That's right. "Noise". With quotation marks.

Let's be honest for a sec. Putting a few exceptions aside, my tracks have been featuring noises of all kinds. Various background static samples, radio chatter, glitches, lo-fi distortion, digital sounds, found instruments, industrial sounds, anything that can be arranged and put on my DAW.

To me, these sounds are an integral part of my compositions, and can't be "cleansed" from their essence. In fact, often times, noises constitute the base upon which I build the musical pillars of my tracks.

As a matter of fact, we can't really ignore these sounds. They're all around us. When we step outside, we're literally bombed with sounds from all kinds of sources. Loud, roaring, invasive, or quiet, subtle, pleasant. When is a sound interpreted as noise? When is something noisy? When is noise musical? After all, it is not a groundbreaking idea. People like John Cage made us think about it, and half a century earlier, Futurists.

I'm not here to bring up that kind of argument, between what's musical and what's noisy. However, I'd like you to reflect about the importance of including such noises within the context of artistic exploration and expression. Personally, sounds of all sorts and shapes are a gold mine of possibilities.

Ever since I started composing, in late 2009, I have been thinking deeply about the possibility of experimenting with noise as a way to look beyond boundaries and so-called standards, conventions. The reason I keep emphasizing the word noise is because after all, whether you disagree with its definition or not, its very existence is down to subjectivity and the need to express a common ground about something that, at its core, is a mere aural source.

So, what does that imply? When you break down the individual components of a musical track, they are like building blocks, each of them playing a role in the bigger picture. When you look at it this way, everything looks pretty much the same. They're all sounds, whether it's a violin playing the 9th Symphony or a jackhammer picked from the streets. Such blasphemy! They're all piled-up boxes — some might be bigger than others, but the substance is the same for everybody. For me, there is no such thing as music and noise. That is simply not my problem as a sharer of content, or even as a listener.

It is ultimately down to a choice, and like all choices, indeed, they carry their own consequences.

I have been meeting a lot of different people on the internet. I love talking to them, for better or worse. Sometimes, I purposefully push the edge by publishing tracks that have a lot of noise in them (think of sixteen and my Hyperion loops). And it's great! I enjoy seeing people participate in some way, it makes those experiments a very interesting social experience. Some may lament the fact that those tracks are too short, which I tend to take as a compliment. Some others might want a "noiseless" version of a few tracks (trust me, I've been asked that), which would be incredibly offensive if I were a pretentious anticonformist asshat. It puts a smile on my face, instead. :)

It doesn't really take a lot of time to establish this kind of creative freedom. In the end, it's about exploring possibilities, about having fun with the world around us, growing as thinking individuals. It surely isn't like a switch that you can turn on and off at will. You can't suddenly start liking certain things, but that's besides the point. Some things are often difficult to approach for a reason. Like this. (It's loud, turn down the volume)

Are your ears bleeding enough? Good, try this.

It's an interesting phenomenon to look past the point of merely liking/disliking novelty. Sure, it's not like I go crazy for the aforementioned links, but I still appreciate the fact that they exist for us to comment upon and at least make the effort of seeing things from different perspectives.

These days, there exist such a vastness of information at the tip of a finger that I can't blame people for feeling lost whether they decide to step outside their comfort zone. And... it's OK, really. We've all kind of rejected change at some point in our lives. Human beings tend to be creatures of habit. We tend to detest the new if it isn't directly coming from ourselves.

Or maybe we just don't like some things.

One thing is for sure, however. Noise is a fundamental part of our experience, and I think it would be very reductive to give it a dry, textbook definition. There's so much beneath the surface, is there? It would be a shame to let it slip past us.

Thanks for reading.

//FD

Hey folks, how's it going?

I've been thinking about something interesting lately. I've been coming back and forth to this idea, trying to better define it and give it a somewhat coherent form.

Looking back at the actual albums I have released so far, you can see a bunch of soundtrack albums and a few releases that vary quite a lot in terms of style and sound. Despite being proud of what I have published, I do feel the need to take a step back and make a few observations.

To me, the way I have been organizing my releases feels... somewhat disjointed.

Let me try explaining why.

If I had to put myself in the shoes of a new listener who has never once seen any of my works and decides to give it a shot, I think it's fair to think that on average, the first thing you listen to will be the one deciding whether you should keep listening or give up entirely.

Now, I consider myself as an eclectic individual. I can do many things and I do have many interests, so my output can vary quite wildly from one release to the next. From cinematic, "epic" trailer-like compositions, to experimental electronic music, to quiet ambiances, etc. You get the idea. So, there's quite a lot to choose from, especially when you start listening to my portfolio here on Newgrounds -- I definitely don't expect people to listen to my whole catalogue.

The effect is similar to getting suddenly thrown into the open sea and grabbing the first buoy you see, ignoring the other buoys on the horizon. In a sense, there's no sense of guidance.

If I had to be my own consumer, I'd probably just give up listening entirely, which is pretty unsatisfactory and definitely not the intended effect.

In short, what it boils down to is the necessity to organize my output better when it comes to publishing new releases/albums.

I came up with the idea of grouping my future releases into different "series".

Each series will have a distinctive characteristic that would make browsing potentially easier for the audience and myself.

Instead of opening new accounts or bands, each series will still be under the greater-scope project Forgotten Dawn. It is centralized in a sense that FD kinda acts as a "container act" for all these ideas, yet at the same time it is fractured considering all these ideas can vary quite differently from each other, even concept-wise. It's kind of like I'm my own label and I welcome all these different projects under my wings, but at the end of the day it's still me.

The way I view Forgotten Dawn, as a project, is that it changes and evolves over time. Whether it's about establishing an identity, or adding new content, or revolutionizing its internal organization.

I think this is the next logical step in building a structure for my project and a way to better organize my own thoughts.

Here on Newgrounds nothing is really going to change in terms of output. Newgrounds gives a basic structure to every musician here based on a chronological order. That, and playlists. So, I think that this new way of organizing my works will likely impact my Bandcamp portfolio and possibly my Youtube channel the most.

When you think about it, it's really nothing groundbreaking. It's a simple idea meant to have a great impact in the long-term for pragmatic purposes.

So yeah, that's about it for now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. It's still something I'm cooking up, so forgive me if I look like I'm all over the place.

Stay tuned,

//FD

Hey folks, got some good news.

Ever since January I've been working on the soundtrack for the newly published Tears of the Machine episode.

The game is available on both iOS and Android. I can assure you a lot of work has been poured into it, and we couldn't be prouder to finally release this game.

Here are some useful links, and enjoy the soundtrack meanwhile!

iOS version: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tears-of-the-machine-extended/id1157840414?ls=1&mt=8

Android version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.totm.game.android

Soundtrack: https://forgottendawn.bandcamp.com/album/tears-of-the-machine-episode-02-original-soundtrack

Freedom is dead.

...Gamejolt features your game and even tweets about it. o.o

PS: I'm still shocked.

A while back I made a "soft" announcement about my short little game .defrag, currently available on Gamejolt and RMN. For those who have missed it, I was basically rambling about the possibility of submitting the game on Steam Greenlight in the short term, and if it passes, it would be available for free eventually.

To be honest with you, I'm really thrilled and kinda nervous at the same time. It's the same feeling as when, as just a rookie, I submitted my first track here on Newgrounds, back in the days of my old account. It's exciting for sure and I don't know how folks would react to it.

It's an experimental short game meant to be unconventional and made largely on a whim — the core elements took roughly 10 days of non-stop development, excluding subsequent updates. To anyone familiar with games like Yume Nikki, you'll probably find plenty of influences on .defrag, although the latter has an actual story to experience and the characters do have some background you can dig up by interacting with them and the world around you.

Thing is, it definitely won't be the only game I develop. In fact, I have a truckload of ideas I'd like to expand and I know I've said a million times already, but I won't stop reiterating it. At the end of the day what it really boils down to is the capacity to push myself into doing what I really want as an individual. I don't view myself as an artist, more like someone who fits the pieces together, and to tell the truth, I'm also not afraid to take risks.

I am fully willing to take risks because I believe it's the only way to truly experiment and bring new perspectives and possibilities to the table. I am not pretending anyone to understand my doing and at the same time, I'm not phased by either praise or criticism. Because I am tired. I am tired of big money companies always "playing it safe", not really bringing anything new to what's already there. These days they just seem to provide the technology for others to take advantage of, and that's pretty much it. I love the endless creativity of small developers who tackle hard themes in a very personal and intimate way, disarmingly so at times. I mean, how many games make of social anxiety, or depression, or cancer, or suicide, their central theme to inspire reflection and awareness? You can count them, there will probably be only a handful.

Love it or hate it, but that's my fuel. Not for the sake of a morbid fascination with such tragedy, but I think that taking such risks can be highly rewarding if done properly. Who am I to say no? Who am I to pass such an opportunity? That's what I want to do, and I think .defrag can be the first step in such direction. We'll see what the future brings, but for now, see you in the next round.

//FD

I feel like the more I explore different genres, the more I feel like everything is connected somehow.

It's one of those "a-ha!" moments. It's a wonderful thing to be able to keep an open mind to so many possibilities. I see many artists that stagnate to only one thing and that's it. They might be good at it, sure, but then what?

Experimentation is the fuel of a life ripe with expression and color.

I want to do a lot of things in the future. I don't want to stagnate and just do one thing, I want to explore as many possibilities as I can as long as I'm on this earth. Many times I stopped and thought about those folks that are too busy talking about genres or worse, exclusively listen to what's trending, to enjoy sounds for what they are. It's a shame, they're missing on a lot. In the end, you either like something or you don't, but you can't deny the huge variety of sounds out there or put them into boxes.

Don't be afraid to leap into new frontiers.

When they tell you that you should do something else or that "isn't like you", then it's likely that they don't understand at first. They're probably too afraid to do it themselves, therefore they criticize you for even trying. Listen to yourself before others, and what you truly wish to do for yourself. A lot of people might not understand you, or criticize you unfairly, ignore you, project every sort of insecurities and ignorance, or even hate you, but then again it's inevitable. It's part of our human nature. That shouldn't stop you in pursuing your endeavor.

Welp, I wasn't expecting this to turn into some kind of motivational post, but hear me one last time: embracing possibilities is a beautiful thing. Don't waste it while you're here.

Exactly what the title says.

I'm taking a full break from everything for this entire month of October.

Maybe I'll finish up stuff or maybe not, but I have a huge list of games to catch up to that I've been pushing aside for God knows how much long, so yeah.

See you in a month!

//FD

#GamingMonth

In the end I'm sticking with pretty pics.