Flashback to Halloween 2020. Emerging from the height of lockdown, I challenged myself to begin working on one of my most ambitious writing projects to date.

Tick: A Short Musical is the start of that project. Inspired by Edgar Alan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Tick is the first of five original short musicals that comprise the full-length anthology musical The Sublime Method. This is a labor of love as a writer, a composer, an actor, and an arts educator.

Tick is designed for flexible and inventive casting. There are two principle characters that can be played by anyone. One role sings; the other role does not. If you wanted to get creative and add in a full chorus, an onstage rock band, or other observational or framing characters, you’re welcome to.

Plotwise, the young assistant to a wealthy businessman becomes obsessed with their boss’ unclosing eye. Tick is their recollection of what happened. You can listen to the songs on Spotify or really any digital platform:

This rock/horror musical in four songs is designed to be shuffled around with soon to be released adaptations of other Poe stories.

Today, I finally got the first complete, stageable arrangement for piano/vocal/bass ready to go in sheet music form for “Trust (Nerves).”

There are two different packages available over at Ko-Fi.

First is the sheet music pack. This gives you the piano/vocal/bass arrangement of “Trust (Nerves),” including the individual sheets for piano, vocal, and bass.

Second is the XML and Musescore pack. This gives you the digital XML and Musescore files so you can transpose, cut, and rearrange “Trust (Nerves)” however you need to.

Purchasing either version gives you individual performance rights to the song. That means you can publicly perform “Trust (Nerves)” separately from the rest of Tick: A Short Musical. You can also use the song for auditions or educational purposes. If you want to record a cover of the song for commercial release, contact editor@sketchingdetails.com.

Both listings are for digital files.

The remaining songs will be arriving over the next two months. More chapters of The Sublime Method will soon follow.