My brother, game maker, and coding wizz, has given birth to "Loveblimp Industries", a team of two. He's the flash animator/programmer, and I'm the musician. And we'll be represented by a jolly blimp. Rejoice, all! Loveblimp Industries is here, to give you that warm fuzzy feeling inside, then takes it away as you play the awesome zelda themed action adventure, with an epic budget orchestra soundtrack that is exclusive to the game and non-downloadable.
Anyway, my brother's got a university project to make a web page. So it'll feature our stuff, his games, my music, it's going to be great!
Anyway, I just thought I'd like to share that news.

I had begun working on an electronica album a little while ago, a few songs were made, some were below the standards I had set, and so I've put it on the shelf again for the time being. But I still felt like putting together a collection of some sort, just to showcase my best stuff. That turned out to be 7 tracks over the last 4 months out of almost 100 tracks and around about a year playing around with musical composition.
So, anyway, I got together these songs, overall lasting about 20 minutes, and I don't have a name for the EP. The tracklisting is below, and any serious suggestions are appreciated. I don't have a huge status, so I doubt I'll generate any interest, but it's just for my own personal gain, really, a bit of fun, I'm doing what I love, and if people want to listen to these songs, which I personally consider to be my best to date, despite them still requiring touching up, it's just something that you can listen to for free, there's a bit of a variety, classical, jazz, chiptune, techno, so it's pretty diverse.
Tracklisting (+ links):
After the Fallout (2:20)
Astronaut's Waltz (2:44)
Eternal Train (2:29)
I Like to Hit Things (3:58)
Interlude (1:56)
Man in the Smoking Mirror (5:00)
Winter Division (3:47) Note: The link goes to a song titled: =Snowboard Kids: Hidden Track=, it's the same song, I just didn't get around to changing the title...
So, anyone who happens to wander into my page, these are my personal recommendations for listening to my music.
Also, my Beginner Musician's Tutorial is still in the works, if you want to see information about that.

Cheers.

WB

Edit: Title found! In NMM's comment.
Cover art contains a friendly newgrounds face (or is it faic?)

Edit2: I've got it up on LastFM
I have a LastFM page.

No, not here, but coming soon!
I've started a tutorial in flash, that, upon completion, will contain everything required for a budding musician to get off the ground. Links to free programs, advice on how to use them, links to downloads to use with the programs, as well as a huge, in depth tutorial on the fundamentals of classical composition, starting out basic, and ending up real complex. And in the end you should be able to read and write classical music the traditional way, with the sheet music and time signatures and key signatures. I'll try and get consent from various musicians on NG, to include their tutorials and advice in this tutorial, to make it a lot more broad, with a lot more perspective. I've got the layout down, the information will be pretty easy to combine, so I think it'll look really good, and have plenty of information to keep you satisfied. I'm reasonably confident that once it's complete, it'll get a nice reception in the flash portal. I've had a couple of actionscript problems, but nothing too dramatic.

Anyway, I thought it'd be good to get the word out, if you've got anything that you think should be in the tutorial, any suggestions/links, I'll be more than welcome to listen.

Cheers.

[Edit] Here's a screenshot. I don't know how readable the text is, but here's the basic design. The little reflection runs across the button when you highlight it. I've written out a terminology page, and I've got it so that you scroll over the terms (I've only got 4, everything else'll be explained later on..) and the text slides out of the button, it looks so damn cool. I've also set up a quick menu selection on the side of the screen that does some pretty cool movements (that's for the first 2 sections). I've also got 4 classical/jazz loops to play within the tutorial (I'll make reference to them), so the main tutorial has lots of junk hogging the screen space, so there's not much room to actually write everything out, but I can take several pages to cover each topic, and I might do screenshots of programs in a roll over button (similar to the terminology text), so I think it'll end up looking awesome. I've got a few other musicians that'll provide their own tutorials and information, so, I think it's going to be big. Right now the .fla is 16 MB and the .swf is 240 KB, but with some screenshots in there, and lots more information (the main timeline has taken up 9 frames so far), I think it won't stay so light for long.

[Edit2] Ok, the text in some parts were a little too small, and the screen was too cramped, but now I've made it a lot wider, and I'm making some good progress on the layout. Today I added a "gallery", which will showcase images, with compact descriptions, and maybe the images themselves will be interactive. Overall, I'm adding a ton of stuff as I go along, but the basic information will still all be there, I'm just making it as neat and accessible as possible. However, I'm making so many symbols, I probably could have done the same layout and design using far less symbols, but it's alright, it's not like filesize will become an issue. It's only a bit over 250kb at the moment, with 14 frames done, but there's about 250 items in the library, and that'll probably be far greater when it's all done. I'm still figuring out existing content to put in the advanced section (I should probably change that title to extras, or something like that). Anyway, I'll add some information of MaestroRage's, all his fancy pants professional VSTi's and reviews. And he's offered to host it on his site (http://www.symphonyofspecters.com/) once it's done. But that's only once it's finished, my target at the moment is to finish off implimenting the layout (I'm probably about 30-40% done in that aspect), and I'll lay out the information last. I'll probably write that up by hand when I'm sick of doing the layout, and then edit it and type it up later. Another thing, I'll probably run my information by the guys who've allowed me to use their material, just to edit and proof-check it before I submit it, so that when it's ready, it should be clear to understand, and not misleading in any way. =P

[Edit3] Still a long way from completion, but the organisation of everything is still pretty good. I'm up to 428 symbols and I've still got to put the images and text in. The layout of the first section is just about ready for all the information to be put in, the second part is also not far off, but the external information/tutorials are still pretty plain, as with the credits/links page (but they'll be a lot simpler to put together). I also have to put in a help page, in case the layout confuses people, which might be a few, because it's starting to get really complex (text appearing from scrolling over buttons, interactive art gallery, the scene selection from the technique section is quite elaborate, but it's nothing compared to my folders organising my symbols.
Preloader (preloader files)
Music (music files)
Other (loose shit that needed to be stored away)
Buttons (this is where the maze of folders begins)
Button sub-menu:
-Chapter selections
-Basic (separates further to files for each chapter within the basic section + return to menu [8])
-Technique (separates into basic, intermediate and expert sections + return to menu, with the first 3 having roughly 5 more folders within them for sub-chapters)
-Advanced (I probably won't have sub-menus for the credits/links, they're pretty straight forward) It'll probably be similar to the basic chapter selection.
-Gallery
-Sub-menu same as chapter selection, each chapter having its own folder for the gallery + images.
-General
-General links, back, proceed, menu buttons, music buttons, etc. Simple.
-5 folders for each section, where they're all organised similar to chapter selection, with 4 folders for 4 buttons with scrollover text.

So, they all branch out all over the place, but as long as I understand where everything is, then it should have an easy to navigate interface.
I'm getting through it. Still a long way off, still tossing around a few ideas, still need to write up the information, although I've got a good rough concept of what information will end up in the tut.

So... yeah, lotsa music in the works. Too many ideas, and not enough of them are finished. Too many songs haven't been started yet. I've got a couple of soundtracks that I should be working on, I've made small starts... but the other people behind the projects are still a way away from needing them, so I'm okay for the meantime. I've also been trying to come up with a loop suitable for a restaraunt scene (request). So far, I've come up with a few jazz loops, but they don't quite hit the nail on the head, so to speak. Feel free to use them in your games, they're low filesize, and pretty catchy, considering they're less than 10 seconds long ;D
Links:
Restaraunt Music (Major)
Restaraunt Music (Minor)
Jazzy Loop
The restaraunt loops were submitted at the same time (see pic below).

Also, I've been toying around with the idea of doing a seasons themed song cycle. I've messed around with a couple of classical tunes (Autumn and Winter), and I think that maybe I could have 3 movements per season, and have the first as a straight forward neo-classical piece, the second as n ambient/soundscape type piece (Summer would resemble the desert and sparse dry landscape) and third could be something very different again. I don't know, just ideas, although the melodies thus far, I'm quite proud of.

Maybe one day I'll be organised...

I've updated my MAC8 submission: I Like to Hit Things.
It's based on the Newgrounds game, Dad 'n Me.
It's a Jazzy piano instrumental with lots of tempo changes, modulations, and accidentals, to capture the style of the Newgrounds artist, Dan Paladin and the musical king of ragtime, Scott Joplin.
Link.

Also, 1337.

[Edit] The song's up! Check it out here! Last Days of Summer

Hey, I'm just making another promo for my 6 minute happy techno song due for release on the 29th February. It's called "Last Days of Summer", and it's pretty much been finished for a while now, but it lacked a certain... polish and professionality of it. I've spent a fair chunk of today working on buffing it up for the release, and listening back, I've found that it sounds a lot like one of my other songs, "Eternal Train", except that it's a lot longer, it's a bit slower and uses different drums, there's more patterns, and today, I've gone through and added a crowd cheer sample and more panning and some extra colour to make it more exciting, I want it to feast your ears with wonderful happy music. I think the bass is pretty weak, I might try and fix that up, the drums have a heavy bass punch to them, which is awesome, so, I'll finish it up and post it tomorrow, a bit after lunch time (my timezone), so you can probably expect it a bit after midnight on the 29th ;D
I feel really good about this, because I composed it quite quickly, but I've had it sitting around for a while doing nothing, and I listened back, and I still really like it, so hopefully that's a good sign. So, there's been a large gap between the composing part and the technical mixing part. The mixing on this song is so much easier than "Man In the Smoking Mirror", that one took me a few days solidly plugging away at it, and even after it, I'd play it back, and think, damn, I really should have changed that, or whatever, but whatever, so yeah.
Check the song out tomorrow, leave a review and a vote, and I'd be really happy if you did that. I can understand if you give a vote lower than what I expect, but I'd like constructive reviews if it goes below a 4, because I'm proud of it, and I want to make it the best that it can be.

Ok, I've done a little more distracted rambling than I intended. Don't forget, check out "Last Days of Summer" on February 29.

Cheers.

WB

Yes!

Specs:
BPM: 150
Bars/part: 16
Time/part: approx 25.6 secs
Transition period: 1 to 2 bars at the beginning, nothing too intense, it's fairly flexible, a bit of common sense to fit your part tastefully into the part before (you may get straight into it, even), just keep it fairly short and easy to work with, you can go nuts when you're not in with another part!
Parts: 10-11 (depends on how many apply)
Overall time: 4:30-5:00
Key signature: D-minor/F-Major (key change will be set for a specific part, tasteful accidentals are encouraged)
Time signature: 4/4 (may get mixed up to 3/4 6/8 or something like that...)

Team Lollasaurus is:
WritersBlock (captain lol)
meneldil (anything but electronica)
Blackhole12 (Classical, New age, trance, videogame)
oscillist (D'n'B)
Father-of-Death (ANUS!)
zacko555000 (Drum'n'Bass, trance)
preffertobedead (Drum'n'Bass)
Joowna (Dance/Trance)
MJTTOMB (Classical)

Order:
1-[X]-MJTTOMB
2-[X]-Joowna
3-[X]-prefertobedead
4-[]-zacko555000
5-[]-oscillist
6-[]-Father-of-Death
7-[]-meneldil
8-[]-Blackhole12
9-[]-WritersBlock

Good luck guys, I think this is going to turn out great!

Submitting your part:
I probably should've mentioned this a bit earlier... but anyways, here goes...
Once you've done your part, upload it to mediafire.com (or something to that effect) as a .wav
Like the CTSG2, just upload your part. Maybe keep things fairly low down and PM me the link and I'll forward it to the other members, instead of just linking it here, I think it'll be better as a surprise.

Here's a stylish sig for SBB to match with his mod aura. <3
Here's a loveblimp sig for chris-the-stick2
Here's a loveblimp sig for Meneldil
Here's a loveblimp sig for Kviesgaard. It's GREEN!
Here's a loveblimp sig for New-Milkman. He has a milk mustache lol

Enjoi!
Link fix'd it.

LOVEBLIMP!!!
Iz in ur local Valentine's Day collection naow.

kthxbai
XD

Also, LOL sig requests. <3

Updatin' mah newz:
I'm working on new tunes for the MAC8 Pillars of Pico theme. I had started on a giant robots theme, but everyone seems to be doing robots, so I'm going for a song based on one of my favourite artists on newgrounds, Dan Paladin (aka Synj). Dad'n'Me is probably the least familiar of the sections open for the MAC, and I had no idea what to do at first, but then I played the game to rediscover the feel of the game, and once I started composing for that style, I just thought, yep, this has Dad'n'Me and Dan Paladin written all over it. What I've got so far is a very short piano riff, with a vamping bass, it's cheeky, it's simple, it's perfect for what I'm aiming for. It's called "I Like to Hit Things". The great thing about doing a fun tune like this is that most of my stuff I try to sound serious, and so this is just a breath of fresh air.

BTW, that Dad'n'Me win is mine! >:(

Here's the deal. My music in 2008 so far has been a pleasant turn for the better from my works last year. I've got quite a few big things happening already this year, I have no idea if I'll be able to keep up with it all.

First things first, my relaunch of my "Colour of Music" series is going great. The first track is up, and I've got another one finished, but it still needs proper mixing and other details, but I'll be posting it up on the 29th of February. It's called "The Last Days of Summer", look out for it. It's a light happy techno song. It's not overly technical, and a tad repetitive at 6 minutes, but I want it to be something you can just chill to, without much thought. I've got a bit of time on my hands now that I've finished that early, so I've continued with the introductory piece to the series, Fantasia No. 1, a full orchestral piece. It's still got a long way to go, but it's pretty easy going at the moment.

Aside from that, I've got a lot of other things I've got in the works. I'm running the music collab: The Biggest Video Game Collab (BVGC) alongside Knuxrouge. I've got a few songs I'm going to add there, Rainbow Road, from Mario Kart 64, and a Chemical Plant Zone collaboration with Knuxrouge from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I've also got "His World" to finish from last year.

Another collab I've been contributing to is the "Continue the Song Game", where each musician adds 8 bars to the song and it's all compiled end to end to get the final track. The first one had 12 parts, 3 minutes and a large range of styles. I've done a part for the second game, which is shaping out quite well. The CTSG is run by SolidElectro and Rig.

In addition with the BVGC, I've been working with a couple of its members, Knuxrouge and Mizox (together, we're the Sonic Flash Crew), with the Chaos Sonic sprite series. I've done most of the music for episode 1, but I think I might try with an original sound track just for the Chaos Sonic music, I'll have to check with Knux first...

Even more stuff with original flash sound tracks, my brother, BigBazz, is working on a zelda type game revolving around his own characters, and he's asked me to make some music for the game. I'm going to try and create a soundtrack that revolves around a core of about 5-10 instruments, and fit them to the game. Hopefully, I should be able to create some slick professional compositions.

So, yeah, a ton of stuff happening over here at the moment. I've made comments required approval, just for the hell of it. No spamming, pl0x! Feel free to comment, though, I'd like to know what people think about all my stuff.

Also, remember February 29th... Keep an eye out for the Last Days of Summer.

Cheers,

WritersBlock.