2 months ago

I posted my first piano pieces, "Scale Of Time" and "Goodbyes", a short improvisational loop and piece just to test the waters, seeking for feedbacks. I love playing music, BUT would it be appreciated enough by others to be worth a try at distributing it more widely?

At first I was thinking about using these two pieces as entry into NGUAC and NGADM. I was not expecting much, but it was received quite well, better than anticipated despite low count of listeners. I'm very often doubtful of how others might receive my music no matter how I'm feeling about it while playing or how I appreciate the end result. I think it's very common for artists this feeling of inadequacy, thinking of a thousand ways the piece could be different, better.

"Art is never finished, only abandoned" makes a lot of sense! I have to keep in mind "Do it for yourself no matter what, without expectations, for the love of music, always to satisfy your own senses, not the other ones'" And if it happens that people connect through your music, then it is an authentic connection, without pretentions, because the creation was not meant to please, just to be real... Oh well ok enough of this armchair psychologist thingy! 

After some considerations, realizing that the previous pieces might not be long or consistent enough to be on par with the quality of other contestants' entries, I decided to record something longer, a bit more complex and lively for the contests with "Hopeful Innocence".

This is where I had to face reality that my sound quality was no there yet. I failed to enter the NGADM due to poor production score, caused by a low sound quality. It was too thin, lacking low frequencies, had not enough reverb. Shout out to @AED-4 for the constructive feedback! One step at a time, towards the best sound I can get out of my mixing process.

Now I added more of a room effect with amplified reverb, I reworked panning/stereo imaging, tuned EQ and compression on each 4 mics, added low frequencies for a fuller sound, I think the mix is better than it was in the past versions. If anyone notice anything, good or bad, feel free to comment or send me a DM! 

Positive news on the other side, first I was accepted into the NGUAC!

Being in the Underdog bracket surely helped a little bit facilitate the process. But I'm in!

I recently worked on a piece with 13/8 time signature, "Struggle" for the 13 8 contest and the NGUAC knockout round. Results pending! To my greatest surprise this piece was front paged! Thank you very much to whoever thought of giving it such spotlight, I'm very grateful!

It was received quite well but now with a lot more listeners, it truly helps dissipate doubts I have about sharing my music. I've always been playing just for me as a kind of therapy, to feel better, to find solace. Based on positive comments from relatives first, I thought I should give a try at publishing more widely. NewGrounds is a wonderful community of artists, that is currently helping me greatly to build the confidence I need for the next steps I envision : Distributing an EP or album including new and old material through Bandcamp/streaming platforms, seek for sync opportunities and continue to post stuff exclusive to NewGrounds, add YT/TikTok shorts at some point. 

Thank you NewGrounds, and @TomFulp who became my 9th fan! What an Honor! And everyone who passed by, first scouting me, commenting, giving feedback, voting on my pieces, or adding me as favorite.

It's all little bricks building up in me the will to push further and expand on my musical journey.

Peace

Solacitude