It started before we even knew we started it, because Dan had posted a good bit of music with a dramatic feel on G+. We grew up using music as a way to energize, like a lot of people. Role-playing geeks even more so, you grow into the habit of making stories -- or, rather, stay in the habit, as many children do this naturally yet somehow it starts losing its cool during adolescence. Soon enough, though Jeff chimed in. With pretty much a cannon-shot.
I'm glad and a little irritated at the result of looking it up. Because the result is a multi-thought pileup in my headspace highway. I usually like those, but let me list them out. You'll see why I got irritated. The post "this is why I'll never be an adult" mirrors some of the unfortunate cycles of my creative life. The meme – not the way the article features it but the way the meme has used the phrase "ALL THE THINGS" resembles the reason for this cycle in both fortunate and happy and unfortunate and unhappy ways.
One of the things I've decided in making a custom synthesizer is to re-describe the envelope. There are quite a few different envelopes out there, but nearly all of them are embellishments on ADSR: Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release.
Mine is the standard envelope, but the three time measurements are redescribed: Legato, Reverse, Sustain, and Extend.
There is one software synth I got as part of a bundle that I've been intrigued by. Intrigued and intimidated. The manual for most of them is a jaunty short poem compared to the multiple tomes that make this manual, only one of them printed.
That's because it isn't just a synthesizer. It's an audio electronics sandbox, named Reaktor.
I'm resolving to be intimidated no more and dig into this thing as part of making the next piece of music I do.
I've done too many process-y posts in a row, I thought it was time I left something more content-y.
This is a project I'm hibernating as is but decided to at least share the first chapter of the soundtrack. I may come back to it, I may not. I need to focus on game development.
Nearly done with the first part of a five part music composition. Or, at least the 90% part that's really 50%. There's a plot outline in my head that goes along with all five parts.
There's work to be done on this befoe I'm satisfied with it. I think I'm getting pickier about how I mix and layer things. In a good way.
What is it about me and trying to nail down story ideas for game design. Every time I try to start with a light and simple one, one to three months later they blossom into darker, intenser, and invariably seemingly better and more interesting versions of themselves.
This never bodes well for constraining a project to accomplishable size.
Made a run at composing yesterday evening / today. Nothing but several false starts. Well, I did say I wanted to up my failure rate so that I could get to the better parts involving learning more. This is that.
For whatever it is worth: I've learned not to wait for inspiration to strike. Most of the time inspiration happens, for me, when I'm two or ten hours into working with the tools of creating. Rarely in advance. All my best stuff is usually a detour from where I thought I was headed.
The little jukebox I carry, now considered "old" (from 2007), currently holds 11,101 audio tracks, or an estimated 45 continual days worth of audio.
If I listen for four hours a day on average to this music library and live to an average US life expectancy (read: add forty years to now) I can repeat the entire library at most just over fifty four times. If I'd started when I was born that'd be just over 108 times.
And that's without adding any more, which happens semi-continually.
Moving to the desktop was the right answer. My trusty laptop needs some troubleshooting before I can compose on the go.
Composing music today was one of the best ways I could spend a vacation day. A friend asked for a short piece to use in a creative project, out of the blue. Turned out to have a blast today doing it! I'd post the song for free but I don't want to steal my friend's thunder, we'll see what he does...
