DJ Tent Mode's hot new track drops now!
Download "Liminal Spring" here.
This track is so named because I started it in April, and the season had evaporated away into summer by the time I was done.
There wasn't a specific prompt that I was aligning to, but I was envisioning a late-game Dr. Wily Castle stage from the NES Mega Man games. Mood wise, I think this is established with the high-register lead 50% duty cycle square (channel 1) contrasted by the the sub-division that the (triangle channel) bass provides. The 1/8th notes in square channel 2 provide substantial harmony and texture too. Overall I think this is the best executed in the piece's intro which ironically only plays once and doesn't loop. But I like the callback to the intro right before the loop quite a bit!
I'm the most proud of the cool timbre in the channel 2 square. It's got a reasonably steep volume decay, but the distinct sound is achieved by alternating the duty cycle of the square wave every CPU tick. It's a neat effect and I like how it sounds in the context of the piece.
Process wise, I think I ended up feeling a bit "stuck" this time partially because I had such a simple noise channel drum line for so long. Because it was there for so long, I ended up feeling that the music was also quite simple. Incorporating additional snare hits and cymbal splashes fixed that feeling, but came into being quite late.
Overall, I struggle with how short the piece is. I think it could use a few more melodic ideas to extend the main chorus or bridge. So something for next time!