Watch me write a (retro) song based on random notes submitted by Patreons & see how YOU can go from nothing to a finished instrumental retro #80s #chiptune styled or otherwise. With the help of the Commodore 64 SID chip of course! Made possible by our friendly sponsor http://PCBWay.com – great PCBs from $5!

? Piano version free to supporters: http://perifractic.com/support
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• Watch Part 2: https://youtu.be/XElApr_VRx0

RECIPE INGREDIENTS*
• Insidious: https://impactsoundworks.com/product/insidious
• Casio Privia Keyboard: ??https://amzn.to/3nFEtMn | ??https://amzn.to/2KsTjYh
• The Lost Years music video: https://youtu.be/AfUBF6vMYDg
• Roland T-shirt: http://www.nerdity.co.uk

MENU
00:00 Intro & context
02:26 My two methods
04:09 Verse
07:16 Middle-8 (A)
11:39 Middle-8 (B)
14:21 Chorus
15:44 Recap
16:39 Finished song!
18:46 Conclusion & C64

CHEERS TO
• All the Patrons for unwittingly contributing the letters that shaped what this song would & wouldn’t be! #songwriting
• Gardenside Prods. & Clue Detectives & Paradise Radio
• Special thanks to Ladyfractic & Puppyfractic:

? Get a discount on Puppyfractic’s featured collar fitness/GPS tracker at & a free Bark Box at *

SAUCES USED WITH THANKS
https://flypaper.soundfly.com/write/scaffolding-song-structure/
http://blog.flat.io
• Wikipedia & Wikimedia Commons
• The Internet Archive
• Every attempt was made to contact copyright owners before including content. Very occasionally things can get forgotten in the excitement to release a video so please don’t hesitate to let me know if that is the case & I’ll put it right. All other media featured is marked as public domain on Google Images or used with written permission or shown under fair use law.

? With free Tesla supercharging/discounted solar your better half can afford to buy you more retro gear!*:

SOME INGREDIENTS BY
http://MattGrandis.net – website design
http://twitter.com/_GazMarshall – some graphics
http://youtube.com/Elwoz – colour palette cleanser
http://PaulKitching3d.com – some 3D models

©? All music & content copyright Perifractic’s Retro Recipes/Bideas LLC 1988-2020. All rights reserved.

*Some links may offer some peanuts to support this retrochannel but all opinions are 100% unbiased.

#retrogaming #retrocomputing

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24 Replies to “How to write a song! Easy random note songwriting technique for beginners | Songwriting 101 tips”

  1. Impressive work, Peri. You should see if you could do a collaboration with Techmaster P.E.B. He makes electronic/“bass” music and I think the two of you could create some amazing songs! Your style would complement his very well. He’s also from the UK originally, now living in Florida.

  2. Do you use a daw and create your own music with a midi controller keyboard/ hardware/ software synths/ instrument vsts?

    If so, I'd love to see a vid of all that some day, because it has become my #1 passion! ?

  3. I picked the violin to play when at school, mainly because it would fit under my arm when walking home, unlike a piano. Playing random notes on a violin tends to get complaints rather than praise. Maybe i should start to teach my self piano.

  4. This is such a beautifully done composition! I'm not much of a composer, but I can transpose songs to the Commodore 128 using BASIC. I just finished transposing the theme to "Mr. Bean" to the C128.

  5. Hello from Southern Indiana! I'm working on building a retro gaming system based on raspberry pi 4 so I was browsing videos and saw your video of restoring a machine and playing empire strikes back then I heard the backing track towards the end which was amazing. I started searching and realized it was music from you and I have been really happy to find more of your music and then this video. Great stuff, really enjoying the discovery. The bits of humor thrown in are really great as well.

  6. Really curious now what would happen if we locked @retro and Machinae Supremacy in a dungeon fitted with a recording studio and a few SIDstations

    Until then 10/10 makes a great sound I'd love to hear in a retro jrpg sometime. Even a little Nobuo-like in places

  7. This is just amazing! I've always been so fascinated by how people can use the artistic medium of music to take melodies that only existed in their mind (or perhaps in a list of random notes) and turn it into a full composition for others to hear. I have several friends/acquaintances who are musicians, from chip tune composers up to making albums at Abbey Road Studios, and I am consistently blown away by what they can do. This music you made here is really pretty, and I'm so looking forward to hearing the SID version! BTW, there's something in the pre-chorus of this piece that slightly reminds me of the pre-chorus in Classical Gas.

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