I maed a techno song. I like it.

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/499135

Next on the docket: MADNESS DAY

Just submitted my latest (and in my opinion, best) animation - a fun little parody of one LazyMuffin. With this release, I think it's as good a time as any to launch the social media networkings of my little studio.

Take a second, and watch my short:

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/599478

Then, add me to your favorites here at NG, 'like' my studio's facebook page and then romp on over to YouTube and subscribe!

I've reached the creative tipping point, and you can expect to see more from me, from here on out!

*YouTube will be a couple days behind the other two in terms of new content (at least this summer) so be patient!

I'm exhausted!

And I only did about a fifth of the work that went into pushing this bad boy through. Really great stuff from everyone involved, it's fun to watch the creative process unfold with a talented team when everyone is running at full speed for a whole weekend.

Check out our submission:

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/598342

And then go watch what other teams did in just 72 hours: http://www.newgrounds.com/collection/nggamejam7

Gonna go nap, now!

Here is some background info on my piece, titled "What If", submitted for the 2012 Represent a Country competition:

I took two approaches to representing Ireland with a song - through stylistic interpretations and through content. The style can simply be summed up as folk music. When broken down further, you see three styles of folk music woven together.

The first is The Ballad, slow and mournful it has sparse voicings to let the message be featured. This style gives way to The Jig, in triple meter, it has almost identical chord structure to the ballad to make the transition flow smoothly, but the faster tempo and lilting style of the jig betrays the message of the piece. Finally, the jig transitions almost abruptly to aDrinking Song, in 12/8 it is a combination of the first two styles in a way, and an antithesis at the same time, almost answering, or at least, reassuring the ballad singer. These three styles are among the most popular within the Irish folk genre, as well as in Ireland in general and I found it much more fitting to pay homage to these styles than to make a DnB or orchestral piece and try to convey their cultural heritage through that medium.

The content itself is pretty straightforward, and is a nod to Ireland's history. Tragic, to be blunt, Ireland's past seems to be a string of conquests at others' hands and failed attempts to reverse these conquests.

Beginning with The Ballad, I tell the story of the Nine Years War which was the first 'modern' conquest of Ireland by the Anglicans (Britons) as well as a battle fought almost 100 years later by the same name, where King William (Protestant, backed by a European alliance) deposed King James II (Catholic, backed by France). He not only established further rule by England in Ireland, but began oppression of the Catholic majority. That's just the first verse. In verse two, the ballad goes on to document the Irish Rebellion of 1798 which was crushed when the British learned of the plan and captured and killed many suspected leaders. Once again, free Irish would not submit to English rule and would stage an uprising, this time during Easter week, 1916. And once again, the uprising would go horribly wrong, this time only lasting a week. The ballad laments these losses and wonders: had any of these battles gone the other way, and Ireland were a sovereign nation, could the pain and bloodshed since have been avoided?

The Jig departs from this in two ways: first it has no words to tell a story and second, it is a dance, so the mood is decidedly more upbeat. I used a descant recorder (in its upper register to emulate a tin whistle) as well as Uliann pipes to give the characteristic sounds commonly associated with Celtic music.

Finally, the Drinking Song wraps up the trio with an answer to the ballad's question: "what if?" Basically, the disposition of a drinking song is to be joyful and raucous since it's sung while, well, drinking! The somber idea that so much turmoil could have been avoided at any point in Ireland's troubled past is shirked with the realization that had anything gone differently, Ireland wouldn't be what it is and neither would Her people. The character and personality developed (by basically going through a thousand years of hell since the Vikings) is what distinguishes the Irish and is valuable to them. And in the end, the drinking song itself would not exist, nor would the group of people to sing it, nor the place or occasion to sing it - if things had gone differently. So, in an act of self-preservation, the song is reminding its singers that they should be thankful that they are singing it. I used lots of reverb to create a 'live' feel of a group of drunk, off-key men singing this at their favorite pub.

All of this comes together to create a thorough, yet succinct, snapshot of Irish culture, right around St. Patrick's Day, too.

Erin Go Bragh!

Dirty thirties, here I come!

I love all these folks with an evil aura and they have 2,310 saves and 461 blams.

So hardcore.

I never really left this place. You never really do.

But now I'm back. Back for realsies. Back in a way where I'll actually be contributing again. Back for good.

I hope.

Ok - it's a fruity name for this post, I know. But I've been thinking of beginnings and endings a lot lately. What I've come to realize in this time is that there never were any real endings. I can't say that about beginnings, because everyone has had a first something-or-other, but what I've called endings lack the feeling of release to me, there's no conclusion. Even parts of me I can't revisit are with me, I carry them around - the good and the bad. So when I look at this transition in my life, I can't help but wonder: how much of the last three years will I carry with me knowingly, and how much will just be there?

For all this rambling, I think I should make my point, and that is I'm moving back to Des Moines after being away for four years. So this new beginning is really more of a welcome back and what I'm 'ending' is what got me here in the first place, and that's not going away. I guess this is just my way of coping with the bittersweet, getting it down in this post.

The good news - I'm moving from a two bedroom apartment (which, don't get me wrong, has been great) into a five bedroom home. This means a dedicated office, with separate practice rooms. To celebrate, I purchased a Genius MousePen 8x6 Tablet to get me started, and I've drawn maps of my recording room, including what I'll need to soundproof it.

All in all, this should mean a bigger output, and not just quantity, quality as well. 'Cause I'll be the first to say: as proud of my submissions as I am right now - I'm kinda sick of them!

Peace, Love and Rugby

AB

My first actual use in a flash work (and not my own, either!).
This is the file, and not a bad piece of work either. Really neat to have this as my next milestone, very encouraging (I could use this right now). Especially neat considering it's only a sample I posted to advertise my services and it's four years old!

Anyway, you should definitely check it out, like I said it's pretty well done (which bodes well for me - not having something in a DailyToon) and this way we strengthen the bond between FP and AP!

Keep on rocking in a free world
AB

I realize today it's been a while since I won anything. I mean anything. And not just door prizes or something where my name is pulled out of a hat, but a competition, something I had invested in.

I really didn't expect to win. And none of that false modesty crap where I kid myself by saying I won't win, when I'm actually thinking about my chances and what I'll do when I win. But just the kind of habitual: "I'm finished. Here it is. Now I'm going to think about something else". For a long time, I had gotten used to the intrinsic value of what I did - how the process could be more rewarding than the product. I hope that hasn't spoiled!

Because ever since about 11:30 am CST, I've been walking on friggin sunshine (pardon the cliche). Thanks to the efforts of regulars like DoobieTimePiece, there are contests that promote and inspire. And once again, I threw my hat in the ring and walked away "thinking about something else". But what was my second choice for the Lullaby contest actually won, and now I'm just finding the words to express my emotions. Feelings I haven't visited in a long time, possibly years, have resurfaced and without rambling on too much longer I want to say 'thank you'.

First of all to DoobieTimePiece, of course for hosting this contest and making it as big a deal as it turned out to be. To all the submitters who gave me a run for my money, and raised the bar for the Audio Portal with their incredible (sometimes intimidating) works. And to the judges, who I still don't have a full list of, so I'll just say thanks to you collectively and avoid forgetting someone!

So if you haven't already, check out the submissions (full list here) and leave some comments. I personally love hearing from you, and that's another way to keep making things here that much better!

Thanking you in advance
Adam-Beilgard