It's been one of those months where you look back and realize time really played tricks on you. I feel like Tito had his surgery months ago when it was really weeks. It was an immensely packed month with a game jam and metadata overhaul, big game release, and I pushed multiple albums to distribution. I am also hosting the Two Hour Album Challenge this weekend, which is always fun, but can take up a lot of time.
November is also the album in a month challenge, which I am looking forward to. I've had an idea kicking around for nearly a decade that I want to try.
Currently, I'm working on finishing up Season 23 for distribution. I'm doing all the dreaded paperwork pretty much right after I finish writing this. That should be going live in early December, so it's nice to be a bit ahead again.
I have also been working on a remix for a friend that I will likely finish soon. She does great work in the more upbeat electronic space and it's been a ton of fun working with her project. I'll definitely share it here! We have been talking about doing a collaborative EP together under the Try Hard Club group name at some point soon too.
Last night I started looking into a VST called Decent Sampler, which emulates the functionality of Kontakt without the $500 paywall. I know not everyone here is a music maker, so it's a bit more of a niche update, but I am excited to work with it more. My sample packs on Gumroad have been a useful source of passive income. Usually $20-$40 per week, but still, that's better than nothing! Thinking about renovating my existing Kontakt libraries and making a few new sample packs to show it off more.
I tested things last night with a pack that my drummer friend Mark Powers sent me a few weeks ago which featured cymbal stacks. Lots of really neat sounds in here. You can see my progress in this video (link to download an MP4 file from Discord). It's a bit basic, but the functionality is there!
But this month's projects are pretty light overall. I want to focus on house projects. Here in Minnesota we only have a few really good months to be outside and get stuff done and I want to capitalize on that. Still plan the weekly songs, of course, but other priorities might get shifted a bit in preparation for Winter months.
Thanks as always for your support! It's been a year with a lot of changes, but I'm so glad we can make this journey together. Off to donate to some kitties :)
-ben