Official reference seems like an unusually suitable title for this one. :)

Shout out @MANIAK0!

Just got that thing! :) So there. Just gotta post this.

Tried a little Gingerbread gadget without a reset button. It's art alright?

Happy Holidays all who stumble by here! Hope you're having some warm and cozy days no matter how strange ways we closely face! Just mosy on and those will fade. Just like the snow that unfroze today.

Whatever the play Happy Holidays!

Hold up! Before I delve into a long-winded and long overdue recollection and ramble on the potential crops of labor this my second year of audial Inktober may have produced, let me first give you this.

It may not be all instrumental, it may not be all metal (maybe not at all metal?), but for me at least it is somewhat monumental! And maybe momentarily a little mental - but I meant all that I sent y'all.

INK 19 is all of last year's daily material in mixtape form, with thorough additional mixing and mastering by the one and only @Jabun! Starring @S3C, @HOTSTUFFDX, @Father-of-Death, @JamesHeart, @Jabun here too, @littlbox and WyteNoiz on occasional instrumentals/beats/boxes, and a few exclusive leftover bits from way back when. Everything's fully revisited; balanced; hopefully as good as recording quality allows it to be.

You can listen to the full thing here on NG, on my site, or download the full pack with individual tracks right here.

Share if you like! Enjoy, and go check out @Jabun's solo material too if you haven't already - or his showreel if you need a master master!

Now over to that long overdue; by now old and fruity Inktober rant:

Inktober turned out awesome this year. Wasn't sure it'd match up to last, but how wrong was I? It all comes back to you, and then some.

I started with a lot of resistance, but as Steven Pressfield says you just gotta learn to overcome that systemically to stay creative; keep pushing yourself and make new things. The War of Art. Thanks @BenTibbetts for that great random (to me at the time - very thought-out otherwise) reading recommendation a few years back!

I ended up collabing with NG peeps on more than half of the daily recordings this year, of which at least 3-4 were pretty elaborate. @ninjamuffin99 and @KillerRATband handled the mixes on theirs for appreciatively different flavors, but everything else is yours truly. For now. Potential reinterpretations and improvements on a few of the better ones may be on route, like this just recently. And this a while earlier - that one's been a looong time coming now!

Hope to do even more next year. Collabs I mean. Collabs every day? Is that possible? Without planning ahead too much and thus entirely bypassing the very essence of what Inktober is meant to be?

I felt like I burnt myself out enough with what I did this year, but then again I felt the same way last year and that amounted to just half as much, and nothing after, with shorter acapellas too on most days with no collabs. It feels like you realize when you push yourself that you're capable of so much more than you think.

It's an inspiring feeling; something only this particular challenge has truly brought forth in me for the past two years now. So maybe I need to push myself even further to truly greet that greatness I desire to aspire?

You learn to handle stress better too. You grow efficient by necessity. You effectivize your workflow in ways you never knew you needed to until you just don't have the time to do things the hard way, like how I just recently learned how much more efficient the envelope tool in Audacity might be at consistently adjusting the flow of the sound instead of manually amplifying individual bits up and down (thanks for that one @Jabun). And compression. I need to use that. Probably. And panning. Production game be stepping. Up!

So I'm definitely getting back to this 2021! No matter how much resistance I might feel for it at that particular point in time. And hopefully I won't have that familiar phase before then where I drop these creative pursuits entirely; need to warm up to the idea of it all over again. It's all too easy to get into a rut. To get comfortable. To let that spark diminish. Don't let it!

Lemme know if y'all want to collab again next year! Or whenever. I'm down now. Life's looking up. Days are busy but awesome. And here you go again, don't miss that mixtape! Revised somewhat by me with additional mixing and mastering by the one and only y'allreadyknow @Jabun!

We've been going back and forth on this the past month now, and though the original recordings are far from best source quality (I'll blame those daily deadlines and frequent lack of time overall but should probably be blaming my recording/production ethics) I'm really happy with how this turned out! Going to be playing it on every drive to work for a while now; rap along with myself. Good practice; efficient jam sessions; suitable methods of keeping you awake and stimulated whilst on those dark and wet wintery roads that just started getting brighter again! This time's the time it all turns.

This really turned into a rant, or maybe more so a causerie of observations and experiences regarding this particular yearly event. Also read up on the controversy surrounding the Inktober name back when I wrote the above. It's trademarked. Though with non-profit things it should be no problem, so I guess I'll keep using it anyway since I've done so thus far! Until a better name comes along.

TLDR (but do read anyway cause you do get better at longer reading the longer you read long writing): I had a blast this year and I think I might've improved a little since last! I'll let this play in conclusion:

Was going to list some favorites but I can't just choose a few now. Here's a playlist for this year and last and again last year all properly mixed and mastered and possibly with a little more material than the original and this link's local but go check out the NG version above too.

Thanks again @Jabun on that mastering magic on the mix! :) Happy this came to fruition, and happy with this year too! All in time to have a listen as we unwind and greet the new.

Toodles.

There's a new game on the horizon!

There always is, of course, but this one's one I've played a part in the development of - albeit with unfortunately time-limited doses of early testing - as well as been bestowed upon the honors of my own playable in-game character! He goes by the name of Drane, and he's a beast tamer.

Drane's backstory's mine; the rest is all in line with the game's main story. Get into it yourself to find out more and see what he goes for!

The game in question is a pretty ambitious somewhat underground JRPG, set in the expansive world of Valgardia, with an adventure-packed storyline that follows the mysterious boy Mobius on a quest - through lands far too wide where fates do collide - for justice but maybe most importantly truth.

It goes by the name of Altered Ancient Gears II, and is being brought to life by the maybe equally mysterious New York-based developer Sai, in honor of his son, and as a homage of sorts to all games within the genre; not least as a test as to the capabilities of the Game Maker engine in creating a world that sometimes seems to defy the limits of what it should be capable of. And of course: just making a great game for all to play and enjoy.

But you'd best head over here to read more about it from the mouth of the maker, and maybe fetch an early download while you're at it. ;) There's still room for contribution if you'd like to get involved!

I'll be polishing up a page for the game on site as I play through it myself. Head over here for a slimmed down summary; eventually maybe a little guide and more in-depth exploration of the game. Whatever time allows for, and whatever it's alright to post if so. ;)

The final version of the game's yet to be released but Sai's looking for feedback; players who'd like to delve a bit deeper into this wartorn yet wondrous alternative world! Here's that link again! Enjoy.

They're still going; with a season-suitable color shift to boot!

Plus new giveaway!

Get it? Got it.