I'm sure not anyone will agree with me, but making it mandatory to leave a comment if you rate something 4.5 stars or above would be neat. Personally, I often rate things I really like 4 or 4.5 stars, reserving 5 for pieces I absolutely adore in one way or another. If I rate something 5 stars, I already try to give some positive feedback other then "thing gud Ilik a lot" and even if that's all it ends up being, it's better the nothing I suppose.

Forcing users to leave a comment at those ratings could balance the rating system, making 5 stars more meaningful and stop people from assuming anything less means "I have gripes". Then again, it could also make everyone stop voting 4.5 and 5 stars all together, and everyone will start rating everything 4 instead, which only moves the problem.

Just a thought.

Sooo, I just noticed the "Artist News" section on the home page and can't find an explanation of what it really is. Obviously not every blog post will show up there, so does it only feature blog posts from artists? Musicians? Game designers? Does me being a musician make me count as an artist and will this post end up there by extension?

If so, hi, thanks for letting me waste your time lol

I've been working at it on and off for months now and the fucker is finally complete. Now to touch up the mix, master it, and get the release ready.

It's literally just a headache in your chest. Ugh.

Two nights ago, I challenged myself to write a song at least partially in an hour before bed. Even I have to admit that's ambitious, as I started with and only focused on vocal melody, and I suck at making vocal melodies. But hey, what better way to improve then to throw oneself right into the deep end and try not to die?

Welp, I did it. I got a verse melody down and even a bunch of lyrics but, as usual with my songwriting, the chorus ends up being instrumental. I mean, I like instrumental choruses, but for me, it comes from my lack of ability to write one with lyrics rather then a creative decision most of the time. But it works here so it stays.

You may be saying "cloudskater, I can't hear the song you haven't released yet, dumbass", and that's true. I might drop it here as a rough demo whenever I get the structure done and recorded. No clue when that will be but I just wanted to document my experience as an armature songwriter trying to challenge himself.

Now to try and make an EP! That's not too much for my newbie brain to handle at all!

I very much want to make my finished track exactly the way I imagined it sounding, so in that way, I'm a perfectionist, and it's why I don't release music as much as I'd like. However if a slip up happens during the recording process and I like it, I'm not gonna try to "fix" it to make it as good as IT can be. I like the authenticity of a genuine moment or idea caught on record. Not sure if this makes any sense, but it's hard for me to call myself a perfectionist when explaining why I don't release much music because the definition of the word varies from person to person.

Does it mean I try to make everything absolutely perfect, every instrument and vocal and sound, down to the last note? Of course not, music is made special by it's imperfections. But does it mean I try to take my incoherent ideas and make them the best they can be on their own, then combine them into a final song that may be more flawed then it's individual parts? Yesssss???

Idk. I need to stop overthinking every aspect of my music and just MAKE and RELEASE it lol. Simply enjoy the process rather then stress over everything. Not every idea is good and not every song will be either, but that's fine. At least I made something.

Art by Brittney Ackerman

I want to start releasing original music so bad. I have a good few songs mostly written but I have to compose the music and mix it and all that stuff. Not to mention getting someone to do that art as well. I'm excited to share it all with you, but it could take so long with all the work that goes into this stuff, and I want to make sure everything's perfect.

I appeared in a "lazymation" that my friend over at Blue Collar Den posted today! You can watch it here.

I did the demon voice you hear Misty switch to for two of her lines. I've been able to do that silly voice since I was a kid and it's hilarious to finally see it getting used in something.

Either way, I'm gonna make one, stay tuned...