just wondering

woah woah ... this account has been around for TEN YEARS now? I guess if anything calls for some kind of update that does.

So it probably looks like I haven't made any music since 2010, which is because ... basically I haven't. Not to my satisfaction, anyway. However that year or so did see many hopeful start-up projects, some of which I spent more time working on than anything I have completed. Just for fun, let's have a brief overview:

—– "ACID VS. BASS" ————————————————————————————————

A cheap pun I'd been waiting to make for ages eventually found its way as the title of the would-be successor to Vehement Austerity, i.e. a (relatively) fast, (debatably) heavy hardcore/gabber-style track that relies far too much on reversed crash cymbals and highpassed drum loops to achieve any sense of 'flow' because I've never made an effort to give my tracks any kind of background tone or atmosphere to carry them forward in quieter moments.

Begun about a month or so into 2010, I ended up composing as far as a 1-minute introduction (mostly out of elements derived from other projects since I don't actually have the skill to create sounds from my own imagination) before the project file corrupted making it impossible to open.

—– "BLOOD DRAINAGE" ——————————————————————————————–

Another 'hardcore' track which I intended to work on in parallel with AvB. Compared to that project, this was a lot more minimal in scope with an overall 'dirtier' sound, and the structure came together a lot quicker since I was more or less riffing and making it up as I went. UNTIL. I got stuck with this idea for a melody I wanted to work in, even though the track so far had been completely non-melodic in nature. After struggling with ways to mould the track into your typical build-up-then-drop dance structure, I got tired of working on it and stopped.

Since then I've realised what a dumb idea that was, but I haven't properly revisited the project except for some minor tweaks. It's hard to suddenly pick up that stride again.

—– "ACID VS. BASS" (the REMAKE) —————————————————————————–

Eventually I found some tool that let me load my corrupted project with certain plugins disabled, but since I didn't like the meandering intro I'd written any more, I took the opportunity to salvage the key elements and start afresh, getting to 'the point' a lot quicker like Blood Rain Age had done. This project continued to survive for a while, largely I think because it was just retracing the structure of Austere Vehemence with different synths and percussion. In an effort to avoid repetitiveness without just copying the gimmick of that track (automating the main distortion filter to get weird screeching effects from the kickdrum) however, I began automating any obscure control I could find, including compression type, filters (both low and high pass), distortion preamp, flange, phase inversion, panning and so on. Eventually the layers of details became so fine and complex that it was impossible to keep any of it organised, and the task of adding more to the project became increasingly daunting, sapping away my motivation to go near the thing (I think I wrote maybe 20 seconds over the span of 2012). Here's a snapshot to give you an idea:

—– "THE MAN WITH THE MIND OF SPIDERS" —————————————————————–

An idea that came from a friend initially. Was supposed to be some kind of slow pop song with creepy chanting in the background or something, I forget. But I wrote what came to mind and started to get this really kind of subtle, understated breakbeat tune, around the tempo range of Mercury's Devaluation. But much like that track, I found  myself stuck at a part not too far in, where the sounds seem to wrap up too neatly — like I've written my way into a dead end. The only way I found to bore out of it then was to fling the track in a completely different direction, which was noticeably jarring, and I'd like to avoid making the same mistake again. So here I am ...

...... I said BRIEF overview, god damn.

But wait, that's all? What have I been doing throughout the second half-decade of this page's existence? Well actually, if I stop to think about it there's a lot to look back on. Yet somehow, it feels like nothing has changed.

I guess most obviously, I went back to school in '11 and graduated in '12. Since '13 I've been at university, learning how to program, how to write mathematical proofs, how to synthesise black holes and more. In '14 I even took several subjects relating to dramatic music composition and wrote pieces probably far more 'accessible' than anything I've uploaded here, although, with virtually no effort put into production, I wouldn't call them fit for 'publication' here anyway.

That's always been my biggest fault really. I love composing; it's something I do almost automatically every day, whether anything gets written down as a result or not. But I've never had the patience with the tools of production to make something truly worthwhile out of my ideas. I haven't stopped broadening my tastes and listening to new types of music either, but in some ways that makes it worse: there are so many ideas that could be appealing to work on, so how do I pick one thing to get good at? Fun fact: most of my earlier tracks were submitted at a time when I only had one (conscious) musical influence.

That's it. Now enjoy this helpful picture I found on some Dutch forum:

mm.

mmmmmmmm

Well, it's not looking likely that I'll finish any music this year either, which is certainly a shame if you happen to be one of the 0 people who care. I have, however, retroactively submitted some tracks back into early 2009, so if you'd like to take a look at my updated Audio list, I'm sure the added bulk to the brighter years makes my decline into inactivity seem even more tragic.

On the less pseudo-depressive hand, this development signifies the first time so far that I've actually been impressed by the site redesign. Huge, irritatingly shiny interface elements notwithstanding, the standardised "Project" page for all submissions really makes the system more comprehensive and useful (how long I've waited for multiple audio credits), and, I'm sure, more appealing to professional content-producers, pretending for a second that any decent producer would step afoot in a site as juvenile and spam-infested as this.

I'm only really making this post to put something new on my page, considering everything I wrote here before my 2-year-ish absence now looks embarrassingly pathetic. I even made a new account for myself in case I want to start afresh someday, but by the time that day comes, I'll probably be over Newgrounds altogether.

For now, I take my leave once again.

This is.

.
/* */

Update: ... HUH? I did two fresh installations of the program, one keeping my settings, and one clearing them to default. The latter one doesn't have this glitch. So it must be my doing. =/

I shall look into this further ...

Update 2: RESET PLUGINS ON TRANSPORT
A little switch in the Audio Settings I had turned off for some reason, presumably to make it run faster. THAT'S WHAT WAS CAUSING THIS WHOLE BLOODY PROBLEM.

Ignore the crap about different versions and exporting in the following wall of text, please.

- - - Original Post - - -

It's served me well over the past three years. But as I've been getting to know it, certain features have been starting to piss me off.

Version 9 of Image-Line's FL Studio was released on 9/9 last year. I was excited at first, before seeing - and hearing - the changes they'd made.

First of all, the UI was changed dramatically. The playlist had each row of the clip section divided into "tracks", which could be muted and named, to help people using the clip system arrange their work more easily. While this is probably a good thing, the main difference is that this system is gradually becoming dominant over the pattern block-based system. The option to have the block section on top is now gone, and for me, this really does a lot of damage. MY WHOLE WORLD IS UPSIDE DOWN.

The real killer, though, is that when I load an old project from FL8 into the new program, some samples soundcompletely different. This is because the stretching method (Elastique) has been modified, but why wouldn't you also keep the original option? So since it's somewhat lacking in backwards compatibility, I don't use FL Studio 9.

So, what's my problem? I recently found that certain "sweeping" effects, such as phasers or flangers (and even the phase of some synths' oscillators) all sound slightly different every time they export, because for some reason the starting phase of the sweep LFO has been randomised. The thing is, I remember clarifying that they did not do that, and that every time you played your song, the output would be the same.
Well apparently it was that way, in the previous version, FL Studio 7. And it is also that way in version 9. So if I want my music to not come out randomly, I have to open my FL8 project in FL9, and export it from there.

See the problem yet?

So, next time I want to export a song properly, I need to export all the samples with time stretching on them separately in version 8, THEN apply the effects and do the final render in version 9. However, the latest version has proven to be glitchy in more ways than one, so I may have a difficult job ahead of me.

I can't downgrade to version 7; I'd lose more than I'd gain. I want my own "perfect" program ...

Oh, and here's a picture to illustrate my point about phase randomness:

In the 'mericas. Here it's 11/01/10. But it does happen to be 11:11 PM as I write this.

In other news, I've been working on a small project for LegendaryPope which ended up being 50 seconds of cool(?) musicness. You can listen here.

PICTURE UNRELATED

OK, so I just made my first submission for 2009, right down in September. Listen here.
It's not actually my first; I've done two collaborations with my good friend HNI, who now likes to be known (music-artist wise) as Gunsynth. They will be listed below.

March - Caustic Redemption (Trance/Hardcore)

September - Adamant Subdivision (Hardcore/Gabber)

I'm happy to do collaborations with anyone reading this who happens to be interested! I would love to get to know some more music artists on Newgrounds!

Yep, that's all from me.

Update: Mercurial Divarication is now on YouTube!

Again Update: Gabrar.

Things have happened since the last post. Many boring things, that to go into any detail with would cause your face to explode and your brain to leak out over your keyboard. Y'know, that idea kind of appeals to me. =P

Firstly, no thanks to Google, I found my first ever submission to Newgrounds, which I made when I was a wee little lad of eleven. The eulogy can be found here.
Just so you know, it's totally not worth watching. I might upload it to SpamTheWeb or something for the lulz, but not now because I'm lazy and my internet is slow.

I am working on some new music, as well as Flash and art, which you can expect to be released some time next millennium. The music, however, should be finished soon, but as with EVERYTHING I try to create, I constantly run into obstacles slowing me down, namely not having the skills to make exactly what I want. D= I was working on another collaboration with HNI up until I was distracted by another solo project that I'm also trying to complete... Ugh.

If your face hasn't exploded yet, then I do congratulate you. You will be rewarded when I can be bothered. In the meantime, you can look at this new logo thing I made recently. Because I care.

For the greater good, I present the innocent players of this game with the Cheat's Guide, guaranteed to get your life back in 2 hours at most!

First, some preparation. Download a free trial of Speed Gear, a program you can easily find by Google-searching. Set the speed to 256x, set Firefox (or whatever your browser) as the target and AFTER opening OCD+, click apply.

K. - 50 pts
This is really self explanatory. Don't forget to release K after the 20 seconds or so. XD

SHOW CONTESTANT - 50 pts
You don't really need Speed Gear for this, but it'll make it a fair bit quicker. Mute your sound, because that button click is *really* annoying. Press Tab, then hold Space or Enter for a few seconds and watch the counter fly down! 2 down, 4 to go!

WAR HERO - 50 pts
For this one, again make sure you have Speed Gear on max, then simply leave the game running for about 8 minutes. After 14 "hours" have passed, you'll see a message saying:

"E.T.A. One more hour. Hang in there, buddy."

Aren't you glad you're not doing this the hard way?

HUMAN TEST SUBJECT - 100 pts
This is the tricky one. Go into the settings of Speed Gear, and set a couple of keyboard shortcuts. I set Z as the hotkey for the Default Speed, and X as the hotkey for Custom Speed 1, which will be the speed you are using, preferably the maximum.

This game is supposed to take 3 days in total. With luck it should take you about 10 minutes. Copy this code - 04 18 40 39 2 - and paste it into the computer which will appear every 204 min... sorry, every 48 seconds. Slow down to the default speed when the computer appears, otherwise you'll miss it. Paste in the code, and repeat this about 10 times. Even with Speed Gear this gets a bit tedious. Keep yourself sane by counting down the amount of times you have to do it.

THE PIANIST - 100 pts
100 free points! Honestly, you don't even need Speed Gear for this. Just copy-paste the following wall of text:

Language is a term most commonly used to refer to so called 'natural languages' - the forms of communication considered peculiar to humankind. In linguistics the term is extended to refer to the type of human thought process which creates and uses language. Die wichtigsten Baustoffe fur Brucken waren bis zum 19. Jahrhundert Stein und Holz. So bauten im 6. Jahrhundert vor Christus die Babylonier unter Nebukadnezar II. Brucken aus Zypressen - und Zedernholz. Den Bau von Bogenbrucken aus Natursteinen oder Beton beherrschten schon die Romer, wie das Pont du Gard heute noch eindrucksvoll belegt. La Terre ainsi que les autres planetes du systeme solaire se sont formees il y a 4,57 milliards d'annees a partir d'une nebuleuse solaire, masse de poussieres et de gaz en forme de disque detachee du Soleil en formation. Initialement en fusion, la couche externe de la Terre s'est refroidie pour former une croute solide et l'eau a commence a s'accumuler dans l'atmosphere. La Lune s'est formee peu de temps apres, sans doute a la suite d'une collision avec un objet de la taille de Mars (quelquefois appele Theia). Con la parola inglese film (letteralmente pellicola, italianizzato in filme o filmo durante il fascismo) si vuole indicare principalmente, in senso stretto, il prodotto tipico dell'industria cinematografica, ovvero quello formato da una sequenza di immagini dette fotogrammi incise su una striscia di poliestere o di triacetato di cellulosa (la pellicola vera e propria) da proiettare ad una velocita tale (24 fotogrammi al secondo solitamente, ma ne bastano 12 per ottenere l'effetto) che possano rendere l'illusione ottica del movimento tipica del cinema. Actualmente en la Tierra, los fenomenos meteorologicos regulares, tambien llamados meteoros climaticos incluyen viento, tormentas, lluvia, nieve, y granizo, que ocurre en la troposfera es decir en la parte mas baja de la atmosfera. El tiempo cambia movido por las diferencias de energia recibida del sol. Debido a los angulos con que la luz del sol inciden sobre la tierra, se calientan de forma distinta las diferentes partes del planeta. Dit is de plek waar de gebruikers hun flash kunnen uploaden. Deze krijgen dan een eigen pagina en worden dan door andere gebruikers beoordeeld met de cijfers 0-5. Op deze pagina kan men ook reviews schrijven. Als de flash nog in het portal is en de score onder een bepaalde grens ligt wordt het 'geblamd'. Dit houdt in dat de flash wordt verwijderd van de server en enkel nog maar een pagina te vinden is met de reviews en het commentaar van de maker, samen met een animatie. Czlowiek rozumny - jedyny wystepujacy wspolczesnie gatunek z rodzaju czlowiek zamieszkujacy cala Ziemie. Czlowiek anatomicznie wspolczesny powstal 200-150 tysiecy lat temu w Afryce. Mniej wiecej 100 tysiecy lat temu dotarl na Bliski Wschod, ok. 60 tys. lat temu do Australii, a prawie 40 tys. lat temu do Europy (byl to tzw. kromanionczyk, czyli czlowiek z Cro Magnon - od nazwy stanowiska archeologicznego we Francji). Ples je vrsta izrazanja, umetnosti in zabave. Ples je govorica telesa, ki se izraza skozi ritem glasbe in lahko predstavlja stil clovekovega zivljenja, kajti z vsakim gibom se v clovekovi dusi ustvarja zadovoljstvo. Ples je del kulturne izobrazbe vsakega posameznika in je kultura posameznega naroda. Ples je tudi umetnost in hkrati sport, v katerem se prepleta usklajenost dveh ali vec teles. Tieteessa luonnon tutkimus jakautuu elollisen luonnon tutkimukseen eli biologiaan ja elottoman luonnon tutkimukseen eli geotieteisiin, sisaltaen maantieteen, geologian ja meritieteen, hydrologian ja limnologian etta meteorologian seka tahtijarjestelmien ja maailmankaikkeuden tutkimuksen, kasittaen tahtitieteen, fysiikan ja kemian. Geologinen ajanlasku jaottelee maapallon historian vaiheita maapallon synnysta alkaen. As die wereld se derde grootste nasie (totale area), het die Verenigde State 'n baie wisselende landskap: gematigde woudland aan die ooskus, mangrovewoude in Florida, die Great Plains in die middel van die land, die Mississippi-Missouri rivierstelsel, die Rotsgebergte (Rocky Mountains) wes van die vlaktes, woestyne en gematigde kusgebiede wes van die Rotsgebergte en reenwoude in die noord-weste. Die vulkaniese eilande van Hawaii en die pool-gebiede van Alaska maak die geografiese diversiteit net nog groter. Ang mga lumad sa Sugbo gitawag nga mga Sugboanon. Sagad kanila naggikan sa mga tawong Austronesyano samtang may uban usab nga may kagikang Espanyol ug Intsik. Ang mga Kastila ug Intsik may dakong papel sa ekonomiya ug politika sa Sugbo. Daghang mga aspeto sa kulturang Kastila ang makita pa gihapon sa Sugbo. The term gay was originally used, until well into the mid-20th century, primarily to refer to feelings of being 'carefree', 'happy', or 'bright and showy'; it had also come to acquire some connotations of 'immorality' as early as 1637.

Whuh, imagine typing that out!

JOHN LOCKE (Secret Medal) - 10 pts
Last, and least. Go back to 208, the Human Test Subject one, and copy-paste THIS code instead: 4 8 15 16 23 42
You only have to do this once, and then you're done! Phew, now you've got your life back.

Very deep apologies to anyone who actually did any of these games the hard way; it must be frustrating to see an almost no effort guide appear, but I'm doing this for the greater good. After all, this game is evil.