JT Thomas

Inspired by the speech given here, I made a list of some of the basic categories in filk and SCA music, only the very basic stuff but enough that I can have some inspiration to write more music, maybe find where I'm fitting in style-wise. And then I made a bingo card of it.

The list itself, very out of order as of yet: ghost story, lullaby, Arthurian legend, love song, fight song, SCA home group, Robin Hood, Greek myths, Norse myths, Celtic myths, Kiple, space opera, origins of a Disney story, ballad, personal origin story, sailing song, drinking song, scary mythical creatures, funny mythical creatures, traditional lyrics with new tune, traditional tune with new lyrics, favorite holiday, winter holidays, instrumental with a story, revenge, parody your own piece, absolute nonsense, computers, food, sf television / movies, favorite animals, rock song, fantasy television / movies, LOTR, hope for the future, fantasy books, sf books.

My bingo card, via the Bingo Generator here:

traditional tune with new lyrics Here We Come a-Murdering	drinking song Rumblind	Robin Hood	Greek myths	fantasy stories
fight song	ghost story Superstitions (IP)	sf television / movies A Toast to Unknown Trekkies	food	Celtic myths
Norse myths	Arthurian legend	absolute nonsense A Parody is Still a Valid Art Form	LOTR	revenge Trinities
favorite animals Famished Feline's Prayer	fantasy television / movies Elevenses (IP)	lullaby Goodnight Opportunity	love song	funny mythical creatures
hope for the future One Ship More	personal origin story How Did I Never Find Filk For So Long?	computers Hugo Lightfingers (The Anti-Computer Song)	Kiple Law of the Jungle	sailing song A Real Steampunk Story

I'm currently working on I4 (fantasy movie) and G5 (Kiple), with some ideas for a sailing song and Arthurian legend piece. This card will probably last me at least until the end of the year, though.

Update 11/20/18: beginning to put strikethroughs on completed prompts with annotations of which song filled it. Not all are posted by the time of strikethrough, but they exist in draft form which counts as good enough by me.

Update 2/13/19: including partially done ones now, just to keep track. And eek I have a LOT.

Update 3/3/19: first line complete. Working towards blackout now.

...I blame Kanef. (And Cecilia Eng's hydrangeas.) ((And Ysabet's native grasses.)) TTTO Re: Your Brains.

( Re: Your Brains )

So this happened in a Zoom filk circle, just now. Typoed off of "rumblings".

( Rumblind )

 Apparently my four-leaf-clover collecting has paid off. I just got a used Behringer C1 microphone used for $20 and a used Scarlett 18i6 for $70 (a full $200 less than they run for)! Catsitting for my sister over the summer paid off BIGTIME. 

At this rate, it looks like I'll start testosterone sometime this semester, which makes me endlessly smile. So I'm going to just spend every spare minute recording vocals for an album I'm thinking will be ready to put up on Bandcamp sometime around the end of the year. I can play guitar and violin significantly better when I'm not simultaneously trying to remember lyrics, so I think I'll be good. I've written a MASSIVE number of songs that I haven't posted anywhere or sung at any filksings. One whole album of high-voice stuff, then probably never again. That's a delightful thought: have the record of where I came from so I can see how much things change.

Considering I still haven't seen Good Omens, I'm doing a helluva job of filking Tennant's antics in relation to it. Song to be updated if/when I get more verses (aka if/when I hear about more of his antics).

( Tennant Drove a Car On Fire )

 This is an extraordinarily Massachusetts-specific song. Fair warning has been given.
*Unintentional West Side Story. I only caught it on my first time singing the song through.

( Red Light, Green Light )

I don't even know. Less than two hours ago, I started this one, and it's already got music and everything. I'll probably just slap together some recording or another on Twitter tomorrow, with something better over the summer if I'm lucky.

Edit to add: I’m putting a huge content warning on this for existential dread, because yeah. 

( Black )

What did the cat do with my good thumb pick? x3
Early in the mornin’.

• Tossed it under the radiator.
• Put it in his pile of toys to play with.
• Dropped it in the catnip planter.
• Somehow swallowed a piece of plastic.
• Gave it to his brother to hide forever.
• Sent it to a new dimension.
• Dropped it in the nearest black hole.
• Set his time machine to the Big Bang and lost it.
• That should cover all the options.
• Never gonna find my thumb pick now.
• It’s Rooster’s fault that I’ve got a blister.
• Moral of the story is picks aren’t cat toys.

Worst part is it happened at my sister’s house and I won’t be back there for weeks yet.

A month and a half in the writing, with plenty of research thrown in. I wrote out the melody for this back in January; it's got some fiddle stuff to be done, and definitely a guitar line to be written. I'll be doing a bunch of recordings the Monday and Tuesday of spring break, so be ready for those whenever they actually get posted on Youtube. In the meantime, rough draft of the audio is on Twitter here.

( A Real Steampunk Story )
And with that, I've reached bingo on my Bardic card (which I'll definitely keep using until I've got blackout, mind you, and then make another).

Gotta write the melody after class today (update: melody written, will record tomorrow). But yeah. This. Saw it on Twitter and now I'm really sad.

( Goodnight Opportunity )