It’s been a couple of months and I’ve written just under half the music required for the first act. It really is taking much longer than I anticipated. I thought I would share some of the music.
It’s quite lively high paced music which I think suits this opera quite well. Quite a high BPM and loud snares which just sound good.
I still want to complete the first act before the New Year. I’m doubtful though. Might be a Jan treat instead…
New upload on YouTube today.
I’ve uploaded a new video on YouTube designed to give a glimpse into the 8-bit opera I am currently writing. You can now see my progress in this continuing project called Blueshift City. It is a music video overture that displays the main characters in the opera. As this is an opera I’m writing, the music is of greater importance than the images, but the imagery still hold significance.
All images and audio were created by me using LSDJ, Sony Vegas and Audacity. I have found these tools to be very helpful and simple to use in my production process.
Feel free to leave feedback and comments as they are always appreciated. I will upload again next month and give an update of how I am progressing in this project. Below are a couple screenshots of the software I used to create my overture.
Using the LSDJ software for audio creation.
Audacity is a brilliant audio capturing and recording software I’ve used extensively
Sony Vegas is a great piece of software to use for video editing.
Second post in the month. Nice.
I’ve written an interactive visual/music ROM for the Gameboy Advance. I’ve called it Splat! It consists of a piece of music you can directly affect by pressing the buttons and the image on screen is also directly controlled by the users decisions. It’s interactive art!
Below is a picture of what it looks like, but to truly understand what it does, you really ought to download and play it 🙂
Download and play!
Such pretty colours
Moving using UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT across the screen triggers new sounds and pressing certain buttons will also cause different sounds to play. I tried to make it as interactive as possible in that respect but still keep a central theme playing.
As ever, here are the controls:
Controls for VisualBoy Advance
As with my last post/ROM, WordPress won’t allow me to directly attach the game to my page so I’ve created a URL that will give you the ability to download and view Splat! Remember, you need the VisualBoy Advance application to open Splat! if you don’t already have it installed.
https://www.box.com/s/udtm7gxe398d7ucvc7vb
This took quite a lot of man-hours to create, I hope you like it. My second ROM for the GBA. Let me know what you think, feedback is always welcome.
It took a long time. A lot of searching through the internet, a lot of lies for well meaning people, dead ends and restricted websites but I got it. A decent book on GBA Programming! It has helped me understand the Gameboy a lot more in terms of CPU usage and registers used. I’ve also gained a new appreciation for the games written specifically on hardware like the GBA. It’s not easy!
I’ve written a Gameboy Advance game where you can listen to the instrumental track and the track with vocals of the first song I uploaded to SoundCloud, Old Mistakes. Below is what it looks like when you download it. Not the prettiest music player around but it gets the job done.
Instrumental Music and Vocal Version of Old Mistakes
In order for you to download and listen you need to have a Gameboy Emulator, like VisualBoy Advance. WordPress doesn’t allow you to upload file types it isn’t familiar with so I’ve had to get a box account and provide a public link for you to download and try it. You need to download both files and open the ROM file I created with VisualBoy Advance.
https://www.box.com/s/flurg7va9mh9lv4nf03k
The controls are below for the VisualBoy Advance emulator.
Controls for VisualBoy Advance
Any issues using the ROM let me know. This is definitely something I am proud of. I’ve written a game (sort of) for a retro hand-held console I adore. Brilliant! Let me know what you think.
It’s been a while. The Olympics has been very distracting lately but I’ve managed to put lyrics to the music for Through The Motions” and upload it to SoundCloud.
I tried to project my voice a bit more in this one, apologies. I’m less offended by my voice than I have been for a while so I brought it further up in the mix. Getting better, right?
In other news, I have been toying with the idea of writing an 8-bit opera. Been researching what it would entail and I think it is possible. It’s the singing in digitised 8-bit that is gonna be the most tricky. It’s easy enough to do but harmonising 8-bit sung voices? That’s gonna take time. In the mean time I hope to finish the Engine Heart web series shortly.
Just uploaded a new track on SoundCloud. Click on the link below to listen. It’s a bit different to the first track I uploaded. It’s a bit different but that low tempo, introspective Synthpop thing is something I am interested in. Thought I’d try to write like that.
Soon there will be a video for the instrumental version of this track uploaded to YouTube and on here. The working title for my next YouTube video is Through The Motions.
The track was written and played on a Gameboy, an 80’s synth and my voice. Enjoy.
Another day another new post. I’m a big believer in the notion that completing something to 80% and having others view it is a million times better than 99% no one will ever see. The idea of just finishing it is an obvious to some, but not so obvious to me way of attempting to be creative.
I’m slowly learning that lesson. It’s not all that easy though. I’ve actually been sitting on the below song for quite a while. Trying to fix the vocals so they are just right, editing the snare and bass drum so they are just right, chorus effects etc. But now it’s all about just getting it out there (in demo version) for everyone. I like the beats SO much more than the vocals. Singing is tricky.
If you’re not too offended by the first couple of lines you may stick it though the rest of the song. (It’s still a demo version!)
Not perfect but still presentable.
Enjoy.
Broken Spares 