So after a really long lull of not making music etc, I've become inspired to start up again. I'm gonna get a bit more serious about learning to use Reason, and brainstorm more ideas, as well as take more time when creating songs (no more songs in one session lol).

I'll have a song or two out within the next few weeks, possibly a month or so at most from now. I have some WIP's I'm gonna look over to see if I can work with them, and a new song I've been kinda doing off the top of my head.

kk have fun

Finally, I'm here to update!

So lately I've been working on a techno song, called Vibehigh. Five and a half hours of work went into this baby, and I think the time spent was well worth it. Easily my longest and likely my best song to date, Vibehigh employs deep, powerful bass kicks along with a sweet synthesizer and a few accompaniment parts to boot. I think you'll love it.

Also, Under the Twilight Tree will be finished by next Sunday. Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. This project has been hanging over my head for far too long, and I think it's about time I delivered a bit more audio to this rather deprived world of ours.

See you in seven days!
TwilightShade

It's been three days,

And the beat box notations are done! I'll get to rehearsing in school tomorrow, and record it tomorrow night. Overall, I spent an hour and fifteen minutes on making those, so the rehearsals and recording should bring it to about 2 to 2.5 hours. I have also decided to name it Forty Seconds to Live, in honor of the show Death Note. I may or may not imitate the writing of a person's name on paper and add it to the beginning.

But the cover art isn't done, cause I got lazy and found I had more homework than I had anticipated. It'll be easy to finish though, and it doesn't have to be done immediately. The person I had in mind may or may not be able to design the covers in digital form. If they can't, I'll probably have to resort to colored pencil *gasp*, and scan it into the computer, since I can't use photoshop that well.

Updated Track List (Approx % complete):
1. Under the Twilight Tree (25%, lyrics to be recorded, song to be created)
2. Industrial Insanity (40% completed, need to begin work on this again to complete the song)
3. Inside the Mind (Extended) (20% completed, need to begin work on this again as well)
4. Forty Seconds to Live (75% completed, have to record the beat box performance.)
5. ??? (100% Complete)

And there are others in the works, but those are to remain a bit of a secret. I want to get eight tracks in by the time the release rolls around, but if time begins to arrive in short supply, I may have to cut it down to these five, and that would suck for you and me.

See you all in a few days!
TwilightShade

Update time!

One song has been successfully completed! However, I can't spoil all of the surprises that will come with this album, so I won't tell you what it is. I will say that it isn't one I mentioned in any of the previous updates, so sorry if you thought you could hear the cover song early.

I plan on wrapping up the beat box track this weekend in one straight recording, but the notation sheet still isn't finished yet. That won't take long, though, so no worries.

The cover song lyrics are currently being revised for the final time (Draft number 4 to be exact), at which point I'll have to decide how I'm going to get piano and string sound clips to build the rest of the song. (I have no access to either in real life, so the internet is my only hope. If you can help me out, I'd be super grateful.)

Concept art for the album cover is going very well, and should also be done this weekend. I'm in the process of finding somebody that can photoshop the image to add colors and make it look awesome. =D

Other than that, things are pretty much the same. I have this weekend completely free of sports, school, and other obligations, so I'll be able to work on it for the entire time. =)

Thirty eight days remain (for real this time),
TwilightShade

PS: Approaching the nine hour mark for time spent on this album, and the bulk of the journey has yet to begin. Horray!

Hello everybody,

My punishment ended earlier than I thought it would, which leaves me with extra time to make the album better than it would have been before. So in a sense, everybody wins.

The "lyrics" for Under the Twilight Tree are currently in the third draft. I plan on revising it once or twice more before I consider it final.

The beatbox notations are about 1/3rd finished at this point. I'll begin practicing as soon as I think of imaginative enough rhythms and such.

Other than that, the musical aspect of development continues to progress slowly. =(

However, I do have a worthy surprise for this update. Two physical copies of this album are to be made. I am keeping one of them for reference and as a memento, and a person that I know in real life will be getting the other. The name remains undisclosed for both privacy, safety, and suspense purposes, but I'm sure they'll love the final result.

Until next time,
TwilightShade

=)

Eh,

I've lost the computer for a month for purposes other than homework due to a little mistake. As a result, the release date of the album will now match the 31 day delay; which means it will be released on December 29th, 2008.

In other news, my sound recorder came, so I can still gather my own sound resources and plan ahead in terms of constructing songs. I still need to finish the lyrics for Under the Twilight Tree, so I have a decent amount of work to do off the computer as well as on it.

Sorry about that guys,
TwilightShade

Hello Everybody,

It's been six days since my last update, so I thought I'd update my progress and give a few more details on the album.

For starters, the ideas are flowing and brainstorming tracks is a breeze. To bring them to life is a bit different, but my work so far has encountered no trouble. I am confident at this point that I will finish in time for the Nov. 29th release, considering Cross Country is ending in a few weeks, and there are a few four day weekends coming up.

The real news I wish to give is the name of the album, which I have decided will be "Under the Twilight Tree". I have sketched out some artwork for the cover, but I currently do not know how to attribute custom images to a music file like they do in iTunes.

I have ordered a digital voice recorder so that I may have more flexibility as to what sounds I can use and play around with. It was relatively cheap at $60, and it's hand held too. So that should be arriving in about a week. =D

Finally, tracks. Currently, here's what I definitely know I will be doing:
1. Industrial Insanity (A completed version)
2. A currently untitled beat boxing recording. (Probably will be done in parts so I can memorize them as I go.)
3. A dance track using the files Zell posted after releasing his awesome Halloween song.
4. Some sort of track that uses a lot of synth. I have no idea what genre it'll fall under or what it's going to be about, but I've started making it. =P
5. The song that the album is named after, Under the Twilight Tree. Most likely will have spoken words, but that remains in the air. Still deciding whether I'll go mad crazy with techno beats or try to find string instrument clips and make more of a classical piece with this one.

The maybes/still brainstorming:
6. Inside the Mind (lengthened and made better)
7. Some sort of emoish death scene put into musical terms
8. An ooey gooey love song (probably not lol, but I admit it would be funny to try something like that. I'd definitely need a second person to help me with developing and singing lyrics and such.)

That should tide over anybody that actually looks at my userpage for the next few weeks. I'll update whenever I feel necessary.

Forty days remain,
TwilightShade

Hello everybody,
I know it's been a while, but I'm back with news. For the next few months, I'll be working on my first album, which as of now is untitled. I'm sorry I don't have many details as of yet, but "Inside the Mind" may appear in a longer form.

The current release date is slated for November 29th, 2008, which is exactly 47 days from today. It'll be free, because I'd get my ass sued for using sounds that I myself didn't record, and because I don't believe in buying music unless the artist makes it for a living.

All in all, more details will be unveiled as the release date approaches. Oh, and don't forget to rate and comment on the works I already have up. Thanks everybody!

Sincerely,
TwilightShade

Double Edit: I found the files for Industrial Insanity! =D

Hello everybody,

Thank you for your input on my latest work, "Nighttime Steelstalker". Many of you thought that more sounds would have made the song stronger as a whole. I also share this opinion, and thus, I am in the process of revising the song to include more sounds of the person who is being chased.

When I post the revision, I think you will be pleased with what you hear. The things I am adding are giving the song a sense of urgency and realism, which heightens the horror factor as well. As for the girly scream at the end, well, let's just say that the scream saved her the first time, but the second time, she won't be so lucky. =P

Thank you for your words of wisdom,
TwilightShade

Hello everybody,

I have officially decided to start making electronic music, meaning that I most likely won't record me playing any of it. (Because I suck at playing instruments and all that. =P)

I have named my first submission Inside The Mind. It might make your ears bleed, but I did it in three hours for a school project the night before it was due. So if you can vote fairly and provide good, constructive criticism so that I may improve, that would be so awesome.

Sincerely,
TwilightShade