Something’s Missing

And unlike Mr. Mayer, I know exactly what it is.

Yup, while I was practicing on my guitar – y’know, plucking away at the strings to add a little snap to the song – the string just decided to give way.

Sad part is I wasn’t plucking THAT hard. Oh well, I suppose I have had the same strings for a few years now…

Anyway, keep an eye out, I’ve been trying to shoo off my inner music nazi system and get back to work on some tunes. The battle has been kinda rough lately, but I’m getting more and more ideas flowing back in as we speak. Additionally I’ve got my eye on a site called BandCamp, and I may just start selling a couple of tracks pretty soon.

But again, that’s if I can get the musical Hitler in my head to shut his trap about all the really good ideas I’m coming up with and vacate the area. (I’m way too young to be this critical of my tunes!)

Well, today’s drumming day, so I guess I better get back to work so I can be all set for tonight.

The sky’s the limit!

A New Expirement

I think it’s safe to say I’ve been just a little inactive, right?

Well, in case you are wondering what I’ve been up to, I’ve recently taken up drumming as well as the electric guitar. Granted, I haven’t been eating up every hour of my time with either new form of music, but with my new school year and job, I’m a little pressed for time.

But really, though, things are going great! So great, in fact, that I’m honestly considering the possibility of putting together my own band. Right now I’m trying to get everything figured out so that I’ll be all set should this pan out, so for the time being Soundragon is still riding solo. But that could change as time goes on.

While I’m at it, how about some pictures of my new gear? It’s not much but I’ve recently acquired two new instruments – a drum set of my own as well as a darumbalek. (No, I don’t know how to spell that, thank you for asking.)

My Drum Set. It’s an old Royce PROcussion, with two Paiste PST3 Cymbals (a 16″ crash and a 20″ ride), and a 14″ Paiste Alpha hi-hat set from EBay. Don’t worry, I’m gonna keep adding more to it!

My new Darumbalek. This thing sounds absolutely awesome! I’ve definitely got some plans for this bad boy…

The sky’s the limit!

A Little More Organized

After a little confusion here and there from the multiple projects I currently have on my hands, I recently decided to put a new iPad app to good use. It’s a nifty little thing, going by the name of “Reminders”. Ever since I began using it, my work efficiency has increased by 50% at the very least. Thank you, Apple!

In addition, I reorganized the site here and there. Have you noticed the changes yet?

My New Social Network Pages + YouTube Hub!

I have recently decided to expand my media venues to include both Facebook and Twitter! You can check out the tweet feed on the bottom of the site, or you can click the links below to Follow me and Like me on Twitter and Facebook!

 

DragonOfSound on Twitter

Soundragon on Facebook 

 

Additionally, I have also created a separate YouTube page specifically for my musical creations, as well as some tutorial videos, if all goes according to plan.

 

DragonOfSound’s YouTube Channel

 

 

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In other news, I have recently registered and have been attempting to keep an eye out for Music Composition jobs on a Freelancer website. At this time there does not appear to be any, but I am hoping that I will be able to locate one and apply, if I meet the necessary requirements. Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

Preparing for another possible project + Logic Express

I may begin work on yet another project soon.

I have recently been in talks with a fellow YouTuber about composing music for his game, which he plans to take to Imagine Cup 2012.

The details are still being worked out, and it might not pan out according to plan. But if all goes well, I will have a new project on my hands.

Which would provide a good opportunity to learn the different elements in Logic Express, which I ordered a day or two ago. I am quite excited, and I hope that it will allow me to take my music to the next level.

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I also have a new song to share with you, which I composed as a part of the Nexus Project.

Click here to give it a listen!

For this song I was told to create a fitting theme centered around an icy shipwreck within a cold world known as the A.R.E. Facility. I also included a bit of a plug to one of my other songs, can you hear it? It is played by the clarinet, if that helps to provide a hint.

The Spyro Project is a Go, new Techno/Synth Song

The Spyro Project – a collection of music composed by myself for Ratchet5′s upcoming Spyro fangame – is in full swing! Well… eh, it will be once I get a demo. But for now I’ve created three songs, and uploaded two of them.

As I stated, however, I am waiting on a demo of the game before I create any more tracks. The Theme Song, Homeworld, and Credits music were easy pieces to do, but the worlds are a little more specific. In the meantime I have also created a new Techno/Synth song using the same synth that I used within Blizzard.

You can view all of these in the videos below!

Startup Screen/Theme (The Spyro Project)

http://youtu.be/0MQr02jutvo

Homeworld

http://youtu.be/P_S0TW72VFs

UpLink (Download Link available on my Music Page)

http://youtu.be/IapmDOkTIl8

More tracks, of course, are coming soon!

My Latest Project

I thought I would fill you all in on my latest task.

I happen to be a member of an online community dedicated to fans of the Spyro video game series.

Recently, a member posted that they would begin work on a new fan game featuring the purple dragon, and I offered to compose a soundtrack for the game.

They agreed, but one request was that I create them as .mid files, instead of the .mp3 files that GarageBand typically produces.

To do this, I will be working with CrystalFissure to convert the music into the requested format, since he happens to have a program that can import the song files and export them as such. He has also offered to help with adding segments to the compositions where need be.

I’m looking forward to sharing some previews of the music soon!

In other matters, I have discovered that I am able to use GarageBand normally as long as I do not add a track fade to my music. This has proven to be a bit difficult, but as stated earlier, my hopes are that this issue will be fixed shortly.

My New Song – Composed on an iPad!

Wow.

 

That’s all I have to say.

 

The first time I heard about Apple’s iPad, I pretty much knew they would be making a version of GarageBand for it. Just a year later, they came through with that, and today I would like to share my first composition done completely on my new iPad 2 – using GarageBand for iPad.

 

Click here to listen to/download Rain!

 

I must say this was a blast, and while going past eight software instruments is not currently an option, I’m sure this will keep me busy while I wait for the normal version of GarageBand to work out its kinks…

Problems with GarageBand…

I have some unfortunate news…

 

For some strange reason, GarageBand seems to be having quite a bit of trouble. I have been able to create a couple of new songs, but whenever I try to edit them later on, it simply crashes.

 

I’m guessing this will be fixed soon (hopefully), so maybe I’ll be able to get back to work soon. For now, though, it looks like it’s strictly practice.

 

In the meantime, I’d like to share a project of mine that I worked on recently. I had to use Audio Hijack to record it from GarageBand (since it won’t let me export it) so it ends a little roughly as well as differently than intended.

The title of my new track is “Intensity”. Or at least, that’s it’s temporary codename. I haven’t decided whether or not I will change it later on…

 

“Intensity” Preview/Download Link

 

This track is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Three of the synths, if memory serves me correctly, were done using the Kore Player. It seems to have turned out great results, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be turning to it for use in songs down the road. I created this song for use in a PvP battle instance within a fan project.

 

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My prayers are with those affected by the recent tsunami/earthquake tragedies…

Trying out New Sounds

I suppose the “sounds” aren’t exactly new, and I guess the style is really not that much different than some songs I have done before.

But lately, thanks to a recent composition odd-job, I have been able to try my hand at some Techno/Electronic tunes that I hope will bear resemblance (not too close, of curse) of the music from Tron: Legacy. (Which reminds me, if you enjoy a good movie soundtrack, I highly recommend it. The songs are a tad short but they sound amazing.)

Wish me luck, so far the drafts are coming a little slowly (though they are sounding pretty nice).

In other news, I’m thinking about breaking out the Starcaster again and give it another shot now that GarageBand can help with timing. (My guitar timing is a little off, for some reason.)

Blizzard, my first album I meant to release last year, should be coming to iTunes soon, now that I have finally mustered up some money to put it up for sale. Expect to see links and a sneak preview at the album artwork very soon!