Well, I may as well update this blog somehow.
Well, some updates for everyone.
First, one may notice that I redesigned my website slightly. Expect me to gradually implement more changes for the sake of a more appealing experience here. The main reason I post this, however, is about my soundtrack to Amnesia: The Great Work. Both the creator of the mod and I have received a few complaints about their YouTube Let's Play videos being flagged as having copyrighted content, namely, my music, so I feel I need to clear up some things. It is true that I registered the soundtrack with YouTube's Content ID system. However, the videos should not be getting notices to be pulled; all it should do is embed ads for any videos that have the music play loud enough within the video. Even my own videos of the soundtrack on my channel are not immune to this rule (I had allowed them to be claimed by my aggregator) so I do have an idea of how annoying the ads can be. To make matters more complicated, I already contacted my aggregator on behalf of the people who complained, requesting that the content be de-registered with YouTube. Unfortunately, it's been a few days since I sent them an email, and still I have not received a response, making me also question whether de-registering the content with YouTube's Content ID system is even possible. If this is the case, I regret to say to YouTube Let's Players that you'll have to deal with embedded ads for Amnesia: The Great Work. Apologies for this inconvenience, and by all means, contact me if your video was pulled, as that was most certainly not my intent when I made the initial decision. Thank you all for your time. With the permission of Intravenous Software, I present to you the music for the alpha trailer of NeonXSZ. If you like the music, here is the trailer it's for. Well, I've been giving it some thought about my next album since my last blog post in two ways.
First, I'm hoping there will be enough popularity for my next album to have two editions: a download version, and a CD version. Expect two different artists for each edition, if this is the case. The other aspect, however, is the following I have. It appears there's still a bit of trouble getting the word out about my work. I will be planning on resuming email newsletters in the near future, but this also depends on the followers I have already. Therefore, everyone who reads this, I'm asking you to do what you can. Share my pages wherever you feel it's fit. Watch my videos on YouTube. Even sharing just my Bandcamp page could suffice. Links to my most active places are below, those of you who can't readily access them right now. Soundcloud Tumblr YouTube Bandcamp Thank you for reading, and again, expect an email update in the near future. Be sure to support this on Steam Greenlight. I'm liking what I've seen of this game so far, and not just because I'm fascinated by TRON-like atmospheres.
Sorry for my relative lack of writing. Unfortunately, offline matters have caught up with me as of late, so expect this relative lack of music to persist for a few more weeks. As a consolation, here are two of several YouTube videos I uploaded of prior pieces. To clarify what I mean by the subject, synthesizers can be either hardware keyboards, especially in the old days, or computer software. I ask myself which is better, and frankly, I don't know the answer.
Hardware pros: 1. I don't need to worry about a giant amount of computer speed, except when it comes to recording with MIDI, which is more of a sound card issue than actual computer speed. 2. Many people argue the imperfections of hardware can sound better than software recreations. This point applies largely to the recent trend among software developers to recreate classic hardware synths. 3. Legally, I have more freedom to use sounds for whatever I please if the source is from something other than a computer. Software pros: 1. Even much of the most advanced software costs a fraction of the amount for a hardware equivalent. This is especially important for me because of my tight budget. 2. No real latency issues, since the sounds would all come from the same hardware that would sequence them. 3. Having recently replaced the battery for my Roland JV2080, I notice that software tends to be easier to troubleshoot without spending lots of money. In other news, my next synthwave album may have a title similar to this. Don't expect it to be ready for months, however, due in part to possible game music projects. First of all, apologies to everyone for not exactly being that active the past few weeks, which was for reasons not worth delving into... Anyway, today is Valentine's Day. One thing this means is that Change of Clothes has been officialy released on Bandcamp, with iTunes and YouTube to follow. If you're one of the first to read this, and you still don't have something for your special someone, be sure to consider this '80s-style album! The other news is that I am finally resuming writing music again, beginning with an upcoming TRON-esque game currently under the name of Neon. Available genres to write music in may also become a little more diverse, in light of obtaining an electric guitar library known as Shreddage II.
Thank you all for reading. Well, I have recently had an epiphany; namely, that I should take it much easier when it comes to getting paid for my efforts. That being said, I am giving up on finding paid music projects for the time being. To any of my current employers who are reading this, don't worry; I am still committed to your projects. Just don't expect me to join any more for a bit. As a consolation for those who don't follow me on YouTube, here is a video I made using a much better-quality video editor instead of the extremely basic iMovie: |