Andrew Weisberg - Week 6 Devlog

Soundtrack Composition (~4 Hours):
Composing tracks is hard. Hard in the sense that you can have a really good melodic idea, but struggle to figure out where you're gonna go with your piece.

For Spit it Out, I'm composing my music drafts in Auxy. I imagine that any music producer reading this is concerned for my wellbeing. "Why are you drafting in a mobile DAW? You should be drafting your work in [Insert Desktop DAW Here]!" I'm using Auxy because it's a very intuitive program in its own right and warrants the discussion of how accessible making music can be. While it's not as feature or instrument-rich as a program like Ableton or FL Studio, the genius of Auxy is in its UI. Composing in MIDI is done in a top-down format rather than a side-to-side format that you would normally find in a DAW. It's easy to follow MIDI notes in this format, and I think there's something to be said about being able to take a DAW and compose by touch without fumbling with a MIDI keyboard.

Drafts are meant to be done quick and dirty; in this case I'm able to work extremely quick, and take care to at least be clean with my work. Auxy also has export options where I'm able to port my entire project, stems and samples and all, into Ableton. From there, I can swap out instruments as needed, apply audio effects, and work relatively hassle-free. There's extra complexity in having to work in two programs, but in the interest of time, this is the quickest way for me to get pieces done for Spit it Out.

So far, I've worked on two draft pieces: Back 2 Basics, and Baby Blues. Grayson is working with me in making sure the sound profile for these songs matches with the game's aesthetic and story; in this case, B2B will be used for our Level 1 music as it starts soft and eases into a chiptune melody, kind of like a lullaby. Baby Blues is slated to be for a later level, as it's more on the heavy side (I had Unearthly Blues from Pizza Tower in mind as a bass reference), and it has that sorta Scattle funk to it that I think would make for a good listen.

I'd like to see if I can find soundfonts to use for the music if possible, though we're limited to creative commons soundfonts. If we can use stuff like the Roland SC-88 soundfont or the SGM soundfont without any issues, great! If not, it is what it is.

Sound Design:
Me and Grayson are going to leverage some outside assistance to help with the sound design; he has a friend who is willing to assist in the sound design work for Spit it Out. Alongside this, I will also be looking at sound effect libraries to use for this project. I believe the direction we're most likely to go in is cartoony sound effects and chiptune chimes. We're both confident that we can come up with some cool stuff to use for this project, and we'll hopefully have more to share soon.