incognito wrote:I.think its not.productive. Waste.of time.
And I think you're homosexual.
Shrooblord wrote:And yes, that is just the trick - balancing out the different aspects of one's life with obligations, hobbies and personal joys, be those social life, work, school, art - anything, really. How easy would it be if we could just devote our life to one single thing and get better and better and better at that without having to worry about the rest. But, I think at least, that's exactly the fun of it all - getting things done that need to be done (and getting them done properly, no sloppy-joe'ing this!) and still finding the time to do what's important to you.
Mhm! It's primarily a few small things, such as school, that are keeping me from being content and as productive as I could be. Once those are solved, I'll be high on true lucrative activity!
Shrooblord wrote:By the way, I'd love to be able to listen to some examples of what you did! I've been missing your musical endeavours, lately. Your style speaks to me in a way not many people's do.
Sure, I can share them on Skype if you'd like. They're really not all too special, as I only spent about an hour on each one (production-wise, they're far from perfect). A couple of the tracks that I had to base them off of were rather plain in my opinion (though surprisingly creative for having been written by young students), which shines through in some of the chord progressions. I was also a little bit restricted in certain areas, such as in one of them where I had to create a relatively 'generic dance beat' to go in the background of a house party scene, and another where I had to make the six-minute closing sequence that had to be really up-beat and feelgood, but subdued somewhat. But all in all it was great and, in reality, I was given quite a lot of freedom.
I actually took heavy influence from Demon Days on the production style for them, since the dirty-yet-organic sound seemed to fit well here.
My dream project is still to be given entire freedom to compose for a game or film. Arthias, a project an acquaintance of mine now working at 20th Century Fox is designing, is perfect for me. He loves my work (we met back in 2010), and while the project is on hold now, he said that whenever he gets around to starting it up again, he's pulling me right back on board. I don't know when that will be, as it's been on hold for years now, but he updates his portfolio now and then with new concept artwork for it, showing that he's still very passionate about it, which I'm very happy about. It's the first and only other project I've ever joined that I've not lost a single gram of interest in, even after so many years of waiting. Out of all the people on CryDev, this guy has a vision.
Shrooblord wrote:+ I'm getting better at piano with every frantic song I practice. I'm purposely picking out intensive Japanese songs I like (such as Senbonzakura and most recently Marisa Stole the Precious Thing) and practicing them until I'm satisfied with what I can achieve. It's especially useful for finger techniques since Japanese electronic music, moreso than what I'm used to from Western music, is incredibly frantic at times, yet not unplayable. Hitting all those notes correctly at high speed gives me an incredibly satisfying feeling.
Oh, please record some of your playing! Reading this makes me so excited for when you, Tomek and I meet up, it's great to hear how well you're doing!
Shrooblord wrote:- I'm still crap at switching styles. I have this tendency to fall into one particular style of playing, be it a certain set of chord progressions, a specific sort of harmonies, etc., and then not switching from that style until I find a new style to fall into.
Don't worry, this is really common, a trap I fall into often as well - though, this trap isn't necessarily an all-bad thing. I have a style I've retained for the last six or so years that I've formed, it's generally some kind of neo-Romantic, impressionistic, partially-Rachmaninoff epic with some minimalism and mild elements of jazz harmony infusion, if I had to describe it in a sentence, but it isn't as weird or cool as that description sounds. In the last year or so however, I've started branching out a bit more especially in regards to harmonies, essentially expanding my improvisatory palette.
Shrooblord wrote:The least happy I am with my basslines, which are, nowadays, basically just chords' root notes (in octave) and their fifths.
I rarely use those (usually referred to as Power Chords), but when I do, I usually use them low down, not low enough to the point where they sound muddy, but just low enough so that the frequencies blend together in a crisp, brooding way. Interestingly, I would have probably ended up using them like you do if I didn't happen to have large hands, which allow me to easily strike tenths and elevenths. My typical fallback for a bassline is 1-5-10, or 1-5-8-10, which both luckily contains all three notes in a triad, so it gives a very full sound. However, aimless repetition of methods is never the best someone can do, so I empathise with you greatly!
Shrooblord wrote:+ However, I have my off moments where I create a new song that's completely different and it makes me all the more excited about thinking of it, because it'll be so 'outside' my then current paradigm.
Same here actually, in fact, I think most of the things I've written just came out randomly and sound very different than what I would normally improvise or try. That isn't to say one is better than the other, it just happens to be that way. Oftentimes I'll then play around with the style of the new thing I've created and familiarise myself with it.
Rulez wrote:I've been working on a full cover of Unintended in D (live at Wembley), I think I did well with the drums and organ. I've finally learned the whole thing on guitar so I'll record that today. I actually wanted to record the piano (in place of the vocals) today, but that slightly didn't work out. I've still got a week though!
I've been such a dick lately, but it's all done now!
