Zeta Aspect
  

I'm just a poor boy; I need no sympathy...
Starting at the beginning (1988), I was born at a very young age...
Anyways, I started composing to drain tunes out of my head. A friend of mine introduced me to a program called Finale on December 9, 2005. I have been composing since.
One of the biggest influences was a game called Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete. The score was so amazing. One day, while listening to the boss battle music for the nth time, I started humming a counter-melody...which will one day take shape as "Valiant". This tune is important, as it is truly the first song I ever "composed." And it is proving hella hard to transcribe to the computer from my brain. (3/8/08 - Damn it!   Need to get around to producing it now that I'm super-special-awesome!)
DDR and ITG are big influences for me. If the life of a songwriter weren't so difficult, I'd hope to become an artist for ITG. Oh well.

I usually post the following bit rates:
Streaming: 64 or 96 kbps WMA
Download: 192kbps mp3

If I take down a song you want to hear, just give me an e-mail. I'll send you whatever file type you want - be it Real Media, Windows Media, mp3, Ogg Vorbis, Wave, MIDI (restrictions may apply), or even Finale sheet music (restrictions may apply)  - at any bit rate. Beware file sizes, although I'll zip large files unless you request otherwise.


------------------------------ ----PROJECT STATISTICS--------------------- ---------
Production Time: Time spent clicking in notes or drawing in loops, counting improvisation.
Planning Time: Time spent coming up with ideas, not counting improvisation.

"Disturbed Relationship" - ~2 hrs planning / 16 hrs production
"Dreamscape - LASWELL" - ~8 hrs planning / 17 hrs production
"Groove with the Unknown!" - ~1 hr planning / ~5 hrs production
"Wordsworth -Tranquility Mix-" - 3 hrs planning / 15 hrs production
"Into the Fray" - 0 hrs planning / 8 hrs production
"Symphony no. 2 - Resolution" - 21 hrs planning / 30 hrs production
"So Deep -OCRmx-" - 7 hrs (and counting)  planning / 8 hrs (and counting)  production
"Universal Et Cetera" - 1 hr planning / 14 hrs production
"WttN -Individualist Mix" - ~2 hrs planning / ~7 hrs production
"Techno Mikey -OCRmx-" - 2 hrs planning / 20 hrs production
"Pokemon Gym -OCRmx-" - 1 hr planning / 3 hrs production
"Abrasive Harmonies" - 0 hrs planning / 3 hrs production
"io - temporal echoes mix-" - 0 hrs planning / 1 hr production
"io" - 60+ hrs planning / 54+ hrs production
"Plasma Trip" - 0 hrs planning / 20 hrs production

I spend a lot of time on my music.


------------------------------ ----CURRENT PROJECTS:---------------------- ---------
My Symphony No. 1 is not coming along very quickly, but I have a bit of the song produced and a bit more drafted.
My Symphony No. 3 is not coming along.
My Symphony no. 4 just got inspired. Full orchestra, and I have a bit already...sounding professional...more so than "So Deep"...
"Refraction" (Breakbeat, 180bpm; most of all, it needs its breakbeats, which are difficult or impossible in Finale...which is why I now love 8packs...ARHYTHMIA looks like fun)
"Jazz Blast!" (Jazz, 150bpm; I might need to remove the exclamation mark, since this is very relaxed...)
"io -warp mix-" (Techno/Trance, 135bpm; needs some odd sounds I can't seem to create...and one month too late for t3h DDR contest, I realize that said sound is whale song...)
"io" (Techno/Classical, 120bpm; still in composition stage, but the melody is nearly complete)
"Greensleeves -Metal-" (Metal/Classical, 145bpm; it's "Greensleeves", except my style...mostly complete, except for the pesky MIDI guitar...I hate MIDI guitars...maybe I'll cut some loops amateurishly)
"Bass Line" (literally Drum N' Bass, 140bpm; still in composition stage, but sounding nice)
"FrenetiX" (Drill 'n' Bass/Hardcore, 200-500bpm; crazy-fast and complicated drums, melodies on cymbals, sound effects, sonic adrenaline...all of which is far beyond my production capabilities)
"ZetaMax" (Techno, 300bpm; fully drafted, but production has yet to commence)
"Valiant" (Game Soundtrack I bet, 160bpm; fully drafted, but production has yet to commence)
Some song named "MedioCore" because of the many mediocre hardcore songs. I have no idea what it's going to be. I'm just really, really amused by the title and concept.

More to come!   Unless I get lynched for making terrible music. RUN 4W4Y FR0M T3H M08!!!


------------------------------ -When you review my work:------------------------
BE HONEST !   I need honest reviews.
Please give suggestions !   Also, if you have software suggestions or specific techniques, please tell me!
Constructive criticism is also highly appreciated!
If you want to leave a review, but you can't give suggestions, go ahead and do so, but remember that I appreciate detailed reviews.
The more detailed the review, the more likely I am to return it. Just remember: when I return it, I'll be following these guidelines:

------------------------------ -When I review your work:----------------------
As of 3/26/06, I am trying not to cave-in to grade inflation. Here are my numbers:

1 = Tolerable, at best. This is the rating I will use for what I can't stand. It is unlikely that I will ever give this rating.
2 = Tolerable; okay.
3 = Sort of good.
4 = Good. I sort of recommend it. It is probably salvageable, but it might not have the potential for true greatness.
5 = Fairly good. There are some glaring flaws, but it is salvageable.
6 = Pretty good. There are some issues really holding it back, but it has potential.
7 = Great. I recommend it. There are some issues, but it is fine.
8 = Quite good. There may be few issues.
9 = Excellent. This is really good, but it just doesn't soar with me.
10 = Amazing. I love it. There may be a few things wrong, but it is still of the highest caliber.

Gaaah!   I'm still inflating my ratings!   I'm making a second attempt as of 5/14/06.
As a note, if a song makes my playlist, then it is splendid enough for me to want to hear it over and over / advertise it to others. It in some way touches me, gets my heart racing, sticks in my head, or demonstrates true mastery of some aspect of making music. No matter how many tens I give, only my absolute favorites make it to my playlist. Strangely, there are always some anomalies, so, yeah, whatever.
Additionally, it should be known that I am never attempting to harrass an artist with my reviews. If I give you, say, a 5/10, I'll explain why, and I will most likely give suggestions on how to improve it. Giving out free 10s doesn't really encourage development, and I prefer to help others improve.
Also, if I am accusing you of copying a song, I'll be very clear about it. If I say "song X is like song Y" I mean "song X in some way reminds me of song Y", not "you are copying song X from song Y". I'd appreciate it if we would all remain cool, calm, and collected.

 

 

12/9/2005 - Introduced to Finale, a sheet music program with MIDI playback. I started "io" shortly thereafter.
1/20/2006 through 1/29/2006 - Learned balancing in Finale while making "Techno Mikey -OCRmx-".
1/30/2006 - Began attempting to decipher Finale's percussion map with the making of "Plasma Trip".
2/8/2006 - First attempt at invoking the power of the kick drum in another remix of "Techno Mikey".
3/17/2006 through 3/28/2006 - Discovery of percussion rides in order to increase energy in making "Greensleeves -METAL-".
3/23/2006 - Began my second symphony, using percussion rides to increase energy.

SOMEWHERE IN HERE I STARTED EXPERIMENTING WITH ACID (the program, not the drug)  FOR THE "WELCOME TO THE NOW" REMIX CONTEST!

5/4/2006 - Enthralled by interesting loops from 8packs, I began "Universal Et Cetera".
5/18/2006 - Finished mastering "Symphony no. 2 - Resolution". But I didn't upload it because I am discouraged by its sound quality.
5/19/2006 - Began my "So Deep" remix, which had been brewing in my head for days. By using reverb, I created a much higher quality sound than ever before (except the snares). This solidified my desire to hesitate to release "Symphony no. 2".
5/23/2006 through 5/24/2006 - "So Deep - OCRmx- (Dance Promo)" went #1 in Symph Electro. Which means little about my song. But it's still nice, and exposure may get me some fans.

COMMENCED RECORDING MY ACTIVITIES HERE!
NOW YOU CAN PRETEND TO BE INTERESTED IN WHAT CRAP I'M MAKING!

5/24/2006 - Attempting to fix the ending of "io -temporal echoes mix-"; normalized "So Deep -OCRmx- (Dance Promo)".
5/28/2006 - Boosted "So Deep" by 3dB. Posted "Symphony no. 2 - Resolution", even though it isn't of stunning production quality (I do what I can).
5/31/2006 - Reduced the volume of both of the aforementioned songs by 3dB. I was getting distortion on the latter, and I was skeptical about the former. Also, started and finished "Fury Breaker" in ACID Xpress.
6/9/06 - Started remastering "Uetc." for most speakers, which kill everything except the synth blips and the high-end percussion. Also started killing DJ Tetsusaiga and Darryl Brady's "My Fate's Resolve" by throwing Drum 'n' Bass loops on top.
6/14/06 - Started "Aerial", which is a pretty neat song so far. I love orchestras.
6/15/06 - Renamed "Fury Breaker" into "Into the Fray". That is more like what I was originally intending. Updated the mix of "Into the Fray". Started providing 96kbps to help dial-uppers a bit. There doesn't seem to be much difference between 96kbps and 128kbps...
6/16/06 - Made a hell of a lot of ringtones for a contest. Also, started "Symphony no. 4".
6/17/06 - Worked a lot on "Symphony no. 4", so now I've got almost one minute of juicy, full-orchestra goodness. It is at around "So Deep" quality, too, which makes me happy.
6/26/06 - Started my Wordsworth remix. I surprised myself by choosing to do downtempo, zen-esque stuff. Worked for around 6 hours.
6/27/06 - Mad dash to finish my remix. I worked all day on it, and I couldn't decide which of two nearly identical versions to enter. Solution: I entered them both.
6/29/06 - Decided to throw together a Jesse Saunders contest entry. I wasn't going to take it to seriously, but I ended up getting into it quite a bit.

10/26/07 - Remembered about this section of my profile, and realized I haven't been updating it for over a year. Oh, I got Prozone today as a result of my Sun Caged contest entry.

 

 

Matt Herson: Composition, Production, Messing Around, Screwing up...

 

 

Anything I feel like, damnit!!!   <-----Seriously. Even if it has no style...in every sense of the word.
My music is what I call "neo-classical" and "techno-classical". It is sort of electronica/classical.
I do happy/hardcore and...uh...plain old hardcore...and lots of other styles. Mostly, however, I do my "electronica/classical".

Okay, this is the most professional way I can state this:
Primary Style: Classical / Symphonic Electronica and Hardcore
Secondary Style: Drum 'n' Bass and Trance
Tertiary Style: Breakbeat and House

I am more of a composer than producer, or rather, I am less of a producer than a composer. Much of my stuff is composed from scratch. If I don't mention otherwise, this stuff is 100% original. Oh yeah, most (if not all)  of my contest entries are made from loops, and very stock ones at that.

 

 

KaW (KaW, Smiley, and Inspector K), Digital Explosion, Evolution, Filo Bedo, Naoki Maeda, DJ Taka, TaQ, Helix Eternal, DM Ashura, W1p3out/Wip'E"Out, Zephyr Nova, T2Kazuya, Kriminal Klub, Keith Spillman, Nobuo Uematsu, Noriyuki Iwadare, Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, Vivaldi.
Most important: Digital Explosion, Helix Eternal, Noriyuki Iwadare, Smiley, Zephyr Nova.

 

 

HARDWARE:
Computer: Yes.
SoundCard: Standard, nothing special yet.
Speakers: Coby CV320 Headphones (I rarely use my cheap Cyber Acoustics speakers, due to inaudible bass)
Microphone: Cyber Acoustics CVL-1064
Korg TR-61 Keyboard Synthesizer

SOFTWARE:
Finale PrintMusic; SmartMusic SoftSynth (it's a soundfont)
ACID Pro 6.0 <-------- VWOOT!!!
ACID XPress (it's simple, but I might use it from time to time)
Windows Sound Recorder
I can almost do the basics in Audacity, but no good effects like phaser or wah-wah
Hopefully I'll learn to use Fruity Loops soon
Cakewalk HomeStudio 2002 sometime in the future...
Buzz some other time in the future...

VSTi:
z3ta+ (go figure), Vanguard, Superwave, Albino, String Studio, sfz, the Fruity Loops one, etc...

(Impressive, huh?)

 

 

I'll collaborate on anything, probably without hesitation. I am MIDI capable, but I am still a novice when it comes to production.

STRENGTHS:
I have good ideas. I improvise well in composition.

WEAKNESSES:
I have conquered my previous weaknesses. However, I am by no means perfect. I'm a slow worker, and I like to be very meticulous, even if I can't quite pull off what I have in mind.

COLLABORATE:
Together, we can make music that has good basic ideas and has excellent beats, effects, and overall presentation.

What a sales-pitch...

Uhhh...yeah...so, anytime, anywhere.