Today, Sept 22nd 2024, is Madness day! In the recent weeks, some good news came along the way, it helped the mood, to get more inspired as well. First, I crafted a couple pieces for Madness Day! I tried to infuse them with a touch of madness :

I placed 6th in the NGUAC contest! It was very nice participating, thank you very much to @TaintedLogic for organizing it, and everyone involved! Also thanks to @Everratic and @50steaks they really helped me a lot to pin point where I had issues in my mix, so I can upload music that sounds better! I'm very grateful for your contribution, it sure has something to do with this placement!! And also a lot to do with getting back into the NGADM Now facing @LucidShadowDreamer which is awesome! The piece that caused all of this :

Now no matter the outcome, I'm very happy with getting to where I am now already! With everything that is gained outside of the participation itself ; Meeting very good people and musicians, getting feedback to improve on weaknesses, discovering skilled musicians, getting a feel of where we stand musically, if we craft something that resonates with others the same kind of way it does for us...

I was mentioned in The Tank Tribune Thank you very much for the mention, what a honor!

I tend to write sometimes too much, but will close it here, with what's coming next?

First I will compose something for the NGADM.

And I will continue to work towards distributing some pieces more widely.

(There is a LOT of things to take into consideration! More than I thought, but learning a lot, getting there!)

The reception of my music is truly beyond any of my expectations, it helps me a lot to gain the confidence required to put some of my music out there more widely! I'm only on Newgrounds for now, but it will change in the future.

I'll always publish stuff here no matter what though! Probably music that will be unique to Newgrounds.

For those who like my piano styles, and want to follow along, well... hit the follow button to get updated! :)

Thank you very much to everyone passing by! I hope you find something enjoyable, or relatable in my music.

Peace! ❤❤❤

Solacitude

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

A little bit about me

For the past 20 years I've been playing piano and keyboard, on and off, sometimes months without it 😥

First 2 years I had piano lessons, 45 minutes/week during high school seasons, and was in the school's orchestra for 5 years.

Then I continued to learn theory by myself and not getting back into sight reading, only improvisation as a therapy for my mind.

I don't know how to describe it, it's a feeling I can't get otherwise, that channels what I feel to the tip of my fingers, and it acts as a kind of liberation of the mind, anxiety turns off, the world disappears, I'm alone in the Universe and find solace... To me this is what music is all about.

Maybe I'm not alone in my solacitude. If you relate, or like my music, then let's get "alone" together!

I don't play music for anything other than make me feel better.

I'm not an academic, I lack in many aspects, but I try to achieve musicality, with relatively simple melodies and harmonies.

Many people told me that I should share it because it made them feel good listening to it.

I thought it would be worth to share.

Cheers! 🥰