It's been over two months, but I'm mostly unburied from commission work!
I seem to struggle with commissions simply because I have lots of crazy ideas that I want to try and more often than not, the client wants things "safe". No shade on them, that makes the most sense if you are making a thing to sell. Just sometimes I get a bit lost in the sauce and I need to scale things back.
Got hit with some nasty burnout last week so I've been taking it easy and preparing for the Two Hour Album Challenge event that starts in a few hours. I'm hoping that April gives me a chance to really get back into the swing of things!
I've attached two songs to this post and more are on the drive for you to check out:
Looking Back - I wrote this one as a break from doing commission work. This is another jazzy, very Abstraction-style track. I love the middle bit where things get huge and sparkly. This one might also go on the next Cuddlecore album along with Where Did I Leave My Phone? from last month.
Highway Hypnosis - This is a track for Quiet Spaces, Volume 5. I'm not sure if I'll be able to hit my early May deadline, but I have 4 (of 8) songs in varying states of completion. I like this track a lot. This really makes me feel like I'm driving at night while tired.
Neon Blue OST Main Theme - Commission that takes some of the elements from the Vaporwave Jazz track from last month.
Pocket Playground OST Main Menu - Been trying to focus more on melodic work lately and this was a good exercise to take some simple things and expand on them.
PHAT OST Welcome to the Show - This project is really fun. This game embraces the 90s feel and I'm really trying to lean into the rock/industrial feel of video games from that era. The developer knows a guitar player who owes him some favors so I've been working to get some real guitar work with my instrumentation. It's been a fun process! I have another song from this project that is 90% done, so you'll get to hear it next month!
Plans for April
My primary focus is to get back to writing music for myself again. The big blob of commissions I was chewing on is done. I still have work to do with some (3 songs for PHAT, 4 songs for Pocket Playground), but those deadlines are far more flexible.
Main goal is to get back to the Famitracker collaboration (the person I'm working with has been very patient, which I appreciate) and finish up Quiet Spaces, Volume 5. After that, it's more about compiling albums from music made last year and making new stuff.
I also spent quite a bit of time in March getting more comfortable with game development in Godot and have been working on a game. I have a list of features and bugs I need to get to, but hopefully can get a playable version out there in a month or two.
Thank you!
Doing the commission stuff is rewarding, but tough. I'm looking forward to getting back to doing my weirdo stuff again soon :)
We got snow here last night (fitting for April 1st), but it should be warmer weather again soon. I think Spring is usually where I get some of my best stuff done. Plus it's my birthday month, so it's going to be fantastic!
Have a wonderful month, I'm off to donate to some cats 😺
-b