Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #thetmo2025challenge, aggregated by home.social.
Day 40 (Feb 9): MORODER POP, PART II – "For My Life (full)"
I recorded yesterday's track quickly, and there were some poor decisions. It deserves a better presentation, so here's an updated version.
I have another project in the works (photo coming up later), so I think Day 40 is as good a day as any to take a break from the challenge.
I might continue posting daily synth patches and stuff, though - I make it up as I go along. But I'll be around!
Day 39 (Feb 8): MORODER, WE MEET AGAIN! – "For My Life"
I was planning to go out of my comfort zone and do something unusual today. But instead, I stumbled onto the Flashdance movie on TV yesterday – and that was that. Hello, Moroder! Kinda morphed into Italo Disco as well.
It doesn't *really* go anywhere, but it's a nice retro vibe, it's Saturday, and I have other things to do. So we'll leave it there!
#pop #italodisco #disco #theTMO2025Challenge #musicproduction
Day 38 (Feb 7): TROUBLE AHEAD – "Alarm!"
I wanted a groove today, after several sweeping soundscapes. So what better than an electro beat – a little exercise in (relative) restraint? 😁
(part of my "A Song a Day" project in 2025)
Day 37 (Feb 6): SNOWDRONIA – "Ice Circles"
I had a good ambient mood going two days ago, but yesterday's track didn't really find its groove – sorry about that.
I like this one, though. Full-on 16-minute drone-mode, so probably not for everyone.
(part of my "A Song a Day" project in 2025)
#minimalism #ambient #soundscape #drone #theTMO2025Challenge #newmusic #musicproduction
Day 36 (Feb 5): AMBIENT SCIENCE – "Arctic Laboratories"
More #ambient textures – still above the Arctic Circle. It's fun to create different kinds of movement to make this kind of minimalism interesting: Subtle frequency shifts, ring modulation, lfos for noise and filters.
There's a challenge going around called "February Album Writing Month" ( #FAWM ). So these ambient tracks might go towards an album. 😁
Day 35 (Feb 4): CHILLY AMBIENCE – "Desolate Plains"
Today: Playing around with textures, time-stretching and reverbs.
(part of my "A Song a Day" project in 2025)
#minimalism #ambient #soundscape #musicproduction #theTMO2025Challenge
Day 34 (Feb 3): MERELY FUNCTIONAL – "A Progression of Chords"
Yup... the title says it all, really. I promised you a lot of "functional" music in February, and today that's exacly what you get!
Beautifully sad and textured chords, though!
(part of my "A Song a Day" project in 2025)
#theTMO2025Challenge #musicproduction #minimalism #soundtrack #sad #moody #melancholy #newmusic
Day 33 (Feb 2): WHERE'S THE PERP?? – "Dark Alley"
Classic action/thriller incidental music. A mix of old and new, with analog synth, Rhodes and strings of suspense – but also with Japanese drums/taikos. Still feels pretty retro to me.
#soundtrack #movies #television #filmscore #theTMO2025Challenge #musicproduction #newmusic
Day 32 (Feb 1): BERNARD FEVRE 2.0 – "Smash Dat Bee!"
Trying to create something in the spirit of the "Strange World of Bernard Fevre" – I do love his particular brand of anarchy.
(part of my "A Song a Day" project in 2025)
#leftfield #idm #avantgarde #psychedelia #experimental #theTMO2025Challenge #musicproduction #musician
Day 31 (Jan 31): NISSAN TUBBY 1.8i – "I Will See You Through"
A different kind of bg music for an imaginary car ad. Probably more like something that would actually be used in the #80s. Certainly in Japan – or so I imagine.
It's interesting how we've filtered this decade through a cool and modern aesthetic in recent years. Perhaps it's easy to forget how naff, sentimental (and yet, wonderful!) it could also be.
Day 30 (Jan 30): ABSOLUTE CAR COMMERCIAL "AnothaGamma"
Following yesterday's theme, but this is so 80s it's kinda hard to believe it hasn't been put together exactly the same way before.
That's the deal with #synthwave and #retrowave, though - the formula IS the appeal.
But I try not to think too much about that when I do pastichés - I just follow my instincts and enjoy the ride. At least the bots can't find any issues!
Ugh, it's annoying when I discover a flaw just a hours after I posted the track - the two leads (the bright poly and the modulating mono lead) get in the way of each other.
I've fixed it (and added cowbell – obviously!) in the project file. But my online listeners won't get the pleasure of hearing it - it's the nature of the challenge: Own your mistakes! 😥
Day 29 (Jan 29): THE TASTE GOES ON AND ON... – "Beach Life"
I'm starting to ease into February – which will be far less ambitious than January – with a little '80s jam that could be used for a retro-styled ad or something like that.
Going forward I'll probably start posting more like this, short pieces – "functional music," if you will. Building my personal "production music library" 😁
#theTMO2025Challenge #boogie #funk #musicproduction #productionmusic #newmusic
Day 28 (Jan 28): "The Second Cup"
I mean... this is ridiculous. So we agree my voice can't do Billy Joel, and the next thing I write is a musical song. JAZZ HANDS!
I'm using a filter to make my voice more "musical'ly", which also adds a peculiar accent 😂. And it's going through my retro generator. Not entirely appropriate for the style, but hey!
My restlessness takes another surprising turn. I have no idea where this came from.
Day 27 (Jan 27): OOF – "At Your Discretion"
Not too proud of this one.
Limited time, very much in a traditional "demo" state, and I doubt I'll ever do anything about it.
Speculating whether my voice could carry a sappy Billy Joel love song, I took the template from yesterday's track and went to work.
Well, I *know* that my voice can't do that, so what was I thinking?? The tune isn't any good, either. Oh, well - sorry about that!
Day 26 (Jan 26): PIANO FANTASIES – "Ghibli for Urban Dreamers"
Energetic, instrumental piano-pop today. I'd like to develop the production and arrangement more later on, but I'm happy with it for a day's work.
Some things people might associate with this style: GRP Records, the '88 Olympics, Keyboard Magazine, bespectacled sports commentators, or an instrumental from a South-Korean pop band in the 90s.
Day 25 (Jan 25): JENNINGS HAS A PLAN, SIR – "Whistle on the Waterline"
I started using #Cubase last fall, and I haven't explored the arpeggiators/ sequencers yet. So today I'm playing around with those in what I imagine must be a #deephouse track.
But I'm notoriously bad at identifying electronic genres ( #bonkwave much?? 😂) – both as a listener and a creator. So forgive me if I'm wrong!
#jamuary2025 #theTMO2025Challenge #newmusic #housemusic #techno #musicproduction
Day 24 (Jan 24): LOUNGE TIME – "Jungle Boogie"
Relax! I know what I'm doing here! Get a margarita, chill out and discuss the latest Sydney Pollack movie. 🍸
This is #LonnieListonSmith / #RamseyLewis - land á la 1976-84.
(part of my "A Song a Day" project in 2025)
#jazzpop #fenderrhodes #jazzfunk #jazz #soul #lounge #theTMO2025Challenge #musicproduction
#composer
I think the #bonkwave entry broke my TikTok / SEO credibility! 😂
Day 23 (Jan 23): OLD HEROES, NEW DREAMS "Day in the Sun"
Today I set out to write a positive, Beatlesque tune. For anyone who knows me at all, it won't come as a surprise that anything I write can quickly turn around and end up sounding like vintage #PetShopBoys. So I embraced the turn of events, and this is where we ended up.
I hope you like PSB as much as I do!
#theTMO2025Challenge #musicproduction #newmusic #musician #songwriter #synthpop #retrowave #pop #positive
A few days ago, @defaultmediatransmitter suggested I should post some Bonkwave. Bonkwhatnow?? Naturally I was curious.
"Just make something and call it bonkwave," the Media Transmitter said.
So that's what I did; without a clue what Bonkwave might be, I wrote something based solely on the word "bonk".
I have just listened to "real" Bonk, and.. erm, I think I might, in fact, have made retro-bonk. Quelle surprise!
After 21 days of making a track a day in a wide variety of genres, I'm so hyperaware when I'm listening to other music.
I'm listening much more actively and intently than I usually do. And I wouldn't call myself a casual listener by a long shot before this project.
It's an interesting experiment in many ways, for sure. But I have to tone down the ambitions come February - it isn't sustainable at this level in the long run.
Day 21 (Jan 21): THE BIG SCREEN "Many Happy Returns" (EastWest Hollywood Orchestra, OPUS Edition)
Time to bring out the big guns! Here's a big orchestral sound with lots of dynamics and a "finale" quality to it.
I love, love, love building "hero" chords like this in anticipation of a big climax. And orchestral libraries today – man, what a time to be alive and making music!
#theTMO2025Challenge #newmusic #musicProduction #soundtrack #classical #orchestral #score
Day 20 (Jan 20): THEME MUSIC FOR PLANTS "Green Hero"
A nod to Mort Garson, but with less... um, voltage? And I don't know, but I might have stolen the triumphant lead motif from an '80s cartoon theme or something - it sounds familiar.
This was a good opportunity to build some simple analog-style patches for #MassiveX. A slowly evolving friendship, but I'm increasingly using this synth for all my programming, very versatile.
New day, blank template. A tune every day, I said?! What on earth am I going to produce today? No idea! 😅
Day 19 (Jan 19): PROG ROCK, HIGH DRAMA "Endless Blue"
Vocal tracks is one thing (and this one's featuring my own, natural voice - scary!). But a duet between Al Stewart and Scott Walker is definitely NOT what I imagined I'd be doing when I started this project!
It's fun, though – experimenting! And I haven't written pop music in a decade.
Stick around until the end for the "Scott Walker" part!
Day 18 (Jan 18): POLISHING A TURD "Spiral to Hell"
Not even much of a polish, is it? I panicked today - after a stream of well-rounded tunes, I felt the pressure.
Since we're having guests, I thought I'd churn out one of those arpeggiating wallpaper tunes that saturate "relaxing" Spotify playlists. Apparently I don't know how! Tried to add strings, possibly made it worse. Also, no time to mix! Disaster!
It's soon 18:30 – let the guests arrive! 😂
Day 17 (Jan 17): TRIBUTE TO LYNCH/BADALAMENTI "Population 51,199"
No samples were used in this recording! 😁 But it is definitely a tribute to these two men who influenced so many creative people in our generation(s).
I built the arrangement starting from yesterday's template, with that adding some other favourite flavours from my youth. I hope you enjoy the tune.
#theTMO2025Challenge #davidlynch #angelobadalamenti #newMusic #musicProduction #techno #electronicMusic
Day 16 (Jan 16): ITALO DISCO! – "Like a Tiger" (Simmmons SD, #ElkaX, Juno-106)
After yesterday's disco, @gmc suggested that I should do Italo Disco. What an excellent idea! (sorry, it'a a vocal - for now!)
I loved this genre at 15. There are distict phases: The looser, analog feel of the early '80s, and the strict, digital sound of the late '80s - guess what I went for...? 😁
#theTMO2025Challenge #jamuary2025 #italo #disco #italodisco #newmusic #musicproduction #dance
Day 15 (Jan 15): LOVE IN G# MAJOR OR... – "Disco on a Monday"
I always wondered if I could do a '70s #disco/ #soul production with my gear. THAT'S A BIG FAT YES!
I didn't want to ruin the party with my voice, so this is like one of those instr. 12" B-sides made for DJ's.
Anyone who wants to have fun, adding conga solos or anything else are, as ever, most welcome! No reward, apart from my undying gratitude and loyalty 😄