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The big thing about writing and time is that writing takes time. Or, at least, it takes me time. I spend a lot of the writing process sitting and staring at what it is I just wrote…far more time than the actual WRITING. Or even the thinking.

So I didn’t get around to that article I wanted to write on the message that Sony is pushing on people with their “PLAY BEYOND” campaign from E3. The basic gist would have been that with its extravagant images of RPS (Rock-Paper-Scissors) and rings, Sony is telling us rather explicitly that they are giving us old game experiences with a shiny new veneer.

Which is, of course, dumb.

(I think?)

But I haven’t written that, mainly because I’ve been busy working on my first console game. It’s a pretty neat Xbox 360 game, with its Unreal 3 and PhysX stuff. I did sound implementation and Kismet scripting for the game, and I just hit my big content deivery date yesterday. So now I’m free.

Except I’m now at Fanime. I’m going to blog about it a bit during and after the weekend. Looks to be a slow con at the moment, but we’ll see how things pick up. I’ll probably do a bit of my late night anime/game piano thing.

So, I’ll REALLY be free after this Memorial Day weekend. Except I’ve gotta do some serious soundtrack work. Oh, and write my first ever j-pop song. That will be fun.

Wait. I guess I won’t be free much at all…

So I do the E3 thing every year. Hopefully I’ll have some decent stuff for people to read on insert credit. In general, though, I tend to be on the bland side. It’s hard for me to get truly enthusiastic these days, and I think that, more than anything else, has affected the quality of my writing as of, oh, the last three years. Maybe this time around will be different, what with all the newfangled tech and all that. Heck, Sony is even getting into the whole augmented reality/tangible computing thing for their stuff…who woulda thunk?

So here’s a little music thing I made. It’s pretty simple: a tone row is played tutti at the beginning, then you can cue individual instruments or combinations of instruments by pressing the various blue buttons. The little flash applet randomly chooses the permutation of the tone row every time you click: it can start on any note and be the original permutation, inversion, retrograde, or retrograde inversion. I think it’s pretty neat, especially with the fact that the sounds, as compressed as they are, are pretty realistic and mix well together.

Basically, I wanted people to experience 12 tone music, seeing as it’s a thing that many people of this generation just have no clue about, while also experiencing this sort of realistic classical music sound at their fingertips, which is another thing that most people just don’t have access to outside of being in an orchestra (or having a thousand or more US dollar sound library).

This will receive some significant sound asset and interface additions over the next week.

So, over at www.emaginationgamedesign.com, they teach teens game design. Cool stuff. But over in the “Learn Core Skills” section, they have a set of interesting bullet points…

So, I’m guessing there’s no learning when it comes to the audio side of things; you either don’t know how to do it (in which case you select from a stock library) or you go ahead and use original music that you create…but you’re not going to learn about it here. Oh well…

gam·y also gam·ey ( P ) Pronunciation Key (gm)
adj. gam·i·er, gam·i·est

1. 1. Having the flavor or odor of game, especially game that is slightly spoiled.
   2. Ill-smelling; rank.
2. Showing an unyielding spirit; plucky: a gamy little mare that loved to run.
3. 1. Corrupt; tainted: “those considerable forces in America that appear to be tired of the old politics (particularly the gamy municipal variety)” (Tom Wicker).
   2. Sordid; seamy.
   3. Sexually suggestive; racy.

(from www.dictionary.com)

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I’ve been told before that I can’t write music that doesn’t sound gamey in some way. I think they might be right. It’s hard for me to write music without thinking that it has to loop properly. And game music loops. (usually) Except when it’s in a cinematic, in which case it’s pretty much the same as movie music, anyways. (usually) At least, that’s the mode I work in when I’m doing a game cinematic. Linked here are a couple of tracks I did recently that refuse to sound anything but gamey to me. (Note: I don’t consider gamey to be a bad thing.) Two of them were appropriated from some loose material that I didn’t intend to put in a game I’m submitting them for use in. Didn’t intend to put them in any sort of game actually.I think they’ll fit.

Thursday morning I finished my taxes. Hooray for e-filing.

Then it was off to the hills for a quick hike.
That is, for most of the people there, it was a quick hike. I just died about halfway up the climb. Slightly embarrassing, having to lag behind as I did. I say that I miss the days when I was 5′11″ and 150 pounds, but I never really do much to try to return to those days.

Slightly cooler than dying on the hike was talking to a possible employer about sound design stuff. It’s a game audio position for an Xbox Live Arcade project, and it looks pretty fun. Hopefully some good luck will be with me as I persue it! Lately there have been a lot of pings for sound guys shot my way, and while the follow-ups have always been positive, they also seem to want guys who can hit it full-time. Two years ago I would have jumped right in, but now that I’m two years into my MFA, I just have to see it through. This latest ping, however, seems to be just the right kind of project with the right kind of scale for me and my student status. Here’s hoping!

It’s amazing how much actually happens in a day.

Today I spent nearly 12 hours glued to the computer monitor, doing diverse tasks relevant to deadlines extremely close at hand. Besides the pressure of the coming end of semester thesis presentation, I’m working on music and sound for three projects, all of which just don’t seem to have an end in sight, despite the biggest and most pressing deadline of the three being this week Wednesday. It’s just not working. Assuming I get paid tomorrow, I think I might just bite the bullet and check out the sound effects libraries that might be around the local pro audio stores. Fifty to a hundred bucks is nothing compared to a missed delivery date.

Which reminds me: I haven’t done my taxes. This year, I need to be a lot better about keeping receipts on work-related expenditure. Last year wasn’t so bad, but I have a feeling that this year I could stand to lose a lot if I don’t do so…

The picture for today’s post is of YAKULT, a neat little health beverage that I have fond memories of. It’s mostly a Japanese/Asian thing, but recently I found that it’s availible under various names in a few stores around Los Angeles. I hadn’t drunk it in at least 8 years (the last time I was in the Philippines), so I grabbed a couple of packs. Wonder if it’ll be a factor in my project productivity at this crucial time…

This is one tasty drink.

Coffee and Coke is not something I tried before, but this is a wonderful drink. It features great balance between the two flavors, with a smooth and mild cola attack before the smoothness of the coffee note settles. Excellent scent upon opening the rather nifty looking 8 oz. bottle as well. On the expensive side, but well worth it, I think. I’m getting a couple more four packs when I hit Ralph’s next.

Let’s see what this thing does…!