All fired up with GarageBand

I would laugh out loud in amazement of how completely awesome I was (and am) at creating music.

I've been composing music since I was a kid. I started out doing tracker music on the Commodore 64, which was limited to 3 audio channels, then went on to the Amiga 500 (later 1200) where I got my first sampler and from there on to several PCs, expensive cpu-packed sound cards and other equipment.

I've worked with DAW software such as Ableton, Logic, Cubase, Pro Tools, Noise Tracker, Pro Tracker, Fast Tracker, Renoise and on and on.

I made a whole bunch of music from I was 13 and even got some of it featured on the bonus material for the DVD releases of The Matrix Reloaded, The Animatrix and one of the Spiderman movies. Just casually mentioning it here - Yes, I'm super proud of that and it's an interesting story for a future post.

Then, in the blink of an eye, I became a dad, became an entrepreneur, moved into a new old house and stopped making music. It took years before I got around to unpacking my music gear - removing the spider webs, dusting it off and nervously hooking it up. I was busy (still am), but to be honest, the real reason why I wasn't making music anymore was because I lacked a real reason to make music. I'm sure I could have squeezed time in if I really wanted to.

Just making music for my own enjoyment, uploading it to various social platforms and getting pats on the back wasn't motivating enough. And although taking my music to a live audience would be an intense and refreshing experience, it wasn't a dream I was ready to persue.

This year, development of Tapporcry came to the point where it was time for music. I needed three short pieces of music; for the intro, in-game and end-game. The music should complement and help establish the game's somewhat creepy atmosphere while still having a fun and arcadish feel to it - and right there, I finally had a really motivating reason to make music.

This became evident after spending several evenings with GarageBand, composing and trying to get the songs to feel just right. I loved it. It got me all fired up. I would laugh out loud in amazement of how completely awesome I was (and am) at creating music.

I'm also amazed at how capable GarageBand is. Sure there are features I'm missing, but it's really no big deal and it gets the job done. And yes, after working intensely with GarageBand, I was really tempted to jump on Logic Pro X.

However, after slapping myself hard over the fingers and reminding myself I was developing a game and not persuing a new career as a game musician, I resisted (for now at least).

Alright, that's enough bragging for one post. Put on your headphones, crank up the volume and enjoy the music in the Tapporcry trailer here.

Thanks for reading.