Hello, everyone!
It's been an incredibly busy year, and I would like to take a few minutes to recap some key events, because why not! It's a fast world with an even faster internet, and I think it's OK to allow some moments of self-reflection every once in a blue moon. Buckle up, 'cause you're in for a ride.
Virulent Transience
"Virulent Transience" was released in July 7, a collaboration with fellow Ambient youtuber/noise-maker Iron Cthulhu Apocalypse. I rarely collaborate with people these days due to the sheer volume of projects at hand, but I have been wanting to produce an "Umbra" follow-up for some time, and I was very excited to hop on this project and have some material to work upon.
This album also marked my first ever CD Baby release, which I personally view as an important step forward in trying to reach out to a wider audience. It's a pretty big deal to me since I've shared my music for free for years under various Creative Commons license variations and I still do, to an extent. I take no issue granting permission to use my audio, but I think it's also nice to have a more curated and monolithic selection of works that people can check out and add to their Spotify playlists or what-have-you.
My YouTube ▶ https://www.youtube.com/@ForgottenDawn
Iron Cthulhu Apocalypse ▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPu3YP9Qgl46UdFrGvyguNw
Lo-Fi Rooms
I've been slowly "soft rebooting" my main YouTube channel since the start of the year by introducing a new multimedia project called Lo-Fi Rooms and hyperfixating on a personal niche microgenre I feel comfortable calling Lo-Fi Ambient. I dive into more detail in my members-only Ko-fi posts, if you'd like to learn more about what goes into creating this type of media.
Lo-Fi Rooms is my way of making sense of things and interests I've carried since my own childhood that have merged into some kind of shared audiovisual language. I have sketches dating back to at least a decade ago showing glimpses of the kind of visual elements that I now regularly include in my artworks.
Some of my connections have drawn comparisons with another popular thing on the internet called the Backrooms, and while I'm aware of what it's about and also liked the original creepypasta, I would say that Lo-Fi Rooms is more about exploring dreamlike moods and spaces rather than being chased by some spooky monster down a hallway.
I spent months preparing the artwork for its two introductory videos (Welcome to the LO-FI ROOMS, 5 LEVELS OF LO-FI AMBIENT) and even more time producing my first proper Lo-Fi Rooms-themed full length, Empyrean Playground. I am thrilled to continue generating new Lo-Fi Ambient and expand this shared universe with your viewership. I am not sure whether there will be a dedicated wiki in the future, but for now, I'm just going to suggest to stay tuned.
🎧 Bandcamp | Spotify | iTunes | Amazon Music
Video Game Music Channel
Back in June, I unveiled this brand new YouTube channel, aptly named Forgotten Dawn VGM, with the intent of sharing 20-minute extended mixes of my own game soundtracks. I have accrued enough game audio to think that it would be great to put in the background while studying, reading, role-playing, etc.
I have a personal fondness towards long-form music videos, whether it's full albums or hour-long mixes. They really help me concentrate while writing or drawing and set the right mood, so I thought why not? Why not make extended mixes with my own music?
Like my main channel, each video is non-monetized by default with no ads (that I know of), and each video description box contains links and trivia you may find interesting. Feel free to help the channel grow if you like what you see, and I hope you enjoy the music!
✅ Checkpoint!
Feeling overwhelmed yet? Don't worry! There's more!
Art-Inspired Music Contest
This year I decided to join AIM for the first time since 2016. Various overlapping commitments would always prevent me from joining in the past, so I was glad to have produced something that felt important enough to me, and even ended up only one point away from the top 3, against all my expectations. You love to see the fierce competition and overall great musicianship across the board!
Game Jams
2023 was also the first year I joined a few game jams strictly as a composer with absolutely zero pretenses of building an entire game from scratch on my own. I joined this year's GMTK game jam, first time ever, and it was pretty fun to throw myself into the grinder for 48 hours and contribute to a playable "something" with a team of random strangers.
Then came the 6th edition of the OST Composing Jam shortly after GMTK. First time joining as well. I had a generous 9-day time limit, and as soon as the contest began, I immediately jumped on the job. I managed to compose 6 tracks, absolutely overscoping in the process, but it was a lot of fun envisioning this time-themed game concept. Honorable mention to the incredible community supporting the event, which made the whole jam feel much more proactive and engaging.
Yume 2kki Audio
The good folks from the Yume 2kki community keep updating this game to staggering proportions, to the point I'm sure this post is going to be obsolete by the moment I hit Submit. One of the best things about contributing with some audio to their ever-expanding repository is that I never know how my music will be placed in future updates. For me, that's exciting, because it's a process of surrendering control and letting others envision their own surreal worlds with my audio running in the background.
Wooded Lakeside ▶ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBC4r0Lz420
Red Sewers ▶ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpnLXlZr7NU
Gnarled Plaza ▶ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0ZeYBtVrOY
Wooded Lakeside B ▶ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfisyyGsai8
Boiler Room ▶ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1YjpaWadUY
Related OST channels:
Yume 2kki Wiki | Borb | Madokage | GameReviews | MunchCookiE | 145
It's Just Pau.
While Dawnbot is enjoying his summer break, a new friend from another world has joined my roster of characters.
Meet Pau. A young man with a fervid imagination and tons of ideas to share. Dive deep into his volcanic mind as he journals his adventures in what he dubs the "Border Space"—a paracosm where anything can happen.
Tapas ▶ https://tapas.io/series/Its-Just-Pau/info
Webtoon ▶ https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/its-just-pau/list?title_no=861705
Newgrounds ▶ https://www.newgrounds.com/playlists/view/8b78e1f1f84e586ec5bd0a4c781065ae
Website + Portfolio
I finally have a website! I also gathered (almost) all my pages into a neat Linktree, and made a quickly accessible VGM showcase! Hooray! 🎉 Both my personal website and Reelcrafter are a work-in-progress, as I slowly tweak and update all the various descriptions and sections, but hey! It's something. We business now.
🤝
Lastly, if you'd like to give me a hand coordinating stuff, then feel free to reach me out on my Discord server so that I can grant you the Collaborator role. More details in the server.
And that's about it for now! Whew. What a long ride it's been. I hope you stick around for more in the future and, as always, I am appreciative of everyone's support and words of encouragement~
Toodles!