What do you get when you combine melodic house, traditional AN vibes, and an uplifting chord progress? This, I guess... And though it's simple I like how it turned out. I don't know if I see myself releasing this but I do think it's worth returning to and potentially finishing.
What do you think? Is this uplifting vibe a good way t...
2024-01-11 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostHappy New Year and I hope you had a wonderful holiday!
I'm starting off the year with somethings super chill and vibey accompanied by some piano. I spent much of the session experimenting with a new plugin - Life by XLN audio. It lets you record 15 second clips from your phone and about 75% of the drums you hear in this are either foley sa...
2024-01-04 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
As 2023 comes to a close, I’m taking one more detour before returning to my usual EDM stuff in January - Cinematic Soundscapes. I’m excited to return to this style and I’m very happy with how this EP turned out. I hope you like it too!
It’s been a long time since I’ve released a cinematic project (8 years and 3 days, to be exact)...
2023-12-22 22:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThis week I wrote some interesting chords and went for a Deadmau5 influence alongside some vibes similar to my older songs "Quiet" and "Keeping Quiet". I like this idea but I'm not sure it's strong enough to finish.
The main thing holding me back is that this idea doesn't have anything particularly memorable and I had a hard time writing a...
2023-12-21 15:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone! I hope that you are doing well and that your holiday season is off to a great start. Since the vinyls wrapped up, it's time to get moving on the Fall/Winter 2023 Patreon merch item - a Custom Commissioned Shirt.
While packing and shipping the vinyls, I was thinking about the type of design we should commission. I've put toget...
2023-12-15 22:02:44 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, I wanted to write something a bit more familiar. What I came up with is a slower tempo plucky house song with strong influence from You and Here Again. This is very much a traditional Approaching Nirvana song and I do like the way it sounds.
Songs like these come very natural to me and I still very much like the stories and emot...
2023-12-14 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostI had no plan this week so at the beginning of my session I tried a bunch of different things until something stuck. I then had a decent drum groove and bouncy bassline to go along with it. It took awhile, but it eventually developed into this groovy idea with vocals.
I'm pretty happy with the result and I think I'll finish this one. I'm n...
2023-12-07 16:38:27 +0000 UTC View Post
It's December and that means it's time for another Christmas remix! 🎄
I am really happy with how this one turned out. I really like how the bell-like melody sounds. It reminds me of playing hand-bells as a kid in school, which is something I haven't thought of in a long time.
I hope you enjoy the remix - Mp3, 24-bit wave, and artw...
2023-12-02 16:29:59 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone!
Yesterday, I dropped off the final batch of vinyls at the post office. Check your messages (here, Discord, or email) for a tracking number. Please keep in mind that international packages may require VAT or Customs fees in order to retrieve them.
This means that all vinyls have been shipped out! Though ...
2023-11-30 18:27:37 +0000 UTC View Post
I had a few more Lofi songs that were close to being done so I finished 3 more songs and added them to the Blue Sparrow Lofi EP to round it out.I’ve also put together a 1 hour version of the EP to play the EP on loo...
2023-11-25 16:50:00 +0000 UTC View PostI wasn't planning on doing a Christmas Remix this year, but it was mentioned last week during stream and I thought it might be fun to do one if I can keep the work required relatively low. So this week, I set out to choose a song and lay the ground work.
While this version is rough and missing a lot, the foundation is there and I plan on a...
2023-11-23 15:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostThis week was interesting... I set out to write something totally different and after a couple hours I just wasn't happy with the result. I decided to switch gears and try out a house structure to see if I can salvage anything from the session and I'm actually really happy with results!
It still needs work and I'm not even sure what house ...
2023-11-16 17:40:07 +0000 UTC View Post
The 1st batch of vinyls has been packed and shipped. Tracking emails have been sent, so check your messages! This batch is US only - more batches will go out next week and the week after.
Between the various packing materials and heaps of bubble wrap I feel pretty good that these are packed well enough to prevent any damage. That being sai...
2023-11-10 17:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostThis week's idea is a pretty good one. A bit of downtempo house with some Deadmau5 vibes, and some typical Approaching Nirvana piano melodies. This needs a lot more FX and subtleties throughout. I also think it could use an ethereal female vocal. Though there's much to be done, I like this a lot and I will definitely be returning to this project...
2023-11-09 17:05:31 +0000 UTC View Post
This year I wanted to do something a bit different. The Ground Beneath You is both the song I wrote this year for Love Tropics, and a 5-song EP that includes all the Love Tropics songs I've written since the beginning. Some of these songs are already included on releases, ...
2023-11-01 17:51:23 +0000 UTC View Post
Nov 25 Update!
I’ve added 3 additional songs to round out the EP and released them all as a 1 hour video on YouTube. The EP Mix on this post has been updated with the new songs and you can check out the video here: https://youtu.be/2euw83JFgkM<...
2023-10-28 16:28:45 +0000 UTC View PostThis week I went for something different. I started out with drums and spent a lot of time making the groove. After that I wrote some chords and starting adding layers and an arrangement.
I think some of the individual parts of this song are good, but I don't think they come together to make a good song. This was a fun session and I might ...
2023-10-26 16:29:02 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, I wanted to combine relaxed and uplifting. I'm not sure I accomplished that and I'm not even sure what genre this is... maybe downtempo organic house? It feels new, but it's also not too far off of my normal chill house style. Either way, I really like the result.
I started with drums and spent a lot of time adding subtle layers...
2023-10-19 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
I finally got my turntable and the first thing I did was test out the vinyl! I was pleasantly surprised to hear the quality. They sound a lot better than I was expecting, though I had no idea exactly where to set my expectations with regard to vinyl in general and with regards to an 7" EP vs a 12" LP.
You do have to turn the volume up a bi...
2023-10-18 15:54:39 +0000 UTC View PostThis week I wrote a promising intro/verse/build to an uplifting progressive house song. It has a good vibe and would be great for a vocal. The only problem is that I didn't have time to write a drop during my session, so I stopped after the build.
So far, I really like this one. The atmosphere and feel of it are great and I think it will m...
2023-10-12 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, I started with another blank slate. I wrote a few interesting chord progressions on the piano, but this arpeggiated chord progression with a bit of a melody really resonated. I wrote several different parts, added some drum layers, and gave it a rough arrangement. After a few hours, I ended up with the version above.
I like this...
2023-10-05 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
They're here and they look awesome! Address confirmations have also gone out. I have reached out to you on the platform I last had contact with you (Patreon, Email, Discord), so please check your messages and confirm your address!
I want to order a couple more things for packaging to do my best to ensure the vinyls won't get damaged in shi...
2023-10-03 17:31:23 +0000 UTC View PostThis week I set out to write something simple and uplifting. I started out writing chords and a melody and moved on to a basic arrangement and some sound design.
I like the emotion in this one but I am a bit nervous that it's too simple? Also feel like the drop is missing some energy. This sounds like it could be a good commercial ED...
2023-09-28 17:03:18 +0000 UTC View PostThis week I started first with drums. After creating all the layers for the drum groove, I wrote some simple chords that were relaxing, laid back, and a bit uplifting. I kept the idea simple with a basic arrangement and some additional layers and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
I'm not even sure what genre this would qualify as (s...
2023-09-21 17:02:39 +0000 UTC View PostThis week I am out of town with my girlfriend visiting our university campuses together. Many of you know I went to Virginia Tech and I haven't been back since I graduated. The campus is beautiful and during my time here I went through a lot, both personally (as we all do during university) and I was here in 2007 when the shooting happened. Need...
2023-09-14 15:33:12 +0000 UTC View PostThe vinyls are still in production and should be shipping out mid-October. Now it's time to vote on items for our next Merch run. We're going to keep it to apparel this time around and there are 6 options to choose from. This vote will be open to Music Producers Tiers and up, but polls for any other options will be ANimal Tier and up.
This week's idea is an uplifting chord progression with some Deadmau5 vibes and I really like it! It starts off a bit abrupt so I'd probably add an intro, but it's a pretty strong idea. It reminds me of August 16's idea, but still has its own uniqueness to...
2023-09-07 16:16:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Starfield is upon us and I have a new remix! I really enjoyed Oblivion when it came out, but never got the chance to play Skyrim or Fallout 4 much. I'm super pumped for this game and I've loved this theme since it was released a couple years ago - it perfectly captures the adventurous, spacey, dangerous, and wondrous themes of space exploration....
2023-09-01 15:59:03 +0000 UTC View PostThis week turned out a bit different than planned. Old school vibes combined with arpeggiated pianos, a deep house style bass, and formant-pitched vocal samples. I like this idea, but I'm not sure if it fits into the "Uplifting/Pumped Up option".
I don't know if I'll finish this... It's cool but I'm not sure the underlying idea is very str...
2023-09-01 14:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostThe poll for next month is still open, but I thought I'd get a head start on some uplifting music and I'm really happy with this one. The vocal is from a sample pack, doesn't sound like it 100% matches, and is only temporary to see how a vocal would fi...
2023-08-24 16:08:44 +0000 UTC View Post