So far you all have deemed this to be worth $75 or so, but Japan needs more than that!

READ MORE ABOUT IT HERE!

Thanks to everyone at MAGFest for having us and we’ll see you next year!!

If you enjoyed these videos please consider checking out my music at music.jwmusic.org or the music of any of the listed composers, which you can find in the video.

Thanks!

If you’d like to check out more insights into composition you may enjoy reading my series on the Making of GunGirl 2 OST.

David Saulesco, who I’ve long been in cohoots with and had an aural-crush on since the day I first laid ears on Eternal Daughter, an indie game made by Derek Yu a few years ago.  David’s use of counterpoint, classical harmonies, and outright awesome compositional skill in that soundtrack blew my mind off and resulted in a number of fan mails which led to a strong relationship.  Today, David spends his days winning songwriting competitions in Sweden, from whence he was brought to us from the stars above.  He is an integral part of my own music library and will be on Songs for the Cure ’11!

Danny Baranowsky is another fantastic piece of aural-a**.  You probably already know who he is because you can’t stop listening to the Super Meat Boy soundtrack, or when you do come up for air you’re enjoying the Canabalt or Gravity Hook jams.  Whatever this guy’s diet consists of, you want to start cookin’ it yesterday because it’s JUST SO RIGHT.  Where David Saulesco might be the most talented and influential jRPG-esque composer I know, I’d compare Danny Baranowsky to an entranced Mario doing a line of coke off of Peach’s bosom while playing with himself (on a gameboy, of course, and not one of those fancy color or DS things, I’m talking about big grey).  None of that is G-Rated, which is sort of symbolic of the penetration of sound that Danny delivers.

I’ll also be bringing some good friends, Ryan C. Connelly, just finished recording vocals for the NiGHTS album coming from OverClocked ReMix in July, and the other is my favorite cupcake-enthusiast and sexy-girl-album-cover illustrator Amanda Appiarius.

So, if you haven’t registered for the MUSIC AND GAMING FESTIVAL in Alexandria, VA from January 13-16, 2011 yet – NOW IS A PRETTY GOOD TIME TO DO THAT.   I’ll see you there – and if you see me, say hi, talk to about music, and make me feel loved (I need love to survive, actually, a lot like I need three cheese queso…).  Regarding the time and location of my panels, I’ll TWEET THE DEETS! (yup, really just wanted to say that)

• January saw my first panel appearance at MAGFest 8, where I met people who knew who I was and even asked me to sign programs!  I’m not sure I quite did anything to earn their respect to that degree, but it made me smile pretty big.  I also met several people that I should have asked to sign my program – Jake Kaufman, Shael Riley, pretty much everyone at OCRemix, Zen Albatross, and several others, including Jayson and Patrick of Original Sound Version (whether or not they’re glad they met me, I do not know ;D).  I gave a panel on indie composition, and a fun time was had by everyone!

• On March 10, 2010, I premiered the piece “Your Name,” which you can watch here, which was my first chamber arrangement.  I learned a lot through the rehearsals and writing of this piece, and got a lot of advice from composer and conductor Gonçalo Lourenço.  This performance featured vocalist Tara Morrow, who did a fantastic job with the piece (you can hear a studio recording of this piece on Songs for the Cure ’10.  I dedicated this piece to my mother who passed away late last year.
• My first OverClocked ReMix was posted on April 16th – a goal which I had for many years. “Shine Tonight” features my efforts as Poolside with Melinda Hershey, and was originally conceived for Songs for the Cure ’10.
  

  Poolside at Relay for Life 2010

• Soon after that, on April 19th, I premiered the small dramatic piece “stop watching me,” which can be viewed here.  A completely different creation, featuring pianist Martha Mingle and violinist Rachel Denlinger, went very smoothly!
• April 24th was Relay for Life, an event held on my campus for the American Cancer Society to help raise awareness and funds for cancer victims and research.  This was my “soft deadline” for raising money with Songs for the Cure ’10.  We raised over $5,000 in three short months, with the release of the 2-CD compilation going over ecstatically!  Over 30 artists came together to help create this amazing effort, and since its release we’ve raised over $7,000 (not including sponsorships), which soars over last years $4,000 (without sponsorships).  What a triumph!
• I appeared in my first music video with my favorite self-made pop song to date: Go ahead and get DAAP Slap’d.  This happened in late May – June.
• June 6th was the release of the GunGirl 2 soundtrack, which you’ve all heard about by now.  The talented performers and I spent a day taking photos to accompany an interview I had with Original Sound Version, which you really ought to read!

Tara Morrow recording "Your Name" live with Martha Mingle (not pictured).

So what’s to come?  Well, I’ve been writing a mini-opera that will be premiered on October 7th, but I haven’t made an official announcement regarding this quite yet.  I’ll be posting that on my main website, my blog, and my twitter when the time comes.  I recently finished two OCRemix‘s, one for the Donkey Kong Country 3 remix album which we should see sometime in 2011, and another that we should see much sooner than that.  Additionally, I’m working on mixes for three albums – the Final Fantasy IX album, the NiGHTS album, and the Seiken Densetsu 3 album.

As for game soundtracks, I’m scoring a small handful of soundtracks which I’ll announce upon their release, but nothing huge is on my plate in that arena at this time.  The rest of this week we’ll be seeing Rich Brilli’s “Get to Know” interview, and I’ll finish up the Making of GunGirl 2 OST shortly thereafter.  Thanks for reading!!