and I). If you haven't heard it yet, you must. It's a 15-minute musical version of the classic film "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York." It's probably the best thing I've ever worked on, and it can be found here: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/5FOC.zip . We wrote and recorded that in just under 2 days.

Secondly, one of the vendors is selling "twizzlers and water." I threw that in because when my family and I saw Wicked in Chicago, there was in fact a vendor selling/yelling "twizzlers and water." I suppose they're both very quiet snacks, but that doesn't make it less funny. Everything else in this track is just a bunch of nonsense that I thought of last night before bed. Also, some of my voices will be replaced by other people, as I'm playing about 4 different people here. And who else should appear today but my mother!

Day 20 - "Ghost of Love"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day20.mp3

Day 20! Halfway done! And on top of that, the musical is exactly 45 minutes long so far. Perfect!

As I said, today's is something a little different...it's a cover song. It's called "Ghost of Love", written by David Lynch for his newest movie "Inland Empire," which is one of my favorite movies ever (my friends can start groaning here). At just about a few days in, I knew I really really wanted to end the first half of the project with this song. It's really a pretty perfect theme song for anything that falls within the experimental romance genre (it's not a real genre yet, but it would be my favorite if it was). If for some reason it upsets you that I didn't write the song, tough. The rules are for me, not you, and I decide when they will be broken. And you still get more music!

The lyrics, since all the crazy vocal processing will probably get in the way:

Strange, what love does.
So strange, those ghosts of love.
Strange, what love does when you're all alone.

That's all you'll really need for lyrics. I think they fit with the story pretty well. Mine is a lot simpler in terms of structure than the original, but I really, REALLY like my version. After I finished it I listened to it about 10 times in a row without realizing it. The fade out at the end makes it good to put on repeat.

When I first heard the original, I hated it, because David Lynch is an awful singer, and his very distinctive voice distracted me. Then one day I realized how perfect the lyrics were, and I decided I had to make my own version. This won't be the final mix of this song, for sure. I didn't have time to put nearly enough ambient sound in there. It has to be full of sounds...any sounds really. Also, for whatever reason, when I listen to it through my laptop speakers, it sounds VERY left-heavy, and the vocals sound too loud, but on my good speakers, everything's just right. So some compromises might still be made.

Now that we're halfway done, I'd like to take this time to do some shameless self-promotion.

1) If you're not in the Facebook group about this project, you should join it! Just search for "INONDAZIONE".

2) If you like what I'm doing here, and want to hear what I sound like when I take my time (sorta), go to my myspace to hear some more. Add me as a friend if you like. When I'm not doing something huge like this, I usually record at least one song every week or two, and the Myspace blog gets updated with everything I release.

3) If you haven't yet, check out my two music videos, here and here. A third one is on the way, which will be (thankfully) not done by me, and with very expensive equipment!

Whew, if you read all that, congratulations, you probably have enough time on your hands to write a musical of your own...maybe we should collaborate.

Anyways, enjoy!

Day 19 - "Shine (reprise)"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day19.mp3

This one is short, but nice. It started out as piano, acoustic guitar, and vocals...then I took out the piano, and it sounded nicer. Then I took out the acoustic guitar, and it sounded nicer still. So what you're left with is a little a capella tune. In this one, Noah apologizes to Luna for everything he's done, telling her that if he had known it wasn't going to work, he wouldn't have done it. He's still obviously a nutcase, but maybe he has some sort of grip on reality as well. After they get sucked into the whirlpool, they pop out in a different place, somewhere in the middle of the ocean (or what could have been something that is now underwater). So they're basically just floating in the middle of nowhere now.

I think one of the most interesting things about this whole project is with songs made this quickly, I actually still get to keep a little bit of objectivity when listening to them. I did this one in no more than 30 minutes last night, and I woke up this morning and listened to it, and it sounded completely foreign to me...I didn't remember the lyrics I wrote for it or even much of the melody (even though its a reprise). When I write music "normally", I work on songs for a couple weeks, and get to know them so well that by the end, I have absolutely no way of telling if they're any good, or what people might think of them. But with these, it's like I get to listen to them as other people listen to them.

I'm dividing the thing up into two "acts". Act I is days 1-20, and act 2 will be days 21-40. As you can tell, act 1 is winding down, and the songs have gotten shorter. I'm taking somewhat of a break by just doing real short ones to end act 1, and tomorrow's will be something a little different. But after that, I'm going back to full power and writing a whole lot more awesome songs. I'll probably even take off of work for the very last few days to finish the thing off with a bang.

So anyways, there you go, day 19. Almost halfway there! Oh, and we hit 1000 views on here a couple days ago...good work everyone. Let's try to get to 1000 comments...per day. That is all.

Day 18 - "Whirlpool Rag"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day18.mp3

If there was any doubt that this project would, at some point, go off the deep end, I give you today's song. I don't even know if it's good or awful...it just is what it is.

In this song, Noah and Luna are sucked into the massive whirlpool that swallowed up the tragic male plumber from the last song. What, did you think they would escape? Last time I checked, whirlpools don't work that way.

Now, for a brief history of MIDI-rag-metal, which I'm quite sure I invented: a couple of years ago, a couple of friends and I started a little event we called Record Time, where we wrote and recorded a 30-minute album in a week. Only two of us survived the first time through, including me. On that first Record Time album, I decided to fill up space by writing a couple of rags in a terrible guitar notation program, using the MIDI piano sound. I thought the MIDI piano made it sound a whole lot funnier, so I just kept it that way. Then, a year later, I put a MIDI rag in the middle of another song for the second Record Time event...and it was still hilarious. So I decided that from now on, all my speed-composition projects are going to have a MIDI rag somewhere in them.

Unfortunately, I don't have the program I used to use to make them, and this one has a less funny tone to the piano, but I think it works OK. Also, for whatever reason, Finale's 140 bpm is actually exactly halfway between 141 and 142 bpm, which Pro Tools can't really do, so the rag section doesn't start on time. I'll fix it later. End of nerd talk.

Enjoy this one, although if you enjoy it a little too much, I might get a little worried (says the guy who wrote it). Tomorrow's isn't so weird, thankfully.

Day 17 - "Tubi Tango (Reprise)"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day17.mp3

It's really becoming hard to remember what day I'm on here. 17 songs is a lot of songs, and I'm not even halfway done. Scary. I'm not getting bored with the project, but it is getting quite a bit harder. I decided to do it because it seemed like a big challenge, but up till now it's been pretty easy. Now that it's harder it seems a whole lot more worth doing, if that makes any sense.

So anyways, about the song. Here, after Luna shoots Noah down with her techno song, they are caught off guard by a peculiar event: in a boat floating past them, they see a familiar face...the gruff plumber from all the way back on day 7! Turns out Noah isn't the only one with a thing for Luna, and this guy even has a trick up his sleeve to try and impress her: a french horn!

Now, I want to make a disclaimer here: I'm a trained professional french horn-ist, and the things you're about to hear on the instrument should not be attempted at home. I've always been into challenging conventional notions of beauty, so don't be surprised if you begin to weep and don't quite know why.

In the middle of the dude's heart-wrenching solo, something else happens! He gets sucked into a giant WHIRLPOOL! Just in case you can't really hear the whirlpool-like direction of the water sound effects, I threw in some toilet flushing sounds. When this is performed onstage, the auditorium will be filled ten feet high with water, and then the drain will be pulled in the floor, and the audience won't have any trouble figuring out what's going on. But until then, I thought the toilets would help you, listener! Enjoy!

Day 16 - "No Rhyme or Reason"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day16.mp3

Wow! I was REALLY surprised by how well this one turned out. I decided to make a techno song (Possibly trance? I've learned not to throw these words around in the presence of electronica fans), and tried not to make it too ridiculous. I've always liked when piano is used in trance music, and as soon as I threw that in there, it really came together.

IMPORTANT: This song is supposed to be sung by the girl (Luna!). However, my sister was not available in time, and so I recorded the vocals myself. The vocal part will be replaced for the final album version, for sure. Though I think I did a pretty darn good job.

After Noah gets on the boat and tells Luna how he feels about her, she sings this song in response...basically saying that he's a crazy freak who needs to be locked up in jail, not rewarded with her love.

I went with the obvious...the Cher/T-Pain effect on the vocals. I did it the lazy way with Antares Autotune 5, set on automatic...there's a way to program the notes in with the MIDI keyboard, and I figured it out once, but I didn't have time to re-learn it again. Other than that, this one is actually really simple, recording-wise...drums, 2 vocal tracks during the chorus, 1 synth pad, the piano, bass, and the synth solo.

Also, I've stopped trying to come up with good titles for these things, I just pick a lyric now. Seems to be working OK.

More comments! More!

Day 15 - "Tubi Tango"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day15.mp3

Ooh! This one is spicy. I called it a tango...it might not technically be a tango, but it's a tango in spirit. I think it has a little bit of a Russian flair to it as well. In this song, I finally give the characters some names. The girl is named Luna and the guy is named Noah (big surprise there). I don't really plan on using their names much in the music, I'd just like to use less words to refer to them here. Noah gets on the boat, and they exchange names, and he tells her how he feels about her.

A special note on this one: it features what is without a doubt the most horrific home-made shaker in existence. The story goes like this: I couldn't find a shaker, so I decided to make one. I couldn't find any containers of appropriate size, so I decided to tape two Dixie cups together. Then I filled it with some Orzo rice-shaped pasta. At this point, the shaker had a very distinct rice-hitting-dixie cup sound quality to it, so I decided to completely cover the thing in duct tape. Then I found that it was too big, so I crushed one of the dixie cups down to about half its height. The end result somewhat resembles a coffin for a very poor mouse, and the sound it makes somewhat resembles someone marching around in rubber shoes filled with mud. Luckily it's pretty hard to hear in the mix.

Also, there's a fake trumpet solo in there. Don't hate me. If you play trumpet, come on over to my house and we'll replace it, and everything will be fine. The other thing I feel like pointing out is that in the verse I sing, the line is "I've met a lot of girls...not "I've had a lot of girls", which it sort of sounds like. Important distinction. This is a family show. Enjoy!

Day 14 - Inondazione pt. 3

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day14.mp3

Look everyone, it's day 14! 2 weeks of music. This song is also special because a) it's the longest one yet, and b) it takes the whole thing over the 30 minute mark. So hooray for little victories!

This one was done in literally an hour, and it features the ukulele! Folks with good ears will enjoy this one because throughout the course of the song, the ukulele slowly falls out of tune. I personally think it adds to the song. I was going to put a little slide guitar in there, but I decided against it (mostly to save time). But maybe it'll be on the final album version. Now that I think of it, there was going to be a lot more to this song.

Anyways, this is the third part of the 3-part song about the big flood. And finally, the lovers (sorta) are reunited, as she is passing in a boat. Maybe some sort of plumber-boat specially made for this type of emergency. It's important to note that she isn't exactly happy about this, but our main character certainly appears to be. Also, I'm probably going to be giving the beautiful female plumber a name soon, as I'm sick of referring to her that way. Unless I start calling her the BFP. Also, I was informed the other day that there was a special on female plumbers on the Today Show, so I think I'm onto something here.

Day 13 - Inondazione pt. 2

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day13.mp3

Alright, so this one isn't much, at all...but I've been busy, OK?!? I'm also posting it quite early because it's Memorial Day, and I will soon be attending a cookout.

If you are very observant, you will see that I changed the title of yesterday's piece to include (Inondazione pt. 1) This, obviously, is part 2. There will be a third part tomorrow, but I have no idea what it's going to be, and it'll probably be just as rushed as this one. All three parts are just depicting the flood happening throughout the city, and possibly the world. As it is the second part, you have to imagine it beginning immediately after the end of the last one. It would go something like this. Duhhhhhhhhh dududududu. BOOM. It'll work. I hope.

For this one, I really just wanted to introduce the little melody in the middle so I could use it later. I've had that melody floating around my head for a long long time, and I never really got it down anywhere. But I thought it could be cool to come back to later down the line. So this is more of me just building up my melody stash for later.

Also, that melody is REALLY hard to "ooh." REALLY hard. My sister was having trouble with it, and I didn't fully appreciate her pain until I had to sing it myself. After reading that, you'll probably try to ooh along with it, and you'll think you're doing it right, but trust me, it's not the same. Microphones can be quite unforgiving sometimes. (Speaking of microphones, I'm only using one microphone for this entire project, a Rode NT1-a). So if the melody DOES come back, you can be sure it won't be in a vocal part.

So yep, have a good Memorial Day everyone!

Day 12 - "When it Dries (Inondazione pt. 1)"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day12.mp3

This one wins the award for most work yet. I spent a whole lot of time on this one, and while that alone doesn't make it the best yet, I think it's in the top few. The music itself isn't necessarily weird, but it does give off the impression that I just strung a few riffs together however I felt like it. That's about half true. I was also very pleased to learn that I can quite easily play sixteenth notes in 5/4 time at 220 bpm (if you really want to count it in quarter notes).

Probably the strangest thing about the whole project is how much better I'm getting at guitar because of it. I would also like to take this moment remind the guitar players out there that open C tuning is the way to go, always. It's been 4 years since I switched to it, and I do not plan on switching back for quite some time.

The vocal part in the middle of the song is actually a sort of reprise, going all the way back to Day 2! But this time, I nailed the harmonies a little better, and it sounds a whole lot more "right."

So this is the main character, sitting on the rooftop (of the water treatment plant, I guess), watching chaos ensue below him. I promised you some metal, so here it is.

Also I would like to remind the audience that I am not being paid for offering you all of this free, seemingly endless entertainment...instead, I work for comments. Anonymous comments are COOL, but leaving your name is WAY COOL. So if you want to be as cool as this, leave a comment, and don't be shy...tell me who you are!

(but I'd rather have anonymous than none at all...)

Day 11 - "The Control Room"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day11.mp3

So, the actual song for today isn't phenomenal, but I think the production of it was pretty surprisingly good. I really had absolutely nothing planned for this one, and by the end it almost sounded a little pop-country-ish.

Now the story gets going again. This one is preeeeeety far fetched, but here's whats supposed to be happening. After our hero sabotages his own house to see his love again, he fails (the male plumber shows up instead.) So in this one, he's taking it about ten steps further by infiltrating his city's water treatment plant. Inside he finds a big red button marked "nation's water supply", and he presses it. For some fantastical reason, this dumps out all of the water...everywhere, causing a flood on a massive scale. Un inondazione, if you will. I haven't really decided if he floods the entire world, or just the country, but either way, it's bad, and he's a pretty evil dude for doing it. That's basically what you need to know. If you think this part of the story is weird, or doesn't make sense, you might be in for some more suprises later down the line. I've got some ideas, yes indeed.

Also, for some reason, this song is sung as a voicemail to the main character's friend. I have absolutely no idea why I decided to do this, other than the fact that when I started playing the chords on my guitar, the first words out of my mouth were "Hey man, I'm calling you back."

This song taught me a valuable lesson: bad lyrics can be covered up if they're immediately followed by a jarring sound effect.

I've had lots of fun comments on this thing. To respond to some of them:
-Yes, you can play or sing on the album if you want, just let me know when you want to do it and I'll write a song just for you.
-The story seems like it's going nowhere, but hey, I'm taking it 2 minutes at a time, and there are still 29 songs left in this thing. Relax...trust your friend Dan.
-Yes, some of the songs are too short. But that's better than too long, right? RIGHT?!?

Anyways, enjoy today's. Heavy on the plot development, light on the originality. Forecast for tomorrow: epic, with a 100% chance of metal.

Day 10 - "Why I Plumb"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day10.mp3

This one is great. It's only about a minute long, but expect to listen to it at least 10 times in a row. I wanted to write something like the ridiculous Mozart opera stuff I saw on the videos in music history. To me, Mozart's music sounds like it was written before anyone had any problems, and I don't really mean that in a good way. So, this is me making fun of goofy music by writing more goofy music.

Maria sings on this one again. The female plumber is explaining to you, the audience, why she does what she does...what keeps her going each day, etc. Since the lyrics at the end don't quite emphasize it enough, I'll give you the character development I was going for: she became a plumber because she can't swim, and if someone doesn't keep the water where it's supposed to be, something disastrous could happen...

Oh, and don't forget to DANCE! Grab your favorite person and waltz for exactly 15 seconds when you are instructed to.

Edit: Also, thanks to everyone for the comments, and for listening! I'm a quarter of the way there, and without your support I would have given up by now!

Day 9 - "A Watery Lullaby"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day9.mp3

This one isn't much, but I like it. It's my sister Maria singing again, but there are no lyrics, as you will hear. Wrote this one pretty quickly. There were actually a lot more instruments on here, but I just started taking more and more of them away, so this is what's left.

As for how this fits into the story...I don't really know. I suppose if it was in a movie, this would be sort of the opposite of the last song. If the main character was singing and looking out his window, now the girl plumber is doing the same thing. Then, in this fictional movie, it would cut back and forth between her singing and him going to sleep after he's done singing...sort of like she's singing him to sleep, but they're nowhere near each other. So if anyone wants to go ahead and write that down on the list of ideas for the feature film, that would be fantastic.

Oh, and for you music nerds, WATCH out for the sneaky switch from 4 to 3! It'll get you every time.

The story gets back on track tomorrow, and it's going to be a real treat. Tomorrow's song is easily my favorite thus far. And so I continue the pattern of good song - OK song - good song, etc. Oh well. Enjoy!

Day 8 - "Shine"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day8.mp3

I think this is probably the best song yet. I knew early on that some of the better songs should stay away from the story a bit, so that they could be taken out of context and still be nice songs. So in this one, I kept the lyrics a lot more vague, so that it's just a nice/depressing unrequited love ballad. In other words, you don't have to be in love with a plumber to connect with this one on some level. I think it still works in the story, though...every musical needs a good staring-out-the-window song, and I think this one fills that spot pretty well. Obviously, this is the main character reflecting on his romantic situation.

This whole project is definitely looking up now...I think the songs are getting better on average, and the writing process is getting quicker and a lot more enjoyable. In other words...it's working!

Day 7 - "Tubi Belli Plumbing (reprise)"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day7.mp3

So, this one has a lot of explanation to it. First, I knew as soon as I wrote "Day 3" that this one had to happen. After our hero sabotages his plumbing, he calls up Tubi Belli plumbing to schedule an appointment. Unfortunately, instead of the beautiful female plumber showing up, a different employee arrives, and unfortunately, this one likes to sing as well.

I was hoping someone else would do the voice of the new plumber for me (like my dad!), but no one was available, so I did it. So you get to laugh at me doing my best gruff singing plumber voice. I thought this track would turn out a lot funnier than it actually did...my voice is simply not gruff enough. I may re-record the vocal track for the final version of the album.

Also, there's a baby crying in the song. I thought it would be funny to have it in there to emphasize the contrast between the beautiful version of this song sung by Maria, and the rather annoying (on purpose) version of it here. However, this backfired too, as I think the baby just made the song a lot cuter, not more annoying. The glockenspiel didn't exactly bring down the cute factor either. Oh well.

This is day 7! A week's worth of music, and morale is still high. It really is just a matter of time before the whole thing just devolves into complete nonsense and/or madness, but it won't be for quite a while. Tomorrow's is a good one too!

Day 6 - "Sabotage"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day6.mp3

Alright, so this one started out COMPLETELY different than what you hear now. This was going to be an all out percussion fest...with banging on pipes and whatnot, but then I realize I don't have any pipes laying around, and it was pretty late at night when I finished it up. It's supposed to represent our hero tearing up his plumbing in an effort to see his unrequited love for a second time.

So I found some cool pipe sounds, and then I found some other sounds that I really liked, and I made a little beat, and by the end of it, it had nothing to do with anything, other than the fact that it was pretty dark, which I liked. This is a dark moment in the story, so I think it works. The little melody is mostly stolen from Liszt's "La Campanella" piano etude, one of about 5 "classical" pieces I really like. Here's an awesome video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=5y9Wiqsd9xY

So anyone, this one is alright. If nothing else, I've never written anything in F# minor before. So that's cool.

Day 5 - "From the Bottom of My Heart"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day5.mp3

Ok, so here's the thing about this one. I love the song, but as I was working on it, I realized it was almost an exact copy of Tub Ring's "I Could Never Fall In Love With You." Some of the lyrics are similar, the hand claps are the same, the main riff is essentially the same, and lots of other little things came right out of that song. I also stole a little melody from the intro of "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas, for whatever reason. AND on top of that, there's a little nod to Dick Dale in the guitar solo track. You'll hear all of it. So, awesome song, but written with questionable methods.

In the song, our hero decides he needs to see the beautiful plumber again. His new love is clouding his judgement, and so he decides that the only way to see her again is to sabotage his plumbing so that she returns. Yes, in today's futuristic world, we can actually call businesses on the telephone and find out employee's names, but that's just not very romantic.

The lyrics, since it's a little muddy:

Now I know just what I have to do
So that I know exactly where you’ll be
From the bottom of my heart
I’ll tear it all apart
Just to make you fall in love with me

There will be destruction by my hand
My living room will turn into a sea
Oh it’s such a shame
I don’t even know your name
But soon enough you’ll be alone with me.

I pick up a hammer and prepare
I target everything that I can see
From the bottom of my heart
I’ll tear it all apart
Just to make you fall in love with me.

---
So yep, I like this one, though the mixing is kind of a nightmare. Comments!

Day 4 - "All Wet (reprise)"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day4.mp3

I knew going into this project that the reprise would be an important survival tool. I'm a little disappointed that the first reprise had to come this early, but it's alright. This one is a nice little ditty I did very early this morning.

In this track, our hero comes to a very predictable realization: he's got some strong feelings for the lovely plumber from yesterday.

Tomorrow's track is awesome, so make sure to check it out.

Comments, people, comments! (Although there's not much to say about this one) Comments!

Day 3 - "Tubi Belli Plumbing"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day3.mp3

Finally! The first good song is here. I wrote the melody to this one in literally 5 minutes, on my way out the door. Then I wrote all the lyrics during some of the dead time at work. Which brings up an interesting point...even though I said I'm taking a day to write each song, it's actually no more than about 2 hours for each. One of the things I wanted to make sure of was that this project didn't get in the way of my social or work life...all I have to do is replace my few hours of bumming around on the internet each day with songwriting. It's kind of like a diet...for the soul.

This song features my sister Maria as a beautiful female plumber, who is, at this point in the story, nameless. She is a skilled employee of Tubi Belli plumbing, and apparently likes to sing a bit while she works. By the end of this song, you should pick up on where the story is headed.

I'm very happy with this one. Expect to hear Maria singing throughout the rest of the project...she's a quick learner!

Day 2 - "P"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day2.mp3

So when I started this project (yesterday), I decided it would be a good idea to see how long I could last without making a metal song. I lasted exactly one day. To you metal-haters: there won't be that much more. To you metalheads: when the metal does return, it will be heavier, and I could very well be working on the first musical with a blastbeat. But for now, I can rest easy tonight knowing that I've written the only metal song about flipping through a phonebook.

After the flood that took place in yesterday's song, our hero decides it would be a good idea to hire a plumber to get things in order. That brings him to the Yellow Pages, which make a brief guest appearance in the song (as a musical instrument). The chord progression is what I call the "Batman progression" (minor i to major II for you music nerds). I'm not sure if it's actually in a Batman movie, but I feel like it is.

Since the lyrics are a little hard to hear:

Here I am looking through the phonebook
And I flip right to the letter "P"
Countless names of plumbers fill the pages
But which is the perfect one for me?
"Tubi Belli Plumbing!"

Tubi Belli is Italian for "beautiful pipes/tubes", at least according to freetranslation.com. So...maybe a little clue?

I feel a little better about this one. Tomorrow's song, however, is fantastic. (I'm actually doing each song the day before I post it, don't remember if I mentioned that.) So come back tomorrow, for sure.

Day 1 - "All Wet"

Link: http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/day1.mp3

Well, here it is, the first day's music. I'm definitely a little on the disappointed side, but it could have started off much worse.

Seeing as how the project is going to last 40 days, I decided on the obvious: it has to be a flood story. So our narrative begins with a man whose heart, and plumbing, have recently become broken.

Upon hearing the track, you may think to yourself, "Dan, you're digging yourself into a hole by starting your musical with poop humor." But you're just going to have to trust me. It's going to get better, and by better I mean weirder.

Finally, don't listen to this, or anything else, on built-in laptop speakers. It's gross.

First post

As the description of the blog says, I'm going to be composing a musical, by writing a song a day for 40 days. All of the music will be posted here beginning Wednesday, if all goes according to plan. So bookmark this page and check it out often! The songs will only be up for a few days. Leave comments as often as possible! Since I won't even know where the plot of is headed, you can leave suggestions and you might just change the course of the project altogether!

And now, some free music: if you haven't already, download my latest opus, "Love Songs to my Future Girlfriend: A Musical Request for a Female Companion" here:
http://djwaldkirch.iweb.bsu.edu/DWLoveSongs.zip .
This album was written and recorded in one week, so it'll be quite comparable to what I'll be doing for this next project. I've got about 20 other albums, so if you enjoy my music, contact me and you can have any of them for free.

Next time I post here, the first song will be up, and 40 days after that, a new musical will have been born...that is, if I survive. Wish me luck!

Dan