Kid Charlemagne

For those of you curious to hear the demo I played for Tyler, here it is.  It's mostly me experimenting with the LFO (with Osc. 2 and Wave as the destination), and playing around with the arpeggiator.  The patch is the first one I've made on this machine, and I named it "Nautilus."  Expect to hear some of these sounds in the game.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to check out a new trading card game and I suggest that you do too -  it's called PK Cards and it's designed & printed right here in Mentor, Ohio.  It's like Magic: The Gathering minus the suck.  All of the characters come from different cultural mythology, and they do battle against each other to allow your avatar in the game to gain prestige.  This can be a lot of fun because you can finally prove that Merlin can indeed kick Quetzal's ass and that the Aztecs were a bunch of pussies.  The game is really well balanced and easy to pick up but can be very complicated.  Its depth and variety, however, should ensure great longevity, and mean that the game doesn't have to be re-invented every expansion.  The core decks come really well built and competetive right out of the box.  I played three games (two against my co-worker Pete and one against my girlfriend Lum) and won two of them.  Each pack or core deck also contains a Gold Key, which you can enter online to buy MP3 players, Playstation 3s, and more cards.  

Today I had the chance to tour the PK offices and see where the cards are printed - believe me, you haven't lived until you've seen sheet upon sheet of exotic uncut foil cards just sitting on a wooden pallet.  I also got to meet Yoshinori Ikehara, one of the artists responsible for bringing some of PK's legendary badasses to life.  He even signed a Mantis for me and a Lung for Lum.  If you're not doing anything the ninth of January, come out to Hobbytown USA in Mentor for a demonstration tournament.  As the date approaches I'll get more information posted.  I expect to see all of you there (this means you Tyler).

Keeping In Touch

Well today I heard my first of Cameron's work, and I must say, I am well impressed. He seems to achieve the perfect sound I'm looking for. My general position on this is that I must now make sure my game lives up to his work!

I got to hear some samples of what he's been doing with his Moog, and the sound is terrific. And with some work, it'll fit perfectly. Afterwards we went around the college to one of the piano rooms (that I had no idea existed), and we spent some time brainstorming things together, him on piano and me working on my laptop. And with both of us going at once, creativity abounded. I certainly got some ideas just from hearing some of the tunes he was putting out. It was a wonderful experience.

Now on to business. With my schedule being what it was, time was scarce, work and school was all I really could do. I would doodle in my off time, but nothing too serious (I even drew a picture of Abraham Lincoln on a slow day at work). That being said, not much headway has been made on my end, though with the college semester over my time opens once again. But another item arises. Back at deviantArt we're doing a little fun flash secret Santa thing. We all submit our topics, and someone gets them and designs something for that person. I'm participating, and obviously I don't want to be the person who doesn't give out a gift, so that'll take up some time.

In the meantime I'll be drawing pictures and making doodles of bosses and working out stage sequences in my head, logging them away for later. Work is being done, I've just got nothing to show for it!

I Got The News

Moog Little Phatty Stage II

Looks beautiful, doesn't it? For those unfamiliar with Dr. Robert Moog's legacy, click here.

Over the course of the past several months, I've been literally dreaming about owning one someday - the classic analog Moog sound is unrivaled by anything else, period. I was very lucky to be able to get this - Sam Ash was offering a great deal, and I simply couldn't pass it up. With 20% off their already low price, 18 months with 0% financing, and a free CP-251 Control Processor, I would be stupid not to go for it. If you're ever in the greater Cleveland area and need help with synthesizers/keyboards/production equipment, be sure to talk to Rex at Sam Ash in Lyndhurst- very helpful and courteous, and really willing to go the extra mile to make his customers happy.

All plugging aside, I couldn't be happier with my new dream synth. I'm a big fan of analog sounds but until now, I've been restricted to programming Subtractor patches in Reason 4. As I become more proficient at navigating the Moog's interface, I plan on creating some incredible sounds that will make Metarract: Aero's soundtrack a true masterpiece of synthesizer programming. As I create different sounds, I may upload short demos and post them here for you all to enjoy. Stay tuned!

Thanks Bob!