Edible Arrangments: GDV 2024 Edition ~ Answering Unanswered Questions

I had the immense fortune to be asked to speak at a couple of featured events this past March.

The first was at B.I.G’s Black in Gaming Fest and the second was GDC. I, shouldered by the immensely talented audio creatives

ZWbuckley (https://linktr.ee/zw.buckley),

Laryssa Okada(http://www.laryssaokada.com) and

Katherine Tole (https://katherinetole.com)

spoke on my experiences as a remote worker and the ways I integrate (or attempt to) safe practices into my everyday life to ensure this career can be viable.

I wanted this panel (and to be fair, all of my talks and speaking endeavors) to be open and free to the public, and had aspirations of at least making my take on the topics (utilizing my own slides and cards) accessible. I am proud to have found that GDC made our talk free and viewable to the public!

The beautiful thing about the panel and roundtable is that they fed into each other. The panel enabled us to broach the topic and share our experiences while the roundtable allowed a plethora of folks with time in the industry to speak on similar and tangential topics from their perspective, rather than be beholden to, essentially, another lecture-styled setting.

That being said, even between the panel, roundtable and brief discussions outside the event rooms, many burning questions were left unanswered, a few of which that were brought up in the GDC audio discord chat.

I wanted to put those questions, and the answers I provided (along with some additional caveats), here. Hopefully they will be of use!

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There were a few topics we didn't get to in the roundtable on working from home. I'll try and remember as many as I can, and if anybody wants to talk about it or ask questions/add new topics, we can keep the information exchange going!

- Best practices for treating a small space/home studio

- Promoting discoverability, especially working through the social media dumpster fire/collapse

- Handling a full/part time job and freelance audio work at the same time

- Putting boundaries on availability and managing work/life balance

> Best practices for treating a small space/home studio

Not AS Pricey But Effective

DIY Audio Panels

There are tons of resources on Youtube for DIY panels!

Cost Efficient

audio drapes / moving blankets:

I've seen folks using it with tight mixes and recordings. Folks I know who have used them/are using them:

Jeff Ball: https://twitter.com/jeffthatnoise/status/1722408161301393782/photo/1

Here are a couple of videos on the subject:

Video 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6uR_R2knQc

Video 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmT4VPNKcLM

Dynamic mics (advice of Joshua Taipale https://www.atelierjoshua.co/)

If your space (and your ability to alter it) is limited, in terms of recording instruments, your best bet would be to buy a dynamic mic (good ol’ shure SM57 for example) and then invest in a good set of…

Headphones + Headphone mixing software

Definitely reach out into the community for headphone recommendations. I use a set of semi-openback AKGs for ear fatigue and was recommend Sonarworks Reference System (which I believe is now just Sonarwork ID) to calibrate my laptop with my headphones to improve mixing quality.

> Promoting discoverability, especially working through the social media dumpster fire/collapse

I chatted with ZW after the roundtable and he made a really great point about how to utilize social media. The goal is to funnel traffic back to a main space, be it a webpage, reelcrafter, etc. So, one way to do things is:

1. Tune into your network (other composers) and see where things are leaning. Right now, people are saying LinkedIn, but folks have seen success in other spaces.

2. Find something authentic to share and try posting it in various spaces.

3. Make sure your posts act as a conduit for engagement to your main page.

4. Try a newsletter - something you control that isn't at the whim of social media and it's shiftiness.

> Handling a full/part time job and freelance audio work at the same time

This is what works for me.

1. Scheduling, scheduling, scheduling. I have a set amount of hours that I work. Due to now having a part-time job, I work on weekends (it stinks, I know) but I try to be lenient about how much I work on the days I go to my other job. You gotta do whatcha gotta do to pay the bills.

2. Set, and maintain, cut off times. Don’t let your work consume you.

3. Make sure to always block off time for rest, be it a little each day and/or days on the weekend.a

> Putting boundaries on availability and managing work/life balance

(i.e, scheduling so you can be unavailable after work hours, not working weekends/night/etc.)

If you want specifics on someone's schedule, I'll share mine:

Start work at 7:00 (give or take)

work for 4 hours [11 am]

eat lunch (40 minutes) [11:40]

go for a walk (1 hour) [12:40pm]

practice instruments for an hour (30 minutes a piece) [1:40pm]

go to the gym (I give myself 2 hours) [3:40pm]

work the last 4 hours. [7:40pm]

I also assign my work hours. Current example:

1 hour - warm-up

2 hours - project B

2 hours - project A (adjustments)

2 hours - Project C

1 hour - personal project

Another thing I do is take notes on my next steps, be it at the beginning of the day (excuse to go for a morning walk) or at the end of the current work day, so that I know *exactly* what I need to do the following day. It helps me to not waste time.

In terms of not working weekends/making yourself unavailable, I think this all comes down to setting boundaries. If you don't want to work on the weekends, or you want to stop working at a particular time, make sure you uphold that ideal and let it be known to the folks you work with. For example, I could have a strict, NO WORK after 8pm rule. I kind of have one for the weekend: if I can't find time throughout the day, then work HAS to be done by 12pm.

You could have auto-messaging set up in your email that shoots out messages to clients that state you’re no longer in office but you’ll reply to their inquiry at X time the following day.

My scheduling is also a bit loose. My overall belief is, I have X hours to finish my work, and I tend to get tired by Y, so I need to finish my work before then. So far it has been working, give or take a few bumps due to life shifts.

Lastly, and to be frank, most importantly, be patient with yourself. Boundary setting, especially when livelihood (i.e. money and careers) is involved, is hard for many people to do. There’s a good chance you’ll stumble quite a bit before you figure out what you need and are comfortable enough to push back to ensure you get it. It’s a learning process!

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Edibly Arranged: 2022 Reflection

Phew! Long time no see! Better late than never, but also, bouncing back is better than never turning back.

Not sure if that last statement was as prolific as it sounded in my head, but anyway.

It’s 2023!

I’m back in the U.S. and, innately it seems, I’m in a period of deep reflection.

In a coffee shop nestled in a quaint neighborhood in the last city that housed me before I flew across the ocean, I jumped back on this blog to see if I’d jotted down my goals for the previous year.

Lo and behold,

NOTHING!

I remembered a few that I had adamantly instituted but much of what transpired mentally in 2022 got lost in the fray of me preparing to repatriate.

What I DID remember was:

• Apply to two music libraries a week (104 total by the end of the year)

The stats for this goal ended up being:

• I applied to two music libraries .. every so often but made up for lapses in time when possible. (74/104)

Not too bad!

But, if I take into account every opportunity that transpired this year, it would be:

• was flown out to Australia as a speaker for a Game Audio event

• was brought on to work as an arranger for a personal musical!

• started a Youtube series that I thoroughly enjoy spending time on

• got a cool gig using Twitter (project finished Dec of 2021 but music was released in 2022)

• released a personal project I started in 2019! I created it when I first came to Vietnam and released it the year I left.

• got brought on to write for a project that just might be the one that gains me some notoriety (funnily enough)

• Got accepted to write for 3 music libraries (one that sends out consistent briefs and opportunities!)

• Not sure if it was this year of the last, but I’m so happy about it that I have to mention it anyway: I WROTE FOR AN ANIMATED SERIES (that I actually really enjoy watching)!

And, MOST IMPORTANTLY:

I returned to the U.S. with the ability to heavily pursue music composition without having to focus on teaching as my main job.

Things can seriously only go up from here and I’m super proud of myself.

Am I content?

Absolutely not.

Am I looking forward to being tested and pushed to the point where I can say that I’m content?

ABSOLUTELY.

That being said, my focuses for this year are:

- Save up 10 months of rent going into 2024

- Get a music placement from a music library*

- Apply to 1 music trailer a week (4 - 5 tune portfolio)

- raise my rates to match my new minimum. Renting is for the birds and I want a house.*

- Obtain 3 - 4 new projects that pay me at my new minimum (composing and arranging)

It seems like too much to focus on but many of these co-inside and are also continuations of habits already built from last year.

I’M STOKED!

Edibly Arranged

New Year, Wiser Me

This is going to be an appreciation/reflection post. I believe my 2021 genesis post should be a holistic reflection of the year, as opposed to my usual compartmentalization of my personal/professional life.

I want to start by saying that I don’t look at a new year as a rebirth. I see it for what it is - life steadily taking another step forward down its current path. When will I run out of footsteps? Who knows. The goal is to enjoy the journey. That being said, the idiom “New year, new me” has never stuck. I see it more as, “New year, Wiser me.”

Definitely not as catchy.

I tend to spend the end of year reflecting on my personal goals and aspirations and ask:

“Did I reach those goals?”

“Were any of them unrealistic?”

“Were any of them a waste of time?”

“Which ones should be kept? Thrown away? Revised?”

in addition to trying to ask myself “How do you truly feel about your life?”

This one is hard because I am sickeningly optimistic.

If you tell me I have a 10% chance, and I really want it, I’m banking on that 10%.

With that being said, I want to give a rundown on those questions in comparison with my personal life (which, with you, is managing teaching and the sparse things I do outside of that) and my professional life (composition)

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Teaching

My goals were:

1. Work a teaching job that only requires 20 hours of teaching time.

2. Ensure it meets all my financial needs.

3. Don’t over work.

A. “Did I reach those goals?”

1 yes, 2 yes, 3 no

B. “Were any of them unrealistic?”

Looking back on number 3 in comparision to numbers 1 and 2… yes.

C. “Were any of them a waste of time?”

Absolutely not. I found out that I could achieve 2 by working less hours, though.

D. “Which ones should be kept? Thrown away? Revised?”

2 and 3 need to be kept but number 1 needs to be revised (and as of now, it has been).

E. “How do you truly feel about your life?”

It’s okay! I’m not content but I’m not unhappy. It’s fine for now!

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Composing

My goals were:

1. Find at least two jobs that can pay me my rate.

(lol, that was literally my only goal)

A. “Did I reach that goal?”

Yes

B. “Was it unrealistic?”

Not really but I understand that the odds of it happening had a luck element.

C. “Was it a waste of time?”

No

D. “Should it be kept? Thrown away? Revised?”

Revised and it has been. I need to include short-term goals about maintaining relationships.

E. “How do you truly feel about your life?”

I wish I was further along BUT, I’m trying to enjoy the journey. If I’m being honest, I’m not happy with where I am but I am happy with my growth.

As I begin building new goals, I realize I need to incorpoate ones that focus on personal relationships.

Ironically enough I have been doing that by default: spending time with friends in addition to reaching out and maintaining contact with friends kept apart by distance.

I’ve always struggled with this but I can see I have seen stark improvement in comparison to last year!

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In terms of appreciation, I have quite a few things to acknowledge:

• Vietnam for being so proactive with its fight against Corona.

• Vietnam for having opportunities here that allow me to pursue my passion.

• Vietnam for taking me in with open arms.

• My teaching center for being an inspiring foray of colleagues and assistants.

• My teaching center manager for being the epitome of quality (despite unorthodox) leadership.

• My game dev partners willing to take another chance on game development and bring me with them (GIGAWALLER, Studio Namaapa and John Springer)

• New game dev partners willing to take a chance on me (Skymill, Orange Island, Frog Factions)

• The game dev audio community and its many practicioners that have molded the game audio community into the helpful family that I know it as. (beats to play games, blacks in game audio, josie, romain, nick, will roget, and many others)

• My resilience and eagerness to hike two mountains despite being practically useless from the belly button down for a week.

• My self-efficacy which allowed me to effortlessly downsize my life in order to acquire more time despite less capital.

• My thirst for self-reflection which has permitted me to grow into an even harder version of myself to not love.

All that to say, 2021 is going to be better than 2020 but not because it’s a new year. It’s because I’m willing it.

How do you feel about how your year?

Edible Arrangements: Deadlines and Desserts

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Edible

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It has been a month!

A lot of things are changing at my current job - people are leaving. Some for vacation while others for a new chapter opening in their lives.

This has meant extra work for me and a bit less camping/travelling.

As of recently, I’ve been spending my time immersing myself in various groups within the main city. I’ve started taking dance lessons and playing open mic nights with a few fellow musicians on bass!

Venue in Hanoi that features a once lucrative (pre-covid) open mic nigtht!

The past few weeks I’ve been bogged down with music work paired with my teaching duties. Desserts have been my beacon of light through the darkness!

There’s a bakery in Hanoi that specializes in ALL types of delicacies and I just. can’t. get. enough of it.

No personal pictures because they barely last the length of an inhale BUT, I happened to have one of these berry bars last week and it was divine!

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Arrangements

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PAST

Man! I’ve been hunkering down the past month and a half finishing up work for a project or three. Of course, as luck would have it, a bunch of deadlines all converged within the same day/week!

• Finished the main theme and an alpha “ready” version of the battle theme for Kindred Fates (or my BIG project)

• Finished writing out music/sfxs for a LOVELY puzzle game.

• Applied to a masters composition program.

• Finished GIGABUSTER!

PRESENT

• Create a cost efficient, portable 'recording' booth’

• Re-record instruments for Seaside cafe using aforementioned booth.

• Release my work for Seaside Cafe (I really like it)

• Work on creating alternative battle themes for the Kindred Fates arena (there were 3 planned in total)

• Look for work!

• Keep pushing my 1 to 1 scoring stream and my Composing Fundamentals!

FUTURE

• Work with session musicians to record performances for Kindred Fates

• Start work on Kindred Fates vertical slice music

• Start work on music packs, residual income streams

• Look for more scoring work!

RUMINATIONS

I’ve been thinking more and more about manifesting my future after this year. If you’ve been reading my blog semi-frequently, you might remember my proclimating into the ether desires for the year:

From - Edible Arrangements: Dry Spells and Being Covid Free

This year, I’m going to get at least 2 gigs that are going to pay me my rate.

And… it happened.

I asked for two and y’all, I got two.

It has made me ponder what else can be uttered into fruition (albeit paired with hardwork, focus and, lets be honest, luck).

I want to do this again but I know that deep in my heart, I want things to focus more on long-term growth versus short-term stability.

What I mean by that is creating avenues that will lend itself to financial stability without direct involvement from me (i.e. residual income).

So, how about going a step further.

This year..

1. I’ll get 3 projects that pay me my rate and also be able to work with a returning client on a project that is successful (i.e. netting the dev decent revenue).

2. I will earn a livable wage (based on a steady set of numbers I’ve been vying for since the start of all this) through freelance work this year.

3. One of my residual income streams will net a consistent profit for 3 consecutive months.

Number one is important to me primarily because I have had the misfortune of seeing a strong studio fall due to the hardships that come with taking a chance in game development. If I can speak positivity into the universe for not just myself but also others, I think I ought to.

Edible Arrangements: Final Stretches

Edible

Not too much has changed here since we last spoke. My most recent hike took me to Pu Ta Leng (mountain Ta Leng).

It was the HARDEST thing I had EVER done.

I went with a young hiker whose sole job is being an adventure guide.

I went to an outdoor store and invested in moderately pricy clothing while my counterparts hiked the mountain in sandals (literally) and rainboots.

—

As far as food, I had the pleasure of eating at a local Indian restaurant. I indulge in non-local foods from time to time and I was spoiled to say the least.

I had never eaten Indian food quite like this. It was a side of culinary exploring that I have been missing for a bit.

Arrangements

PAST

Alllright! Let’s jump into this.

Special Project(s) - I was hired on to write a guest track for a few games! Orange Island and another for Frog Factions! These have happened QUITE a while ago but I never got a chance to mention them.

GIGABUSTER

I finished recording parts a few weeks ago only to find out that all of my recordings had unsavory hissing sounds within them. Long story short, I’m re-recording ALL the cutscene themes AGAIN. Granted, there are only 7, but this has to be the 3rd time I’ve done this, sigh

BIG PROJECT - The main menu theme for phase 1 of this particular project is 99% complete. There is literally one section that is hanging on the balance. I have thus moved on to an ACCEPTED battle theme attempt.

SEASIDE CAFE - Has been finished! I plan to add the soundtrack to my bandcamp (steam.. maybe) for those who enjoy the music. Unfortunately, this will be the last game released by Studio Namaapa in the foreseeable future.

It saddens me greatly but I understand and support the reasons for the Studio’s disbanding.

PRESENT

GIGABUSTER - Recording the last few tracks. Where I work is extremely unsavory for recording during the day. What does that mean you ask? Well, that means I have to record at night. Starting at 10:30 or 11:00 pm to whenever I finish. sigh

New Special Project - I had the great opportunity to be approached to write for a game, thanks to the wonderful Josie Brechner. I’ve actually landed a few gigs due to her. I eagerly await the day when I can pay it forward the way she has so graciously paid it forward for me.

BIG P - Things never progress as I plan with this project, haha. The goal is to work on fleshing out the newly extended battle theme!

PERSONAL - Composing FUNdamentals is moving full steam ahead. I have recently (as of yesterday) begun a streaming endeavor - 1 to 1 Scoring. The goal - work on getting proficient at delivering 1 - 1.5 minutes of high quality, finished compositions in 1 hour.

I’d love to write for television one day, and I know having the ability to compose creatively and quickly is a must.

FUTURE

Gigabuster - Be completely finished with GIGABUSTER by the end of November

BIG P - Have the current battle theme finished by the end of November.

Personal A- Have a job or two lined up that will replace Seaside and GIGA.

Personal B - Work on crafting products to help with passive income.

RUMINATIONS

I’m a big fan of podcasts and I have started to thoroughly enjoy the podcasts of Steven Melin. I will be honest, I initially went into his talks with a scoffish mindset and a side of skepticism..

..I’m always wary of people who profess having the keys to anything..

…but he has constantly left me rethinking my business approach. He recently released a podcast episode that delved into making consistent income as a composer.

One thing he mentioned, that I agree wholeheartedly with, is the need for products.

Passive income.

• He has written a book.

• He has written music packs.

• He is currently pushing a virtual instrument company.

• He’s an affiliate for virtual instrument companies.

• He teachs/crafts courses.

• He streams.

All of these things (borderline 25 sources as stated by him in a clip) generate passive income and I’m not pushing hard to put myself in a position to make a similar foothold.

A part of it is imposter syndrome and another part is lacking the desire.

I don’t want to write a book.

I’m not interested in creating virtual instrument libraries

Do I need to go this route to be successful?

No.

Could it make walking along this path easier?

Heck yeah.

The idea of searching for composing jobs knowing that I have steady streams of income running in the background has me salivating,

but I’m not doing anything to put myself there.

I’m perpetuating an active -service only model for my business.

If I were to sit back and truly think about the products I would want to offer, they would be:

• Sheet music (not for piano but for ALL instruments)

• Music Packs (with a twist)

• Streaming revenue service* (Spotify alternative)

• Live streams and/or videos

• Royalties (from television shows/films)

• Royalties from live performances

• CD/Album sales

I’m not including composing for it is not passive income since it requires active/attentive work on my part.

I have been thinking of taking another approach toted by Steven - pick an idea and stick with it for six months.

Composing FUNdamentals is totally do-able ~ I’m more than certain I can keep it up for six months.

1 to 1 Scoring as well.

The next step is trying to expand on other sources. I have been flipping back and forth but I think it’s going to be music packs.

I have an idea in mind that may be worth my while. We’ll see!

Also, I’ve been chewing and jotting down ideas for an alternative streaming platform for quite some time. It may behoove me to look further into it.

I feel so flippant saying that,

“Dur, I have an idea for an app that would pay musicians and could quite possibly rival Spotify.”

One can dream.

Edible Arrangements: Resets and Nature Hikes

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Edible

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It’s been a while and I totally take the blame for that! I’ll make up for it by indulging you in current life events.

Covid had a resurgency here in Vietnam but nothing that has required an isolation procedure rivaling that of the initial wave.

Since the start of this second wave (and a bit before) I have started hiking! I’d recently become a fan of thru-hiking after ingesting gorgeous photos of a trekker tackling the PCT.

Needless to say, I was hooked. I’ve done a couple of solo trips, and after this coming Friday (10/23), a couple of small group (3-4 people) camping trips!

Prior to this, I had been camping all of one time. It was during a rainstorm, in the midst of a very.. odd time in my life and overall, extremely unenjoyable. My shelter of choice has been a tarp, and the more I learn and use it, the more exCITED I GET!

My skill with tarp tying with trees is… a C-, but I have improved each time! Next month my goal is to attempt setting up a shelter with trekking poles. Not exactly similar to what’s above, but in the same vein.

I say all this because two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go on my first 2 day hike. I didn’t camp for two days but I camped for one. It was through one of Vietnam’s many national forests and, if I’m not mistaken, the FIRST national forest ordained in Vietnam, Cúc Phương.

The first night we camped, our porter grilled what was deemed ‘the best pork I’ve ever had’ (by my companion since I don’t eat meat), along with banana leaf salad that was SCAVENGED FROM THE TREES IN THE FOREST.

That’s not it, though. The second night we stayed in a Muong Village.

A picture my friend took during our trip.

We had the pleasure of (accidentally) scaring the cutest buffalo and getting serenaded by the cockiest of roosters… continuosly.. all day.. and night..

Herd of buffalo we passed. They make the CUTEST meeping sounds. It’s ridiculous.

What could be better than the view, you don’t ask?

The food.

What does it taste like, you fail to inquire?

SImple yet SO DANG DELICIOUS.

I have had tofu and tomatoes countless times while in Vietnam but this… THIS? Unparalleled. I don’t know what they put in it, but there’s a 90% it’s illegal.

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Arrangements

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PAST

Phew. Where to start.

GIGABUSTER is practically ready to ship (in OST terms). I decided to re-record a few pieces that used acoustic guitar (5 or 6). Everything else is on bandcamp waiting to be ingested by the masses!

My new work schedule has been immensely helpful. I have plenty of time to devote to writing and ensuring that my teaching work is attended to without taking away from my rest days. It’s a beautiful thing.

BIG PROJECT - It has been an arduous road but the main theme for a particular aspect of the game has been accepted! I spent the past weeks getting a battle theme demo approved.

SEASIDE CAFE - My long-term pals from Studio Namaapa convinced me to work with them on this title (not that it took much). This is the game that I wanted to create a WWISE music system for. Due to time constraints, I was unable to get the desired results via music programming, although the game will still function as it is intended (musically). Right now, about 90% of the music has been mapped out! I spent most of my previous time editing parts and prepping for recording sessions.
PERSONAL - I have launched my Composing FUNdamentals composing challenge series on Youtube! Traction is slow (which is expected), but my focus is on consistency. It should be a lot easier for me to maintain that with my schedule revamp!

PRESENT

GIGABUSTER - Mixing and mastering the cut scenes that were rerecorded.

SEASIDE CAFE - Rerecording all of the placeholder guitar/bass parts, and mixing everything down!

BIG P - Get the current battle theme finished within the next week.

PERSONAL - Create one COFU video a week and start streaming a personal project.

I realize that I don’t… “flex”, or have the opportunity to show what I really can do. I decided that I will stream a personal project I am working on once a week. Otherwise, if I get the go-ahead on any new projects, I’ll switch gears and stream those. I believe showing my compositional acuity is important.

FUTURE

Gigabuster - Be completely finished with GIGABUSTER by the end of October.

Seaside - Must be completed by October 25th.

BIG P - Have all the battle themes finished by the end of November.

Personal - Have a job or two lined up that will replace Seaside and GIGA.

RUMINATIONS

Visibility. This is a huge issue for me. The more I chat with others, the more I realize two things in the composition/film/vg industry -

1. It’s who you know.

2. Proximity has a lot to do with that.

If you struggle with either of those, how do you shine? This is one of the main reasons why I started my composition challenge series.

The truth is, I don’t like spotlight. I try to avoid social media as much as I can. I’m using Facebook a LOT more than I want to while here in Vietnam but the truth is, society is literally tethered to it. If I didn’t have it, I could still meet people and make friends, but it wouldn’t be as convenient.

When I take into account how much I work, that convenience is highly appreciated.

That being said, if I want people to know who I am and what I do, I need to make myself seen. Right now, Composing FUNdamentals feels like an authentic way for me to overcome my distaste for conspicuousness.

Helping people, being vulnerable - I like that. Maintaining an untottered footing while showing my faults with ease.

Here’s hoping that it leads somewhere, haha.

This job is all about planting seeds with a dollop of trial and error.

Arrangements 5: Operation cAREER sHIFT, Take 2

It has been a while since I’ve posted and there’s a reason for it.

I burnt out.

When I came to Vietnam, my main goal was to focus on two things:

1. Focus on doing a 180 shift of the roles my career and passion play into my life.

2. Stop overworking.

#1 is moving. It’s painstakingly slow but I’m further ahead than I was a year ago. Ironically enough, I didn’t avoid number 2.

Apparently 1 and 1/2 days off (while spending 2 - 3 hours planning on said days), isn’t enough recovery time after a 70 - 80 hour work week.

I’m not lauding this mind you.

It’s incredibly unhealthy and many people do it.

The goal isn’t to break yourself into tiny pieces while vying for a dream.

I’m currently on a contract break and it has lasted for two months. These two months have basically been me rebuilding myself emotionally and spiritually. Nothing is broken but I was definitely battered. I told myself - I can work like a dog in an environment I’m comfortable with. Something has to change or I need to return home.

Something was indeed changed.

A lot of things I wanted to do for myself got thrown by the wayside, including an imbalance of what I consider to be the trifecta - three things that I need to have a handle on in order to feel at peace.

Two months seems like a long time (it is and I’m grateful that I can take it) but I am coming out of this with a new attitude, desire, and approach to this journey. One I’ll be announcing next week!

Also, I have still been working but I plan to take 5 days off this week (looking at YOU music) and four days next week. This is part of a yearly plan that I am instituting.

When I return home (wherever that is) I want to already have put into practice a style of living and working that is maintainable and healthy.

I keep slipping but I realize I’m closer to actualizing that with every backslide..

Anyway, thanks for reading! I’ll be back again (posting and streaming) in a couple of weeks!

-Jazz

Edible Arrangements: Dryspells and being Covid-Free

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Edible

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So it seems that my bi-weekly posts have inadvertantly become monthly posts. I’m going to try and push myself to write two a month, regardless of how little is going on.

Vietnam has basically returned to normal. I’m back to teaching in my language center and it wasn’t until this month that my company returned to paying its employees in full!

I was ecstatic to see my paycheck back in it’s original form! My desktop can’t come soon enough.

This lift in isolation has also permitted me to return to Hanoi so as to continue feasting on whatever I can get my grubby little paws on.

I stopped at yet another vegan spot a couple of days ago en-route to an Ableton Live mixer meet-up (which was pretty darn awesome)

Rice with fried mushrooms and “pork ribs”. The “bones” are actually made of coconut!

Nothing special unfortunately, but I can at least say I’ve crossed another vegan spot in Hanoi off my list!

Now, onto the Ableton Live Mixer. I showed up [coughlatecough] to a room filled with music producers! The goal - create a piece of music using nothing but the audio samples provided.

The amount of diversity was awe-inspiring. 90s techno, hard techno, trap/hip hop, melodic electronica, and then…

there was me.

Once the composition timelimit had been reached, everyone played their creation and went over their compositional process. I jotted down quite a few notes because there were two other Fruity Loopers present (woop). I plan to go again since they have a meeting each month.

Everyone that was present was pretty darn awesome.

I was the only female that created, though. I hope to see more next time!

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Arrangements

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I feel as thought I mentioned being ‘almost done with GIGABUSTER’s soundtrack’ for the past five months. I’m serious about it, though! I am.

PAST

All the cutscenes for GIGABUSTER have been drafted, mixed (1st pass), and recorded with final recordings!

I had been hired to create a guest track for an ADORABLE game! I got to expand on my tracker chops.

My music system project (I’m gonna call it MS) has slowly started taking shape with the development team. I’ll be contributing two tracks and I created a sketch of one theme. I took a break from developing the system because I was hitting a brick wall.

I finished my casual puzzle project! It was a breath of fresh air.

I worked on heavily drafting out my next personal project which, depending on how things go, may end up being a much bigger endeavor than I originally planned. I’m going to continue to stay silent on this one until I’ve finished wading through proper channels.

PRESENT

GIGABUSTER is rounding the bend. Right now, I’m waiting on the cutscene audio to be implemented so that Waller and I can make final decisions on pacing in-case I need to edit anything.

For MS, I have finally come back to figuring out a system. I have come up with ONE way to implement the music, but I’m not a fan. I don’t have too much time left to devote to figuring it out so I have to make it quick. As in, this month.

I’m finalizing the mixes for my casual puzzle pack soundtrack.

I’ll be finishing up my famitracker guest track this week!

I’ve been working on my next personal project and sending out the necessary emails to ensure this can actually be a thing. I really, really hope it can be a thing.

Nothing is final just yet, but I was contacted to help create pieces for what has the potential to be an EXTREMELY huge composition endeavor for an awesome project. Fingers crossed it goes through. I’ll consider it official when a contract has been signed.

I’ve been getting pieces back from my Journey to the Sun personal project. It’s giving me insight into how I could have made things easier for myself (in terms of creating pieces under a strict time constraint). Biggest lesson - hiring musicians is a must. I didn’t have that option at the time, but I can see how much of an improvement delegating tasks out would have made the quality of certain performances. THAT, or doing less, but many I’m no good at that.

FUTURE

I expect to have GIGABUSTER finished (i.e. ready to stream) by mid July. Once all the cutscenes check out, I’m mixin’, masterin’, and plasterin’. I can’t wait for players to experience GB in its entirety.

My goal is to have my casual pack mixed and ready to go by the end of June since there isn’t too much to be done. Once mixed, I should have it on the Unity asset story by mid-July.

The MS project has a development cycle of three months. My goal is to have an implementable music system by the end of June so that I can spend all of July recording, writing, and mixing stems to be used.

I have a timeline for my 3rd personal project, but I am wondering if it is doable. I think my expectations were a bit out of my ability. I’m going to have to rethink the timeframe. That aside, I hope to have the next piece done by the end of this month and the next piece started!

If things pan out the way I hope, I’ll be working on contributing 5 or 6 pieces to an extremely notable game in development right now. Again, I’m not trying to jinx anything, but the opportunity is there and I am excited about it.

RUMINATIONS

I’m a big fan of the Tony Robbin’s podcast. I recently listened to an interview he gave to Connor McGregor and Connor said something that intrigued me. He mentioned, after reading a book, that he started practicing speaking success into existence. Before long, those proclamations started to manifest in reality.

Nothing big. Just small beliefs that became true. Before long he was finding bigger conquests to vocally conquer as his own.

It sounds absurd, but I figured I’d try it out this year. I kept my desires simple:

This year, I’m going to get at least 2 gigs that are going to pay me my rate.

So far, I’m 1 for 2. If I get this big gig, I’ll be 2 and 2. If I DON’T get this gig for whatever reason, I still have 6 months to achieve this goal.

If I DON’T get a another rate-equalling gig by the end of the year I was STILL able to land a gig for the FIRST TIME at a rate that could make writing music full-time a possibility.

Either way, it’s a win-win and a step forward.

I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing - putting myself out there and creating work for myself where there is none with an added dose of speaking my desires into reality.

I think the biggest change I will make is to focus on creating work that generates revenue because I’m definitely not doing that. I’m currently working on projects that will generate revenue down the line, but not from a short-term goal perspective. I’ll do a better job of taking a page from Steven Mellin’s book.