The Hotseat - Burn! Burn! Burn!

172296

The Hotseat is over!! Thanks for taking part.

Up were:

SnugglyBun
MelonadeM
tennisers
damifortune
Lotepamera
mirageofher
Quirby64
dexbasson
02FD
kleeder
DBOYD
A64
Bravoman
funute
Lasertooth
Kot
OminPigeonMaster
kilowatt64
roz
Sloopygoop
jaezu
Enderjed
jaxcheese
zipdisq
TrippleP
argarak
big lumby
HamMan
Tex

__

The year is 20XX, and BotBrs from around the world have come together to play a little game. But not to earn boons, points, badges or trophies! No! They've decided to play only for the most primal element that unifies them: ATTENTION, BEING NOTICED, RECEIVING PINGS, ALERTS AND OTHER KINDS OF LOUD NOTIFICATIONS.

And so begins the first ever

(it appears summer isn’t the only hot thing lately, nyuk nyuk nyuk)

How does it work?

You post in this thread expressing that you want to sit in the flaming throne. Once it's your turn, everyone else will have 3 days to ask questions to you about yourself.

You must answer all of them! (but you can do so at as much length as you feel is needed)

After these 3 days are over, we'll move on to the next person until there’s nobody left.

Why are you doing this?

Why not?

172297

i have not much to do so why not?

172300

holy shit ........... the guy fieri seat

(im in ill try to rember to answer)

172305

quick q, where are the questions asked? here, in chat, or wherever?

172306

i'll do it

172330

@damifortune: everything will happen in this very thread, since forum threads work more orderly for this.

172333

sweet. i'm in

172335

is it okay if i record whatever questions i have to answer in a sort of podcast-y format that i've never ever done before

i might not do this but it might be funny

172336

Ya, if you want to record yourself instead of typing, that's optional.

172358

I wanna be on the hot seat too! so since SnugglyBun said it first does she go first?

172360

Yeah!

172498

this sounds fun, im in

edit: i want that seat for mineself. nice subtle botb print... i wonder what i need to do for that seat to exist irl

172555

i would like to sit in the seat

172666

lol sure why not

172680

I want toasted buns!

...

_{as soon as i get the time to actually submit an entry- i am not yet worthy of the fieri derrière...}

172790

@Delita: feel free to join! You don't need to have submitted an entry on BotB to participate.

And now, let's ask SnugglyBun some questions. This bun needs to stay snuggly, as it lives in the current wintertime southern hemisphere.

172793

where does the username SnugglyBun come from

172796

What is your middle initial? What is your favorite animal? What do you do for outlet besides music?

172797

To what degree do you identify with Argentinian culture, be it sports, movies, music or what-have-you? Is there a country you culturally identify with more?

Some people wear anthropomorphic avatars, have animal-like nicknames, yet do not consider themselves furries. Would you label yourself as a furry? If yes, do you partake in communities where furries are generally celebrated?

172799

Favorite Pokémon?

172804

SB, some of your music on Youtube is mid-90's Jungle, and some of it uses a logo which is a reference to the Moving Shadow logo. How did you get exposed to 90's British Rave music? Is there any scene for it in Argentina?

172805

have a favorite sound chip if you had to pick one?

172817

shit i forgot

- where does the username SnugglyBun come from:
I literally made it on my own one day, wanted to come out with some kind of branding that fit with bunnies and cuddles. I previously went through various usernames like Curly and Airisu

- What is your middle initial?: Carmen (my full name would be Valeria Carmen Nairi)
- What is your favorite animal?: Bunnies <3
- What do you do for outlet besides music?: Crying myself to sleep

- To what degree do you identify with Argentinian culture, be it sports, movies, music or what-have-you?: I don't really seem to identify with my country's culture and nationality that well, mostly because i spent too much time growing up in the Internet being exposed to other cultures and also because I'm very critical of nationalism as a political movement

- Is there a country you culturally identify with more?: I haven't given much thought about it, mostly because I'm not the person that tends to have a positive outlook about the countries by their own institutions (the State for example) even though i can be really fond about some of their cultural impact

sorry for the political rambling x_x

- Some people wear anthropomorphic avatars, have animal-like nicknames, yet do not consider themselves furries. Would you label yourself as a furry?: YIS @w@ nuzzles and licks your face (like, isn't it obvious?)

- If yes, do you partake in communities where furries are generally celebrated?: I unfortunately live in a very conservative area of my own country where such events don't tend to happen at all and where anything LGBT-related (furries have a long lasting connection with the LGBT culture if you didn't knew) is despised, so I unfortunately did not had the chance to participate in any of those IRL events even if i really want to.

- Favorite Pokémon?: I don't play Pokemon so i can't really answer this ;_;

- SB, some of your music on Youtube is mid-90's Jungle, and some of it uses a logo which is a reference to the Moving Shadow logo. How did you get exposed to 90's British Rave music?:
Okay, this is kind of a funny one. I was literally exposed to 90s British Rave Culture thanks to nothing but a fucking Sonic ROM Hack called Jester's Challenge. That one features crunchy PCM samples of actual 90s Jungle, Hardcore Breakbeat and DnB songs as music which made it stood out compared to everything else offered on terms of Sonic ROMHacks at the time. Here's an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHgQEYjD4_c
I was like 12 years old in 2013 when i first downloaded that game and listening to that kind of music was like seeing a new world appear before my eyes, this kind of music i heard about a few times but never experienced it until now; and it was glorious.
So yeah, unlike most Gen Z people i wasn't exposed to Jungle thanks to Sewerslvt but literally thanks to fucking Sonic lmao.

- Is there any scene for it in Argentina?: As far as i know, not really. I haven't heard anything of that sort of stuff at least in the places i happen to know about. Maybe there might be in some places of Buenos Aires idk.

- have a favorite sound chip if you had to pick one?: Well shit i'm bad at making those kind of choices but I'm having an interest in the Sega Saturn's SCSP at the moment. It's a 32 channel PCM channel but it has tons of special effects like reverb and echo and these channels can even be turned into FM operators (for example 8 channels of 4OP FM)

172820

When I asked you about if you partake in communities where furries are generally celebrated, I meant internet communities (Fur Affinity, etc.). I should've been clearer (although that answer was also interesting and I'm sorry your area isn't welcoming to furries).

Do you have siblings? If yes, what's your relationship with them like? If not, would you have liked to have one? Why or why not?

172821

I guess I can burn alive at some point in the near future

172823

this is really fun and interesting so far! love the mix of questions

do you have any faraway goals with your music that you want to work towards? like different styles of music that you hope to one day be able to make but haven't yet... or just other things that inspire or interest you that you aspire to, admire, etc. you can be general or specific, i'm just curious where [else] you want to be.

172827

- Do you have siblings?: Two of them, an older brother and a younger sister
- If yes, what's your relationship with them like?: Not good :c, my older brother followed my family's conservative footsteps and for example did not recognize me being a trans woman at all, which made me not really want to talk to him. Also my sister has been really mean towards me for even the smallest of things

- do you have any faraway goals with your music that you want to work towards? like different styles of music that you hope to one day be able to make but haven't yet... or just other things that inspire or interest you that you aspire to, admire, etc. you can be general or specific, i'm just curious where [else] you want to be:
I would like to expand my horizons and for example get into doing ambient stuff, I really love that kind of music as it makes me relax and feel grounded whenever I'm feeling down on I'm under a panic attack. I also want to actually be good at music, like even though I'm getting better at it lately I still have a long time to go. I have to refine the areas I'm very weak at and also learn to be a lot more flexible between genres.
Oh and also i want to try other music software and even get into actual hardware stuff. For example the other day i kind of was a traitor on my tracker roots and tried the FL Studio trial for a bit x3, i instantly got lost and had to ask a lot of people for even the most basic things XwX; i also want to for example own an actual physical sampler once i live on my own and have a sustainable income.

172837

Who do you most admire

172848

How many times have you touched with your mouth each of the following things: penis.

172851

Tex: put me on the list pls

172856

Two days left.

What’s the kindest thing anyone has done for you?

172857

¿Mighthaps shall you describe how a typical day||night might go and feel for you?

¿¿What 've been places kind of hero's journey did you undertake to be who you are??; Life story

¿Also, (metaphysically)is the glass half full or is it.. or is it...?

172858

is there a city or region you always wanted to travel to but cldnt yet?

172866

No questions to add, just to say I would like to try the hotseat!

172867

favorite food and/or favorite local/regional/national food (if they are different)?

172868

- Who do you most admire:
That's kind of a hard question to answer since while there are many people i adore and love so much, at the same time i see them as people instead of invincible superheroes and/or flawless figures. If i were to say some people that earned a lot of my respect there are three people in particular in the music and chiptune communities: first there's Abstract and AM4N for being some of the most outstanding and fucking impressive people I've ever seen and got to interact with in my life, like holy fucking shit what those two can pull of is nothing short of amazing and lifechanging, they have earned my respect just for being fucking spectacular; and for the third one it's someone a lot closer to me personally: Hanna has been an extremely talented person and also a really amazing friend to me and many others, she has been a really wonderful person i love spending time with so much. I'm really grateful to have her on my side, she means a lot to me.
- How many times have you touched with your mouth each of the following things: penis.
i don't want to answer this
- What’s the kindest thing anyone has done for you?:
I feel like a lot of people in general being there for me despite the fact that i have moments i feel like i don't matter at all is a really valuable and kind thing they happen to do for me. One of the kindest things that someone did for me was my boyfriend supporting me on my hardest times, helping me survive and persist even when i felt like things were over. He's my sunshine, he's one of the most wonderful people I've met and i love him so much <3
- ¿Mighthaps shall you describe how a typical day||night might go and feel for you?:
Well my days are kind of a mess, i don't so much on my life currently. I either wake up too early or too late and spend time doing nothing or trying to compose something, i also take family of my pets and try to organize my bedroom while also sometimes doing some chores i guess
- ¿¿What 've been places kind of hero's journey did you undertake to be who you are??; Life story:
I don't think that i had anything sort of a Hero's Journey moment yet, my life is kind of stuck in limbo at the moment. It won't be until i escape from my abusive family and finally start transitioning and following my own plans for real that things will finally start for real.
- ¿Also, (metaphysically)is the glass half full or is it.. or is it...? :
if do you mean that things are alright... no they aren't
- is there a city or region you always wanted to travel to but cldnt yet? :
I would like to go to Spain, it seems to be a really nice place and i was always interested in going there.
- favorite food and/or favorite local/regional/national food (if they are different)?:
I'm really bad when it comes to choosing a favorite food x_x

172869

When did you first get on the internet? What do you remember from those days?

EDIT: 1 day left.

172895

what's your favorite percussion instrument

172896

- When did you first get on the internet?: 2007
- What do you remember from those days?: Pretty much the dying grasps of 2000s internet culture and the birth of 2010s internet culture in some way, like in one hand it was a farewell of the stuff that was really popular in Newgrounds for example while we also were welcoming and being excited for stuff like YouTube at the time
- what's your favorite percussion instrument:
eh, idk, i'm bad at this stuff ;_;

172907

Is there a question you would have liked someone to ask?

172911

assuming you had the time and resources required, is there any instrument you would like to learn to play or be proficient at? what about language(s)?

172913

- Is there a question you would have liked someone to ask?: "What inspired you to choose music as your current passion?"
- assuming you had the time and resources required, is there any instrument you would like to learn to play or be proficient at?: I would like to learn and eventually be proficient at the piano, along with being able to being able to read and write sheet music.
- what about language(s)?: I would like to learn Japanese because I'm kind of a weeb lol, but also Japanese culture is genuinely interesting for me

172916

Sorry I'm late! I bought SF6, and just... yeaaah. It lived up to the hype and consumed my body and soul. *cough*

^{totally didnt steal this question >_>}
What inspired you to choose music as your current passion?

172925

Thanks for participating, SnugglyBun! It was nice to learn more about you. Hope you enjoyed, too~

You are free to answer Delita's question, since it was asked during your turn. However, all future questions, as of today, are to be asked to the next participant.

And next, we have MelonadeM.

172928

Have you ever caught a fish?

172929

Is there a point in time where you felt you experienced a musical breakthrough, and what brought it about?

172930

did you ever spend some time studying harmony in depth or is your language the result of many years of making music?

how do you usually start tracks out? you have strong melodies a lot of the time so i'm curious what you tend to lay down first, and how you like to fill in the pieces. melody first? groove, chords..?

172931

Which song of yours is your favorite? What do you imagine when you hear it? (If applicable)

172936

Melonadem --

Is there an artist that you would name as one of your main influences?

What brought you to battle of the bits?

172938

I feel like the message that I wanted to participate was masked by the joke I made! Unless you're not accepting new people?

172944

I am! Misinterpreted your message as if you were facepalming due to the fact that SnugglyBun didn't play any Pokémon games XD

Done.

172947

I said I'd do these over video but I don't really feel recording the videos right now, so here goes:

Q: Have you ever caught a fish?
A: Nope - never went fishing in my life. There wasn't really such a culture to take kids out for fishing in Romania, at least from my experience.

Q: Is there a point in time where you felt you experienced a musical breakthrough, and what brought it about?
A: I think the closest thing to that I can think of is probably the time where I learned about "bright" and "dark" scales, from a video by 8-bit Music Theory that talked about its aspect in Persona 5's music, and sort of in addition an Adam Neely video that I can't remember that covers a sort of similar thing where if you go around in the circle of 5ths you can either have music that, depsite its key signature feels ascending or bright, or the other way around feels claustrophobic almost.

Q: did you ever spend some time studying harmony in depth or is your language the result of many years of making music?
A: Yes! Not a whole lot, but definitely spent some time analyzing and understanding how some of my favourite songs had their music put together, and also spent a lot of time on Hookpad which allowed you to put any sort of chords together (usually not to very good result, but I digress)

Q: how do you usually start tracks out? you have strong melodies a lot of the time so i'm curious what you tend to lay down first, and how you like to fill in the pieces. melody first? groove, chords..?
A: Honestly, it really depends on the track and on what I'm feeling. The latest piece I'm working on, just started off with a bassline and groove, and then I added the chords right after, but the melody was the last bit that I've added - still not finished actually, while my last track (which is on Twitter) was brought about by just playing around with a VST and making a cool cute sound with it, and then after arranging that into a repeating motif, added a piano melody. It really differs for each song, but USUALLY it's either the grooves being laid out first, or the melody (when I have some direction to go off of at least)

Q: Which song of yours is your favorite? What do you imagine when you hear it? (If applicable)
A: Tough one! There's a lot of songs I'd love to answer that with but that aren't finished or released, and there isn't really ONE favourite I have given I've produced and created so much, I think I enjoy pretty much most of my works to an extent. Maybe Stalagmite Settlement is my recent favourite, I imagine it'd play in an underground area where you can talk and trade with the various gnomes or hermits living there, a sort of break from the bigger adventure heheh

Q: Is there an artist that you would name as one of your main influences?
A: There's a LOT. I'll mention a few: Yuji Takenouchi, Motoaki Furukawa, Yousuke Yasui, T-SQUARE, Garrett Williamson, Michael & Janet Jackson, Mari Yamaguchi, Tee Lopes, Koji Kondo, toby fox (to name a very small few)...

Q: What brought you to battle of the bits?
A: I think it was a post on the old FamiTracker forums - it was kfaraday, posting about Winter Chip 9. I was interested in proving my skills, sort of, so I joined the site and submitted a few songs, learned about the community and some of the formats and yeah. This was sort-of very early 2014 if I recall?

172949

Do you have a pet, or have you had a pet in the past?

172957

MelonadeM -

1. Is your handle a Homestar Runner reference?

2. What pronouns do you use for yourself? I've seen several avatars around the internet over time and I want to think of you the right way!

172959

what is your favorite kind of spider

172960

may i try the hotseat soon too

172961

What would your "About Me" page look like? Asking as someone who doesn't know you or your usual music style if there is one

172964

how many oatmeals hav u et

172965

What is your biggest regret? Do you believe in some sort of god(s)? what is your favorite modern video game?

172969

Two days left.

Weren't you in The 4th Modulator Discord in like 2018? That's where I originally remember your name from.

Are you a Romanian living in the UK, then? How did this happen? What your life as an immigrant in the UK is like?

If you had to spend the rest of eternity inside a YouTube video, only ever interacting with the things in that video, which one would you choose?

172973

do you prefer lemonade or melonade?
whats ur favorite drink?
whats the coolest city you have ever visited?
is there a cool city you always wanted to visit but cldnt?

172980

what is your 2nd favorite kind of spider

172982

How old are your earliest saved projects? How do they compare to your ability today? Do you look back on them fondly, neutral, or does it make you laugh and/or cringe?

172984

Q: Do you have a pet, or have you had a pet in the past?
A: I do have a 6 year old dog, and he's an adopted certified goodboy.

Q: Is your handle a Homestar Runner reference?
A: No - I've never watched or heard of Homestar Runner before changing my online handle to MelonadeM, which is kind of funny.

Q: What pronouns do you use for yourself? I've seen several avatars around the internet over time and I want to think of you the right way!
A: They would be he/him, or rarely they/them if I'm feeling extra spicy.

Q: what is your favorite kind of spider
A: spider solitaire for windows 2000/xp

Q: may i try the hotseat soon too
A: idk ask Tex

Q: What would your "About Me" page look like? Asking as someone who doesn't know you or your usual music style if there is one
A: probably would start with "MelonadeM is a 23 year-old musician and producer, taking hints of jazz, funk, rock, chiptune and various other electronic genres, combining them into stylized VGM-inspired pieces." which is on my Bandcamp at the moment

Q: how many oatmeals hav u et
A: 2 or 3 bowls idk

Q: What is your biggest regret?
A: Probably it'd be not finding work sooner than I did, it left me in a very depressive episode for like, 2 years or so (2019-2021 about)

Q: Do you believe in some sort of god(s)?
A: I believe there is some higher being that is partly responsible for our current hereabouts, but I certainly do not dedicate my life to serving it or learning about it, just a curiousity more of.

Q: What is your favorite modern video game?
A: Can't name just one, so I'll name multiple: Super Mario Odyssey, Axiom Verge, CrossCode, OMORI, Super Mario 3D World are a few of the recent ones I've really enjoyed my time with.

Q: Weren't you in The 4th Modulator Discord in like 2018? That's where I originally remember your name from.
A: lmao that was forever ago, but yes, I was there!

Q: Are you a Romanian living in the UK, then? How did this happen? What your life as an immigrant in the UK is like?
A: Indeed I am - my parents decided they would like to work abroad instead, and I decided to stay behind (hence the big depresso episode that started in 2019). After having enough I decided to move as well, this was post-brexit, but before they enforced the EU Settlement schemes. It's not that different to others given that my English is adequate here, for most people it's a curiousity or a symbol of fraternity (similar cultures and whatnot in the area I happen to be in)

Q: If you had to spend the rest of eternity inside a YouTube video, only ever interacting with the things in that video, which one would you choose?
A: I don't know how to answer this so I have asked my friend Colgate to answer on my behalf
C: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH6qK4i7BpI

Q: do you prefer lemonade or melonade?
A: lemonade (blasphemy !)

Q: whats ur favorite drink?
A: there was this place in romania that i used to drink like vanilla milkshakes from and they were really good. i miss them

Q: whats the coolest city you have ever visited?
A: Kidderminster (they had the Severn Valley Railway)

Q: is there a cool city you always wanted to visit but cldnt?
A: can't really think of one in particular, there's a couple of areas in scotland and wales i'd like to visit one day, dublin as well if i get the chance to.

Q: what is your 2nd favorite kind of spider
A: mile morale

Q: How old are your earliest saved projects? How do they compare to your ability today? Do you look back on them fondly, neutral, or does it make you laugh and/or cringe?
A: My earliest projects date back to 2012, they're just a couple of famitracker modules, some of them I've posted on the forums, others not. They obviously pale in comparison to what I do today, so I cringe a bit, however I did just start out really so there's not much point to cringe heavily, especially knowing where I am today.

172985

You are in the hotseat, not Colgate!

Edit: my question wasn't in bad faith if that's what you were thinking. But I interpret your answer as if you gave me the middle finger.

172987

lovin all these questions and answers still

what's your favorite movie (or one of them if you can't pick)? what appeals to you the most about it or stands out so much that it makes you feel that way? does it make you look for similar sorts of things in other movies/media?

i don't think i would've known how to answer that youtube question, either! but regardless i doubt mel was trying to be rude

172989

tex: i know it wasnt in bad faith, its a good question, i just didnt really know how to answer that so i went for the funny option instead. sorry if it came across as giving you the middle finger, it wasnt the intention

dami: one that sticks to mind right now is the 4th Star Trek movie, it's just a feel-good funny movie involving some of my favourite characters in the star trek universe?

i can't really explain whether it makes me look for similar things - i do wish more star trek media in particular tried to have some more prominent humour, but also, what's there is still really good and i don't think changing it is the right idea either. it's weird.

172990

If you could be friends with anyone you wanted, who would you choose and why?

What was something you’ve done that was super hard to agree to do but you’re happy you did it?

Have you ever dreamt of a fictional song, and then tried to write the song down in real life? If it had lyrics what were they?

172991

oh cool - i actually watched that particular star trek movie for a class in college and remember really enjoying it. it stuck in my brain because they did some filming at an aquarium that i've been to a dozen times in my life

this thought inspires my next question: if you were going on a trip with friend(s), what sorts of sights/destinations would you prioritize? what kinds of things do you like to go see when traveling?

172994

Q: If you could be friends with anyone you wanted, who would you choose and why?
A: I'll be real it's kind of hard to answer that question when you're kinda already happy with your selection of friends, but I guess right now if it'd be anyone probably some of the musicians I look up to (that I don't already get to talk to on a regular basis I mean)

Q: What was something you’ve done that was super hard to agree to do but you’re happy you did it?
A: Hmm... this is a stupid answer, really, but the only thing coming to mind is probably deciding, on a whim, that I wanted to get rid of my old (gaming) laptop in favour of a desktop. It took a while, but I'm mostly happy with how this thing turned out with mounted screens and all.

That, or getting my Switch to play Metroid Dread on, was hard justifying an almost £350 purchase with another £50 game at the time but it was worth it, and I have a console that I have quite a few memorable experiences on.

Q: Have you ever dreamt of a fictional song, and then tried to write the song down in real life? If it had lyrics what were they?
A: I did have a couple of dreams like that yeah, however I can't remember if I actually wrote down any of them or not. Definitely none with lyrics, though...

Q: if you were going on a trip with friend(s), what sorts of sights/destinations would you prioritize? what kinds of things do you like to go see when traveling?
A: Honestly anything to do with old trains. Failing that, anything more rural is fair in my book - big cities are cool and have a lot of variety, but I've always had a hankering for those old communes or villages, where they're extremely rural, have a few shops and where everyone knows and can trust each other. Completely different atmosphere.

(Hell, you could probably even combine the two, which is why I wanted to visit Wales really)

172999

Do you actually like melons?
What musical styles do you feel like that you haven't experimented/played around with yet?
What musical instruments are you good at? And what instruments would you like to learn in the future?
If you didn't end up choosing music as your primary goal, what do you believe that you would be doing in it's place instead? (like programming, drawing, sewing, etc)

173001

*psst*
*tex, i know it's pretty late but uh, put me in da queue!*
I really love da idea of this, just questions for botbrs, very cool prospect

173002

When have you felt most alive?

173005

1 day left

If changing names of BotB accounts was always possible, would you have changed the name of your oldest account to your current name and still use that one as your main? Why or why not?

What would you do if you had a jetpack?

Edit: sorry for being so defensive, heh...

173010

Are you surprised by the amount of interest the BotB community holds in geographical information?

Do you like to dance, and what was your most awesome and/or embarrassing moment while dancing? You don’t have to answer for both

If you were a famous composer during the baroque or romantic era, which one would you be and why?

What’s your favorite type of cake?

If you could recommend one obscure video game to play at least once before you die, which game would it be (and why)?

173011

What is your favorite fictional world? (Does not need to have a visual representation. ie; books.)

173012

Q: Do you actually like melons?
A: No, not really.

Q: What musical styles do you feel like that you haven't experimented/played around with yet?
A: Probably anything hip-hop or related. Love the genre but I haven't really done anything outright in that genre.

Q: What musical instruments are you good at? And what instruments would you like to learn in the future?
A: I am remotely passable at playing the keyboard and I'd like to learn guitar, accordion and/or cimbalom (hammered dulcimer) in the future.

Q: If you didn't end up choosing music as your primary goal, what do you believe that you would be doing in it's place instead?
A: I wouldn't consider music my primary goal as it is, actually. I'll instead say this: It IS my main sort of creative endeavour though and if it wasn't that then it'd probably be either illustration or programming (and the latter I'm doing a course for so it'll probably be that long-term)

Q: When have you felt most alive?
A: Probably last year, honestly. That, or the year prior. They've both been very busy in different ways and I've met tons of new people, but I'd say last year sooner than 2021.

Q: If changing names of BotB accounts was always possible, would you have changed the name of your oldest account to your current name and still use that one as your main? Why or why not?
A: I think I would've. Only reason I've really made the new accounts is to have the new handle to use. However, to be fair, I think having a fresh start is nice, too, but it wasn't the primary reason for the new accounts.

Q: What would you do if you had a jetpack?
A: I'd ask John Jetpack, who starred in JetPac JoyRide 2, to train me and help me master the new machinery, then star in the next one
A (serious): I would probably not use it out of fear as my arse would probably get roasted in the process of me trying to lift-off.

Q: Are you surprised by the amount of interest the BotB community holds in geographical information?
A: I used to be, but nowadays not so much (I've been on the site for 10 years, almost...)

Q: Do you like to dance, and what was your most awesome and/or embarrassing moment while dancing? You don’t have to answer for both
A: I don't know how to dance. I do like to dance sometimes. I can't recall an embarrassing moment that was like, oh ye gods, my roast is ruined! However because I don't really know how to, I tend not to show it publicly.

Q: If you were a famous composer during the baroque or romantic era, which one would you be and why?
A: I... don't know how I want to answer this. I don't think I'd be any of the notable ones, at least...

Q: What’s your favorite type of cake?
A: Probably Tiramisu.

Q: If you could recommend one obscure video game to play at least once before you die, which game would it be (and why)?
A: Play CrossCode. (Trust me and also a former BotBr wrote the soundtrack for it and it is fantastic)

Q: What is your favorite fictional world? (Does not need to have a visual representation. ie; books.)
A: I LOVE this question it's probably tied between OMORI's, Axiom Verge's or Half Life's. All for different reasons. Probably the one most interesting is Half Life's, most down to earth is OMORI's and most surreal is Axiom Verge's.

173014

I just wanna say that Tiramisu is best cake

173020

Qs for MelonadeM:
- What are your top 3 games of all time (including both retro and modern games)?
- Similarly, what are your favorite game soundtracks?
- What would you like to see come out of the chiptune and/or music space/scene in the next year?
- How long do you see yourself staying involved in music for?

(also guess I will join the seat queue too :D )

173022

Q: What are your top 3 games of all time (including both retro and modern games)?
A: Top 3's gonna be hard. Today I'm feeling Quake, CrossCode, Terraria.

Q: Similarly, what are your favorite game soundtracks?
A: Again, today I'm feeling Sonic CD, Eledees/Elebits, Gradius Gaiden, however these TEND to be among my favourite regardless? Probably I'd swap Gradius Gaiden for Mario Odyssey or CrossCode, depending on how I'm feeling.

Q: What would you like to see come out of the chiptune and/or music space/scene in the next year?
A: Honestly just mix damifortune's Memory Flash with synthpop/outrun/whatever you want to call this weird 80s throwback genre as chiptune material. Or some sort of Slycology II: Slycoly Hardology from Defmech would be cool too I think. I don't "look" forward to music more than I find random stuff unless it's a game soundtrack for a video game I really love (like CrossCode. Seriously just get it on steam or bandcamp !!)

Q: How long do you see yourself staying involved in music for?
A: Probably for the rest of my life. It's a part of me too important to ever abandon.

173028

Thoughts on rhythm games?

Have you ever listened through a BotBr’s list of entries and do you encourage doing so?

What’s your favorite compositional technique?

What is something you knew before it became mainstream and wish it was still obscure and potentially better that way?

173038

MelonadeM, you're welcome to answer Lotepamera's final questions while everyone else ask questions to tennisers from this point onwards. You can also end your post with questions to tennisers if you want.

tennisers: some low-rent art school dropouts are making a biopic out of you. They tell you all the music in the film will be ripped directly from anime soundtracks. Which ones would you like the filmmakers to turn to first?

173046

what are 3 of the most inspiring albums towards the styles of music you like to explore writing

173047

Tex: i feel like music in anime series blends into the background for me, but ill try. If visual novels count, I would take some songs from the visual novel subahibi, that has a few absolute bangers. Non non biyori definitely, though I've only watched one season, because the vibe is right. Also mushishi for sure. Tekkonkinreet was not that great of an anime to me but plaid did the music so it would have to be there. My most listened anime song is probably the opening to Mahou shoujo madoka magica, but it's way too high energy for where my mind is at. Serial experiments lain has some beautiful strange songs that align with my taste and its the first anime I remember watching so definitely that. Pururin from welcome to the nhk would have to be there for what it represents, though i was trying to move away from that life. Lastly I'd put haibane renmei, I liked the anime but I didn't remember what the music, it is fitting, sorta tribal and melancholic, though maybe too "emotional" in terms of my life.

173048

okay, the following: you get the chance to perform live (or: let your music get played) on a big event. it could be THE thing and could boost your potential career as an artist, it might make you big. but it would require you to travel to a different country and pay all the traveling by yourself in order to perform there.
would you do it?

173051

I've given up on that pipe dream but if I did have such an opportunity it would depend on my financial and life situation. Currently I would but if things changed a lot in terms of money or job or relationships, then no.

The only time I had a proper gig with my own music was last June, would be cool to do that again but I don't have much new stuff.

173052

Have you ever broken something in anger, disgust, or contempt? If yes, what was it, and what were the circumstances?

173053

Dami: missed your question. 3 albums that most directly influenced the things I usually do would be pistachio island by ilkae, vignetting the compost by bibio, and velocity design comfort by sweet trip. But my most listened album is most likely inalienable dreamless by discordance axis.

173054

Tex: when i was a teenager i was angry about simething stupid and i elbowed the plaster wall in my room, putting a clear dent that stayed for several years, until my parents got around to repairing it. another more recent related instance was kicking a car door pretty hard when I went to a career fair, and I somehow felt angry that i had to go, I didn't break my foot, but the toe next to the big toe is permanently curved inwards.

173055

tennisers, who’s a person you look up to in your life, and why do you look up to them?

173057

if you could only ever eat (or cook with) one type of citrus fruit for the rest of your life which one would it be and why

173058

Kilowatt64: One person i respect is a guy who I met on the site gamejolt a while back, because he was able to get a software job at a young age despite having some difficult life circumstances (or possibly because of them), and because he helps his family out, even though they are taking advantage of him somewhat.

173059

Dami: I only really ever have oranges in all their varieties, so it'd have to be that. Lemons and limes are too acidic, grapefruits are too funky. The only problem with that i would have to remember not to have lime juice in margaritas but I'm not much of a drinker anyways. Bars and restaurants also always put limes in seltzer but I never have those so that doesn't count, I feel.

173060

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Has that changed at all as you’ve aged?

173061

@tennisers: As BotB's most decorated SunVox user, are there modules or techniques you find yourself using especially often in SunVox? What is your favorite / least favorite thing about the software?

Where did you find Spongbob and Patrick find a detinatore, or did you write it? What (in your view) does the "AN." at the end of the story mean?

@Tex: Could you put me in line for the seat?

173062

Tex: when I was in elementary school I wanted to be a Lego bioinicle designer. Then in middle school I didn't have any dreams like that until I started juggling, then I wanted to be a juggler. Then in high school I got into jazz so I wanted to play bass for a living. Then after high school I started doing electronic music and game development so I thought it would be cool to do either of those all the time but I saw more that either it was unrealistic or I didn't want to make the sacrifices required. So I got a computer science and math degree because it was straightforward, and then spent several years in a job which gradually became more dull and draining. Now my main desire for work is to satisfy ideally all of these criteria but at least one or two: personally fulfilling, good degree of autonomy, community feeling/building connections with others, intellectually engaging, physically engaging, constant potentialfor growth without feeling pressure to learn things that arent really that interesting. I understand there isn't going to be any job that'll permanently make me happy so I have to adjust as I go along, and that can involve risk.

173065

Lasertooth: I haven't used sunvox recently, havent done music in general much, but when i do its been reaper or vcv or microfreak which is the only synth i have.

One technique I liked in sunvox was using feedback with delay. An obvious thing to do with that is to put a filter in the feedback chain, but you could put distortion, or the fft module, or loop, or random volume lfo. Another thing that I liked was making a thing that would do the jank karplus that sunvox can do with the echo modules and the pitch track, but isolating the harmonics of the current note with bandpass filters, which results in cleaner high notes, though having a tradeoff of more dull low notes. The new fft module is neat, also using filters with the newish adsr module polyphonically is nice.

I also like the probabilistic sequencing features for drums mostly.

For stuff I don't like, the distortion is very "dry". You can't play a pattern from a row in the pattern editor, you have to click on the pattern sequencer, which is imprecise. The recording quantization option is limited to snapping to the row, which is more limited than mpt.

I found "Spongbob and Patrick find a detinatore" on fanfiction.net, by Mr jingles 2011. Unfortunately, Mr jingles 2011 deleted that and all their other stories ( which I can't remember if I ever read any of) so I feel it is now my duty to archive this writing on my profile. Also it feels right to me somehow, now that I'm becoming more set in my ways. AN means end.

173071

What makes vcv fun for you and what advice would you give someone introducing themselves to the format

173072

Is there an idea or technique in music that you've thought of but haven't tried yet

173074

If there was something that you could have started 5 years ago such as a skill or a discipline that you would now have 5 years experience and proficiency in what would it be

173075

-What makes vcv fun for you and what advice would you give someone introducing themselves to the format

What makes it fun for me is very deep possibility for sound design and generative sequencing and easy to get lost in tweaking and noodling, and straightforward api for developing new modules. For new people idk, don't take it seriously and mess around with everything that seems fun.

-Is there an idea or technique in music that you've thought of but haven't tried yet

My dream project for vcv was to make some kind of analogue to the mr chainkov module, which would let you play in some chords and then use the chords you played to make some markov model. technically you could do that easy if you just viewed each chord simply as another state and you just do the markov chain the same as just one note but chords are more complicated than that, and it wouldn't be satisfying to remember every single chord you play and it wouldn't allow unexpected stuff to come up. besides that i can't think of anything really besides things that are out of range of my technical skill.

-If there was something that you could have started 5 years ago such as a skill or a discipline that you would now have 5 years experience and proficiency in what would it be

Developing socially and trying to make new platonic and romantic connections is what i most would have liked to started earlier but that's not very quantifiable in terms of proficiency and i wasn't in the right state to do it for a long time. I started lifting weights 5 or 6 years ago but I hurt myself so i stopped for a while, and then started again recently, it would have been nice to have been able to do that consistently for 5 years. Dancing and rock climbing are the main things i was doing now for hobbies, would have been nice to start doing either of those 5 years ago as well. If i had to pick one it would be developing socially, followed by lifting weights.

173078

edit: i should also say, thanks for taking the time to answer so thoroughly.

anyway

Is there a song that you are most proud of and why

Is a there a song of yours that you feel like people haven't taken the chance to hear because it went under the radar and you would like people to take a listen to it

173082

-Is there a song that you are most proud of and why
I can't really pick one but maybe this one? https://soundcloud.com/user-850593311/cheems03 Because i had tried to imitate this sort of style for a while and i felt like i was most successful there while having my own thing.
Also i remember I did a lot in this one to have a very tuned system to generate the music: https://tennisers2.bandcamp.com/track/enttq
Also I feel this was a fluke that this did so well in compo but it was temporarily validating either way: https://battleofthebits.com/arena/Entry/I%E2%80%99m+In+A+Gang+But+I+Ride+Solo+Fool/41133/

-Is a there a song of yours that you feel like people haven't taken the chance to hear because it went under the radar and you would like people to take a listen to it

I don't really expect or want any more attention for what i do but in terms of things which i half-forgot about but i enjoy looking back on them, these come to mind:
https://tennisers2.bandcamp.com/track/i-regret-not-taking-action-sooner
https://tennisers2.bandcamp.com/track/b32
https://tennisers2.bandcamp.com/track/get-naked-digestive-health-soft-cat-treats
https://tennisers2.bandcamp.com/track/jelinekcore

173084

Alright I might be a bit occupied for the next three days starting tomorrow so I'm gonna ask a lot of questions in this single comment.

BASIC QUESTIONS

What effect does the weather have on you?

If one fictional biome was real, which would you like it to be and how would you expect it to be interacted with by humans?

Just like I asked MelonadeM, what's your recommended obscure game and why?

What do you look for in a story that you really want to invest yourself in? Anything memorable from stories whose investment paid off? (you don't have to answer this if there are any objections about spoilers and stuff, but that's assuming it's a spoilery thing at all.)

Have you ever gone to the beach? How was it and what's your opinion on beaches?

MUSIC QUESTIONS

Which tracker do you feel is the best to use to start learning trackers? Furthermore which was your first tracker?

If you could change the functionality and/or reception of one sound chip, which chip is it and how would you change it?

What are your top 3 or 5 favorite videogame OSTs?

I, a newcomer, haven't listened to much music from any specific BotBr unless they're really close in my mind. To get to know you guys better, should I spend a day to binge listen to a specific BotBr's music every once in a while? What will it help me to discover about the composer, musically?

Are there any moments in your life that you'll never forget that are tied to a song that was playing at the time? lmao i stole this one from the distractible podcast

Thoughts on collabs and how to beat approach them?

And finally, a ginormous question I asked DM DOKURO two weeks ago on his tumblr page. This is a good question in general but I need to learn this skill specifically so why not ask it here too (to as many people as possible)?

When making music on a deadline, how do you suss out the golden ratios? This is something that I assume a lot of composers (especially new ones like me) struggle with immensely, especially those who often participate in competitions (also me)*.

By golden ratios I mean the best ratios of time spent doing one thing vs. another thing. I understand that they might be specific to certain elements, types (i.e. genres), or parts of the process, so there's a LOT of specifying that can be done with this question.

Below are the ratios I need to figure out in order to escape the sound design labyrinth:

- Time spent on sound design : time spent putting the song together

- Sound ideality (making a sound that sounds just the way you want it) : time spent working on the sound(making a sound that's good enough and moving on)

173086

I was responding to the questions just in this comment box before but I think I have to separately draft that one out...

173093

Answers:Alright I might be a bit occupied for the next three days starting tomorrow so I'm gonna ask a lot of questions in this single comment.

BASIC QUESTIONS

What effect does the weather have on you?

In Massachusetts I like going outside in all weather, but in the past I liked the summer more because I could go hiking after work. I don't have seasonal depression or anything.

If one fictional biome was real, which would you like it to be and how would you expect it to be interacted with by humans?

I don't know how to answer this, sorry.

Just like I asked MelonadeM, what's your recommended obscure game and why?

English country tune by increpare, because it is a perfect beautiful puzzle game that's an ideal difficulty.

What do you look for in a story that you really want to invest yourself in? Anything memorable from stories whose investment paid off? (you don't have to answer this if there are any objections about spoilers and stuff, but that's assuming it's a spoilery thing at all.)

I want a story that is immediately appealing to me in every aspect. I no longer have patience for something that might get better later. I used to read a lot of manga, and the stuff that drew me most was mysterious stuff, good characters, cute girls, surreal stuff, dumb humor, so not a single defining thing. In terms of books the writing style and subject matter has to resonate with me immediately. The last fiction book I read was "memories of my melancholy whores" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and it was immediately grabbing in those ways.

Have you ever gone to the beach? How was it and what's your opinion on beaches?

Beaches are boring in terms of what they intrinsically have to offer (flat, sand sticks to your feet afterwards, not a big fan of swimming) but if you have good company that's nice, and good looking people in swimsuits is nice eye candy.

MUSIC QUESTIONS

Which tracker do you feel is the best to use to start learning trackers? Furthermore which was your first tracker?

There is no objective best answer. Open mpt is arguably the most versatile for botb, and arguably the most fully featured for freeware. Sunvox is the first one I used.

If you could change the functionality and/or reception of one sound chip, which chip is it and how would you change it?

I don't really care about chiptune in itself beyond as a vehicle for making songs so I don't have a strong opinion, but if it were possible to get rid of the n163 buzz that would make it more palatable.

What are your top 3 or 5 favorite videogame OSTs?

subahibi (visual novel)
Kentucky route zero
Superliminal
Knytt underground
Tetrobot and co
The swapper

I, a newcomer, haven't listened to much music from any specific BotBr unless they're really close in my mind. To get to know you guys better, should I spend a day to binge listen to a specific BotBr's music every once in a while? What will it help me to discover about the composer, musically?

You could if you want to, I don't feel it's necessary. Transcribing someone's music by ear will teach you a lot more than absently or even attentively listening. I know I have "binged" coda's music before, can't remember any others.

Are there any moments in your life that you'll never forget that are tied to a song that was playing at the time? lmao i stole this one from the distractible podcast

These aren't all "unforgettable" but are memorable enough.

First time I smoked weed I spaced out to this song https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=yzTeYmS6VGo&feature=share

When I smoked weed and had a small seizure and threw up on and dropped my laptop to either the 1st or 2nd song on this album:
https://nemutai.bandcamp.com/album/cz-5000-sounds-sequences

(I'm not a stoner BTW, I only have weed once every 1-4 months generally)

Doing a little stage dive during "Billy no mates" by knocked loose in the ldb 2023 festival.

Being stressed about a college cs class in freshman year while listening to random 35 tracks tape by boards of canada.

Doing a slow dance with 5 other people to rhubarb by aphex twin.

Singing "every time we touch" to a girl in middle school because I lost an uno game.

Walking into a club in el paso and the first song I hear is " wow I can get sexual too" by say anything.

A moment when I was listening to "done processing" by gridlock in the bathroom withe lights off and seeing my face differently.

Sitting in my car at a community college and listening to one of the songs from "and their refinement of the decline" by stars of the lid and picturing a giant golden key going into a giant lock in the middle of outer space.

Dancing wildly by myself to under boac by autechre at contact improv.

Screaming fanfictions over the album voices by wormrot over the radio.

Thoughts on collabs and how to beat approach them?

Just find people you vibe with who have ideally both similar taste and similar energy. Having both is great but it's better to find someone with similar energy that you can vibe with and compromise with rather than someone with similar taste who's way lower or way higher energy than you.

And finally, a ginormous question I asked DM DOKURO two weeks ago on his tumblr page. This is a good question in general but I need to learn this skill specifically so why not ask it here too (to as many people as possible)?

When making music on a deadline, how do you suss out the golden ratios? This is something that I assume a lot of composers (especially new ones like me) struggle with immensely, especially those who often participate in competitions (also me)*.

By golden ratios I mean the best ratios of time spent doing one thing vs. another thing. I understand that they might be specific to certain elements, types (i.e. genres), or parts of the process, so there's a LOT of specifying that can be done with this question.

Below are the ratios I need to figure out in order to escape the sound design labyrinth:

Time spent on sound design : time spent putting the song together
Sound ideality (making a sound that sounds just the way you want it) to time spent working on the sound(making a sound that's good enough and moving on)

I do whatever feels right in the moment, I have no plan. Though I realized I do fixate on making what I do not be "too easy", like I want to have taken a certain amount of time and effort or it'll feel like cheating. Sound design can sometimes be extremely important but when I use an actual instrument there's very limited "sound design" besides slapping on fx. In general I like going down rabbit holes if there's something interesting to explore but otherwise I'm doing the easiest thing possible. Or I use a preset I've already done myself, which is better than preset from the factory.

Basically, if you want to do sound design, focus on that, if you want to finish songs as quickly as possible, use presets that youre familiar with.

173094

What was the most satisfying triumph you've had to overcome regarding anything artistic?
What song, or project, has inspired you the most?
Did you make your pfp yourself?

173095

Delita:
1: not sure if I'm answering this question but the creative project I'm most proud of is the randomchordrecorder module I made for vcv rack because it fit a unique niche I saw and was useful to me in creating my own music.

2: I did list a few albums earlier that did impact me, but ill take different perspective. I think art works when a person seeks to please themselves, but other endeavors work best when they aim to serve others based on one's own principles. Recently I've been most inspired by being a part of several communities which are created with the goal of genuine self-expression.

3. Yes, I'm not commissioning someone to draw something that ugly. I drew it and them resized it after to make it shittier.

173109

Lotepamera:

Q: Thoughts on rhythm games?
A: No opinion, they exist. Never played them and probably never will, it's a neat concept though and can definitely see the appeal.

Q: Have you ever listened through a BotBr’s list of entries and do you encourage doing so?
A: Haven't yet but I probably should do this someday.

Q: What’s your favorite compositional technique?
A: When resolving from a VI chord (in a minor key), instead of using a V or VII to resolve back to the root I like to do a tritone substitution, so it's the bII - however, instead of just doing the major triad, I like to use a bII9#11 or something - something with that augmented triad on the top.

Q: What is something you knew before it became mainstream and wish it was still obscure and potentially better that way?
A: PROBABLY Minecraft. I've honestly been playing it since 2010 when it was still relatively small and just a curiousity, but now everyone plays it and thinks about the most optimized ways to do X and Y and it's just... I'm not a fan anymore, unfortunately, I miss the charm older versions had.

Tennisers:

Which one of your teeth is your favourite?
What's the history of your profile picture you currently have?
What's your least favourite piece of art and why?

173111

Two days left.

What was the most distressing, frustrating, or expensive computer problem you’ve experienced?

Who is your favorite reviewer, be it of movies, games, books, or what-have-you? Why?

When the budget is right, is there a large purchase you’d like to make?

173112

-Which one of your teeth is your favourite?
My right back molar, it does the heavy lifting
-What's the history of your profile picture you currently have?
I decided to draw a new profile picture to more accurately capture what I perceive about my character and outlook at the time, so I did that several years ago and haven't changed it in a while. Maybe it's too negative though.
-What's your least favourite piece of art and why
I don't have an opinion on that because any art that you have a strong reaction to has some value, apathy is the only mark that something really sucks, and there are countless pieces that I'd be equally apathetic to. but my favorite piece of art that I've seen in person was "Q'iwanakaxa/Q'iwsanakaxa Utjxiwa (Cacique apoderado Francisco Tancara & Rosa Quiñones confronted by the subprefecto, chief of police, corregidor, archbishop, Reid Shepard, & Adventist missionaries)"

173117

@tennisers Yeah, you answered it correctly. There wasn't really a specific way, since it's your idea of something you had to overcome relating to art. Also the pfp thing made me laugh a lot, I love the way you think!

173119

what is your favorite Viper song

if you had a voucher for one free piece of music gear/equipment/instrument, no matter the cost of it, what would you redeem it on

173120

-What was the most distressing, frustrating, or expensive computer problem you’ve experienced?

I couldn't turn my work computer on so i paid 90 dollars to get it fixed, and a few days later i was laid off.

-Who is your favorite reviewer, be it of movies, games, books, or what-have-you? Why?

I don't really like reviewers per se, they don't add value. However, when i liked games a lot more than i do now, there were a few curator/review sites that pointed me to cool stuff: jayisgames, bontegames, freeindiegam.es, freeindiega.me. jayisgames is technically running but it's basically dead (i wrote one review there 6 years ago), freeindiegam.es went defunct before i ever found out about it. bontegames still posts regularly, and freeindiega.me posts occasionally.

-When the budget is right, is there a large purchase you’d like to make?

If I find somewhere i know i want to live for at least 5 years, I'd want to get a house or a condo. Also a squat rack/barbell/plates would be good.

173121

-what is your favorite Viper song
That Baller Out Your Best Side, because of the contrast between the cute chill instrumental and sudden murder threats.

-if you had a voucher for one free piece of music gear/equipment/instrument, no matter the cost of it, what would you redeem it on

short list:
arturia polybrute
selmer privilege bass clarinet
a really good tenor violin or a viola da gamba
hohner claviola
lumatone

I know I don't really need any more toys if I just want to make music, but I feel like a bowed string instrument would be inspiring for a while.

173129

Why "tennisers"?

You've given boons to anyone who makes new covers or transcriptions. Are there any other learning activities you think are as valid of such gesture of encouragement?

How much do you like drawing compared to composing? And what are the odds of you drawing more often, be it joining or hosting grafxicist battles or, simply, doing so spontaneously?

Edit: test

173134

-Why "tennisers"?
My parents made me do tennis when I was younger and I didn't have any other identity at the time so I put it as my youtube channel.

-You've given boons to anyone who makes new covers or transcriptions. Are there any other learning activities you think are as valid of such gesture of encouragement?

The reason I did that was because covers aren't allowed on botb. In terms of music composition I can't think of any other concrete skills besides transcription and composing original stuff. In terms of other things, it would be interesting if there was a thread of general life goals and when someone achieves them they g

-How much do you like drawing compared to composing? And what are the odds of you drawing more often, be it joining or hosting grafxicist battles or, simply, doing so spontaneously

173143

bowed guitar you dummy

173147

I've noticed that a lot of your entries contain a variety of instruments. how many instruments can you play?

173154

wats ur fav dog

also if u had to fight 3 botbrs for the rest of ur life (alternating one by one daily) which ones wld u choose

173176

what in your opinion defines a good sequencer or generally musics creation software / hardware over a bad one? (in terms of capability and interface)

any weird sequencing techniques that stand out to you?

what makes your more in favour of shorter releases than long drawn out ones? ever thought about making a larger compilation? any particular vision when it comes to album covers / titles?

first computer you ever used?

173186

what is the most annoying symptom of the common cold

173188

bloop ?

173215

what topic would you have liked to talk about that no one happened to bring up?

was there anything in mind that you expected to be asked, and were you correct or not?

173217

test

Edit: Oh! I can post in this thread again.

173218

fav chord?

sweet or savory?

wld u rather:
get 10k every week of ur life but have to log into 60 sites daily to keep living, OR
be healthy forever but walk thru every subway station and cave in the world, never seeing the light of day, and have to livestream ur adventures at the worst quality possible

173219

A, presumably java, bug prevented tennisers and I from posting here since late on Sunday, hence the mess of hotseat threads in the front page. I was about to make a second thread as an improvised way to continue. But since I can post here again, hopefully that won't be necessary.

tennisers:

You know you're welcome to answer the questions left unanswered while everyone else ask questions to damifortune from this point onwards. You can also end your post with questions to damifortune to keep the ball rolling if you so desire. I'm praying that you're also able to return posting here as of today.

damifortune:

Rank every mainline Pokémon game in order of your enjoyment.

Is there a food recipe you’ve tried to make multiple times but just can’t seem to finish? If yes, why the problem?

What’s the longest time you’ve ever driven for, and where were you going and why?

173226

oh boy! we're back! hopefully. let's do this

Q: fav chord?
A: 7 sharp 9, e.g. C-E-Bb-D#. the clashing color of the third is just too juicy

Q: sweet or savory?
A: definitely savory, i don't have much of a sweet tooth. i like savory breakfast foods a lot compared to sweet especially

Q: wld u rather:
get 10k every week of ur life but have to log into 60 sites daily to keep living, OR
be healthy forever but walk thru every subway station and cave in the world, never seeing the light of day, and have to livestream ur adventures at the worst quality possible
A: imo logging into 60 sites daily, even without a password manager, would be a small price to pay for way more than enough money to live for the rest of my life, whereas i would wither away without sunlight, claims of health or no

Q: Rank every mainline Pokémon game in order of your enjoyment.
A: gold/silver > sun/moon > diamond/pearl > scarlet/violet > sword/shield > x/y > black/white > red/blue > ruby/sapphire

Q: Is there a food recipe you’ve tried to make multiple times but just can’t seem to finish? If yes, why the problem?
A: the one thing that comes to mind here is falafel, which i've only tried to make once but they disintegrated in the middle of frying. if i tried again i would soak my own chickpeas instead of using canned, which was my best guess for why it went so awry. otherwise, things usually wind up in a complete, edible state at the very least lol

Q: What’s the longest time you’ve ever driven for, and where were you going and why?
A: i drove from portland to LA once in a day, which is about a thousand miles and 16 hours or so. i was trying to avoid having to pay for a hotel on my way back home from a trip. it also took about that long to drive from salt lake city back to LA a couple times on thanksgiving weekend, both because of snow and traffic. the 15 freeway from vegas down to barstow is a horrible bottleneck when there's holiday traffic, so that trip took 16hr or so rather than 10-11.

173227

i just realized after posting that i don't know if mioh's questions were technically directed at tennisers not me so if i goofed it up i apologize lol

173228

I've got questions!!
Favorite Pokémon?

Wait... Which Pokémon game did you enjoy the least? If the answer is geniunely G/S that is kind of based, the level scaling is abysmal and require you to grind a lot... But also R/S is pretty bad at having a plot...

What about the remakes of Pokémon games? In what order did you enjoy those? ORAS is a big improvement on Gen 3, and HGSS is.... well it has the Pokéathlon, need I say more?

Favorite Pokémon spinoff? I have a feeling the answer to this isn't much of a mystery...

Is Gen 5 overhyped?

What's your favorite non-glitch thing you've made?

173229

@damifortune: I changed the thread title after mioh's post. But yeah, it was ambiguous. So no need to apologize lol

What were your first musical ventures?

What’s the longest you’ve ever been without power, and what did you do in that time? Was it difficult? Was it enjoyable in some way?

Of what you own, what is your favorite decorative piece?

173230

what topic would you have liked to talk about that no one happened to bring up?

I enjoy partner dancing now so i could have talked about that but this isn't a dancing site so it's not like there's any reason someone would have brought that up.

was there anything in mind that you expected to be asked, and were you correct or not?

I didn't have any expectations.

fav chord?

The chord i most automatically play on piano is a Cm7 add9 chord, but the chord that is best is harmonic 7th chord.

sweet or savory?

sweet

wld u rather:
get 10k every week of ur life but have to log into 60 sites daily to keep living, OR
be healthy forever but walk thru every subway station and cave in the world, never seeing the light of day, and have to livestream ur adventures at the worst quality possible

logging into 60 sites daily seems straightforward, just get it out of the way first thing in the morning for an hour

173234

damifortune:
1. you are a highly prolific person (1052 entries on the site in 3 years or so at time of writing). You've done a lot elsewhere also. Do you have a personal favorite song (or songs) that you've written here or elsewhere?

2. what is something most people in this community don't know about you?

3. what are some of your interests outside of music?

173239

favorite post rock moment?

173241

what inspired you to take the glitchy aesthetic up and make it part of your branding so to speak?

what is your favourite and least favourite beverage?

if you had to pick two soundchips to make every single future song of yours in, which ones would you pick?

173242

@02FD
Q: Favorite Pokémon?
A: it's hard to pick a single favorite, but i would probably choose Alcremie. i like its customization. i also really like Tropius, Breloom, Mareanie, Shiinotic, Sandile, Deerling/Sawsbuck, and Alolan Vulpix

Q: Wait... Which Pokémon game did you enjoy the least? If the answer is geniunely G/S that is kind of based, the level scaling is abysmal and require you to grind a lot... But also R/S is pretty bad at having a plot...
A: they're in the other direction lol, i put ruby/sapphire at the bottom of the ranking. nothing will ever match how i felt as a kid playing gold/silver and discovering you could return to the original areas, or chasing after the legendary dogs, but i do mostly really appreciate the ways they've streamlined the series over the years

Q: What about the remakes of Pokémon games? In what order did you enjoy those? ORAS is a big improvement on Gen 3, and HGSS is.... well it has the Pokéathlon, need I say more?
A: i still haven't played the diamond/pearl remake but i liked all of them for gen 1-3. i don't think they would change my overall ranking order though, honestly. i still hate the glut of water areas in ruby/sapphire.

Q: Favorite Pokémon spinoff? I have a feeling the answer to this isn't much of a mystery...
A: pokemon puzzle league for sure. i have played that game way too much in my life. i liked both the gamecube rpgs too, Colosseum and XD. not sure if you were going for the pun here but i've never played a mystery dungeon

Q: Is Gen 5 overhyped?
A: it's the one i played the least of, honestly, so i don't have a strong opinion on it. i don't think i even quite finished the game. i like a lot of the pokemon designs though, and i thought it was cool they "kinda" gave you a 2nd starter.

Q: What's your favorite non-glitch thing you've made?
A: this is a tough question because a lot of stuff i make is peppered with it even if it's not the focus. the answer i'll give you has some glitchy effects used in the intro and for sectional transitions, but i wouldn't really call it glitchy overall: "I'll Never Bid You Farewell
" from the pxtunes 5th anniversary album

@Tex
Q: What were your first musical ventures?
A: all in middle school around age 11-12: i started playing saxophone in band class and quickly wanted to play stuff other than what we were doing in school. i started teaching myself piano on an old casio someone gave me when i was little. i found out about Finale (notation software) while visiting a friend, and proceeded to beg my dad for a copy of the cheaper version of it (i think he thought it'd be a waste of money). i used it to open up midis from vgmusic and learn the songs and/or print out parts, and also started making my own midis using that in 2003-2004.

Q: What’s the longest you’ve ever been without power, and what did you do in that time? Was it difficult? Was it enjoyable in some way?
A: i barely remember this because i was like 4 years old, but we had a really bad blizzard that knocked out our power for several days, and my mom was car-stranded on an interstate somewhere in the meantime. i remember baking potatoes over the fireplace with my dad and bundling up in the cold. i'm sure it was stressful, but my memory of it is pretty neutral because i was so young.

Q: Of what you own, what is your favorite decorative piece?
A: i've kept a cork bulletin board where i put all my ticket stubs from shows/events/etc since 2009, which has grown quite full over the years. certainly the most memories are located on there.

@kilowatt64
Q: you are a highly prolific person (1052 entries on the site in 3 years or so at time of writing). You've done a lot elsewhere also. Do you have a personal favorite song (or songs) that you've written here or elsewhere?
A: perhaps predictably, it's hard to choose a singular favorite, but frontrunners would include: "I'll Never Bid You Farewell
" from the pxtunes 5th anniversary album, "Mitosis" from the glitch.98 battle here (both parts), and "Static Rain Dance" from last year's summer chip. all were exploratory situations (first pxtone, first fm, first n163) where i felt like i got across something new and special and heartfelt in the process: or, a vision most clearly my own.

Q: what is something most people in this community don't know about you?
A: i played magic the gathering pretty seriously for about a decade, and used to judge (officiate) tournaments for the game.

Q: what are some of your interests outside of music?
A: video games (esp nintendo, indies, tactics rpgs and the souls games), tea, reading fiction & manga, sometimes anime, board games, cooking, and recently gardening. i think i have to mention listening to albums also even though that is music.

@blower5
Q: favorite post rock moment?
A: the one that really sticks with me the most is the way Caspian's "Sycamore
" ends - everyone gradually starts abandoning their instruments to play the drums, and it builds all the way into a pure unison drum circle thing at the very end. they always closed out their live shows with that when i would see them, and it was magical every single time.

@MelonadeM
Q: what inspired you to take the glitchy aesthetic up and make it part of your branding so to speak?
A: there are two simultaneous answers to this: the first, i came to realize how to make something reminiscent of my favorite album
, and found it rewarding to keep exploring that territory. the second: to be honest, i felt like i didn't stand out enough writing more conventionally. in a sea of people trying to do the same thing, the people whose work really shines have impeccable arrangement chops, strong voice leading/counterpoint, the tightest of grooves, and keen senses of harmony. even when i practice those aspects of the craft, they are not my best qualities, so i chose to focus on honing a more unique voice and style for myself, and i think it was the singular best decision i could've made, honestly. for a long time as a listener, too, i was always hunting for more music like that, and wound up realizing i could make it happen myself.

Q: what is your favourite and least favourite beverage?
A: favorite: thai iced tea - nothing else like it. horchata in close 2nd. least favorite: sparkling water - taking a good thing and completely ruining it. i really don't like carbonation, although i'll put up with it for beer or an occasional soda as a treat.

Q: if you had to pick two soundchips to make every single future song of yours in, which ones would you pick?
A: ym2608 (pc98) for sure because there's just so much you can do with it, and uhh even though i wanna give the cheeky answer of "pc-engine because i could just fill it with long samples", probably spc700 is the real answer. it's got both the nostalgic sampled sound and the capacity for my kind of experimentation.

173246

Do you have plans to write more music guides?

You can have any piece of art. It can be custom made to your specifications or it can be preexisting work. What would it be?

Where is your favorite place of all the ones you've been? And is there somewhere else in the US you'd want to go?

What thread here on Battle of the Bits has been the most informative for you? Define "informative" as you see most fit.

173248

damiquestions
what would you consider your compositional weaknesses to be that you would like to work on or explore further

your snes album was great by the way, I had the chance only recently to listen to it the whole way through. Can you describe what your workflow was like from a compositional perspective, and whether that had any part in what it sounded like as an overall theme piece

I know you are a fan of liveplay as a means to try ideas but also record ideas. What has been your experience in the non live play approach/stepping in for note where liveplay has not been an available option, and how would you say it impacted your end result

Could you describe your musical journey in terms of the music you have been into in different phases of your life. Unless you have only enjoyed only one genre/artist from birth to now which would be highly unlikely...

is there a musical influence that you would like to employ more of into your own musical style but still figuring out how

what format have you not tried out yet that you are most looking forward to look into (or are they all just drudgery left)

173249

All time favorite video game OST?

What is your BotB origin story? (how you came to the site and decided to jump in)

Which is your favorite instrument to listen to?

173252

@Tex
Q: Do you have plans to write more music guides?
A: not expressly, but i like to provide info where i can in lyceum articles on stuff i've explored deeply (like the tinymod optimizations). it feels like a lot of specific, arcane knowledge gets discovered and then lost again in chiptune, broadly speaking, as people come and go... so i try to archive what i have learned. i have a split dpcm guide i plan on bringing to the lyceum once attachments exist properly there. i wrote the SNES guide because there was a clear lack of proper readable resources about it & obvious interest in the chip, considering its legacy... ergo, i saw a niche that needed filling and stepped up.

Q: You can have any piece of art. It can be custom made to your specifications or it can be preexisting work. What would it be?
A: a full-quality official print of the photo in my favorite album art
would be awesome.

Q: Where is your favorite place of all the ones you've been? And is there somewhere else in the US you'd want to go?
A: i think portland oregon is still my favorite, although i was quite fond of chicago when i visited there again recently, too. i'd like to visit more of the northeast US/new england in more detail, and also i've never been to colorado.

Q: What thread here on Battle of the Bits has been the most informative for you? Define "informative" as you see most fit.
A: in all seriousness, probably this one. the kinds of things people have asked so far are largely the kind of characterizing questions i like soaking up. there is much to be learned. the "what are you listening to" thread is also really cool because peoples' tastes interest me a lot, but ideally (to me) there would be more discussion in it.

@gotoandplay
Q: what would you consider your compositional weaknesses to be that you would like to work on or explore further
A: i would like to be able to be more deliberate about extended and jazz harmonies, and i have had this jazz theory book sitting on my piano staring me in the face for a while that i need to crack open and spend time with to that end.
also, my bass partwriting is weaker, less intricate than the rest. i've only ever played instruments that are treble or all-ranges and my left hand is similarly weak on piano so it sorta follows, i guess. exploring using root notes less is a priority, hand-in-hand with writing more natural, less jumpy lines.
deeper focus on counterpoint and making every line breathe. deliberation comes into play in everything i feel weak in actually; a lot of good things come from happy accidents or experimentation and that is awesome in its own right but being able to really say i mean every note i put down is often beyond my grasp, yet a worthy pursuit.
i had a piano teacher tell me once i was too focused on the barlines and it sounded like i was playing towards the barlines, and there's an extent to which i think that also applies to a lot of the music i write. in the time since then i think i've learned to write more fluidly but i think i could be more adventurous with stuff like overall harmonic rhythm.

Q: your snes album was great by the way, I had the chance only recently to listen to it the whole way through. Can you describe what your workflow was like from a compositional perspective, and whether that had any part in what it sounded like as an overall theme piece
A: thanks, i'm glad to hear that! one of my main goals was to use a lot of samples that were atypical for the SNES. ergo, stuff besides monophonic, shortlooped rompler instruments, drums and synths - longer clips and weirder textures. so a lot of the pieces came about simply by recording samples loosely around either a textural goal or a motif, and seeing what i could then make from the clay. even with the songs that use "more normal" samples, the act of choosing and prepping samples was kind of its own phase prior to anything else.
i also wanted to really explore automation of the chip's parameters like for echo delay settings and pitch modulation... stuff that sounds really wild when played with, but that i rarely see get taken advantage of. altogether i think these approaches helped make something (imo) cohesive despite a lot of stylistic variance from song to song.
(if you're especially curious i've done writeups on many of the songs on my cohost page - 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
)

Q: I know you are a fan of liveplay as a means to try ideas but also record ideas. What has been your experience in the non live play approach/stepping in for note where liveplay has not been an available option, and how would you say it impacted your end result
A: i used to be a piano roll note clicker once upon a time, though i would usually be separately plunking out ideas at the piano and transferring them by hand... and i still do that if i'm using software that doesn't support midi input. it's a struggle to make something without the piano at all, as my audiation is pretty subpar. i feel very distant from the process without it. i do think this influences my music in a pretty clear way though, in a sense limiting me to what i can a) play or b) at least conceptualize at the keyboard. perhaps this is why i'm particularly weak at really dynamic arpeggios like those of razerek or blitz lunar. i'm fairly conscious of that as a weakness/crutch in general.

Q: Could you describe your musical journey in terms of the music you have been into in different phases of your life. Unless you have only enjoyed only one genre/artist from birth to now which would be highly unlikely...
A: in middle school i listened exclusively to vgm.
in early-mid high school i became a metalhead, especially prog. i loved ultra long songs & they delivered.
nearer the end of high school i got into post-rock instead; they had long developmental instrumental songs with an emotional core i found myself preferring. because my favorite album had glitch and IDM elements i also dipped into IDM, and found stuff like ilkae's first couple albums. even though this was 15 years ago it probably best informs where i'm at in terms of interest in writing.
in college i got into indie rock/folk/pop and i still really like a lot of that stuff. some hip-hop too. i guess broadly the kind of stuff it was cool to label as "hipster" in 2011.
post-college i was very depressed and didn't do a lot of exploring, just listening to a mix of all the above, but i can cite a few things for getting me back into music - Tigran Hamasyan's "Shadow Theater" album for bringing me deeper into jazz and genre-fusing, and the soundtracks to Octopath Traveler and Celeste for reminding me why i loved video game music and wanted to make it.
from then (2018) until now i've pretty much been exploring absolutely whatever; i like diving into genres that pique my interest (often i hear something i love and just want to find more like it), like glitchy IDM, math rock, midwest emo, J-jazz of both the poppy and avant-garde persuasions, Shibuya-kei, chiptune and digital fusion adjacent music of course, jazz fusion, and so on. i keep a personal spreadsheet of the albums i listen to (over 3000 and counting) so that helps keep me motivated to find new music.

Q: is there a musical influence that you would like to employ more of into your own musical style but still figuring out how
A: i've definitely always wanted to have a better handle on making jazz fusion type music, but it has seemed like such an intimidating amount of work to try and get to where i'd want it to be - and there's only so much time i have to explore everything i want to do. it feels like a lot of recalibration and study would be necessary, but i definitely have a long term goal for a catchy album like that.
another big thing - i don't play guitar but a lot of music that i enjoy & take inspiration from is guitar-focused, so it's interesting trying to bridge that gap. e.g. i enjoy doing this sort of faux-clean-guitar sound in FM chips, or faking tremolo-picking in .it or .spc, but there's still a lot of "the guitar core" that is a bit out of my grasp, like distortion, chucking, or truly 100% idiomatic writing (towards which i can only get so close without being a guitarist, even if i can comprehend how it works and replicate some of its techniques).

Q: what format have you not tried out yet that you are most looking forward to look into (or are they all just drudgery left)
A: i've almost hit them all at this point but i am looking forward to SMW/LunarMagic, which i've passively wanted to mess with for many years (the super mario maker games kinda filled that niche for me). for music, i'm cautiously optimistic that sap/sapx2 will be kinda fun

@kilowatt64
Q: All time favorite video game OST?
A: final fantasy 12 (hitoshi sakimoto), with a very special runner-up award for golden sun: the lost age (motoi sakuraba) as being most influential to the youngest composer version of myself

Q: What is your BotB origin story? (how you came to the site and decided to jump in)
A: hanna started hosting "summer allgear series" and advertising it in a space we shared, which made me realize this site i had heard a bit about supported things other than just trackers/chiptunes, so i started participating in those. and then a couple months later i tripped and fell into a pit full of glorified musical spreadsheets

Q: Which is your favorite instrument to listen to?
A: on its own, probably either piano or acoustic guitar, just because of their full ranges and polyphonic capabilities. within an arrangement, i like cello a lot.

173254

do u wear hats and if so, do u have a personal favorite type?
also, how would you describe your own esthetic in how you present yourself as a person to the people around you? I am asking because I always only imagine you as a walking missingno

173255

favourite glitch composition techniques?

do you have and/or have interest in hardware synths / drum machines / grooveboxes anything of that sort?

if you could change or add something to any music software to allow for easier composition for glitchy music what would you change?

favourite video games?

any teas you'd recommend? i want to broaden my palate more

173257

Have you played Undertale/Deltarune,
and what route/routes did you pick?

173262

what videogame world have you spent the most time in?

173265

@kleeder
Q: do u wear hats and if so, do u have a personal favorite type?
A: i generally look really silly in hats, but i have a kinda low-key dark brown cap that i have come to like. i'm not sure what style to call it, the texture of the cloth is sorta like a paperboy hat but it has a longer bill at the front.

Q: also, how would you describe your own esthetic in how you present yourself as a person to the people around you? I am asking because I always only imagine you as a walking missingno
A: hmm... kinda soft? cute but aloof? mostly quiet unless i am around the right people. i think people probably see me as standoffish even though i don't really try to be

@argarak
Q: favourite glitch composition techniques?
A: one of my favorite things to do is cut up stems and take small-to-medium sized slices at various points and chop, repeat, and/or reverse them, to create a sort of momentary hiccup or pause in whatever the part is. similarly, overwriting the tails of notes in a stem by taking a tiny slice and repeating it, or reversing it, is a cool way to gain texture. i also like momentary blips of texture from like "quickly jerking a knob to one side and back again" to affect something like volume, pitch, or some other effect. easy to do in .it envelopes for instance. ALSO tremolo is such an underrated effect.

Q: do you have and/or have interest in hardware synths / drum machines / grooveboxes anything of that sort?
A: ah man, interest, sure, but it's something i've been hesitant to dip my toes into. it seems like a very slippery, very expensive slope, and kinda hard to justify at this point, especially when i'm juggling other musical interests. i hope there is a point in my life where i could feel like that's a good idea lol. it won't be anytime soon but there is some version of me that goes on to do more live stuff and has a bunch of cool hardware.

Q: if you could change or add something to any music software to allow for easier composition for glitchy music what would you change?
A: every software needs its own version of .it Ixy (tremor, switches sound on/off for x/y ticks). i mean this is something you can basically achieve anywhere with some finagling but if it were that easy everywhere, i would indeed use it everywhere. all the time. such a good effect

Q: favourite video games?
A: bloodborne, dark souls, animal crossing, mario kart, panel de pon, celeste, megaman battle network, mario 64, banjo-kazooie, mega man x, final fantasy tactics, tetris effect, rez, the witness, golden sun, dark cloud, treasure of the rudras, stardew valley, audiosurf

Q: any teas you'd recommend? i want to broaden my palate more
A: a cool one that most folks will either love or hate is lapsang souchong, which is smoked black tea that quite literally smells and tastes like a campfire. darjeeling 1st flush is one of my favorites, a really unique and rich tasting tea. japanese green tea (sencha) rocks if you've never tried it; it's strong and grassy. i also like a lot of teas that are flavored with flowers or fruit, like jasmine green tea or lychee, rose or lavender black tea. whatever you try, my biggest recommendation is to buy looseleaf rather than tea bags, if you aren't already; that will be the biggest step up in tea quality and flavor.

@Lincent
Q: Have you played Undertale/Deltarune,
and what route/routes did you pick?
A: i did play undertale many years ago but i haven't played the other games. i was nice to everybody in the game, and i got humorously angry over the part in the game that forces you to not be nice - i ended up having to be told how to clear that part lol. i still think that part is poorly designed. other than that, i enjoyed the game, especially the weird stuff at the end, and a lot of the music.

@roz
Q: what videogame world have you spent the most time in?
A: if we're calling super smash bros a world, that's probably the series i've put the most collective hours into... animal crossing comes in second i think. since i have played all the Ivalice FF games that one probably scores highest and is closest to what you meant by this question. and also is probably my favorite fantasy world

173278

test

I had forgotten what I wanted to ask yesterday, but thankfully my laptop cached my response:

@damifortune
I have no question this time, I just wanted to say Mitosis I lives rent free when I space out sometimes.
Actually... I guess I can ask about that, now.
Seeing as it was your first push into FM Synthesis, how do you feel about it now compared to when you made the track?

for those interested: https://battleofthebits.com/arena/Entry/Mitosis+I/55922/

173282

@Delita
Q: I have no question this time, I just wanted to say Mitosis I lives rent free when I space out sometimes.
Actually... I guess I can ask about that, now.
Seeing as it was your first push into FM Synthesis, how do you feel about it now compared to when you made the track?
A: i feel pretty much the same about it actually, and it's sorta hard to believe it's been like 9mo since i made it lol. it's one of my favorite things i've ever made (and, thanks btw!). at the time, i was really trying to experiment with how i could get the kinds of sounds and textures i wanted out of FM, and just spent a bunch of time figuring out which parameters i could tweak or automate to get nice effects. i guess, maybe a concise answer to your question of how i feel about it is - i see the song as a successful blueprint, and i continue to use those same strategies as i make more and more FM music.

173284

What is love?
What does love have to do with art?
What is your favorite restaurant?
Do you feel fulfilled with your job?
Top animes?

173285

What's your favorite smell?

Of those you've planted, what's your favorite flower?

Do you see yourself staying in music communities like this one for even more years to come?

How important is creative freedom for you? Would you take a well-paid gig to make music in a style that absolutely isn't your... cup of tea?

173290

what are your preferred nicknames online?
which one is the nickname you dislike the most?
dami f. tune

173295

@tennisers
Q: What is love?
A: a spectrum ranging between passion and dedication that's powered by the emotions that make us most human

Q: What does love have to do with art?
A: nothing inherently, but it has obviously inspired a great deal of it, and since it tends to comprise or bring out a lot of the strongest emotions in people, it can fuel the artistic process and show itself in the result. whatever it means to someone, love of some sort tends to appear in works made from the heart, or of self-expression or self-indulgence. and through whatever ethereal means we operate as a species, if it's present in others' art we can generally pick up on it when viewing/listening/etc.

Q: What is your favorite restaurant?
A: my longtime favorite was an izakaya named honda-ya in little tokyo in LA, but it got bought out in the middle of the pandemic by a larger izakaya chain and i didn't try it again before i moved to see if the food was still the same. where i live now there's a steakhouse with a really good bourbon selection and good hummus, i like that place a lot

Q: Do you feel fulfilled with your job?
A: well i don't have steady work but as i'm leaning ever closer into just wanting to write music forever and make money that way, yes. i mean i've wanted to do that for like 20 years i guess. i liked my last job too because it had a niche community building aspect. guess it's no wonder i took to that here

Q: Top animes?
A: nichijou, the tatami galaxy, kaiba, mushishi, jojo, madoka, baccano, zetsubou sensei, scum's wish, ping pong, barakamon

@Tex
Q: What's your favorite smell?
A: rose is the top contender probably, also the smell of onions and garlic cooking in butter is a really nostalgic cooking scent for some reason. new book smell.

Q: Of those you've planted, what's your favorite flower?
A: i like hibiscus a lot, i've been growing one every year. the flowers are big and showy but because they only bloom for a day or two before wilting i feel encouraged to check in on my plant a lot and admire the flowers while they last.

Q: Do you see yourself staying in music communities like this one for even more years to come?
A: even if i do get my own periods of quietness i certainly have a hard time imagining leaving, especially when it's my long term goal to make music more than a hobby; there's no spaces more relevant to what i'm interested in. the only thing liable to change at some undefined point would be activity level as other music projects come up

Q: How important is creative freedom for you? Would you take a well-paid gig to make music in a style that absolutely isn't your... cup of tea?
A: creative freedom is really important to me, but at the same time, at this stage in my "career" i would not skip an offer for a well-paid opportunity like that, and i think i could probably still find ways to enjoy making music outside my preferred zones and land on a finished product i could stand behind. if i could afford to be choosy though, i would absolutely prioritize something more in-line with the style(s) i'm interested in.

@kleeder
Q: what are your preferred nicknames online?
A: most people just call me dami, this is good. HVB bleeds over from being called that IRL but i like it a lot regardless of online/offline.

Q: which one is the nickname you dislike the most?
A: sometimes people change part of my last name to 'broccoli' because it sounds similar, which is actually pretty funny in its own right but i heard that one a few too many times from childhood jackasses to still find it funny lol.

173304

I feel like all my questions would be shallow in comparison to everyone else’s, which is probably also a newcomer thing AND a younger person thing, but I’ll give it a shot. You’re the one person here I wish I had mature question-asking skills for. Expect questions that assume a lot off of the few shared interests between us, especially the first music question, and questions where I obviously realize how much better they could be midway through typing.

BASIC QUESTIONS

What’s your most memorable animal encounter?

What’s your favorite vacation spot, and what are its coolest deets?

(more of these later. see the bottom of the post)

MUSIC QUESTIONS

What are your thoughts on several aspects of the rhythm game music scene, I.e. the genres popular/created there, the composers you’re fond of, the BMS competitions if you know much about those, any techniques from their music that inspire you?

Extending off of two questions earlier in this forum (the one about liveplay and the one I asked about ratios of time spent on certain aspects of music composition) what are the ratios for you, and how does the ability to compose by playing notes on the keyboard affect those ratios?

The previous question upside-down: How did the ratios affect you during different stages of your songwriting career both before and after you got a MIDI keyboard? (Only answer this one if it’s better)

We know your favorite chord, now what’s a song that you’ve made has the chord in it, and one that you didn’t make that has the chord or a similar chord? + What song is your favorite chord song, as I’m not your all-time favorite but your favorite song that has a lot of chords that you enjoy? They could be the same song idk

What’s the difference in the processes of collabs in which the composers take turns versus where both have their own influences spread throughout, I.e. editing the other’s part so that they mesh better? Are there strict differences between the two or are there ALWAYS elements of both? And as what could possible be a completely separate thing, if multiplayer composition a la ptcollab and Soundation is that much of a major difference, is there a necessary alternative to the taking turns / editing approach? The process of composing a collab song could be more than anything my I just said, I’ve never done one and I assume a lot with my singular year of experience.

Are there any time management/commitment tips that you’ve learned during your music career that were very helpful? I need some desperately :(

If you could be the musical apprentice of one composer you look up to, who would it be and why? Who would you be the teacher/master of if the roles were flipped? wait that follow-up question is too specific uhhhh What would you look for in composers with potential if selecting a student?

What’s the most autobiographical song you’ve ever written? By that I mean a song that tells a story from your life, or intends to convey the emotion of one if it lacks lyrics? I personally believe there isn’t an in-between for those two types of autobiographical songs, what do you think? Is there a third type that fits the “autobiographical song” category better than the two I think there are that applies to true events specifically rather than more abstract things like emotions I.e. Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony?

This question is a bit of a gamble. Can you beatbox/hum well, do you do it often, and do you ever hum ideas or beatbox them whenever you’re working on music? How do you describe the mouth technique for making glitch noises with your mouth?

CHIPTUNE QUESTIONS

I don’t usually comment on the technical aspect of most chiptune songs because I don’t know the specs beyond a few chips (notably the NES chips and almost the entire range of C64 abilities) and I REALLY don’t know how music is made for them with my noob-level famitracker experience, but I’ll try……pathetically.

One thing I do sometimes is think in my head how a song would sound if it was a chiptune cover by a certain chip, and how the chip’s capabilities could best reproduce the original sound. Have you ever composed or heard any song that was composed in this way with astonishing levels of similarity?
If you asked me the previous question, I’d tell you about my current two favorite chiptune composers. A64’s got the Camellia sound on lock with FM chips, and nu11 the rock/DnB (Pendulum) sound with the 2a03, VRC6, MMC5, and FDS.

Another reused question. If you could alter any chip’s capabilities, which one(s) and why?

Thoughts on overclocked chiptune? I don’t know much about it and it interests me so I’d like to hear about it and also get some baseline knowledge of it into my head so I can listen with technical know-how. Have you made any?

Sooo, SNES music that uses less than six channels and sounds good. Apart from Tim the actual wizard Follin, I don’t know of any other music that’s like this. I assume you do, so could you recommend me some? How does it innovate within its limits, how does it stand out and sound splendid? Does it share any techniques with Tim’s under-six-channel SNES music?

Which chip and tracker would you consider to be the current meta for chiptune in terms of people learning it and composing using it a lot more frequently than the others?

How do you not keep track of which Yamaha chip is which when they all(?) start with YM? Truly this is a Lotepamera skill issue.

SILLY QUESTIONS

Waaaait a minute, if people abbreviate your name to HVB in real life, is Hunter Van Brocklin just your first name??? Hunter Van Brocklin The Rocklin Johnsonlin???????

i have more questions to ask but it's summer and i dont want to burn to death while having two conversations at once so ill post the rest soon.

173310

time to put on an album and answer these questions (rubs hands together)

@Lotepamera
Q: What’s your most memorable animal encounter?
A: a cat had some kittens in the yard next door to ours growing up so i would go visit them. i even named one of them, i wanted to keep him but our family's dog was really not okay with other animals so i couldn't. this isn't a specific encounter i guess but it's what i thought of

Q: What’s your favorite vacation spot, and what are its coolest deets?
A: hmmm, i haven't really taken a lot of destination vacations that were more specific than "go see a friend somewhere", but one that i remember being really cool was staying at someone's guest house up in wine country central california, because everything in their little town was within walking distance and it was a nice, peaceful place to stay in spring. they had a hot tub!

Q: What are your thoughts on several aspects of the rhythm game music scene, I.e. the genres popular/created there, the composers you’re fond of, the BMS competitions if you know much about those, any techniques from their music that inspire you?
A: i feel pretty distant from this as a whole, but i like the artists i've run across who are involved in that scene, like silentroom and frums, and random BOF songs i've seen people share here and there. their production is really tight in ways that kinda intimidate me to think about approaching, but i would love to make stuff that sounded so crisp. i've never really explored this stuff from the angle of the actual scene they're from 'cause i don't really play rhythm games, just checked out albums that i ran across for one reason or another that happened to be connected.

Q: Extending off of two questions earlier in this forum (the one about liveplay and the one I asked about ratios of time spent on certain aspects of music composition) what are the ratios for you, and how does the ability to compose by playing notes on the keyboard affect those ratios?
A: i think it just depends from song to song, based on whatever i'm trying to accomplish (i.e. some things demand more of you for the soundscape). i usually try to get some notes down first, like a phrase of something, and then do all the detail work to the sequence that i feel necessary (tracker effects or whatever kind of automation), then move on to the next thing. the detail work usually takes up more time (i'm allergic to notes that do nothing), unless i'm writing a particularly harmonically complex passage or something. i'm not sure that having an efficient link for note input (midi keyboard) actually affects that ratio all that much; maybe you could argue i have more energy to put into the details, but i'm not sure the causality really works that way, at least outside of time-limited stuff like xhbs

Q: We know your favorite chord, now what’s a song that you’ve made has the chord in it, and one that you didn’t make that has the chord or a similar chord? + What song is your favorite chord song, as I’m not your all-time favorite but your favorite song that has a lot of chords that you enjoy? They could be the same song idk
A: you can hear the 7#9 at 0:54 here as part of the transition, and i used it in pretty much the same way as the song i learned it from
the Jobim/Regina version of Inutil Paisagem (i transcribed it a couple years ago) where you can hear it at 0:39, chaining down the circle of fifths with a dominant 13 chord. honestly i use this all the time lol. that one is a good answer for a chord song, but i dunno if i explicitly have a favorite chord song. maybe Brubeck's Strange Meadow Lark. or doc n0gloff's profile.

Q: What’s the difference in the processes of collabs in which the composers take turns versus where both have their own influences spread throughout, I.e. editing the other’s part so that they mesh better? Are there strict differences between the two or are there ALWAYS elements of both? And as what could possible be a completely separate thing, if multiplayer composition a la ptcollab and Soundation is that much of a major difference, is there a necessary alternative to the taking turns / editing approach? The process of composing a collab song could be more than anything my I just said, I’ve never done one and I assume a lot with my singular year of experience.
A: i've done a lot of collabs where we didn't really touch each others' parts much, and they are more than capable of turning out great, but i've come to appreciate more being able to tweak one anothers' stuff. a little give and take makes for something potentially a little more organic, but that's not to say you can't still work well with someone whose stuff you don't edit or maybe even don't feel the need to edit. regardless pretty much every collab has been "one person makes a section, then the next person adds a new section" until a song happens, with some discussions about form as it goes. i've enjoyed the live collaboration on ptcollab a lot, we just kinda bounced around working on the stuff that we enjoyed the most or we thought needed doing, and occasionally exchanged words

Q: Are there any time management/commitment tips that you’ve learned during your music career that were very helpful? I need some desperately :(
A: lol i think maybe these will come to you as you get older... probably the best advice i could give you is just to not force something if you're really not feeling it. there's a balance to strike here but if your body is telling you to go do something else for a while, do it. you avoid burnout and you can return feeling fresh later. self-discipline is important to a real extent, but making yourself do something you really don't want to do is not likely to be helpful nor is it likely to be your best work

Q: If you could be the musical apprentice of one composer you look up to, who would it be and why? Who would you be the teacher/master of if the roles were flipped? wait that follow-up question is too specific uhhhh What would you look for in composers with potential if selecting a student?
A: hmm i think my current answer to the first question is Shohei Amimori, i feel like there's a lot i could learn not only from how that guy puts music together and combines sounds, but also from his really deep grasp on harmony, and those studies would inform my future music in a cool way, potentially. i've thought a bit about whether i'd be comfortable teaching and i think it would depend on what they were interested in doing. what unique voice they bring to their music, and whether i could envision what that could be chiseled into.

Q: What’s the most autobiographical song you’ve ever written? By that I mean a song that tells a story from your life, or intends to convey the emotion of one if it lacks lyrics? I personally believe there isn’t an in-between for those two types of autobiographical songs, what do you think? Is there a third type that fits the “autobiographical song” category better than the two I think there are that applies to true events specifically rather than more abstract things like emotions I.e. Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony?
A: this song "I'll Never Bid You Farewell
" keeps coming up somehow (so i'll link a different incarnation this time, the playback video). it's like a re-imagining of, and huge expansion upon, a couple songs i wrote when i was your age or so and a lot more blood coursed through my heart. you definitely don't need lyrics to write something autobiographical, but i guess you're right that it falls into a category of 'intending to convey emotion'. there's a difference between summoning the emotion from within yourself to write the piece, and simply trying to write at surface level about it. that is a keen observation

Q: This question is a bit of a gamble. Can you beatbox/hum well, do you do it often, and do you ever hum ideas or beatbox them whenever you’re working on music? How do you describe the mouth technique for making glitch noises with your mouth?
A: you know, i don't usually sing along while i work, but i definitely record stuff into my phone when i have an idea so that i don't just lose the idea. sing or hum a melody, beatbox/use hands for a rhythm, etc. i dunno about making glitch noises with my mouth, but you can definitely make a retrigger/chop noise by rolling your tongue, lol.

Q: One thing I do sometimes is think in my head how a song would sound if it was a chiptune cover by a certain chip, and how the chip’s capabilities could best reproduce the original sound. Have you ever composed or heard any song that was composed in this way with astonishing levels of similarity?
A: i think about this sometimes too and have "a covers album" in the back of my head as a future project with some text notes written down about chip specifics. if you mean in terms of unlikely replications of styles, in spring 2022 i tried to write "a j-jazz trio song for 64kb module" and "a tricot song for msgs midi" but there's still obvious differences in fidelity there. also broadly speaking if i have an idea at the piano for something i wanna do in chiptune form, the wheels are immediately turning to figure out what chip would be best, where i could accomplish something cool, etc. but i'm not really interested in copying any existing style down to the T, just thinking about what parts can translate well

Q: Another reused question. If you could alter any chip’s capabilities, which one(s) and why?
A: my knee jerk answer is "more audio RAM on the SNES sure would be nice" but there's a lot that i enjoy about pushing that restriction to its limit. being able to use all N163 channels without the nightmare 16khz hiss would be nice. the sampler function of the genesis being its own channel instead of eating up FM ch6 would be nice. just that one extra channel would make a big difference.

Q: Thoughts on overclocked chiptune? I don’t know much about it and it interests me so I’d like to hear about it and also get some baseline knowledge of it into my head so I can listen with technical know-how. Have you made any?
A: i haven't done a whole lot with it outside of a few xhbs. it raises the speed of how quickly stuff like effects, envelopes, macros etc get processed, so you end up with different textures you couldn't quite get otherwise. this is surely something i'll explore more as time goes by, but my present point on the arc is still enjoying eking out what i can from regular clock speeds. check out strobe's work if you want some killer examples

Q: Sooo, SNES music that uses less than six channels and sounds good. Apart from Tim the actual wizard Follin, I don’t know of any other music that’s like this. I assume you do, so could you recommend me some? How does it innovate within its limits, how does it stand out and sound splendid? Does it share any techniques with Tim’s under-six-channel SNES music?
A: to be honest this isn't an axis i've really tried to analyze snes music on, but a lot of games reserve at least one if not two channels for sfx. (one funny counterexample is the main overworld theme of secret of mana, where important parts get clearly interrupted by sfx.) from the sample sets i've ripped, follin really likes to use chord and/or interval samples (like fifths), which is an easy way to step up an arrangement with polyphony restrictions. (the same is true of FM, fifths are so useful) sequencing drums to use as few simultaneous channels as possible is also good for economy.

Q: Which chip and tracker would you consider to be the current meta for chiptune in terms of people learning it and composing using it a lot more frequently than the others?
A: furnace tracker definitely seems like "the meta" because it's both new, good, and can target five million hundred chips. it's probably a safe assumption that furnace has gotten a lot more people into FM in particular, now that they don't have to use deflemask (or bambootracker in the case of pc98 specifically).

Q: How do you not keep track of which Yamaha chip is which when they all(?) start with YM? Truly this is a Lotepamera skill issue.
A: you just pick it up with time lol... exposure. if you mess with them yourself, they're labeled as such in the tracker. or, hear enough people say ym2612 and you will internalize that means genesis. i don't think i have them all memorized but i know the ones i like.

Q: Waaaait a minute, if people abbreviate your name to HVB in real life, is Hunter Van Brocklin just your first name??? Hunter Van Brocklin The Rocklin Johnsonlin???????
A: no, it's just my initials 😅

173312

What have you promised yourself you will never do or become?

What have you promised yourself you will never do again?

Has your music ever been profoundly influenced by artists who, in your opinion, are real jerks? If yes, you don't need to mention any names.

Do you prefer a liquidy soup or a thick, chunky stew?

Who are some online musicians you look up to since your earlier years on the internet? If the first names that popped into your head were "Blitz Lunar" and "Dr. Fruitcake", then, who else?

Who are some BotBrs you wish would make a return that last logged in before your join date? If the first names that popped into your head were "zanzan" and "Fearofdark", then, who else?

Which was your first "senpai noticed me" moment?

173316

Favorite childhood toy?

173318

When you approach a new format or musical tool, do you lean more towards figuring out how to replicate techniques you use in other formats, or discovering features that are unique to the new format/tool?

What does a typical session of music-making look like for you? Do you finish pieces in a couple of large pushes, or small bits at a time?

Do you tend to sketch out of the skeleton of a full piece before adding layers to it, or fully flesh out a segment before moving on to the next segment, or something in between?

Which area in The Witness was your favorite?

173319

For dami (tune):
Favorite and least favorite botb formats? (hard mode: no allgear, wildchip, or fakebit)
What do you enjoy about being an admin? What do you find to be the most difficult part of being an admin?
You've been in a good number of cities and states in the US from what I remember. How would you rate/rank your experience in each one?
Do you have a certain creative process that you stick by when you're making music or do you tend to just go with the flow?
Any smaller artists you'd like to shout out?
Do you ever revisit or reflect on your older works?

173320

@Tex
Q: What have you promised yourself you will never do or become?
A: i've had enough bad run-ins with really manipulative or conniving or deceitful people that i am fully convinced it's an awful way to be. that said i'm not sure one just "decides" to be or "becomes" that way, but i guess my point is that i would never stop holding myself to a higher standard

Q: What have you promised yourself you will never do again?
A: i squandered away a lot of time in my mid 20s (to depression, to be fair) not doing the things i love, so i don't intend to let that happen again

Q: Has your music ever been profoundly influenced by artists who, in your opinion, are real jerks? If yes, you don't need to mention any names.
A: thankfully no, out of the people i've reached out to or gotten to know, they have been kind. there's a rapper guy whose music i really liked who turned out to be abusive and i have a hard time listening to his music now but i wouldn't really call myself influenced by his work. i guess there's a couple artists whose work i admire but are known jackasses, but there is just a limit to how much i'd open myself up to their music in the first place because of that

Q: Do you prefer a liquidy soup or a thick, chunky stew?
A: definitely the stew. soup is a lot more satisfying if it's thicker. i love soups, stews, and thick sauces all, though

Q: Who are some online musicians you look up to since your earlier years on the internet? If the first names that popped into your head were "Blitz Lunar" and "Dr. Fruitcake", then, who else?
A: my mind is being read! i guess also tony thai from that era, and there was another person on vgmusic named "zagro" who has long since disappeared but made cool original music too. i didn't know until i was on botb that ilkae was adjacent to this scene (or even "an online musician" as you put it, i just had no context) but i have enjoyed his music for a long time too.

Q: Who are some BotBrs you wish would make a return that last logged in before your join date? If the first names that popped into your head were "zanzan" and "Fearofdark", then, who else?
A: get outta my head, charles! j.arthur is one that comes to mind, and proswell, and maxo. i'm quite sure there are many more but i'm racking my brain to think of them. i am reminded of their past presence about once a year. also, strobe has been here since i joined, but i do hope to see him on the battlefield at some point because i feel like we've landed on some similar techniques executed differently.

Q: Which was your first "senpai noticed me" moment?
A: probably getting replies on music posts from admins of forums i was on in 2005 or whatever. i don't think i have a specific memory there though, it's been too long. a lot more recently, i appreciated kind words and feedback from shnabubula when i started doing sample pack contests in 2019. that was one of my first forays into the wider scene

@kilowatt64
Q: Favorite childhood toy?
A: does the gameboy count? i think the gameboy should count. i liked legos a lot, too, back in the day.

@Lasertooth
Q: When you approach a new format or musical tool, do you lean more towards figuring out how to replicate techniques you use in other formats, or discovering features that are unique to the new format/tool?
A: definitely the former, although the latter is important to consider, too. but there's a whole lot of "ok, how do i do <thing>" involved for getting my bearings. it also depends on how unique or new-to-me the new stuff is, like for instance bambootracker was my first FM experience and i did indeed spend a long time learning about automating FM parameters.

Q: What does a typical session of music-making look like for you? Do you finish pieces in a couple of large pushes, or small bits at a time?
A: it kinda depends.. sometimes it's either one or somewhere in between. but one thing that's common is that finishing a good song is like reading a good book: there comes a point partway through where i'm so excited about it that i focus pretty hard on finishing it until it's done. but often earlier in the process, initial sketching and first section or so of writing, i work in small chunks and then move onto something else for a bit and just bounce around. one of my favorite places to be in songwriting is to have a handful of good ideas to be exploring and just chipping away at them as the inspiration arrives. it's rare, but possible, to write something in one fell swoop.

Q: Do you tend to sketch out of the skeleton of a full piece before adding layers to it, or fully flesh out a segment before moving on to the next segment, or something in between?
A: usually the former, i'm a big believer in the skeleton. a skeleton can be a piano sketch that isn't explicitly written into software yet, too, which is more commonly the way i do things with tracker music. i like to have a good idea about the overall form and what's going to change where before i sit down and actually plug in data. once i'm at that point, i *usually* work in sections or large phrases, fleshing or mostly-fleshing them out before moving on - but the key there is i usually already know how i intend to move on, and then how to move on from that, etc. sometimes for longer pieces i only have about half a skeleton envisioned but just an awareness that i know i'll be able to develop those ideas further once i get there (Memory Flash and Mitosis I were both this way).

Q: Which area in The Witness was your favorite?
A: i liked the color lab area (bunker? is that what it was called?) a lot, and the mountain, and the underground challenge zone. those ones probably had my favorite puzzles and atmosphere too. you didn't ask this, but my least favorite was the monastery. a very frustrating area lol.

will answer the next ones later, gotta run for now, sorry!

173324

@funute
Q: Favorite and least favorite botb formats? (hard mode: no allgear, wildchip, or fakebit)
A: i think my absolute favorite is mod4k, but i love pc98, snes, remix, and midi as well. vcv rack is probably my least favorite, or puredata. if converters for bytebeat weren't a thing, that too. the stuff that gets esoterically far away from how i conceive of music, or that makes me work to even produce sound or a framework for it, is really off-putting - though i understand the appeal, it has yet to ever feel "for me".

Q: What do you enjoy about being an admin? What do you find to be the most difficult part of being an admin?
A: i just like helping people, and trying to set a good example; i care about community building. mostly that's stuff that can be done without an admin badge but it's nice to be able to help with small clerical stuff like battle time adjustment, render fix, etc. i don't relish dealing with interpersonal/social issues or arguments because they can require hard decisions and difficult conversations. but i at least would rather be a part of figuring out the solutions or answers than to sit on the sidelines

Q: You've been in a good number of cities and states in the US from what I remember. How would you rate/rank your experience in each one?
A: well i miss california a lot, i lived there for many years and i always had family there at the least; i've spent time in nearly all parts of the state. i love the whole west coast and i hope to live there again in the future, maybe in oregon or washington next time. i'm from the south and have seen a lot of it... there's some nice pockets here and there but it's not really for me. i prefer bluer zones. i've spent less time in the midwest but chicago is wonderful. utah is a beautiful state. flagstaff arizona seems cool, a little pine-covered mountain town in an otherwise desert state. asheville north carolina is a cute hippie pocket of the south. haven't spent much time in the northeast either comparatively, but my trips to the beach in delaware and the coast of maine were both lovely. would love to go back to maine. and would love to visit nyc again - the only time i was there was a school trip in the middle of high school so it'd be cool to explore as an adult on my own terms.

Q: Do you have a certain creative process that you stick by when you're making music or do you tend to just go with the flow?
A: 90% of the time i like to sketch music at the piano first. also where applicable i usually choose/make my samples or instruments ahead of time as a separate phase. that way, when i actually start working on the music itself, it's fairly smooth sailing because i have a plan and some paints. (of course this isn't really possible in xhbs, and i think i've gotten pretty good at making quick decisions on the fly about how to work with a prompt/sample pack/etc... but there it's more like the sketch time is reduced to 'however long it takes me to find the first okay idea'.) the other 10% of the time is specific experimentation of some sort... sitting down just to play around with texture or something kinda new and seeing what happens. sometimes this is just fun and random but a surprising amount of the time, something really cool comes of it. the vast majority of the time though i've got an idea already by the time i sit down in front of software. sitting down with an enormous blank canvas is paralyzing, i have to come up with at least some idea of what to focus on, be it a tune or messing with a particular sound/synth/something.

Q: Any smaller artists you'd like to shout out?
A: broadly speaking i feel like it's tough to get much smaller than me lol, but there's tons of people who deserve all the attention! albatross, blower, cade, doc, amelia. very few people on the internet making cooler sounds than tennesseefields/tn-kei. expanding outward a bit: mikehive, dr fruitcake, jade internet, lyra messier. october williamson. robotmeadows. i could keep going but i will continue to run the risk of forgetting a dozen more wonderful people... and i'll spare you the list of unrelated indie or obscure artists outside of online music people haha.

Q: Do you ever revisit or reflect on your older works?
A: in the short term, i do listen a lot to recently-completed works. i tend to keep a little playlist of recent music on my phone and let it play while doing things like running errands/driving somewhere locally. in the long term though it's really quite rare. most stuff older than a few months doesn't get touched again for months or years, and the older it is the more it fades away like that. i actually haven't even listened to my new album since it came out a month ago, but prior i gave it several full listens. on the occasions that i do go through old stuff, it's usually just thumbing through a bunch of it at once on a whim, and it definitely provokes reflection and is inevitably quite interesting to see where i was at, X amount of time ago. sometimes i forget i liked something that much, you know - a pleasant surprise.

173326

"in early-mid high school i became a metalhead, especially prog. i loved ultra long songs & they delivered."

okay then, kinda fun silly question here: which Opeth album was your favorite then, and which one is your favorite now??
and why? :P

When you find yourself in a musical rut/writer's block, what techniques have you utilized to bring yourself out of it?

Favorite animal?

173327

if u had to set 1 alarm for 0200 AM every day, which botb entry wld it be

which side elbow or knee wld u be super annoyed with, if u scraped it n had to live with the injury for 1 month

173329

If you were in a band, would you name your first album and one of its tracks after the name of your band?

Do you have any favorite game OSTs that, in your opinion, are compositionally great, but uses crappy samples?

A favorite piece of hardware?

Tell me about something you've lost that you spent a long time looking for.

You only have 1 cat, right? Would you have 1 more if it was guaranteed that they'd get along?

173331

Round 2

BASIC QUESTIONS

Could you tell us about the worst or scariest storm you’ve ever been in?

Have you ever been compelled to save someone from a continuous bad situation? In the most non-personally revealing way possible, could you tell us the details of the situation?

What was the most unforgivable moment in BotB history that you’ve witnessed?

Favorite Monty Python moment?

Here’s yet another reused question. What games should I look to play for an emotional experience? I really want to feel deeply for a video game or an anime but I keep failing to do that, that’s why I ask for so many recommendations.

If you had superpowers, what would they be?

Is it a good idea to spend $90-100 on 9 games during the Steam Summer Sale? A bunch of the games on my list are on a bucket list to complete before the end of summer vacation, I’ll discuss it more on discord later with the gang

This is a hybrid of basic and music question. I’m hopefully about to have my annual Starlight Conversation at the same beach house where the song’s idea was conceived if the weather clears up. Is this something you’ve done too? If so, how did it make you feel? Has any similarly paroxysmal experience ever inspired you to compose an emotional banger?

What’s the best camera you know of for nature photography including wildlife, and if possible could you link some photos taken with it? preferably birbs

Thoughts on the YouTube algorithm, how it can be harnessed, and how it can destroy you?

Another hybrid question, sorta. How do you promote yourself when starting off as an artist striving for success and attention?

What about any dangerous animal encounters?

Is there a tool or technology you’ve ever used, seen used in person, or been around that made you anxious or on-edge? Weapons and knives don’t count.

Thoughts on McDonald’s? obligatory grimace shake reference

Have you ever taken a class where the professor put psyche-out questions on the test just to make sure you were listening? If so, what were some of the worst ones?

What’s the oldest game console you’ve ever played games on?

What’s the coolest item you’ve ever seen on sale and/or bought at a yard sale?

How big was the biggest bunny you’ve ever seen?

What’s your favorite season and why?

MUSIC QUESTIONS

Which indie games have the best sounding piano? You can list them in top # style or tier list style or anything you want really.

What’s your favorite jazz era and why?

What are your thoughts on electroswing and its eventual historical impact on the history of jazz?

If aliens came to earth and brought their music with them, opening up new sonic possibilities never imagined before, how would you utilize them?

What are some songs that got you saying “HOW” when you listened to them, and what the reason for the astonishment was. Stuff like sound design, chiptune or not, limit-breaking technological feats of music, sheer awesomeness of the song, etc.

Thoughts on the new music AIs like MusicLM and MusicGen? In what ways do you find them useful in your own music work? What about my favorite, Jukebox?

SILLY QUESTIONS

What’s your funniest sentence? It can include funny sounding fictional words

If thunder was replaced with the sounds of words being loudly yelled, what would they be? They can vary between different types of lightning for more creativity.

Favorite YouTube Poop?

Which penis music is better? The Penis (Eek!) or Rubber Bands? Is there a third that’s even better and peniser than the other two?

What’s the number one seagull funny moment in your life?

173332

And finally, because I couldn't edit my last post:

Of the questions asked in this thread so far, what are some of your favorites? Besides your own.

173333

woooo here we go, i'm gonna do this in chunks

@DBOYD

Q: okay then, kinda fun silly question here: which Opeth album was your favorite then, and which one is your favorite now??
and why? :P
A: back then my favorite was Ghost Reveries, which i think is a nicely balanced album but especially love the first couple tracks. i'm not sure my answer is different now, but i haven't heard their newest 3 or so records. i most recently listened to Damnation, which is just a Porcupine Tree record in disguise, and i like that lol. i really seldomly listen to stuff from this phase of my life but i still like PT and older dream theater and spock's beard.

Q: When you find yourself in a musical rut/writer's block, what techniques have you utilized to bring yourself out of it?
A: i wish i had a better answer for this, but what's helped me in the past was finding myself inspired by hearing/seeing some new music that expanded my brain. i didn't go seeking this out in either time i can recall, but it came to me and i'm grateful. i found it hard to write more than the bare minimum in music school but i remember a clear moment after seeing a friend's recital performance that utilized a gameboy and i went home and wrote music for myself for the first time in a long time.

Q: Favorite animal?
A: owls are pretty cool. bengal cats are super pretty, though idk if i'd ever own one (feel like i'd rather adopt from a rescue or shelter than buy from a breeder). sea otters very cute

@mirageofher

Q: if u had to set 1 alarm for 0200 AM every day, which botb entry wld it be
A: aji - seismic forecast is the best entry on the web site and would make for a fairly unobtrusive alarm, double win. alternate joke answer, didn't someone cheekily upload a cover of john cage's 4'33" somewhere

Q: which side elbow or knee wld u be super annoyed with, if u scraped it n had to live with the injury for 1 month
A: i think i lean more on my left side so that one would be pretty annoying. sometime in my teens i tripped while running and rugburned my left knee pretty badly, i remember how annoying it was waiting for it to heal because it would crack over and over again.

@Tex

Q: If you were in a band, would you name your first album and one of its tracks after the name of your band?
A: i'm personally not a big fan of naming an album (or song) self-titled, but maybe depending on what my bandmates wanted and why. context matters i guess, but if it was my decision i wouldn't. i get that it's a statement of like "defining who we are" but i tend to look at albums as more conceptual or thematic than that

Q: Do you have any favorite game OSTs that, in your opinion, are compositionally great, but uses crappy samples?
A: i like the music in sonic battle a lot but some of the samples are absolutely murderous, like the guitar, and it's generally pretty crunchy. i sorta think it spins around so far that it comes around to being endearing in a way, but still, lol.

Q: A favorite piece of hardware?
A: i'm glad i bought the roli lumi keyboard. it offers a supreme level of sound design through expression that lets me do stuff i previously wouldn't have been able to. i'd never want to be without it. i got a seaboard too and while i do like it, i actually prefer the pianoness of the lumi.

Q: Tell me about something you've lost that you spent a long time looking for.
A: hmm... i loaned my favorite book to someone many years ago but i forgot who, so i asked everyone i could think of who had been in my home but never was able to figure it out. of course i had ended up forgetting someone; they reached out as i was getting ready to move a couple years ago in order to give it back and visit before i left, so i finally got it back.

Q: You only have 1 cat, right? Would you have 1 more if it was guaranteed that they'd get along?
A: yes! actually i tried that this year, finally... i took in a second cat briefly, he was the sweetest and most friendly guy ever, so i thought if it was ever going to work, this would be the time to give it a try. but, as i had suspected for my cat's whole life, she really did not take it well, stopped eating, was clearly constantly anxious and upset, and it was pretty stressful taking care of them both separately with no signs of improvement, so i ended up having to take him back :'(

Q: Of the questions asked in this thread so far, what are some of your favorites? Besides your own.
A: i liked (and more or less mimicked) the "what do you wish someone had asked" question a lot. i liked this one from gtap: "If there was something that you could have started 5 years ago such as a skill or a discipline that you would now have 5 years experience and proficiency in what would it be". the inverse of the where do you see yourself in five years question.

173335

@Lotepamera
Q: Could you tell us about the worst or scariest storm you’ve ever been in?
A: i've thankfully never had to deal with anything like hurricane or tornado status, i guess one thing that comes to mind was driving through all of utah in a snowstorm, which was just unnerving in a tiny fwd hatchback lol... a fair bit of sliding around all over the place, but i didn't wreck or get hurt or anything. it was intense though

Q: Have you ever been compelled to save someone from a continuous bad situation? In the most non-personally revealing way possible, could you tell us the details of the situation?
A: i've hosted people i knew who were between homes before, but nothing dicier than that. i'm certainly not opposed to it, but such an opportunity for me to help has rarely shown itself

Q: What was the most unforgivable moment in BotB history that you’ve witnessed?
A: i don't think anything that bad has happened in my time here to make me not want to forgive someone. don't really feel like we have *that* degree of bad actor here at this point

Q: Favorite Monty Python moment?
A: i don't think i've thought about monty python in like 20 years lol, i don't have a good answer for this one. definitely remember one of my friends quoting bits of the holy grail all the time

Q: Here’s yet another reused question. What games should I look to play for an emotional experience? I really want to feel deeply for a video game or an anime but I keep failing to do that, that’s why I ask for so many recommendations.
A: i think this is gonna vary from person to person as to what might emotionally resonate with you or anyone else. for example i thought Celeste was pretty emotional but someone who hasn't dealt as much with anxiety, depression, panic or identity might not react that way. Journey is a cool and atmospheric one. Nier Automata had a pretty nice story and characters, and the first Bioshock. i have yet to play Life Is Strange but based on how someone described it to me, that might be a good one. i'll readily admit i seldom play games aiming for an emotional experience though, unlike with anime (you could check a lot of the ones in my list from before for that).

Q: If you had superpowers, what would they be?
A: just flight would be great. or to be an element bender

Q: Is it a good idea to spend $90-100 on 9 games during the Steam Summer Sale? A bunch of the games on my list are on a bucket list to complete before the end of summer vacation, I’ll discuss it more on discord later with the gang
A: if you think you'll play some or most of em, sure! the usual thing with steam libraries is most of your purchases sit there and rot unplayed for eternity, but as long as you have the time and will to dig into most of what you buy, it's prolly worth it. be realistic about how much time you have though haha

Q: This is a hybrid of basic and music question. I’m hopefully about to have my annual Starlight Conversation at the same beach house where the song’s idea was conceived if the weather clears up. Is this something you’ve done too? If so, how did it make you feel? Has any similarly paroxysmal experience ever inspired you to compose an emotional banger?
A: i think especially when i was younger i had times like that where i'd stay up wicked late talking to someone or someones. it's a special feeling! i can think of quite a few occasions and they're almost universally positive. i think there's a bit of relation to this idea in one of the original incarnations of that song i answered your autobiographical song question with, though not exactly the same i guess.

Q: What’s the best camera you know of for nature photography including wildlife, and if possible could you link some photos taken with it? preferably birbs
A: i unfortunately do not know jack about photography, sorry! if you really need some advice i maybe know someone i could ask though

Q: Thoughts on the YouTube algorithm, how it can be harnessed, and how it can destroy you?
A: my thoughts are algorithms stink. i don't really know much of anything about its inner workings, as i don't spend time on youtube, but i think it's crucial if you post stuff there to not get wrapped up in The Numbers, the metrics are meaningless and will only serve to make you feel bad or frustrated. which if multiplied out over time can destroy you

Q: Another hybrid question, sorta. How do you promote yourself when starting off as an artist striving for success and attention?
A: make friends, take genuine interest in others' work, be friendly and supportive, and others will do the same. if you're just there to promote and attention-seek, people will pick up on that and mostly be resistant to it. also, seriously, don't prioritize success. if you're lucky, it will find you. all you can do is spend a great deal of time practicing and doing the above things to maximize your luck stat. and in doing so, you become rich in other ways...

Q: What about any dangerous animal encounters?
A: i got stung by yellowjackets in the car once as a kid, does that count? thankfully, unlike my mother, i am not allergic

Q: Is there a tool or technology you’ve ever used, seen used in person, or been around that made you anxious or on-edge? Weapons and knives don’t count.
A: i feel like my best answer to this is being in the car with someone who drives dangerously or poorly... a unique kind of stressful

Q: Thoughts on McDonald’s? obligatory grimace shake reference
A: i would only ever eat mcdonalds if it were the only food within many square miles and i was very, very hungry. really bottom of the barrel fast food imo, i would take pretty much any other place over it

Q: Have you ever taken a class where the professor put psyche-out questions on the test just to make sure you were listening? If so, what were some of the worst ones?
A: hmm - kind of tough to think of an example, it's been quite a few years since i was in school. probably though. the questions i hated the most were the multiple choice kind where several of the choices used phrases from that part of the textbook/powerpoint/whatever. it preys upon your memory in a way that i think is a bit unfair

Q: What’s the oldest game console you’ve ever played games on?
A: probably pong on the atari 2600! my cousin had an atari (and his NES was my first experience with that, too, i had a SNES first)

Q: What’s the coolest item you’ve ever seen on sale and/or bought at a yard sale?
A: there was a warehouse sale in LA a bunch of years ago for an alt type clothing brand that my partner at the time wanted to go to, and i found one of my favorite jackets ever there. it's a bit big on me now but i still wear it like ten years later. i only regret not getting more than one jacket, since they were doing a "whatever you can fit in a trash bag for $50" deal as we were shopping lol.

Q: How big was the biggest bunny you’ve ever seen?
A: i don't think i've ever encountered an abnormally large bunny!

Q: What’s your favorite season and why?
A: i like pretty much every season for its own reasons but historically my favorite has been winter. i just like the quiet vibe, cold weather fashion, and i enjoy the holidays. if i'm lucky enough to see snow, that too! the changing of all seasons is always a poignant feeling though. it's been interesting living in a place that has real seasons again, LA does not.

Q: Which indie games have the best sounding piano? You can list them in top # style or tier list style or anything you want really.
A: Celeste, Celeste, and also... Celeste.

Q: What’s your favorite jazz era and why?
A: prolly cool/west coast jazz. a lot of my favorite jazzers are of that ilk. i think i just broadly identify more with the atmosphere/mood/energy level. also there is a really cool norwegian nu-jazz movement that started 20-something years ago that i really dig, and the contemporary japanese avant-garde

Q: What are your thoughts on electroswing and its eventual historical impact on the history of jazz?
A: i don't like to be overtly negative about stuff that just isn't for me, but i really do not like electroswing, lol. to me it's better in principle but kinda bores me after a song or two. but that is just my onion

Q: If aliens came to earth and brought their music with them, opening up new sonic possibilities never imagined before, how would you utilize them?
A: if this process with human music has shown me anything, i'd take whatever random thing caught my ear that inspired me and run with that by meshing it with other stuff i really like

Q: What are some songs that got you saying “HOW” when you listened to them, and what the reason for the astonishment was. Stuff like sound design, chiptune or not, limit-breaking technological feats of music, sheer awesomeness of the song, etc.
A: a couple recent ones that come to mind that made me exclaim "holy shit" to myself in real life are "Climb Downhill 1" by Shohei Amimori
for its many dynamic moving parts while managing to stay catchy & grounded through chaos, and "Polaris" by Parannoul
which opens up halfway through the song in a really incredible, unexpected way.

Q: Thoughts on the new music AIs like MusicLM and MusicGen? In what ways do you find them useful in your own music work? What about my favorite, Jukebox?
A: i strongly dislike this, in nearly all ways it feels like we are moving hard in the wrong direction towards something art never really needed: a way to cheat putting in the time to study and improve your craft, and at the expense of artists in multiple ways - having their human works fed to the learning models without their consent and having their already scarce jobs replaced. that's not to say there are zero ways to find legitimate cool use in AI art or music *as an actual creative who pours themselves into their work*, but to me, the negatives (vast potential for abuse & laziness, further devaluation of art and music in society at large, marginalizing real creators, increased homogeneity and declawing of art) so heavily outweigh the positives that it makes me sick to think about where we're heading, and even where we already are. sorry, this is a super negative answer, but it evokes real dread as far as i'm concerned.

Q: What’s your funniest sentence? It can include funny sounding fictional words
A: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo

Q: If thunder was replaced with the sounds of words being loudly yelled, what would they be? They can vary between different types of lightning for more creativity.
A: unstable cries of anguish, anger, and/or rapture and ecstasy, depending. all strong, sudden, unpredictable, but completely lacking in hesitation.

Q: Favorite YouTube Poop?
A: not something i've thought about in MANY years, but i have a fond recollection of finding this person making MADs (the japanese equivalent) on niconico who had all these versions of banjo-kazooie songs made with clips from the first couple parts of jojo's bizarre adventure when that was airing, and to me at the time that was the funniest thing i'd ever seen, they absolutely destroyed me.

Q: Which penis music is better? The Penis (Eek!) or Rubber Bands? Is there a third that’s even better and peniser than the other two?
A: i don't think i know the latter, but i have to vote for surasshu regardless i think :v

Q: What’s the number one seagull funny moment in your life?
A: prolly the ancient photo of a seagull standing on a sign that had been photoshopped with a graphic representing "no seagulls" where the silhouette of the seagull in the graphic is the exact same pose. that sure takes a lot of words to describe why it's funny.

173337

Favorite animal crossing villager?

173340

hard to choose just one so i'll list a few: Keaton, Peewee, Tammy, Fauna, Merengue. i also love most of the squirrels

173341

I have never even see any of those villagers in my entire life.
I guess I'm unlucky.

173342

Thanks, damifortune, who submits a lot of tunes to earn a fortune (of boons) for participating.

Lotepamera, with a wave of your hand, you can give all public schools exceptional skill, talent, and funding, but only in one discipline. For instance, all public schools might now have unparalleled math departments, or English departments, or what-have-you. What area do you choose?

When you can't sleep, what do you end up doing when you've given up on just lying there?

What game has the biggest gap, in your opinion, between being an overall poor game while having an overall superior soundtrack?

Tell me about a fact that happened in your life while you were in an unusual environment, like being surrounded by fireflies or watching fireworks or something else.

Who is your favorite person that you actually know? i.e. no celebrities, no famous historical figures, etc.

When doing something that requires a lot of concentration do you make silly faces? Like sticking out your tongue, biting your cheek, furrowing your brow?

You’ve just had an incredibly stressful day. What do you do to relax?

173343

what's your favorite weather event? is it different from what you'd prefer to exist within/experience firsthand?

cakes or pies?

favorite constellation?

173350

cld you describe yourself in 5 words?

173351

Favorite ice cream/frozen dessert flavor?
Favorite color?
Where does your name come from?
Do you have any particular sources of inspiration you like to draw from?

173356

Tex

Q: Lotepamera, with a wave of your hand, you can give all public schools exceptional skill, talent, and funding, but only in one discipline. For instance, all public schools might now have unparalleled math departments, or English departments, or what-have-you. What area do you choose?

A: This question is one I could spend hours discussing with friends. It's easy to run into problems when not considering the whole picture. To maximize the education of any single discipline, the students need critical thinking skills, which could be its own subject. Without that, any imaginable percentage of the quantity "exceptional" equates to is able to fall short of the goal of engaging the students. The most efficient answer in this case would be the discipline of critical thinking itself, since it may in time end up in itself interesting enough to the students to utilize in everyday life.

Then you get into the problem of dystopias that could be created by the field being prosperous. If humanity loses the ability to think uncritically, what will happen to opinions? Will the pressure to strive for perfection kill enjoyment? Sure it may be different from person to person, but you lose out on the most precious thing in life: the little moments where it's truly enjoyable, things like picking mountain blueberries, swimming at the beach, watching movies, hanging out with friends, and especially having the annual Starlight Conversation.

There is no perfect answer to this question. Of course you can't expect everyone to think or act the way you want them to no matter how much you educate them, every society will have its anarchists. So the best way to answer this question is by giving the most interesting answer that assumes everything about the prompt works out the way you imagine. It's an upper-tier icebreaker, and one most admirable too. With all that said, here's my answer.

In the interest of saving the world, I'd choose a psychology discipline in ecocentric thinking and studies. The ideal effect this would have on the world is that it would ~~make everyone Greta Thunberg~~ bring awareness to the importance of all things in life. It will pave the way for a people who, in time, will save the world from the pit we've brought it into.

Q: When you can't sleep, what do you end up doing when you've given up on just lying there?

A: This is something I almost never do, but the few times I did I remember going into the adjacent room, which is where my computer is (the dungeon^tm) and watching television. The most vivid memory of any time I had to do this was when I was traumatized by one of the FNAF jumpscares back in eighth grade.

Q: What game has the biggest gap, in your opinion, between being an overall poor game while having an overall superior soundtrack?

A: Of the ones I've played, Gauntlet III for the Amiga. I played through the full game in order to get (almost?*) all of the samples. There's a moderately-high level of jankiness to the controls that makes pretty much any action in the game confusing, that combined with isometric "3D" leads to lots of running into walls when you aren't yet used to taking wide arcs. Besides that, the game slows down whenever there are enemies onscreen, the energy (health) counter loops around to 0000 when you eat a rotisserie chicken at close to 9999 energy causing you to die, and the ending is really abrupt. You just walk into the castle at the end of the eighth land and that's it. Though the music itself is good (of course it's good it was composed by Tim the creator of worlds Follin), it's still only three songs and it gets boring after listening to them over and over.

*the character selection screen music didn't/doesn't play and i really hope i didn't miss any samples in there

Q: Tell me about a fact that happened in your life while you were in an unusual environment, like being surrounded by fireflies or watching fireworks or something else.

A: It's a family tradition to go up to Maine during summer vacation. There's a cabin on a mountain we like to stay at built by relatives on my mom's side, and the neighbors have dogs. One day, we went hiking on a different trail, blazed yellow instead of the usual blue. It ended up taking us what seemed like all the way around the mountain for about five and a half hours. The dogs were enjoying the walk while neither me nor my parents were. I think I was around 10 years old at the time. It was a different side of the same woods, and the weather was so gray at one point that it looked like we were indoors. It was sunny when we finally finished the trail and emerged on top of the mountain. Would I do it again? Heck no!

Q: Who is your favorite person that you actually know? i.e. no celebrities, no famous historical figures, etc.

A: My best friend, Digiphoenix. He's been my friend ever since I was in fourth grade and we play a lot of video games. dang i gotta ask him when he's gonna host the gmod server again, that's the most fun thing ever!

Q: When doing something that requires a lot of concentration do you make silly faces? Like sticking out your tongue, biting your cheek, furrowing your brow?

A: Either when I'm exaggerating for the sake of comedy or actually pissed off, no exceptions. Usually this applies to video games.

Q: You’ve just had an incredibly stressful day. What do you do to relax?

A: I either lay down and open up discord and/or YouTube on my phone and chill out watching videos or memes, or I start playing Tetris. I actually play Tetris in a lot of scenarios but it was initially introduced to me as a calming thing by DM DOKURO during one of his coffee break videos.

Oh by the way, you're going to hear that name A LOT throughout my Q&A.

damifortune

Q: what's your favorite weather event? is it different from what you'd prefer to exist within/experience firsthand?

A: Recently I've been fascinated by TLE's (Transient Luminous Events), commonly and incorrectly known as upper-atmospheric lightning. Simply put, they're what happens when a strong and horizontally extensive, positively charged cloud-to-ground lightning strike hits the earth. This causes a sudden transformation of charge at the top of the thunderstorm from positive to negative, creating an electric field between it and the positively-charged lower ionosphere. We can see them because the energy excites molecules it passes through, which give off part of their energy as light.

They're dim, making them really hard to catch a glimpse of, especially with the naked eye. It would not only have to be night, I would have to be miles away from the storm with a quality camera in order to witness them firsthand. Since they're so high in the upper atmosphere, you obviously can't exactly exist within them. I would love to see some though.

I first discovered them through the YouTube channel of the famous stormchaser Pecos Hank, who actually discovered a new type of TLE. They're essentially unheard of. Everyone I've show them to saying "THERE ARE GARGANTUAN JELLYFISH IN THE SKY" has either been in disbelief or freaked out until I showed them Hank's video on them.

Q: cakes or pies?

A: cakes

Q: favorite constellation?

A: Sagittarius

kleeder

Q: cld you describe yourself in 5 words?

A: Caring, Creative, Considerate, GIANT EYEBALL

funute

Q: Favorite ice cream/frozen dessert flavor?

A: It's a draw between sea salted caramel with or without pretzel and cotton candy.

Q: Where does your name come from?

A: Lotepamera was the name of a game made by Gamevial back in 2006, the same company who made Fly Like a Bird 3, Lif, and my personal favorite, Knight of the Dragon. Those old Playstation looking Shockwave and Unity games that feel like a distant dream. They shut down in mid 2017 and most of their games were archived by a team of developers called Raven-Woods. I'm gonna miss them dearly.

The game itself was a creepy 3d Pac-Man style game which involved running around in a grassy, pool-floor, brick, or dark stone textured maze underneath a cloudy or hellish lava sky while gigantic eyeballs chased you down. You, presumably the green tiki totem looking face, must collect all the coins to get to the next maze. You levitate up slowly when you complete a maze, and you can kill the eyeballs by becoming a red tiki totem face with a devilish grin, which you do by grabbing what me and my dad called an immunity cube. The death animation for both you and the eyeballs is spinning into the ground, described as "melting you to oblivion" in the game's description. Or at least that's what it's supposed to be, because if you try to run the game on a modern computer, the animations are skipped. They go by instantly. Our computers are simply too fast.

Back when I was a kid, about 5 or 6 years old, we'd play the game together. I would sit on his lap, and we would listen to the spooky vibrato fourths and the ominous humming eyeballs lurking around every corner. We only ever managed to beat level one together, but the highest level I've gotten to and died on by myself is level four, just recently (I have the game downloaded but for some reason it won't run anymore. Shockwave being a piece of crap probably).

There isn't much YouTube footage of the game now, but it exists. You'll find me first if you look it up, so make sure you look up "Lotepamera Gamevial" instead, preferably on YouTube as the first result will be gameplay.

A few funny things about the game. You can spawncamp eyes if you grab an immunity cube and kill them on top of their spawners (literally just a pair of rectangles textured with the eyeball texture) since they instantly spawn. It's an easy and loud way to gain lots of points. Also, what added to the creepy atmosphere of the game was seeing the eyballs flickering in the sky. In hindsight it's a glitch, but I could've sworn that I saw an eyeball do a smooth touchdown from the sky in a straight alley of level one. Terrifying stuff, I say.

Last but not least, Lotepamera was the last game that ever got "added" to gamevial. I say added, it got a remake with different ambient sounds (ominous choir) and actually visible death animations accompanied by evil laughter, or screaming in pain if the eyes are the things being killed and not you. Plus the map looks a lot more flesh horrory, and the background is a weird gradient ripple. I felt acknowledged by Gamevial since they updated such an old game around the time my most popular YouTube video gained traction, though that's probably far from the truth. I was the only one to ever upload footage of the remake onto YouTube, but it's unlisted now because it contained a lot of personal information on the family iMac's desktop that my dumb 14 year old brain didn't think was a bad idea not to show in iMovie. Also the framerate was garbage when I was recording (it wasn't later) and it's edited like a YouTube poop, the type of content which was the very reason I started my channel. Bruh.

I really wish I could preserve the game in its final version, but unfortunately that's impossible. I unintentionally killed that computer by installing Fortnite on it (before it became popular and cringe btw), making it slower than a turtle sinking in a tarpit. If it were faster, I would learn how to get the web cache and dump the game myself, but due to my incompetence I can't. I guess only God and James Flowerdew, the game's creator, knows what will happen to it now.

Q: Do you have any particular sources of inspiration you like to draw from?

A: Usually it's the genres, styles, and timbres (where applicable) I appreciate used by the composers I look up to, plus some clever references to them. My first song on Soundcloud that would've been a great fit here on BotB, Flea From Misery
, is a great example of how I like to use my inspiration and even interpolate it a little. It's a love letter to the Plok! OST by Tim the master of sonic breakthroughs Follin, specifically the bonus level theme, and a rhythm game song, You Are The Miserable
by t+pazolite. I've even hidden part of the first melody from Frums's song Nisemono
in the section where the distortion guitar goes nuts.

Of course this is a soundfont song, meaning I can't take any timbral inspiration. Enter magpie
, my latest and greatest work whose instrumentation is not limited to a soundfont. To this extent I chose simpler waveforms for the main melody, and more complex sounds for pads. Basically the longer it is, the more complex it is design-wise. For example, the saw wave melody, an FM pad (Fruity DX7) playing chords, and growing string pads (FLEX) and the longest sounds were samples, the longest of which being the bird sounds from the beginning slowed down and bitcrushed by Kilohearts Bitcrush. I consider my timbral inspiration to be from Chroma and Frums for that track, especially Frums at the beginning with the bitcrushed percussion and minimalist drums. Lots of rhythm games composers. One day I hope I am one too.

173359

do u use bar soap or liquid soap

what is a random internet thing u can show us

do u sleep with socks on

wld u kill all criminals in the world even if u had to be locked up and tortured as a result

if all language was deleted for a year, what wld u do

173360

what's got you into music in general?

(unrelated to the discussion, could i join the list? fine if not)

173365

if you could only use one waveform for the rest of your life, which would it be?

173366

mirageofher

Q: do u use bar soap or liquid soap

A: I use both but prefer the latter.

Q: what is a random internet thing u can show us

A: Terry's "get anything you want" dimension

Q: do u sleep with socks on

A: no

Q: wld u kill all criminals in the world even if u had to be locked up and tortured as a result

A: No. If the definition of criminal includes anything criminal one may have done on accident without realizing it, no matter how petty or inconspicuous, I'm pretty sure a lot of innocent people would die too. If criminals are as traditionally imagined, still no. That's death note...I think. I still haven't watched it. Plus if I killed them all, new criminals would pop up and I'd be tortured for nothing.

Q: if all language was deleted for a year, what wld u do

A: Try not to get into silent fights with my parents over the rest of the food in the house before we kill each other.

Realistically, if it happened right now, it couldn't go any other way. Nobody would be able to understand the thoughts in their own head if we suddenly lost the ability to correlate them to something recognizable. We'd become cavemen again, that's how integral a language is. It's not even like I can dumb this down to "I see an unidentified object that appears sustaining to my instincts over there" because it wouldn't read out like that, it'd just be . Animals.

Kot

Q: what's got you into music in general?

A: I've been surrounded by music my entire life, but I never wanted to compose any until I listened to my favorite composer for a year or two. Before I discovered him, my favorite kind of music was EDM, especially from video game OSTs, and I had just grown out of Geometry Dash. I didn't know how to search for the sources of my favorite music yet. Had I known, I would've been obsessed with Camellia. That was the ability fatefully awakened within my by DM DOKURO's music.

The first song I heard by him was Antarctic Reinforcement. Yyyyyep, I was one of those goddamn kids at first. But it wasn't just Calamity, it was all of his music that I enjoyed, and when I listened to Saturn, that's when I fell in love. I knew then and there that I wanted to make music too.

If I might add, I wasn't certain of what I wanted to do in my life before, back in middle school I jumped between phases and occupations. I wanted to be a YouTuber, then an animator, then a game developer, something like that.

roz

Q: if you could only use one waveform for the rest of your life, which would it be?

A: Trick question, everything is sine waves already so I choose sine waves, I get every sound!

but in all seriousness I'd probably go with this really cool phasing, pulse-width-ish saw sound I made in ptvoice, I really want to use it again. The only song I've ever released that uses it is The Growler, it's the brief melody during the final drop.

173371

Why the fascination for giant eyeballs?

Why did you want the Namco Museum DS samples so badly? Why are they special to you?

What other websites do you visit often besides Battle of the Bits?

And what part of the internet do you avoid?

Do you like museums? If yes, which gallery visit was the most memorable for you?

After spending enough time interacting with people you like talking to, do you absorb some of their communication mannerisms? It could be an accent, a gesture, a chatroom quirk or something else. If yes, what are some of those mannerisms you've absorbed?

173379

- Do you prefer to game on console or PC?
- Are you really fond of birds, if you what's one of your favorite species of them?
- What operating system do you use?
- What software do you use for musical composition?

173382

what are your top 3 favorite sandwiches (you are allowed a wide-reaching definition of sandwich if you want)

173388

Which lyceum page have you gotten the most use from (if any)?

Favorite sound chip?

173389

Do you have a "theme" you follow when you start to work on a project? (Doesn't have to be music related)
I tend to click an instrument or brush, at random, and adjust it to my preferences to get me warmed up. When it comes to writing, I tend to look for anything interesting around me and write a miniature story surrounding it.

I also love hearing about odd patterns and workarounds people have developed to get around the little differences in hardware and software they use! Do you have anything unique like that too?

For instance, I have an old Motorola phone that needs to have the ringtone selected (and wait for 2 minutes) before any media files can be accessed on the device without it crashing or causing errors.

173390

what kind of bread do u eat in th mornign. do u even eat bread in the morninn, do u even eat in hte morngi

this is mirageofher on a weird fone btw

173391

what was your favorite song growing up

173396

(wanna enter toooo)

173397

Lotepamera had an issue saving their answers to the thread, so they'll have to find a way to post them here while everyone else asks questions to mirageofher from this point onwards.

173398

mioh:

Favorite animal?

When you're listening to music, what is an element of it that makes it stand out to you?

Can we do a fun draw battle again sometime? This one is rhetorical the answer is yes

173399

Tex

Q: Why the fascination for giant eyeballs?

A: The fascination started with the game Lotepamera, actually. It was not only a more unique aesthetic approach to horror at the time excusing cheesy Halloween eyeballs, but a spin on my favorite game (Pac-Man) that I never could’ve imagined, especially since it was in first person.

From then on, the best eyeballs were the coolest looking evil ones that were preferably some degree of eldritch. The two most prominent cool evil eyes I grew up with are the overseer eyeball from Roblox colored purple, and the Eye of Cthulhu from Terraria (another favorite game). The others which got less of my recognition are Vel’Koz from League of Legends, the Alloy Worship Unit from Risk of Rain 2, The Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings, I could keep going. These are just some other eyes I know exist, but none of them will ever be cooler than the most corrupted, vile beholders of Lovecraftian horror. The all-seeing.

also i made an oc based off this lmao

Q: Why did you want the Namco Museum DS samples so badly? Why are they special to you?

A: Mainly it’s nostalgia and excitement at the creative possibilities. Ms. Pac-Man was my first video game ever and I loved everything about it including the music, so they were the first sounds I ever grew attached to. Then came the Namco plug-n-plays. So naturally my interests connected when I found out about soundfont music and the Pac-Man Versus OST from Namco Music DS, and it gave me the magic, the capacity to compose with joy and a burst of inspiration. The sound of the song magically materializes in your mind, and even some of the melody too.

Q: What other websites do you visit often besides Battle of the Bits?

A: Aside from obvious ones like YouTube, there’s DM DOKURO’s Tumblr page, the Twitter pages of other composers I like, Coolmath Games, a few games on itch.io, this website that runs its own version of marathon Tetris, the Set Game’s website once every day, and sometimes the SCP website, wikipedias of games I play, websites of products I’m checking out, and Crunchyroll, on which I share my friend’s subscription.

Q: And what part of the internet do you avoid?

A: Virus sites, sites filled with annoying ads that won’t let me Adblock them, and Albert.io. Fuck Albert.io, I hate being told why my knowledge is inferior.

Q: Do you like museums? If yes, which gallery visit was the most memorable for you?

A: Yeah, but not the kind of museum you’re thinking of. Mainly I’ve been to science museums. There’s a museum in Philadelphia we went to during our eighth grade US History field trip. The coolest exhibit there in my opinion is about patterns in nature, and part of it was a mirror maze. It was addictive to get lost in, and funny to prank people in too. Plus it looks AWESOME

Q: After spending enough time interacting with people you like talking to, do you absorb some of their communication mannerisms? It could be an accent, a gesture, a chatroom quirk or something else. If yes, what are some of those mannerisms you've absorbed?

A: Yes, this is a thing that happens with both people I know and talk to, some cartoon characters from shows I used to watch, and of course memes. I’m still unique in my manner of speaking, but from an inside perspective it’s highly inspired. The most common reason why I do this is to assemble a humorous tone. I take the funniest mannerisms and add them to my collection.

A few of these things: I find the suggestion of horrible actions to jump to quite humorous. Someone cut you off? Kill 'em. "My coworker was insulting a customer the other day" throw him into a volcano. I got this one from memes, most notably the magic conch telling Spongebob to "KILL EVERYONE" and "MISTER ELECTRIC KILL HIM" although there are some classics such as Monty Python's Flying Circus's Ding Dong sketch when the guy says "I don't much like the tone of your voice" and then he shoots the other guy.

I cannot make this clear enough, DO NOT TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY. I am not a violent person and you shouldn't be either.

Another thing. There's a friend of mine who will occasionally use a monotone, robotic voice to enunciate ridiculous or memed action, such as the aforementioned dark humor. Yoink, that's my thing now.

Slightly related is the hinting at of misfortune. "Boy that car was going way too fast! I sure hope noting bad happens." (grin) And sometimes I even make an explosion sound with my mouth to comedically indicate the car's destruction.

Now we're out of the violent stuff. The Amazing World of Gumball is one of my favorite cartoons, and its humor has rubbed off on me more than any other show's has. There's comparisons that reach far and pay off well like "that rubber band is more stretched than my cheeks after a visit to grandma's house" and occasional humorous exaggeration of the episode's predicament, and...actually now that I think about it there's funny violence in Gumball too.

I also like to make funny sound effects. Sometimes they're timed well and other times not. Explosions and bass are my favorite.

There's probably other stuff but it's getting a bit long and it's almost midnight so I'm going to move on.

173400

SnugglyBun

Q: Do you prefer to game on console or PC?

A: PC.

Q: Are you really fond of birds, if you what's one of your favorite species of them?

A: YES YES YES! I love birds! My favorite bird is the Blue Jay because they're bigger than the average bird, really cool looking, and you'll always know when one is around because they're really loud.

Q: What operating system do you use?

A: Windows 10

Q: What software do you use for musical composition?

A: I mainly use FL Studio. I've recently dabbled a bit in Dn-Famitracker and intend to do so much more once I'm finally done with this sporadic on-and-off vacationing period.

damifortune

Q: what are your top 3 favorite sandwiches (you are allowed a wide-reaching definition of sandwich if you want)

A: 3. The Earth, which briefly becomes a sandwich when two people on opposite sides of it drop a piece of bread.

2. There's a restaurant in the area called Lucky's that sells The Lucky Burger, it's a really tasty burger with bacon jam. I don't exactly know what bacon jam is but it's SO GOOD

1. Panera Bread grilled cheese. Actually any grilled cheese instantly becomes number 1 when you dip it in tomato sauce.

kilowatt64

Q: Which lyceum page have you gotten the most use from (if any)?

A: Formats. It's a great way to learn about what a chip can do if I'm unfamiliar with it. I haven't yet but I should really get into the habit of opening it whenever I'm watching an oscilloscope visualization of an unfamiliar chip.

Q: Favorite sound chip?

A: The SID chips, no preference of which type. C64 chiptune is mind-blowing.

Delita

Q: Do you have a "theme" you follow when you start to work on a project? (Doesn't have to be music related)

A: The theme may be either loose or fixed, but either it or the genre is always decided before the composition process begins.

Q: I also love hearing about odd patterns and workarounds people have developed to get around the little differences in hardware and software they use! Do you have anything unique like that too?

A: Sometimes I do have to get ingenuitive when I want a sound to have a specific quality. The most recent example of this is actually a few hours ago, when I figured out how to send individual drum samples stored in FPC to different mixer tracks, which is a very FL Studio thing to do. One workaround I'm trying to figure out how to do now is to get a good detune effect using just midi notes. It suits the sound I'm going for well: Old Namco arcade game samples.

Thanks for sharing your methods btw!

kleeder but it's actually mirageofher on a weird fone

Q: what kind of bread do u eat in th mornign. do u even eat bread in the morninn, do u even eat in hte morngi

A: We usually either have wheat bread or whole grain bread when mom gets her way.

damifortune again

Q: what was your favorite song growing up

A: Electrodynamix by DJ Nate. Yes, I was a Geometry Dash kid. Honorable mentions go to Centipede by Knife Party, Chaoz Airflow by ParagonX9, and Clutterfunk by Waterflame.

173401

can you describe your first experience of making music on a computer

173402

Favorite animal?

uhmnghhnnnhnnmhnnmmnm i like dogs. they fluffy frens. lil floofers. big woofers. (and if mythical stuff counts, then dragons! but they shld look BIG and STRONK to count, otherwise they are Mid)

When you're listening to music, what is an element of it that makes it stand out to you?

tough one! usually either just "good beat, easy to dance to" or "eauughgheuhgmghbng that was wild bruv."

if i think abt it more, i think it is a mix of powerful message or strong memory/imagery, smth with a lot of thought in composition, some degree of obscurity, some catchyness, lots of simple but unexpected chords ("gosh, even i wldntve ACCIDENTLY done that!"), and decent memorableness.

Can we do a fun draw battle again sometime? This one is rhetorical the answer is yes

ofc, just hope for availablility <3

can you describe your first experience of making music on a computer

yyyyyyyyes,,, i opened up musescore in like. 2018? and i put in some random notes, made sure they felt in the right key with each other, then put it on the musescore site. as it is not my proudest achievement, and tbh kinda cringe smh frfr, it is not on there anymore. but i can rummage around 4 it and dm it to anyone interested (god forbid)

173405

what's a musical style or concept that you feel is out of reach but that you hope to be able to make one day?

how about a style you feel like you basically could make if you wanted to but aren't really interested in pursuing?

173419

what's the last movie you saw?

have you ever seen "Under the Silver Lake" starring Anrdew Garfield?

173424

Favorite video game for gameplay?

Favorite game for music?

What is something most of us here don't know about you?

173451

do you sometimes wake up and have the extreme urge to eat a fork?

would you like to exist within a world where every single thing could be a tea flavor?

if you would sit in the bus and right next to you is your biggest idol ever, a person that you rly admire and never got the chance to talk to before. who wld it be? and what would you say/ask?

How many times have you touched with your mouth each of the following things: penis.

what is a thing you always wanted to do but somehow never tried?

you know quiet a few languages. what are your goals regarding language knowledge?

if you cld either go through walls or float up to 2m into the air, which one of the 2 wld you like to have?

whats the biggest adventure you had so far?

whats the biggest adventure you wld like to experience in the future?

is mioh your real name?

your own music studio. what would you put inside? any hardware you rly wanna have but cant rn?

whats ur fav monster flavor and why is it pacific punch?

173454

just wanna say i definitely would like to exist in a world where every single thing could be a tea flavor

173459

what's a musical style or concept that you feel is out of reach but that you hope to be able to make one day?

whatever digifu is. it seems like the way to get ohb golds

how about a style you feel like you basically could make if you wanted to but aren't really interested in pursuing?

probably house music...?

what's the last movie you saw?

probably digimon x-evolution. i watch it every few years, so although it is a less recent movie i have always seen it within the last few months.

have you ever seen "Under the Silver Lake" starring Anrdew Garfield?

no. is it ok for sleepy people to watch?

Favorite video game for gameplay?

probably RedRive
by RebRank. simple but rly fun! and it looks so cool when you just glide thru and destroy enemies smoothly!

Favorite game for music?

NIGHT SLAVE!!!

What is something most of us here don't know about you?

i can walk long distances as long as i am on flat ground. the moment the grade exceeds 5 degrees though, my stamina and control are much worse than average.

do you sometimes wake up and have the extreme urge to eat a fork?

this specific one only happened once so far that i can remember. but also, i do get urges to eat smooth things, polished metal or ceramic, or (more rarely) tough rubber.

would you like to exist within a world where every single thing could be a tea flavor?

hell no. i wld get bored so quick

173461

favorite candy?
favorte plant?
favorite childhood tv show?
have you ever broken a bone?

173476

BASIC QUESTIONS

How does it feel to be one of the BotBrs who consistently interacts in person with other known BotBrs, and what are the things about that quality that makes you stand out if there are any? I may be misunderstanding the relationships as a newcomer, but that’s just the thing. From my perspective it’s a cool person thing

Thoughts on Area 51? Any theories?

If the prize for winning a major competition here on BotB between lesser known BotBrs was getting to hang out with you for a day, how would you make that day an awesome prize?

If music performance was magical, what phenomena would your performances incur? The easy to imagine example of this kind of thing is levitation of nearby objects a la Steg Multiverse

What’s your obscure video game recommendation?

What’s the most beautiful natural scenery you’ve ever seen?

What about the most unusual natural scenery? Stuff like rare clouds or optical phenomena caused by the sun?

Literature lightning round. What’s your favorite book, what book or article got you thinking the most, what’s your favorite book adaptation, and have any books ever changed your life?

What’s the most cute thing you’ve ever seen a cat or multiple cats do in person?

If you were stranded on a deserted island and you could only bring three things, what would they be? Realistic answers only.

Also is it deserted island or desert island? That whole thing never made sense to me since a desert is an actual biome.

MUSIC QUESTIONS

The flip side of Kilowatt’s questions. What’s your favorite song and what’s your music of choice to put on while gaming when you’d rather listen to it than the game’s music?

What midi keyboard and/or synth with midi keyboard capability do you recommend for someone who doesn’t have one? Budget limit of $300. Personally I’m eyeing the Yamaha Reface CS

What are your top 3 or 5 favorite natural sound to sample?

When in my music career should I worry about copyrighting my music?

What are your thoughts on creating separate aliases for each of the different genres you compose?

If you got to compose for a video game, what genre would you the game have to be in order to best suit your style? (this is coming from a guy who has no idea what style of music you make)

What are your thoughts on really long progressive rock songs? Stuff like Yes

What’s the most incredible first entry you’ve ever heard on this website?

Do you think 4:33 by John Cage was playing all the time before humans existed?

CHIPTUNE QUESTIONS

Suppose a piece of music hardware exists that can have the capabilities of any channel of any sound chip, but you only get five channels and you can’t use the same sound chip more than once per song. Which five channels do you choose? You can answer with more than one set if multiple combinations are intriguing

If chiptune became as popular as mainstream American pop music, what would you do? How would it change the way you think of chiptune or the way you compose it, if that’s something it would even change?

173491

if you would sit in the bus and right next to you is your biggest idol ever, a person that you rly admire and never got the chance to talk to before. who wld it be? and what would you say/ask?

ahahah oh man. everyone knows this, but my biggest idol is ZUN (surprise surprise! creator of teh touhou!) if this really happened irl, i wld probably make small talk awkwardly and maybe be 15% likely to ask for his autograph and show him botb (lol). as a joke, maybe i will mention bringing back pc98 characters, but since i already know his stance on that, it wld be wasted time.

i rly wanna ask smth about the times he worked with amusement makers for the pc-98 installments of toho, as well as his musical work for the first 2 games in the seihou project. that unique era of ZUN is a early style of his that i discovered at least a decade ago... i really took a liking to it, and since then, i took so much inspiration from him and his music. however it feels like that spark, that one flavour of old ZUN, has slightly lost its power throughout the years, and especialy noticeable in his tracks recently.

and maybe, if we have enough time before one of us has to get off the bus.. "ZUN, do you think we could collab on a song?" getting to work with him would be the ultimate dream come true for me. it wld be so damn beautiful. i wld probably cry

How many times have you touched with your mouth each of the following things: penis.

56

what is a thing you always wanted to do but somehow never tried?

any pokemon nuzlocke lololol
but also, i want to attend a convention one day. any convention. i have always been so nervous to go to one.

you know quiet a few languages. what are your goals regarding language knowledge?

i have none overall? besides just practicing spanish occasionally on a whim, and also maybe trying to get gud at german so that i can order more currywurst.

if you cld either go through walls or float up to 2m into the air, which one of the 2 wld you like to have?

going thru walls seems like a good thing... i cld hide whenever and wherever i want...

whats the biggest adventure you had so far?

there was 1 time in high school when i didn wanna go to my boring stupid summer class, so i jogged around for 7-8 hours and ended up going thru a lot of pretty parks. if i have the charger to my old fone, i can probably show you some pictures :3

whats the biggest adventure you wld like to experience in the future?

i wanna go. in a motorcycle. across the states.

is mioh your real name?

ye

your own music studio. what would you put inside? any hardware you rly wanna have but cant rn?

i have no idea? i know not much hardware actually. it seems too complex and... real. i do not like real things

whats ur fav monster flavor and why is it pacific punch?

mine flavourite is actually THE DOCTOR. ik i only had it once but it is so refreshing and i want more of it soon

favorite candy?

idk if this counts but: the blue scooby doo gummy. i feel like it disappeared?

favorte plant?

the prickly pear pancake cactus. seeing it around so often is so funny to me, i feel like it cld be used as a weapon randomly. like a prickly slap across the face wld be absolutely hilarious.

favorite childhood tv show?

??? idk lol

173500

what toppings ae going on your burger, hot dog, & pizza?

173519

Favorite soda/drink?
Out of the countries you've visited which one is the best and why?
How far do you see yourself get on your hug all BotBrs quest?
If you could instantly change one thing about yourself what would it be?

173522

mirageofher, as you may already know, you're welcome to answer the questions left unanswered while everyone else ask questions to Quirby64 from this point onwards.

Quirby64:

Do you have any tattoos? If so, what are they? And would you like to have more?

Any other body modifications you have done or would be interested in?

Did you have a crush on any fictional characters when you were a kid? If yes, which ones?

Have you cosplayed? If not, is there a character you'd like to cosplay as?

173525

well then, i put it to quirby: what toppings are going on your burger, hot dog, & pizza?

173527

who's your favorite singer, who's the singer that most inspires what you do, and are they the same?

173528

What is your favorite Quirby game?

Alternatively, if none exist, you may answer the real question: what is your favorite Kirby game? Favorite kirby soundtrack? Favorite kirby design/art style?

173531

have you ever broken a bone?

i have! ugh! euaghhgh.. !!! BLEH ajsgfkdlskf i hate knochenbreakings.

one was when i was playing basketball with the holy homies. i passed the ball but then i got distracted and stepped wrong. for the sake of pride, i forced myself to get up and walk to the entrance where my mum was. me footsy was in pain lol, i gave a 11 when they asked me pain lvl on a scale of 1 to 10. they said i broke a thing in my foot but still idk where it exactly is.

the other one was when i was at a ice skating event. i was speeding thru the crowds (bc i cannot do fancy spins and jumps, and i felt the need to go Fast to compensate for my lack in skill), but this guy appeared out of nowhere. i dodged the guy but ended up losing balance. i broked me hand, but for the sake of pride, i continued to skate for 2 more hours until the event ended. to cope with the pain, i cracked my knuckles on that same hand, and also my wrist sometimes. probably made it worse.. -_- i now have a little bump on my right hand and it occasionally hurts a bit still.

How does it feel to be one of the BotBrs who consistently interacts in person with other known BotBrs, and what are the things about that quality that makes you stand out if there are any? I may be misunderstanding the relationships as a newcomer, but that’s just the thing. From my perspective it’s a cool person thing

hallo n00bsy b00bsy. the only botbrs i have rly interacted with are seen on my profile, as i always hug them, hehe. on teh list: amy kleeder is my best fren and cutie, and everyone else is a gud huggable fren of mine!!!

how does it feel? oh you sound like a therapist lmfao. it feels absolutely amazing and i have never clicked so well with other people in reality offline social life. <3

Thoughts on Area 51? Any theories?

ooo. not too big on theories but. i think it cld be for testing stuff.. maybe a new stealth fighter like the nighthawk, this is what i wld like to think at least.

If the prize for winning a major competition here on BotB between lesser known BotBrs was getting to hang out with you for a day, how would you make that day an awesome prize?

oh my god i have nothing to show ppl lol. i can give hugs? cuddles? crack endless jokes? maybe we cld do musik or draw together? idk i wld just wanna chill and take it easy, anything planned wld just get in the way and stress me out.

If music performance was magical, what phenomena would your performances incur? The easy to imagine example of this kind of thing is levitation of nearby objects a la Steg Multiverse

what i WANT to say is, "i want a glorious show of fantasyland, a sparkling world with deer and dragons, peace among all civilisations, and great graceful waterfalls," but the thing that wld actually happen is a 2 minute high and some soda bottles manifesting into ur hand.

What’s your obscure video game recommendation?

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. normally i wld recommend live a live but after the switch stuff (in general) and damifortune (on this site) it became less obscure. outrun 2006 is a good one i play every now n then tho. and also RedRive. those are the only ones i can think of rn LOL i am not good at giving recs

What’s the most beautiful natural scenery you’ve ever seen?

topaz lake in the very early morning. the sunrise is amazing to see on the water, and the air is so very clear bc the cars are not passing by yet. i still have it marked on the botbr location map :3

What about the most unusual natural scenery? Stuff like rare clouds or optical phenomena caused by the sun?

i saw a perfect smooth triangle rock when i was in utah. it was the size of my foot!

Literature lightning round. What’s your favorite book, what book or article got you thinking the most, what’s your favorite book adaptation, and have any books ever changed your life?

favourite: and then there were none by agatha christie
thinking: what it's like to be a dog by gregory berns
adaptation: ??? idk what you mean by adaptation lol
changelife: freud's dream thingy

What’s the most cute thing you’ve ever seen a cat or multiple cats do in person?

theres this cat in my neighbourhood who likes to approach the kids on their way back home from school. super fluffy, super popular, super cuddly too. loves humans and is honestly one of the most doglike cats i have ever seen.

If you were stranded on a deserted island and you could only bring three things, what would they be? Realistic answers only.

mirror, 1yr food, 1yr water.

Also is it deserted island or desert island? That whole thing never made sense to me since a desert is an actual biome.

iirc deserted means without help. if it were a desert in the middle of the sea it wld not rly be a desert. just sand ig

The flip side of Kilowatt’s questions. What’s your favorite song and what’s your music of choice to put on while gaming when you’d rather listen to it than the game’s music?

i.. have no set favourite song. it changes with time, as always. currently it is HIRNLEGOHIRNLEGOHIRNLEGOLEGOLEGO

music of choice while gaming depends on the kind of game it is. when i am grinding in a RPG it is usually random DDBY tracks or chill stuff. when i am in a racing game, it is energetic things: recently breakcore, and in the past t+pazolite and laur. other kind of games vary depending on genre, as expected.

What midi keyboard and/or synth with midi keyboard capability do you recommend for someone who doesn’t have one? Budget limit of $300. Personally I’m eyeing the Yamaha Reface CS

sry idk hw that well

What are your top 3 or 5 favorite natural sound to sample?

i do not usually sample things lol. i can give u a list, though, just no favourites.

rain
birds
dogs barking
tree noise
streams/rivers

When in my music career should I worry about copyrighting my music?

sorry again that this is yet another thing i am not knowledgeable of... botb is my playground and i do not do music too seriously enough to know this. maybe ask someone who has theirn music on streaming services? maybe they will know better.

What are your thoughts on creating separate aliases for each of the different genres you compose?

ohh this is rly interesting. the person behind lapfox/ halley labs did this a lot i think. but on botb it sucks bc you get less points. to me, levelling up on some weird site is more important than all that!!!

If you got to compose for a video game, what genre would you the game have to be in order to best suit your style? (this is coming from a guy who has no idea what style of music you make)

hmhm. probably some kinds of RPG, platformer, or shmup, bc these are what have most influenced mine music. but then again, i have like 0 variety in what i make so maybe i stick to just short game jams LOL

What are your thoughts on really long progressive rock songs? Stuff like Yes

i love long songs in general, i vibe to em rly good. so i definitely Enjoy. (i have no other opinion on this)

What’s the most incredible first entry you’ve ever heard on this website?

botb 11781 digital shores was the first entry i ever heard on this site. seeing the account erased made me very sad.

173532

What are your thoughts on the technological renaissance we’re currently living in? How do you think it will turn out in the end?

173535

¿How does it feel to be Quirby64??

What did you think about playing Kirby64/what was your favorite Kirby64 boss and area??

¿Also, I've noticed allot of botbrs found botb because of you, what do you think/feel about that?

173540

ayaya the sites up again!! hi everyone

Do you have any tattoos? If so, what are they? And would you like to have more?
i dont have any, but there is one one i want to get - a variant on the semicolon thing to signify suicide survivors! itll be behind my ears bc i love my skin clear but thats the only one i want <3

Any other body modifications you have done or would be interested in?
i have two piercings on each earlobe- and thats it! im easily satisfied with this kinda stuff. if surgeries count as bodymods- im on the fence about removing my addams apple. otherwise i dont think i want facial feminization surgery or a breast augmentation or anything LMAO im honestly happy where i am for the most part and thats okay

Did you have a crush on any fictional characters when you were a kid? If yes, which ones?
uhhhhhhh?? i honestly think looking back i was some variant of aroace cause i was just so like- out there when it came to relationships?? me and my brother both liked the girl from need for speed underground 2 LMAO but i dont think so!!

Have you cosplayed? If not, is there a character you'd like to cosplay as?
when i finally move out (which should be in a couple months, ideally!) this is one of the things i really wanna try. im not in a safe place to be ultra fem like that but i can and WILL get there mwa

well then, i put it to quirby: what toppings are going on your burger,
literally just all the way from five guys plus a1 steak sauce - they have the best lettuce wraps ive ever had (i have celiac, so im gluten free!) and trying this combination sent me to heaven and back

hot dog,
mustard onions relish maybe ketchup!! i really rarely have hot dogs but its usually just the classics

& pizza?
okay yall i am italian as fuck (also half latina but the italian side is funnier) and i will say pineapple is mid!! i have only had it when someone else gets it!! i make my own pizzas bc gluten free a lot, but my favorites usually boil down to parmigiano, mozzarella, capers, garlic, broccoli/zucchini, and maybe whatever other fixings we have in the fridge, like black olives and mushrooms etc etc

who's your favorite singer, who's the singer that most inspires what you do, and are they the same?
christine goodwyne from pool kids - i love her voice and everything about that band beyond recognition. they HAVE a chokehold on me. i really wish they would come to albuquerque!! when i move out i might have to drive to another state just to see them, ive been in their top listeners and i can sing to literally almost every song theyve made, they inspire me to always improve my songwriting and to make my voice what i wantt and where it. i could never gush enough i wish they knew how much theyve changed my life hehe

What is your favorite Quirby game?
Quirby's land of...stuff, this roblox game i made in 2014.
its technically a quirby game! its a race course with some other little goods around it. if any of you guys have ever played this lovely arcade racer that ALSO has a chokehold on me called turbo sliders unlimited, i have remade
it
as both a full circuit utilizing the little goofs around it, and a "mini ring" with just what i originally designed as a 12 year old to race around on. it might be my favorite track ive ever made in that game!!...so far!!

Alternatively, if none exist, you may answer the real question: what is your favorite Kirby game? Favorite kirby soundtrack? Favorite kirby design/art style?
its actually been a while since ive played one!! ironic, huh?? kirby super star ultra was my first ds game and i have a lot of nostalgia for it so i think i would answer it for all these questions. i love the pixelated games so much but it feels like kssu PERFECTED it (i am biased)

What are your thoughts on the technological renaissance we’re currently living in?
i am an internet baby - this is just how i live!! i love it so much, i would have never been able to have the social life i do here, with all the things i could ever hope for and so much more :')

How do you think it will turn out in the end?
i am an optimist!! i do not think ai will be the threat we imagine it to be as long as people actually use their fuckin brains!! at the end of the day humans have logic ai never could and i will vouch for our species being able to hold its ground...even for scary things like the climate! we can use that to help solve these things, i think <3

¿How does it feel to be Quirby64??
¡¡eso es todo lo que se y eso esta bien!! para ser honesta hay muchisimas cosas que no me gusta sobre mi vida, tengo dolor cronico en mi cabeza y soy inmunodeprimido con un trastorno genetico, es mas probable que voy a morir de cancer, y lo me tengo mucho miedo, pero tengo fe in las ciencias que sere un tratamiento para todos los cancers que podria obtener.

(only translate this if u wanna be sad bc im going into health problems i have LMAO)

but on a happier note, i am very satisfied with where i am and who ive become <3

What did you think about playing Kirby64/what was your favorite Kirby64 boss and area??
literally the factory area i LOVE it,,,all these years later its stuck to me. i need to replay it, but for the boss ill just say whispy woods to stay safe hehe

¿Also, I've noticed allot of botbrs found botb because of you, what do you think/feel about that?
it genuinely makes me so so happy!! i KNOW i have an impact on people and i can say it confidently. i am so glad to be an inspiration for so many, even back in the beepbox discord i started a lot of projects that have since blossomed and i just feel like i can see the changes ive made which could not make me happier. <3

okay, thats all for now, enjoy!!

173541

what are some of your favorite video game musics and chipped tunes?

how did you get into chiptune in the first place - did it stem from using beepbox or where

173542

What song gets you pumped up every time?

And what song makes you cry?

Are you into wearing lipstick, painting your nails or something else of the sort?

Would you work as a model?

173568

not a question but i appreciate that you liked some of the earliest stuff i posted on here.

actual question: what is best fast food place?

173588

Quirby can answer the questions left unanswered while everyone else asks questions to dexbasson from now on.

dexbasson: what is your take on domesticated foxes? Would you like one for a pet? If so, what would you name it?

173590

where does the name dexbasson come from

173605

Do you think 4:33 by John Cage was playing all the time before humans existed?

john cage did not exist back then. but when he started existing, he literally just stole the universe's music. so shameful smh

Suppose a piece of music hardware exists that can have the capabilities of any channel of any sound chip, but you only get five channels and you can’t use the same sound chip more than once per song. Which five channels do you choose? You can answer with more than one set if multiple combinations are intriguing

PC98 FM, NSF noise, VRC7 FM, msgs channel 10, namco 163 thingy

If chiptune became as popular as mainstream American pop music, what would you do? How would it change the way you think of chiptune or the way you compose it, if that’s something it would even change?

nothing wld rly happen other than disappointment and maybe some community changes. it does not directly influence me anyways cuz my music is made in musescore, which is not chiptune HAHA

what toppings ae going on your burger, hot dog, & pizza?

on burger: tapatio, ketchup, tomato, shredded lettuce, bacon-mayo sauce, CHICKEN CHICKEN CHICKEN
on hot dog: mustard, relish, sharp cheddar sauce, sriracha
on pizza: mozzie cheese, pepperjack cheese, plenty of mushrooms, bbq sauce with either tapatio or tajin, bell peppers, white onions, CHICKEN CHICKEN CHICKEN

Favorite soda/drink?

i love all of sodas except orange and grape flavour, and certain kinds of sparkling water. favourite drink is monter engy bc it taste ok and giv me RUSH.

Out of the countries you've visited which one is the best and why?

germany cuz it has my favourite person in it, plus a bunch of beautiful parks that ppl actually go to, plus a bunch of rain and wind and storms, which all excites me so much

How far do you see yourself get on your hug all BotBrs quest?

like. i want to 100% all the active botbrs. but this will prbaly take a long time, so long that the site goes thru 5 new groups of active botbrs, which i have to then add to the list... augheheh.. , , i wld say maybe a solid 5% of all accounts is the max i cld possibly do. i wana hug all of em tho, even the ones who hate me (somehow i will find a way to.. not make em hate me for maybe a day? and then they can continue to hate me idk)

If you could instantly change one thing about yourself what would it be?

financial standing. i want to be in that stupid top 1% of ppl, which wld allow me to have a stable life finally. then i cld help my friends out, donate to and commission artists, get closer to world dominaton, hopefully be able to have more political influence so that my frens can be safe, and travel much comfortabler and easier to fill my botbr hug goal. yea

173609

let me answer these ahhhh thank u for questions mwa

what are some of your favorite video game musics and chipped tunes?
i adore the game boy (as can be seen on my pfp) but this is really fucking hard!! i love osts for the gb and gba and i love things made for wavetables like n163, amiga, or tg16...i love too many things :')

how did you get into chiptune in the first place - did it stem from using beepbox or where
nope! i played rytmik retrobits on my dsi growing up, and made music (and very inaccurate covers) back when i was young. i learned beepola as my first tracker, because fami and defle were too complicated for me - and then a lil fami, a LOT of beepbox, then really blossoming into dual wielding everything <3

What song gets you pumped up every time?
arm's length by pool kids,
but also talk too much from the same album (i love that band so fucking much) -- but yeah!! screaming in the car to this will always get me goin haha

And what song makes you cry?
only one song has ever even brought me close to tears. like, ever. and that was before hormones, so if i was just as vulnerable as i was then but with estrogen it probably would have got me. its ancient moth escapes the drink machine by if i die in mississippi.
its mostly a noise album with a couple more songy songs, but in this track along with everything else theres that direct reveal that the artist is trans, and i felt so seen, and i really wanted to cry...i got chills :')

Are you into wearing lipstick, painting your nails or something else of the sort?
i used to! but also i have autism and whenever i painted my nails i felt it CONSTANTLY and had to take it off. but lipstick?? big yes. but i have to wear a mask bc immunocompromised and im not willing to risk that - if i have to be invited somewhere where i would need to have a mask off / outside i wear it rarely!! and i also dress really slutty outside of home haha

Would you work as a model?
^^^^ which leading into this i take it you did not read my post or the what's your job? thread - but i do make porn and have for about a year and a half now - so i already kind of am? LMAO but yeah with sfw stuff it would be cool, i think i would be a good trans rep for things haha

not a question but i appreciate that you liked some of the earliest stuff i posted on here.
and i will always love your music!! im so so glad ur still keepin it up hehe

actual question: what is best fast food place?
for gluten free, i say taco bell!! cant eat at mcds besides fries, burger king i have nothing, wendys i have chili and baked potatoes!! but yeah i dont know!!

ok im done!! ily all have a great one

173612

hellow, sry i wasnt here for the other ppls questions, i've been away for a bit, i'll try to stick around for the rest of it.
Anyway to the questions.

Tex: what is your take on domesticated foxes? Would you like one for a pet? If so, what would you name it?
>I'm so glad you asked this cuz theres a lot to be talked about here.
Yes i'd really love to have a pet fox, but at the same time i don't wanna take part in perpetuating the practice of domesticating wild animals and that's because most people don't do it right. Some people keep the foxes indoors making the foxes bored and depressed. Foxes are also really destructive animals, they gonna bite and scratch shit, piss and shit everywhere and some people simply ignore the fact that foxes need a big enclosure and then get pissy when the creecher starts wrecking their house, leading them to abandon or mistreat the fox.
And theres some other things regarding befriending foxes that ppl shouldnt do, such as rescuing or adopting fox kittens. If you see a fox kitten in the wild thats not severely injured and needing urgent help, dont take it in. If its stuck in a fence, just help them break free and let them go. Fox kittens explore alone close to the den where the parents live, its their thing, its what they do. So before you take that helpless baby fox that you saw in the wild to a vet or indoors, think that you might not be a hero but a kidnapper instead.
Another thing is people feeding wild foxes that show up in their backyard, please don't make them comfortable with human enviroment hence its not fit for wild animals, because they can get ran over by cars, poisoned/hunted by assholes, etc. I know its hard to deny food to the cute creecher looking at you with puppy eyes, it breaks my heart too but you gotta think about whats best for them at the of the day.
Anyway if i had a pet fox that did a lot of zoomies, his name you be Jetz, Jetz the Focket. Sounds like a sonic OC but focket.
EDIT: btw a domesticated animal is a animal that has been bred for a really fucking long time on specific lineages to get rid of their wild instincts that makes them incompatible with human enviroments.
Dogs are domesticated
Cats are semi-domesticated, they're mostly fine but they still get the urge to go out to fight and fuck. Btw its not recommended to let your cat out for the same reason you shouldn't bring foxes in the citeh.
Foxes are not domesticated, they're tamed. The ones you can have at home just happened to grow up used to humans so they don't fear them. But they still retain all their wild instincts and those need to be worked around carefully if you wanna have one as a pet.

Demifortune: where does the name dexbasson come from
> short answer: 16yo me thought it sounded cool
long answer: Dex is just short for Dexter but i choose the name mostly bcuz of the short form. My registered name irl is André, and bcuz of that mostly ppl would just call me Dé, and so i thought it sounded close enough bcuz André, Dé, Dex.
Basson is bcuz back then i had just discovered the instrument Bassoon and i really liked it, so i just took one "o" out.

173615

very cool, that is pretty much what i imagined (i initially read the bassoon thing out of it)

what are your favorite trackers/formats to work with so far

what has your history in music been like, i saw you have been making music for a while now

173617

what are your favorite trackers/formats to work with so far
i use IT and XM the most, i used to make stuff with IT only but started learning XM when i started fiddling with Unreal Tournament mapping and finding out that galaxy 3D audio limitations are pretty a vanilla XM without instrument volume envelopes. I also like to do 2a03 stuff, im very noobie about chiptunes tho i really wanna learn how to fiddle with other soundchips.

what has your history in music been like, i saw you have been making music for a while now
Well if just fiddling with music in general counts, started in 2011, my teen angst made me ask for the guitar that my cousin was going to throw away and then i learned how to play some emocore with it.
Played in a few garage bands, played live 4 times, all terrible experiences lmao.
There wasnt much composing since i mostly played covers, but it sure helped getting the hang of things such as chords and scales.
The actuall composing started in 2014 when i (not much different from most furry producers) downloaded fl studio and made breakcore.
And thats when i started Foxhide.
When i just started i was mostly doing more modern rave/edm stuff and then i started going more towards vgm, 90s jungle/techno and more experimental genres.
I started picking up trackers in 2018, took me a while to get used to it.
I started maining IT modules last year, before that it was still mostly FL Studio but now i cant really go back to it, trackers picked my interest way more.
And thats it i guess, now im mostly a tracker producer that makes chiptune and jungle and i stopped trying to make a living of my music lmao

173621

Why playing live those 4 times were terrible experiences for you? What happened? Go into as much detail as you'd like.

What was the relationship with this cousin of yours like back then? Has that changed at all over the years?

173636

What are your thoughts on the idea of music as a form of artistic expression?

173647

favorite thing about the Bassoon Musical Instrument?

173664

special offer: three ice cream scoops of any flavour! what are you getting?

also regarding pet foxes, you might be interested in the soviet fox domestication experiment started by geneticist dmitry belyayev
in 1952 which continues to this day and has produced some incredibly friendly and trainable foxes. here's a video
about it.

173676

what is ur favourit cake.
reclining chairs or rocking chairs
is a baked potato a hot dog
least favourite school era? (eg high school or kindergarten)

173682

dexbasson, what's something that most people here wouldn't know about you?

Do you have any particular favorite botb entries that conjure up memories for you?

173702

Tex

Why playing live those 4 times were terrible experiences for you? What happened? Go into as much detail as you'd like.
- First one was at the school talent show, played some brazilian punk rock (Raimundos) and everyone though it was cringe. Actually thinking now it wasnt even that bad, even kinda funny.
- Second one was with a band i was playing at, all the other members of the band were siblings and the manager of the band was their dad, i think he didnt like me very much, i had to play hidden, kinda off the stage bcuz he said there wasn't enough room for me in the stage. Nowadays i'd tell him to eat a dick, but 14yo me thought it was still an opportunity.
- Third time: Playing with another band, my E string breaks i ask for a minute to change to my reserve guitar, they dont give a shit and start playing the next song, i kinda panic and just stay there in front of everyone without doing anything, after a while i try to go for my reserve guitar anyway the bass player holds me and says "wtf are you doing?? we are playing!!" and after that i just turn off all the pickups and pretend im playing until the end of the performance.
- Fourth time with the same band that had the dad that hated me. Contacted me after a while asking if i was up for a gig bcuz they couldn't find anyone who could play the solo of Lonely Day by SOAD, like dude have you even tried, its not that hard to play. Anyway i was kind of desperate cuz i wasnt scoring any gigs for a while so i went there thinking that i would play the whole tracklist as it was mentioned. Anyway i get there, play Lonely Day and 2 other songs, after that they call me off stage and the other guitarist just walks in and continue the show, i ask wtf is happening and he says that he just wanted me to play the songs the other guitarist couldnt learn and that i can fuck off now.
I know that battle of the bands is still going but nah im not joining any other bands ever again.

What was the relationship with this cousin of yours like back then? Has that changed at all over the years?
Hes 5 years older than me and as a teenager back then i don't think he had much patience for kids, he used to live with my grandma back when my aunt still didn't have her own place. And i also had to stay there bcuz mom and dad were out all day during the week and they thought i was too young to be home alone.
So basically, he didn't want me there, i didn't want to be there, it wasn't very good.
I can't tell exactly if it has changed or not bcuz i barelly see him nowadays since i moved a state away from my family and i visit them very rarely, like only on special ocasions. But anyway, nowadays when we see eachother we usually just greet and thats about it. Not much talking but we also don't frown at each other or anything.

173704

Since playing in bands didn't work for you, are there any social activities you like to partake in with people you're comfortable with?

And since you're no longer pursuing music professionally, what else would you be willing to do for a living?

173705

- Kot
What are your thoughts on the idea of music as a form of artistic expression?
I think most if not every music should be a form of artistic expression
Doesn't need to be always from the deepest parts of your heart, it can be just something silly that you're thinking about for example, you will still be saying something with it and i think that counts as expressing

- 02FD
favorite thing about the Bassoon Musical Instrument?
The thing that got me most interested in it is that the sound varies a lot depending on the pitch, like it sounds super brassy at low notes but at higher notes it sounds really clean, so you get a really wide and gnarly bass but also a soft and soothing lead with the same instrument.
I also think its by far the coolest looking orchestra instrument, idk it just looks really sick.

-roz
special offer: three ice cream scoops of any flavour! what are you getting?
Hmmmmm Strawberry, Mint and Banana. Everytime i eat ice cream i become a sparkledog
Also i've watched this video and its cool that they got somewhere with the experiment, when i say that foxes are tamed and not domesticated, i mean that i think they still cant be considered domesticated nowadays but that could totally change in the near future

-mirageofher
what is ur favourit cake.
One that had a filling of condensed milk and passion fruit. i like really sweet things

reclining chairs or rocking chairs
rocking chairs, im oldschool

is a baked potato a hot dog
depends on the breed of the dog youre talking about

least favourite school era?
Everything except my second run of the first year of high school and the last year of high school

-kilowatt64
dexbasson, what's something that most people here wouldn't know about you?
Hmm its hard to choose what to pick... probably that im not really into the furry fandom

Do you have any particular favorite botb entries that conjure up memories for you?
hmm nothing specific yet but i do listen a lot to the last mod grandprix entries since its the first thing here i was very active at and i found a bunch of tracks that i really like, yours included ^^

-Tex
Since playing in bands didn't work for you, are there any social activities you like to partake in with people you're comfortable with?
I havent tried much of that since, so i kind of have no idea, but i'd love to try something once something shows up

And since you're no longer pursuing music professionally, what else would you be willing to do for a living?
hmmm well... music!
It's not that i don't want to live off my music, its just that i dont see myself managing but honestly when i think of what i wanna be doing with my life i can only think of music.

173709

least favourite tracker/daw?
is there anything that excites you so much that u become a kid?
which viddo gaems have u played recently.
favourite polygon? least favourite?
u can travel back in time to bring one piece of lost media back to the present. what is it and why??????

173711

Favorite brazilian albums?

173733

-mirageofher
least favourite tracker/daw?
Probably FL Studio

is there anything that excites you so much that u become a kid?
Nightcore

which viddo gaems have u played recently.
i constantly play unreal tournament and i have been doing it for years, apart from that well, blood omen 2, Earth Seeker and recently i tried giving Nights a shot too.

favourite polygon? least favourite?
favourite: Raziel's claws in Soul Reaver 1
least favourite: Alien gib in HL1, they look like they're deep friend, i just quit my job at burger king i dont wanna see that shit
EDIT: i just realized i typed deep friend lmao, fuck it im not fixing it

u can travel back in time to bring one piece of lost media back to the present. what is it and why??????
Making of quake soundtrack

-Tex
Favorite brazilian albums?
>Raimundos - Só no forevis: Teenager me in a nutshell
>Fernanda Porto - Self Titled: Not a big fan of mpb vocals/lyrics but gosh is the beat good on this one
>Pitty - Admirável Chip Novo: I still loop this one kinda frequently
>Autoramas - Stress, Depressão e Sindrome do Pânico: This was in my dads collection, i listened to it when i was 5 and had a lot of questions about the lyrics.
>Kid Abelha - Seu Espião: Probably my first introduction to 80s new wave.

173747

Thank you for your participation, dexbasson.

Next is 02FD.

173749

oh boy. i, like, nearly jumped out of my seat when i saw it was my turn, it was such a jumpscare at 6:34 AM in the morning

173750

Tell me about an unforgettable jumpscare you had other than this one.

173751

02fd, ¿¿What do you think about Hanna, and what do you think about her leaving;(for now)??
Also, do you feel like botb has helped you make RPGs?

173753

what was ur biggest adventure so far?
if u had to choose, chocolate ice cream, bar of chocolate or hot chocolate?
you have a year of free time and unlimited money. what would you do?
what's the deal with forums banning "necroposting?"
fav animal?
do u like donkey Kong and the country-games?
wld u rather be a plant or a mushroom?
if you cld jump back in time to a specific moment, and wld be able to watch it, but only for 15 minutes, which one wld you choose? you only have that one chance.
what's the origin of ur username?

173754

@Tex - why not, I'd like to jump in on this too! Please add me to your ever-growing list of hotties!

@02FD, if you're "not a city boy" (as an old avatar says), then how would you describe yourself?

173756

when did you start making music? and what was the inspiration sparkle that got you to do it?

173757

what is your singular favorite pokemon of each type

173759

02fd:

We joined the site around the same time, and so I tend to think of you as being in my botb cohort. What brought you to the site?

What's something you'd share that most people don't know about you here?

Of your own music you've shared here or elsewhere, do you have a particular track that you especially love?

173761

TEX
Tell me about an unforgettable jumpscare you had other than this one.
When I was... I forget exactly what (American Public School) grade I was in but I think it was 4th or 5th grade FNaF was a fresh new thing. At that age I was still afraid of the dark, for context, and I saw gameplay and jumpscares from FNaF. I never slept the same since, and it's part of the reason I don't like those games

LINCENT
02fd, ¿¿What do you think about Hanna, and what do you think about her leaving;(for now)??
uh I was not aware of this, maybe I missed a message or something? wow i feel bad for not noticing, tho people do tend to go dark on dicsord for stretches of Time. I hope she comes back when she feels better and Makes A Banger,

until then,rest well, soldier

kLEEDER
what was ur biggest adventure so far?
I went camping with frends this month. i haven't really been away from home like that.... ever? it's sad. i Know
you have a year of free time and unlimited money. what would you do?
_{your mom}
synths. many, many many synths. all for me. yes, so so many synths--wait actually, that's not a good idea, that would kill my enjoyment of synths after the year ends. i would never recover from that lifestyle.

so... i'd buy all the jd-990s and jd-800s and other pricey various synths sell them at reasonable prices bc they're overrated, maybe keep one or two of my favorites for myself. oh and get a copy of Street Fighter 3: Third Strike for the Dreamcast. and a dreamcast. and a pizza

what's the deal with forums banning "necroposting?"
THAS WHAT IIII'M SAYINNNNNN'

fav animal?
mudkip

actually by extension, axolotl for a Real Answer

i forget that you can have a favorite animal , all the time

do u like donkey Kong and the country-games?
yes but i'm no good at them

if you cld jump back in time to a specific moment, and wld be able to watch it, but only for 15 minutes, which one wld you choose? you only have that one chance.

there was this time (this is a very strange story) where my sister and I were eating a breakfast of Little Bites Mini Muffins. We were really young. She tried to show me a mini muffin with another Mini-er Muffin inside of it, but I never got to look at it b4 she ate it :(
so that's what I'd check. what the hell does a mini muffin matryshoka look like. Just to clear the air on that one,

what's the origin of your username?
full username lineage:
pokedual (pokeduel was taken) on pokemon.com
TLORD765 (created for Minecraft. I thought I rememered being 7 years old being Pretty Awesome and so I counted down from there)
then (my new one is so clever you'll never believe it ok that's a lie)
765 in hexadecimal is 0x2FD. and the only part of my username I liked when I decided i hated TLORD765 was the 765 part so I stuck with it but in hex to potentially introduce letters

other names i consdidered: 765, The 765, i'm sure there are more in a random Google Doc or something but my ass is NOT cringing 2day
(1/2)

173762

Wait... am I only now realizing Lincent and sean are the same person or is that just Lincent's real name?

173763

Sloopygoop

02FD, if you're "not a city boy" (as an old avatar says), then how would you describe yourself?
i'm a suburban sub ( O///O )

anyway the reason that title is on that avatar is because it was for my first entry, Not A City Boy (which was later resubmitted and no longer appears at the bottom) I planned to do this for all of my Big Major Entries and then.... forgot...

dexBASSOON

when did you start making music? and what was the inspiration sparkle that got you to do it?
i think i took a gerneral music class in like 7th grade where I learned that I enjoy making music, which was weird because I hated piano lessons. I've always had IDEAS for songs, but I only started trying to make them into Songs around that time. in 8th grade I moved away from SoundTrap to Beepbox, then dual-mained Openmpt and Jummbox and have since landed on dual-maining OpenMPT and YAMAHA SOL2

damifortune
what is your singular favorite pokemon of each type

OK THE LIST IS:
NORMAL:
Indeedee ♀
FIGHTING:
Hariyama
FLYING:
Altaria
POISON:
Clodsire
GROUND:
Excadrill
ROCK:
Stakataka
BUG:
Heracross
GHOST:
Ceruledge
STEEL:
Tinkaton
FIRE:
Chandelure
WATER:
Mudkip (all-time favorite)
GRASS:
Whimsicott
ELECTRIC:
Helioptile
PSYCHIC:
Gardevoir
ICE:
Eiscue
DRAGON:
Goodra
DARK:
Weavile
FAIRY:
Togepi
???:
Pokémon Egg > weird, impossible Gen IV Multitype Arceus, tbh
(1.5/2)

173766

@Tex apparently I'm stupid, thought that was Sean based on pfp but it was Not

173770

what are you dipping your fries in?

173771

kilowatt
We joined the site around the same time, and so I tend to think of you as being in my botb cohort. What brought you to the site?
I had heard of summer chip from a couple tracks I heard on a channel called "GST Channel". This channel is dedicated to mixes of chiptune and I had been interested in doing more competitions after fizzling out on the modshrine compos held on IRC. And so I decided to make somehting for Winter Chip, and had there not been a major with a recognizable name running, I may have never joined the site. And I'm glad I did, because I never would've met you or anyone here if I didn't.

What's something you'd share that most people don't know about you here?
I actually seem to have red hair. I was blond as a child, but my hair appears more dark-brownish red with a little blond now. Weird.

OK that one's pretty dull. But anything more saucy would be weird to have immortalized...

Of your own music you've shared here or elsewhere, do you have a particular track that you especially love?
Not A City Boy (my first track) remains one of my favorite things I've done, and I've been meaning to finish the original vision but have been too swept away by other projects. Though I have been looking for a break from those, hmmmm... An opportunity presents itself...

173772

ROZ
CHEESE YOU DIMWITS. NOTHING BEATS IT!!! STOP DIPPING YOUR FRIES IN MILKSHAKES AAAAA

...kidding. But yes, cheese or nothing for me. I would try milkshake+fry but... I eat unhealthy enough as is... I don't need to get hooked on THAT monstrosity...

173776

Have a favorite book?

173777

Ever had the feeling that a sample was used so many times in so many pieces of music that you wish people would stop using it? If yes, which sample is it and why it annoys you this much?

Why do you love 3rd Strike? And what do you think of the other Street Fighter games you've played?

What was the relationship between you and your sister like back in the day and what is it like now?

173796

KILOWATT64

Have a favorite book?
Literally 1984

No I'm dead serious, it was probably the only time I've enjoyed reading a "traditional" book in a very long time, and I read it for an assignment following my failure to comprehend Treasure Island's original 1800s writing. I really need to read it again.

TEX

Ever had the feeling that a sample was used so many times in so many pieces of music that you wish people would stop using it? If yes, which sample is it and why it annoys you this much?
No I think it's funny and I like to re-use samples a lot myself. I've been riding that Wikipedia Amen Break in Context.ogg sample for years now

Why do you love 3rd Strike? And what do you think of the other Street Fighter games you've played?
Well the music is great, and my first impressions of the game are that it's a sick-ass game, but I'm going to suck at it for a Long Time. The game's got a nice feel to it, but mostly, it's because it's my first non-Smash fighting game. I love Super Smash Brothers but I CANNOT focus on the game with it's wonky-ass camera. It is so difficult for me to follow, I even struggle to follow 3S sometimes, but smash is like, a whole other level of jank, it's constantly zooming in and out and it really screws with your perception of distance.

On top of that, Ultimate has like 0 combo potential and is very neutral-heavy. As I picked up Makoto in 3S very quickly you can probably tell that I'm into more aggressive playstyles, and Ultimate just... lacks that

also makoto's design is Awesome which is why I picked her tbh, tho i fell in love with her story very quickly

What was the relationship between you and your sister like back in the day and what is it like now?
Decline to comment. That question is a bit too personal, I'm not the type to share heavily about my family. It just feels... wrong. Just a personal boundary, I'm not offended or anything.

173842

Is there a particular quality in music that really speaks to you? Some element, aesthetic or feel that stands out to you whenever you hear it?

173844

if you cld delete one food from existence, what wld it be? combination recipes like "pineapple on pizza" are not allowed for this answer

name 3 countries to stack on top of each other

do u have a childhood song that gets stuck in ur head

what is a board game that you played recently

do you get any weird random feelings from time to time, like "internal lung tickling" or "rib bendies" or "spiky eyes" ???

if u cld be in any pokemon region of ur choosing, but only as a regular npc with 1 line of dialogue, which region wld u live in

frogs or toads!

favourite pokeball?

what is the oldest lamp/light that you own

do u like dragons

173848

02FD can answer the last two questions while everyone else asks questions to kleeder from this point onwards.

By the way, since we reached half of the list, I'll clarify that there are 9 "seats" available as of this post. So, if they are occupied, the list of participants will remain locked.

173854

Kleeder, kleeder...
¿What is you'r favorite leader? :D

173869

Ooo KleederKleeder!!! Where are you from?? :DDD How did you first discover your interest with the Fairchild? What does Kleeder mean in German? And where are you from?? (Imagine a paragraph here because my phone won't let me add one) In your wildest inner musings, where would the height of your musical ventures take you? Are you Kleeder? If you conquered the world with plofs, where would you live?

173870

what toppings are going on your bratwurst?

173882

Kleeder, what's something that most of us here don't know about you that you'd be willing to share?

173890

How do you feel about people calling you "kleemer" or "kleeber"? cuz I think those are a lot more fun to say than kleeder

173896

At what point during your time on BotB did you decide you intended to earn all badges? Was it something you concretely resolved to do one day, or something you gradually meandered into doing?

As you were undertaking your badge quest, were there any formats you found yourself enjoying a lot more (or a lot less) than you expected?

In listening to and tagging every BotB entry up to a point, did you notice any interesting trends, patterns, or ways the site's culture evolved over time?

173901

¿What is you'r favorite leader? :D
of course, its puke7. cld there be a better one?

Where are you from??
im from germany

How did you first discover your interest with the Fairchild?
i remember in 2018 sincx hosted a channelf battle but back then, it was just one of the many obscure formats to me. i thought the setup for it wld be very complicated and annoying. after the battle ended, robyn was the only entrant. since robyn is and was always an inspiration to me and motivated me to try out new things for a long time already, i thought to myself "well, if she can do it, i shld give it a try as well". so i looked further into it and realized that its not as complicated as i thought it wld be. then i joined the next sincx-ohb hosted with that format.

im not entirely sure anymore if it was before or after the battle, but somewhere in the lyceum or in a thread i read something like "the .bin files created by sleisza duo/trio shld be hardware compatible, but theres noone here who could test it anyway" and for some reason, i decided to take it as a challenge for myself to be the first botbr with a hardware rendering solution for the channelf.

after gaining my 7th badge and being able to host any format, i chose this format to start with, since it felt like the most obscure one on botb that i was still able to do (back then i didnt try all formats yet).
tripplep and pandavova, who joined me on those battles back then, also enjoyed the format, therefore i decided to do more of it.
from that point on, my interest grew and after a while, it turned into one of the formats i was (and probably still am) obsessed with. (tho, there are more)

And where are you from??
the beautiful city of hamburg, located in north germany. i was born here, grew up here and always lived here.

(Imagine a paragraph here [...])
oohhhh,,, i can see it now! truly a stunning piece of layouting.

In your wildest inner musings, where would the height of your musical ventures take you?
i am kinda interested in learning more music theory. currently, my knowledge is mostly from experimenting on my own or looking up specific use cases online when i need them (e.g. "how to make music spoopy" when halloween major happens), but it wld be nice to gain knowledge in a more structured way.
im also still somewhat interested in getting better with FL Studio, phil really impressed me with his jumps in production quality through the years.
in terms of musical style, i wld really like to go more into the direction of mixing chiptune with field recordings, as well as creating more coherent albums

Are you Kleeder?
last time i checked, i still was.

If you conquered the world with plofs, where would you live?
probably still in hamburg, but i wld force everyone i like to also live here >:)

what toppings are going on your bratwurst?
okay so let me go into unnecessary detail about german junk food with lots of non-translated words to keep the original spirit and meaning.
we do serve bratwurst at local imbissbuden here, but i dont think they are as great as currywurst, because they lack the most important part: curry-gewürz-ketchup. ofcourse, you cld add that to a bratwurst as well, but that wld just turn it into a currywurst. therefore, my answer for bratwurst: probably just mustard and bread? it tastes boring and i usually take currywurst whenever i want sausage stuff.
regarding currywurst, i usually get it with pommes and mayo. if you take extra ketchup on ur pommes, youre weird, because the currywurst already has enough of that anyway!!

what's something that most of us here don't know about you that you'd be willing to share?
when i was 7yo, while playing with friends, i got hit by a stone in the face and lost one of my front teeth. it is now a fake one. its been a painful and annoying thing to go through with a million dentist visits as a kid and it only rly stopped when i turned 18. at least i got some pain compensation money, which was nice especially as a kid without much money.
i usually dont talk about this. i guess a lot of my close irl friends also dont know about it (unless they know me for longer than 10 years already). i dont have a problem talking about it, but usually dont see the need to do so.

How do you feel about people calling you "kleemer" or "kleeber"?
i dont have an issue with any nickname, as long as its obvious that you are talking to or about me.

At what point during your time on BotB did you decide you intended to earn all badges? Was it something you concretely resolved to do one day, or something you gradually meandered into doing?
i cant remember perfectly anymore, i think it just kinda happend. my first goal of course was just to have fun. then i realized if i get a badge, i can host myself. so i went for 1 badge. then i realized if i get 7, i can host all formats. so i went for 7 badges. i was already doing a lot of different formats back then and realized i was close to badge in those as well, so i went for it. when sexmodit gauntlet happend, i went for getting all 8 modxk badges at once. i had a list of achievements on my profile with milestones. badges were a part of that too. i always just went for the next achievement. 1, 7, more than chipchamp, 56, all. natural development.

As you were undertaking your badge quest, were there any formats you found yourself enjoying a lot more (or a lot less) than you expected?
yes.
i dont think thats surprising.
i want to review all formats at some point and give them scores, i just need the time to do it.
as a general answer, i realized the more limiting formats are usually more fun to me (in terms of battling) because i feel overwhelmed by possibilities with less limiting formats.

In listening to and tagging every BotB entry up to a point, did you notice any interesting trends, patterns, or ways the site's culture evolved over time?
ohh, theres a lot i could talk about here, which could be its own book release probably lmao
i also went through a lot of old botb threads and lyceum articles, and botb as a community is such an interesting thing to study.
i assume its like that for every community.
as an example: the main focus on hosted ohb formats. until 2010, it was mostly nsf, between 2010-2015 it was sexmodit, then it was allgear and now it seems like we are in a remix era.
also: voting behaviour changed a little as well, after the badge system/badge progress got added.
a pattern that i noticed is that there are always bigger waves of new botbrs coming in, battling like crazy for a few weeks or months and then they disappear again- only a few people from that wave stay and continue. this usually comes with some peepz who "overhype" botb when they find out about it, setting their goals too high, or thinking too big and then go silent after a week because their attention span is too low to keep up with the long-term game.
and of course, in those waves of new botbrs, you can usually find stereotypes of n00bz too. "the one who doesnt care about anything", "the one who does the craziest shit but thinks they suck", "the one who aims for the highest ranks and get heavily upset when they only get silver", etc.
wow... as i said, i cld write a book about this, i shld stop here haha

173902

i'd like to join the hotseat.

my questions to kleeder:
Do you like trains?
Take a listen to the Baureihe 425's sound (just search "br 425 sound" on YT) and rate it from 1-10.
Nett hier, aber waren Sie schon mal in Baden-Württemberg?
What would you do if you were granted superpowers for one day?

173904

whats next after badgequest -
are there some formats that you are tempted to bronze or even argentor
can you name the most significant advantage to being german and also the most significant disadvantage
you have book - writing leanings, have you thought about avenues on which you would like to approach this once its all done, such as finding an agent/publisher/competition/self-publishing?
what is unique to hamburg in comparison to other german cities
feelings on ddr (not the game, or ram)
What's your favourite tag

173905

how high is your vote influence (i am curious is all)

173920

songs that u identify major parts of yourn life with?

is there any botb entry u hate?

do u need any new clothes, i can get u some when i find more work..

if u cld prevent the existence of any major franchise (think star wars, pokemon, etc) at the cost of 200 euro, wld u do it? if so, which one wld u do it to and why?

do u ever walk around and go "oh hey i can [random video game mechanic] here" even though it is not possible? (like when i look at a building irl and think of climbing and paragliding off of it) make sure to explain ur answer. i want 1 solid paragrpah of kleeder lore

why does kohlrabi exist and why do u eat it. stupid glorified radish.

you sometimes comment that having a pokemon avatar on botb is unoriginal, yet you had aipom as ur ava for a long while. explain urself

How many times have you touched with your mouth each of the following things: penis.

what is the most fun recipe you have ever cooked

do u have any songs that always appear in ur mind whenever you do a specific action? for example if you are running to a train or spinning in a chair

speaking of chairs, what is the most random place you have found a chair

scariest situation you ever been in?

173938

what's the point?

what is your favorite forest?

what's something you've learned from doing collabs?

have you ever seen a wild bear?

have you been to an east asian or south asian country?

favorite indie game?

what is the best color?

what is the best dog?

what is your biggest regret?

what maintains your interest in submitting songs to botb?

173943

Do you like trains?
I do! In terms of public transportation (or travelling across countries) it is definitely the best option, at least in central europe. i dont have a drivers license, therefore i use public transport only usually to get around. i wish more countries would focus on their train network and make it bigger, rather than building more highways.

Take a listen to the Baureihe 425's sound (just search "br 425 sound" on YT) and rate it from 1-10.
7 or 8 maybe? its alright. sbahn hamburg br 474 makes me more nostalgic, i like that sound more

Nett hier, aber waren Sie schon mal in Baden-Württemberg?
Ja, wenn ich mich richtig erinnere, dann exakt ein Mal mit meiner Familie für einen Kurzurlaub in Kißlegg. Wenn man durchfahren und umsteigen dazuzählt, dann bin ich auf dem Weg nach Österreich einige Male in Stuttgart umgestiegen.
Und auch wenn es nicht die Frage war: Den "Nett hier" Sticker hab ich auch in meiner Wohnung, er klebt an meinem Kühlschrank :D

What would you do if you were granted superpowers for one day?
This one isnt easy to answer because "superpowers" isnt clearly described. if i wld be an almighty being, i wld probably be stuck for half a day thinking about my possibilities, without actually doing anything. and then spend the remaining time trying to find a loophole to keep my powers after the day (and failing with that, therefore wasting the full day).
if it was one specific superpower, i guess i wld just record myself using it in any possible way, so that i have an archive of me doing cool things with it. maybe also for viral uploads online lol

whats next after badgequest
i think i wld like to have nsf and nsf+ as golden badges one day. and i guess channelf, fsound and sid as bronzed will happen naturally one day too. but im not too focussed on those. taking care of freshly added formats shld be enough for me. i want to focus on the formats that are the most fun to me now, without thinking much about my badge progress on those c:
ofcourse, getting more points and levelling up remains a primary goal for me on here, its a game after all.

the most significant advantage to being german
interesting question! obviously, stuff like "i live in a peaceful country with good infrastructure, work opportunities and health care" wld be something to mention, but you can get that in a lot of other countries too. the cities here arent more special than ones in other countries either, and the landscape is boring xD

i think, it might be the access to history. this is more about the language rather than the location. being able to read goethe and understanding it, or being able to listen to beethoven/mozart works with lyrics and understanding it or reading science e.g. humboldt in their original language is extremly cool, because translations always come with some information change or loss.
and regarding the dark german history, being able to actually understand a speech of hitler from back then and being able to closely follow the rhetorical manipulation that he used is a big advantage too. hits different than just "lol look at this guy talking funny german in blackwhite recording".
this also comes with a more realistic understanding of my own nationality, rather than over-glorifying my own country and ending up being way too patriotic about it.

and also the most significant disadvantage
staying with language again- this is the only thing i can actually think of here.
it would be a lot more easy for me, if english was my first language. existing online always comes with the pain of not being able to fully express myself through words. (its not literally painful, just exhausting).
writing down this whole reply post in english exhausts me a lot more than it wld do if i cld just talk german.
a better way to phrase it might be: lack of accessability of other parts in the world through communication

have you thought about avenues on which you would like to approach this once its all done (book)
the novel i am working on is my dedicated life-project. the amount of work and brainpower put into it is already larger than the effort ive put into botb so far. and im still at the beginning lol
i wld love to find a publisher for it one day, and have a paper version of it in stores. i dont rly aim for it to become a bestseller tho, i just want to see a finished version of it one day and that a few people enjoy reading it.

what is unique to hamburg in comparison to other german cities
tough one.
its full of water. rivers, canals, fleets (which is a canal with tides) and all that stuff. its not entirely unique since there are other cities built close to water with tides, but its definitely the biggest city featuring all of this.
also,, hamburg is very green. streets are covered with trees everywhere, lots of parks etc.
also not entirely unique, but worth pointing out because of its size.
maybe i shld go with something simple&stupid then: we have jim block here. its a burger-restaurant food chain with a few restaurants only existent in hamburg. its the best and there wasnt a single burger chain in the US that was close to its quality and taste.

feelings on ddr
not much tbh, it was before my time.
its crazy to think about it, especially when i went to the inner-german border parts a few years ago with my family and we walked along the line where the border was.
the part where it shows nowadays is in current inner politics and a notable difference between east and west german states. thats when i get reminded of the separation.

What's your favourite tag
never thought about this haha
i guess either funky or groovy, because it features lots of music i enjoy a lot. other than that, probably one of the extremly big tags. its crazy what group joke effort can lead to

how high is your vote influence
you can see that on my profile in the profile bio box bottom. its the sum of my points digits. it usually is around 30 right now.
i assume my votes count a little more than a fresh n00b vote, but i never fully understood how high the influence rly is especially on major battle votes.

songs that u identify major parts of yourn life with?
i think its less specific songs and more an artist, album or genre.
i started collecting vinyl records which represent major parts of my life. examples: skrillex for 2013/14, undertale for 2015/16/17, botb winter chip1 for 2018/19/20...

is there any botb entry u hate?
if there is one, i forgot about it. idk, "hate" is such a strong word. im usually not a person who hates things. there might be entries i dislike, and probably some where i dont wanna listen to them another time, but i still wldnt say i hate them.

do u need any new clothes
i think i am happy with my current clothes-situation, but i need a new rain coat and new sandales

if u cld prevent the existence of any major franchise (think star wars, pokemon, etc) at the cost of 200 euro, wld u do it? if so, which one wld u do it to and why?
i dont think theres any i wld like to make disappear

do u ever walk around and go "oh hey i can [random video game mechanic] here" even though it is not possible?
i rarely play videogames and usually dont get involved in them so much that this happens.
what i do remember tho, is when i played a lot of kaizo mario world back in 2011/12/13 and used savestates for every single fucking thing, when i stopped playing i had the weird state for a few minutes, where it felt like i cld use savestates irl and skip back a few seconds. thats not a game mechanic tho, its an emulator mechanic.

why does kohlrabi exist and why do u eat it
for the first thing, i googled. and it seems like people dont know where it comes from and how it originated.
i eat it because i like the taste and texture

you sometimes comment that having a pokemon avatar on botb is unoriginal, yet you had aipom as ur ava for a long while. explain urself
well first of all: its a joke
second tho: i never wanted to use one for myself. other people started using it for me, and the avatar i used for a long time was made by a friend specifically for me. its not like i just went ahead and used an official artwork or random internet graphic for it. i wld only do this with toadette.

How many times have you touched with your mouth each of the following things: penis.
thats hard to say, because believe it or not, i dont keep track of it. blind guess is 56

what is the most fun recipe you have ever cooked
it was less the recipe which was fun and more the environment i was in while cooking. i think the one we did together with halil and emre just before silvester last year was the most fun, just because i like cooking with frens

do u have any songs that always appear in ur mind whenever you do a specific action?
no. but songs end up in my head after reading specific words or talking to specific people.

what is the most random place you have found a chair
im not hyperfocussed on this, so i cant rly tell. ive found a jar of peanut butter on a sbahn seat once tho, and a vhs player by the nearby river on a blanket.

scariest situation you ever been in?
not entirely sure if it was the scariest one, but when i was in 5th or 6th grade i forgot my homework a couple times and the teacher wrote down a note on a paper for my parents to read and sign. instead of showing it to my parents i decided to fake their signature. too bad i wasnt smart enough to make it consistently good enough, so my teacher wanted me to tell my parents AND them to call my teacher back in order to confirm that they read the letter.
i think my way back home on that school day was one of the scariest moments, because i cldnt tell how my parents wld react to it.
in the end it wasnt as bad iirc, but i was scared before that.

what's the point?
.

what is your favorite forest?
Harburger Berge - the forest parts of it. looks especially beautiful in autumn

what's something you've learned from doing collabs?
they teached me to think outside of my comfort zone and made me more versatile as an artist

have you ever seen a wild bear?
no. this is north germany. i see lots of deers here. and i once saw a fox early in the morning near the lake here

have you been to an east asian or south asian country?
never. but i hope that changes soon.
i only ever visited europe and north america.
my long-term goal is to visit every continent tho

favorite indie game?
i dont play many games. i played undertale tho. thats an indie game right? i like undertale, its one of my fav games overall

what is the best color?
i used to say green. my whole room when i was a child was green-colored. i kinda got tired of it. now its purple.

what is the best dog?
mioh

what is your biggest regret?
i dont really have any major regrets atm... i am very happy with how my life developed and dont think theres something i wld change rn.
if i cld go back to 2010 with my current knowledge tho, i think i wld try to make more out of opportunities i got regarding my youtube channels and my music making arc. because there have been a lot of those but i never felt motivated enough to actually do something for my own success and stay in contact with people who cld help me with being successful. not an actual regret tho, just a "what if"-thought

what maintains your interest in submitting songs to botb?
for major battles: creative ideas that still appear in my head every now and then. i usually look through the list of formats on a big one and think "wow i have an idea for this"
for ohbs, its sometimes the creativity, and sometimes the "being lvl33 one day wld be sooo coool, lets get some points now"-thought lol

173977

Why 56? What is its meaning? What is its origin?

173981

https://battleofthebits.com/lyceum/View/56

173984

is there any superstition that you know is not true, yet still follow along "just in case"

did u ever eat grass for fun

is there ever a moment when you do not have a song stuck in yur head??

tell me abt some underrated youtubers that you enjoy/ have enjoyed in th past

what do u most associate with sports? like waht is the first thing that pops up in ur head

why are u so weak to spicy foods

is there any question here that u wanted to answer but it was not meant for u? answer that question :3

173992

Is there still an open seat slot down the line?

173994

Why 56? What is its meaning? What is its origin?
check the lyceum++

is there any superstition that you know is not true, yet still follow along "just in case"
existence of god. not rly following along on this one, but sometimes im like "ayo bro if u actually exist, you are aware im not serious right? xoxo"

did u ever eat grass for fun
when i was younger, yea. grass and löwenzahn

is there ever a moment when you do not have a song stuck in yur head??
yep, today at work was a silent day in my head. and rn while writing this too

tell me abt some underrated youtubers that you enjoy/ have enjoyed in th past
i used to watch so many lets players back in 2012/13/14, also a lot of small ones who stopped making videos ages ago. cant remember most of their names either at this point. and i dont think i wld still enjoy their content nowadays anyway haha
im still watching lookslikelink, but since he used to be germanys most subscribed nintendo lper in 2012, i dont think you can call him underrated?
i also think coldmirror kinda went down the "less well known" road, but she used to be germanys no 1 pre2010 so that doesnt count as underrated either, heh?
travel back in time and ask me that question in 2012, i cld totally give you a detailed reply then

EDIT: actually, in terms of musical content and especially international, marti fischer is extremly underrated and people shld pay more attention to his stuff even if its in german.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdnD44_sEMo

what do u most associate with sports? like waht is the first thing that pops up in ur head
people running around being sweaty.

why are u so weak to spicy foods
because my parents dont empty a whole bottle of chili sauce into every single damn food and never have when i was younger.
and nowadays i dont see the need to burn my mouth inside when i just wanna enjoy some yummy food.
i also hate stuff that is too sweet, so its not only the spice

is there any question here that u wanted to answer but it was not meant for u? answer that question :3
there are so many questions in this thread that i cld answer in detail for myself, but lets go with this one:
Do you have a pet, or have you had a pet in the past?
I grew up with two cats around me. They were siblings and already a few years old when i was born. my mum took them when she moved out of her parents house, kept them in her apartment for a few years and then took them into the house where i grew up.
they both died in my kindergarten/primary school years.
luckily, one of my classmates in primary school lived on a farm and they happend to have new cats a year later, so me and my sister got our parents to get us 2 new lil cats. that was in 2006.
one of them, the orange one, died last year. and his sister is still alive but it shows that shes very old now. almost completely deaf and not the fastest anymore.
i wld say if i was ever attached to a living being that is not my current partner, it was this cat. i rly lov her. but i dont think i will be overly sad when she dies, its just how things go.
other than cats, i never had actual pets.
there was a phase when i collected snails from the garden and put them into a lil box with salad, dirt etc.
i watched out especially for those with broken houses, so that they cld recover in my little cage. after a while i put them back into the wild.
i also had an aquarium when i was younger but instead of fishs i just got snails for that one too lol.
after a few years i got bored of cleaning the thing and decided to get rid of it (sounds more brutal than it was. the glass container itself also got a new prupose when my mum decided to get chicken eggs. 6 out of 10 actually turned into lil chicks and they spent their first few days in that glass container before we slowly transported them into our garden)
oh right, yea. i guess if you count chicken as pets, i also had chicken.

i moved out 2 years ago, and rn i dont have any animals around me (apart from ants who invade my place regularly.. grrr...) but thats okay because with work and hobbies, i dont have much time to take care of a living being other than myself anyway right now.
i do want to have a cat again later when i live in an area where i can actually let it outside. and im still kinda interested in getting bigger snails too... fascinating slimy thingies.

thanks for not-asking this question, it was fun to answer it!!

Is there still an open seat slot down the line?
yes

173995

what is the highest number of sodas and juices you have drinked in 1 day?

are there any botbrs who you wish to see collab with each other, but you know for a fact they will never will?

do u smell like corn

you said u use controller rather than keyboard for video games. what kind of controller? do u use the wiimote or smth

ik u prolly don eat chicken too oft, but when u DO eat chicken, what part do you prefer? what part do you dislike?

if u had to choose between wearing no socks forever or paying twice the taxes forever, which wld u choose and why??

why is everyone in germany so tall

what is ur weird food experience, if any? like if u had smth u normally wld not have: donkey meat, mayonaise on banana, etc

if u cld elect a botbr for the title of WALDMEISTER. who wld it be.

173999

I have not been askin questions bc I feel awkward about being invasive but I have really enjoyed reading this thread and learning about you all. and I think I would like to be In The Seat!! (I put an estimated date in my calendar based on how many ppl are on there but if someone remembers to ping me on the ol discord when my time comes that would be appreciated)
🫡🫡

174001

Is there a stigma against seeking therapy in Germany? I know one younger guy in college in Germany from online and he claims that if he goes to therapy he'll get kicked out of school and his job and that seems delusional but maybe I'm wrong about the culture.

174002

what is the highest number of sodas and juices you have drinked in 1 day?
cant give you a number here, but in 2013/14 i used to drink a full 1.5L bottle of lemonade every day + several glasses of apple juice

are there any botbrs who you wish to see collab with each other, but you know for a fact they will never will?
tripplep + jakerson

do u smell like corn
you have to tell me

what kind of controller?
some logitech thingie for computer. with a cable because i hate bluetooth stuff. i went with that one mainly because of the cable connection and the d-pad which had separate buttons rather than one big button. a lot easier to manage for jumpnruns.
i used to use a 5€ hama-controller first and i was most happy with that one both with size and usability etc, but it broke and i never found the exact same one again in stores.

chicken
dude, u rly asking me questions about meat? idk idc, as long as it tastes good

if u had to choose between wearing no socks forever or paying twice the taxes forever, which wld u choose and why??
no socks is alright, unless its winter.
i wld probably just move to a warm place. especially one where the taxes are low. then i wld have no sox AND half the taxes, wow win/win

why is everyone in germany so tall
we have a lot of rolltreppen here

what is ur weird food experience, if any?
pineapple on pizza

if u cld elect a botbr for the title of WALDMEISTER. who wld it be.
big lumby? x)

Is there a stigma against seeking therapy in Germany?
there definitely is but i think it got better recently.

174010

Judging by some Discord convos, I thought "56" had a holy/angelical connotation.

Also, DBOYD is next!

You describe your music as "Romantic Gameboy Dance/Punk shreddin'". How long has it been since you started defining it this way? Were you making a different type of music before that?

What do you like about performing live? Did the pandemic temporarily get in your way to keep doing that? Do you plan to perform live again?

Why the Game Boy soundchip is your favourite to work with? Is it the system you get the most nostalgia from?

Favourite game OSTs?

Favourite albums?

174011

how many times have you experienced battery save death on a gb cartridge
feelings on competition based composition vs writing music outside of this construct
working front line in 2020 must have been tough. what would have been your ideal profession in that time
did you have any aims regarding your game boy music relative to what other people were putting out there on the system (ie "i wanted to sound like x / i wanted to rise against the sound of y")
what is your fondest 8bc memory (I think you were around then right?)
since joining botb you have ventured out beyond the comfort of your usual mediums - are there still things that you would wish to try

174013

what sides will you have with your burger?

174016

what is your history with music (playing, making, or even just interest)

if you could choose any one vocalist to sing on one of your tracks (either already written or hypothetical and unwritten) who would it be

what brought you to the name don'tblinkoryou'lldie

174028

D. Boyd - -

What/where was your favorite live performance?

What's something you'd share that most of us here don't know about you?

Where do you commonly draw inspiration from when writing music?

174057

what is ur second-favourite fruit

do u enjoy sports?

wld u rather have to arm wrestle a gorilla every morning or play a board game against a AI every night? in both situations, losing costs you 75$ and if you are broke, you die

who is ur botbr nemesis

what is ur favourite nature-place to exist in?

this is unrelated to yourn favourite colour: what colour is your personality at th moment?

is there any food you absolutely cannot stand? n why?

which chore do you dislike the most?

imagine you are the leader of some country. the people are starving, but the only way to give them food is through extremely unethical means (think smth rly messed up, like a human meat processing plant). what wld u do?

what is the funnyest botb entry from ur experience?

tell me about a time when u did smth stupid and got away with it.

174059

Hello all!! Okay so,

You describe your music as "Romantic Gameboy Dance/Punk shreddin'". How long has it been since you started defining it this way? Were you making a different type of music before that?
I think it's been a few years at least. This is just one of my attempts at trying to describe my sound and style in some way, and it just happened to stick with me! Also important to note that "Romantic" in this context isn't limited to romantic love but also in the sense of imaginative, dreamy, and expressing other human emotions. (Kinda sounds pretentious now that I think about it OOPS).

What do you like about performing live? Did the pandemic temporarily get in your way to keep doing that? Do you plan to perform live again?
Sharing myself, who I am through my music, and doing so with and for people I consider friends and colleagues in this community, is what brings me joy. Tbh, the pandemic didn't mess that up a ton, this was around the time when certain people in chiptune or adjacent spaces, some who I have considered friends, turned out to be really ab*sive and shitty, and 100% fuck those ppl but I think those events made me more guarded towards other people in general. (that's another topic that I don't really feel like diving into atm).
Aside from that, I purposefully decided to break from live shows in late 2019 to focus on writing new music and incorporating other elements into my performance+writing, which admittedly I'm still working on, mental hurdles be damned. I've been feeling a little lost with music lately and what exactly I want to do with it, but I'm taking it a day at a time and focusing on what comes naturally for me. And, I did return to the stage in late April! I played some oldies and new tracks, and even covered At the Drive-In lmao. So yeah, sorry for the long winded rambing answer haha.

Why the Game Boy soundchip is your favourite to work with? Is it the system you get the most nostalgia from?
Surprisingly, no! The most nostagic awards probably go to SNES, N64 and PS1, being a massive RPG head haha. It's one of my favorites for sure, but that's because I have LSDJ to thank for being my favorite tracker haha.

Favourite game OSTs?
Final Fantasy IX, Shining Force II, Pokemon Gold/Silver, SMW2: Yoshi's Island, Kirby Super Star, Legend of Mana, Super Mario RPG, Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, Panel de Pon, and Akumajou Densetsu. I should probably stop there lmao.

Favourite albums? this changes a lot However, here are some constants
Nirvana - Nevermind
At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command
Jawbreaker - Dear You
Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I
Jeff Rosenstock - No Dream
Pasteboard - Glitter
Melt-Banana - Fetch
Boris - Pink
Ichiko Aoba - qp
MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS - self-titled
Number Girl - School Girl Distortional Addict

how many times have you experienced battery save death on a gb cartridge
Zero times onstage thankfully, I have had a couple of carts either get corrupted somehow or dead battery.

feelings on competition based composition vs writing music outside of this construct
Taking the competition aspect too seriously I think has the potential to do more harm than good, otherwise it can be quite fun and I great way to challenge oneself in various ways! It's certainly helped me. Art I believe should first and foremost be an expression of the self and one's lived experiences, similar to what dexbassoon described in their answer.

working front line in 2020 must have been tough. what would have been your ideal profession in that time
pretty much anything with remote work. I did some game jams during that time though and that was fun, I might like to try doing more in the future.

did you have any aims regarding your game boy music relative to what other people were putting out there on the system (ie "i wanted to sound like x / i wanted to rise against the sound of y")
Stylistically speaking, as much as I enjoyed what was coming out at the time of me discovering chiptune (2010-2014, lots of 4 on the floor, dubstep, edm), I just wanted, and still want to write ecstatic, chaotic punk/hardcore-tinged jams. I remember hearing some folks around then and thinking "Yeah, this is closer to what I want to achieve" and one of those artists was Kommisar! And Solarbear, and fod, and hertzdevil.... hehe hope that answers your question!

what is your fondest 8bc memory (I think you were around then right?)
Right so, I made an account right before it ended up crashing so I never used it (I think the name was something silly like Sonic mage?? LMFAO) so I mainly just lurked for info on the forums, and of course, the weekly top 3... good times. I was more on microcollective and cmo tho

since joining botb you have ventured out beyond the comfort of your usual mediums - are there still things that you would wish to try
BIG ones right now are: Adding vox to my tracks! And FM! I really want to learn FM chips!

what sides will you have with your burger?
Sweet Potato fries w/ honey mustard! There was a bar in Oklahoma City that I used to frequent a lot during college and after graduation, and that would be my go-to. Always makes me a little nostalgic. <3

what is your history with music (playing, making, or even just interest)
Played trumpet for 12 years, starting in the summer of 5th grade and all throughout university, up until graduation. Also played piano for almost the same amount of time but I am NOT a good player by any means hahaha. I play a little guitar. My interest in writing started in high school with Guitar Pro, mainly just doodling in little ideas I had at the time. Didn't really kick off until my 2nd year in uni, and I've focused on writing ever since then!

if you could choose any one vocalist to sing on one of your tracks (either already written or hypothetical and unwritten) who would it be
Good question! I did a Jimmy Eat World cover with my friend who goes by "external signal", so honestly I would love to collab with them on other stuff too. Otherwise, idk!

what brought you to the name don'tblinkoryou'lldie
don'tblinkoryou'lldie is more of a mindset I try to adopt. For me, it means taking chances, living my life as fully and wholly as I can. In a way, it's my attempt at a big "fuck you" to my lifelong struggles with d*pression, anxiety, insecurity, and just fucking doing the damn thing. Something like that!

What/where was your favorite live performance?
either MAGfest 2019, or Norman Music Fest 9 at Red Brick Bar... small intimate venue, late at night, I don't think anybody besides my friends knew what the hell chiptune was but, the energy was palpable that night, everyone was dancing and going ham, might be cringe to say there was a sort of magic in the air but hell, that's what it felt like! It was just a great feeling.

What's something you'd share that most of us here don't know about you?
I've been collecting video games on and off since 2011 or so. Not so much right now tho because used prices are CRAZY right now like wtf?!? ;__;
Also, I'm getting married to my longtime partner in October!!

Where do you commonly draw inspiration from when writing music?
Honestly it's kind of all over the place. Sonically, sometimes it's a song or band I'm listening to. Prompt-wise, it could be anything, ranging from whatever emotions I'm feeling to something more tangible like nature or changing of seasons, or something like that.

WHEW WOW OKAY!! Thank you all for these questions, I've really had to rack my brain a few times and that's GOOD. All wonderful questions so far, keep 'em comin'!

174061

what is ur second-favourite fruit
Blueberries are a close second to Apples and Bananas!

do u enjoy sports?
If I'm watching casually with friends, yeah absolutely. I don't usually go out of my way to watch a game though.

wld u rather have to arm wrestle a gorilla every morning or play a board game against a AI every night? in both situations, losing costs you 75$ and if you are broke, you die
*stock photo of older man raising hands in the air* "Guess I'll die!"
LMAO but honestly probably the board game, I could at least choose the game hopefully? I would at least have a chance

who is ur botbr nemesis
Nobody. Yet. Quick, let's start a major battle to HATE DBOYD, winner will become my nemesis!!!

what is ur favourite nature-place to exist in?
I like forests and beaches, forests just a little more.

this is unrelated to yourn favourite colour: what colour is your personality at th moment?
mustard yellow

is there any food you absolutely cannot stand? n why?
Candy corn because it's waxy and gross. And, although I couldn't stand the texture last time I tried, I do want to give natto another go.

which chore do you dislike the most?
probably folding and putting away laundry.

imagine you are the leader of some country. the people are starving, but the only way to give them food is through extremely unethical means (think smth rly messed up, like a human meat processing plant). what wld u do?
oh my god... if I sacrifice myself in some way so that the people can live on without starving ever again, will that work?

what is the funnyest botb entry from ur experience?
Right now it's this

tell me about a time when u did smth stupid and got away with it.
I have never done anything bad in my ENTIRE LIFE I AM A SAINT jk jk but!! i was an accomplice to one of my friends stealing a big energy drink sign from a nearby restaurant and us driving away with it, then he threw it away somewhere. This was in high school and done entirely on impulse.
We were banned from that restaurant of course haha.

174065

For you, what was the most game changer thing that happened with any music tools you've used?

Which music websites did you often visit before 8bc?

Any game of the current generation that impressed you the most?

Whenever you're alone while waiting in line or taking public transportation or such, what do you choose to do to distract yourself?

Tell me about a time that required you to stay awake for the longest period you can remember.

What's your favorite childhood memory? Go into as much detail as you'd like.

174072

Putting music aside, favorite RPG for gameplay alone?

174092

For you, what was the most game changer thing that happened with any music tools you've used?
I can't remember any one specific moment. There were some "firing on all cylinders" moments when writing some older tracks of mine, like Snowy haired reaper girl and Michiko, I remember all of my knowledge of using LSDj coming together in those moments and just pacing back and forth, plugging away at it, giddy with excitement like "oh hell yeah I think I'm finally getting the hang of this!"

Which music websites did you often visit before 8bc?
Hahaha.... y'all remember myspace music? or purevolume? Probably those. Can't remember the name but there was one blog that released a bunch of (at the time) obscure 2nd wave emo records for dl, that's how I discovered Texas Is the Reason, Mineral, early Jimmy Eat World, Elliott, SDRE etc etc

Any game of the current generation that impressed you the most?
I'm not much of a current gen gamer but I really enjoyed Stray! And when I tell you that I was hooked on Tears of the Kingdom?? Absolutely enthralled... (I need to go back and actually finish it sometime haha) I really want to play Eiyuden Chronicle next, and the Suikoden I + II Remasters when they drop.

Whenever you're alone while waiting in line or taking public transportation or such, what do you choose to do to distract yourself?
Probably flip through my phone

Tell me about a time that required you to stay awake for the longest period you can remember.
This was certainly not a requirement (not a lot of moments like that that I can remember) but, when I was in high school I was hanging out with my usual group of friends, and took only two sips of this energy drink called Cocaine (yes that was the name) and it kept me up until 6am... then I slept for 2 hours, woke up at 8 to drive back home and never felt more rested in my life.
That drink was so dangerous. Got banned shortly after it released.... hmmmm wonder why.

What's your favorite childhood memory? Go into as much detail as you'd like.
I remember seeing FLCL when it was airing for the first time in the US and my mind just being blown at what I was witnessing. Definitely a formative moment and one of my faves as a kid.

Putting music aside, favorite RPG for gameplay alone?
Oh my GOD there are too many to count! I am a sucker for games with a good class/job system, and tactical RPGS as well. So DQ7, FF Tactics, Fire Emblem 3 Houses, Shining Force series... Legend of Legaia's combat system was also quite creative IMO, fusing elements of a fighting game (turn-based but you input button combinations to attack enemies) was something I hadn't seen before.

174096

is there any song from you that u REALLY like but you feel like it never got the attention it deserved? nows your chance to repost it

174098

hav u met another botbr before?

how do u feel abt me calling you: dont you or blink die

name 3 soundchips you wld eat, ranked from least to most crunchy

country punk. i started listening to it a while ago and i wanna know ur opinion on it

do u have any original characters, if so can u tell abt em

wld u rather drink orange juice after brushing yourn teeths or brush yourn teeths after drinking orange juice

is there any event in ur life that makes u go "ah yea, without that event i wld not be here" when u look back at it?

name any person that u think shld get more recognition for what dey do

what is the shadiest thing u were told to do and did u do it

how do u pronounce worcestershire

174107

is there any song from you that u REALLY like but you feel like it never got the attention it deserved?
I wanna say Our Turn
from BJC2, there was an early version from Winter Chip XII but that one sucks, the album version is much better. I labored over it but I was pretty happy with it, it encapsulates more of a style that resonates with me and is ultimately more of what I want to write.

174108

hav u met another botbr before?
Oh goodness I could really wax nostalgic here for awhile, but I'll keep it brief and say, yes lots of Botbrs surprisingly! Thanks to events like SST, MAGfest, SXSW, and more! I feel very fortunate to have been able to, and I hope to meet more of you in the future~

how do u feel abt me calling you: dont you or blink die
lol go for it

name 3 soundchips you wld eat, ranked from least to most crunchy
PC-98, PC Engine, Gameboy.

country punk. i started listening to it a while ago and i wanna know ur opinion on it
I haven't listened to any, but on paper it sounds like it would pretty sick

do u have any original characters, if so can u tell abt em
I don't have any, sorry :(

wld u rather drink orange juice after brushing yourn teeths or brush yourn teeths after drinking orange juice
Drink OJ first, then brush

is there any event in ur life that makes u go "ah yea, without that event i wld not be here" when u look back at it?
I try not to dwell on "what if" moments too much. Besides, I had enough interest in VGM as a genre and medium that it would've probably led me to chiptune anyway, it just would've happened either sooner or much later. I will say going to MAGfest in 2015 really sealed it for me that chiptune was truly something special to me, and I wanted to be a part of it.

name any person that u think shld get more recognition for what dey do
SO MANY people, basically anybody in an artistic medium. And anybody who works or has worked an essential job at any point in their life, be it during the pandemic or not, deserves the world.

what is the shadiest thing u were told to do and did u do it
I honestly don't know! I tried not to get into trouble as a kid, though in retrospect it might've been nice to be a little rebellious every now and again.

how do u pronounce worcestershire
I have always pronounced it "wuhr-steh-sher" but I think it's more like "wuss-teh-sher"

174114

Any anime you enjoyed watching as much as FLCL?

What other moments in your life you definitely consider to have been formative?

Mr. DBOYD, you'll be turned into a demon. But since Satan respects your dignity, they'll let you choose your pair of horns from an assortment of options. Which of these do you choose?

174142

DBOYD,
what is the meaning of life?

174158

put me in the queue pls and thank you <3

DBOYD, what is the squishiest object you own?

174159

Any anime you enjoyed watching as much as FLCL?
Oh sure, though some of them impacted me in different ways but were still pretty formative for me in the time I watched them. Evangelion (Show, "End of", Rebuild movies) was a big one I watched with my Uni friends. Welcome to the NHK got me through some heavy points in my life when I first watched it. I don't think they would hit me as hard if I re-watched them now, but those 2 are big ones that hold special places for sure. Also currently enjoying or enjoyed: Planetes, A Silent Voice, Darker Than Black, Gundam 08th MS Team, Summer Wars... plenty more but I'll stop there.

What other moments in your life you definitely consider to have been formative?
Traveling to Japan in 2016 was huge for me, also probably discovering 8bc, ucollective and then Botb (I think 2010, 2012, and 2013/2014 respectively (s/o Summer Chip IV!!)). Deciding definitely that I wanted to write music was a leap of courage that ofc I'm so glad I took. Ummmmm yeah those are the biggest ones I can think of!

Mr. DBOYD, you'll be turned into a demon. But since Satan respects your dignity, they'll let you choose your pair of horns from an assortment of options. Which of these do you choose?
Tempted to say 6 so I can be like a lil reindeer guy hehehe, but probably either 1 or 3.... I'll go no. 3!

DBOYD,
what is the meaning of life?
Idk. I'm just making it up as I go along. As long as you're not hurting people or yourself, just do the best you can for yourself and others. Invest in community, follow your passions, don'tblinkoryou'lldie.

DBOYD, what is the squishiest object you own?
I have a lot of Pokemon plushies but none that are like, "squishy" material I guess? Probably either my Turtwig or Dratini, OR this one toy alligator I had as a kid that I named "Squeaky", because it squeaked when you squeezed it lol

174168

Thanks for participating, DBOYD! Glad to know Shining Force II is one of your favorite OSTs. No wonder I love your music so much <3

And now, it's time for A64 to take a break from making PHAT BEATS and answer some questions.

When you lack the motivation to compose, do you mostly try to forcefully do anything to stay motivated or do you just wait for the inspiration to happen?

Other than how he manages his sound channels, have you learned anything else from Savaged Regime? If yes, what else did you learn?

What are you most looking forward to for the remainder of 2023?

174180

How did you learn to make music? Are you self taught, or did you go to a school for music?

174188

ah right my turn now isnt it lmfao

From Tex:
Q: When you lack the motivation to compose, do you mostly try to forcefully do anything to stay motivated or do you just wait for the inspiration to happen?
A: could either be both or none, mostly came from me forcefully finding inspiration, tho that quickly dies out if im tired or lazy

Q: Other than how he manages his sound channels, have you learned anything else from Savaged Regime? If yes, what else did you learn?
A: oh yes! savaged is quite a massive inspiration for me. one trick that i learnt the most from his stuffs is using yhe extended channel 3 and different algorithms for polyphony (yes algorithms affect the polyphony you can have on channel 3)

Q: What are you most looking forward to for the remainder of 2023?
A: free from the shackles of school work and back to make more junk lol, namely OPL3 stuffs. also wanted to learn skills to make my own hobby project related to music.

From Yung Gotenks:
Q: How did you learn to make music? Are you self taught, or did you go to a school for music?
A: all self-taught! i started everything from scratch long ago by doing a shitton of covers and passively studying them while i do so, eventually gaining enough to make my own stuffs

174191

Have you ever been to a live chiptune concert? Have you ever played in one or considered doing so?

174194

What is your favorite chip? (In terms of workflow and preference)

174212

A64, what's something you'd share about yourself that most of us here don't know?

Favorite game composer?

174218

How long have you been doing music for? Where do you find your musical inspiration for your original tracks, and how do you keep finding ways to push soundchips to the extreme, do you have like a plan to going into it or do you just find something neat and run with? I can imagine it'd take a long while

I was really impressed back when I saw your Home resonance cover and also Carve Your Path, it's actually what introduced me to Battle of the Bits lmao. Sorry for the barrage of questions

174221

From zipdisq:
Q: Have you ever been to a live chiptune concert? Have you ever played in one or considered doing so?
A: ive never been in one and i will be very happy to be in one :D

From Kot:
Q: What is your favorite chip? (In terms of workflow and preference)
A: for psg has to be the ay-3-8910, for fm theres a lot of choice but i think opl3 might be my fave

From kilowatt64:
Q: A64, what's something you'd share about yourself that most of us here don't know?
A: not really sure what i have to tell about myself aside from the fact im just a typical person lol. i like spaghetti and also plays roblox i guess?? not really sure.

Q: Favorite game composer?
A: oof this is hard, but my bias definitely has to be yousuke yasui

From dobra:
Q: How long have you been doing music for? Where do you find your musical inspiration for your original tracks, and how do you keep finding ways to push soundchips to the extreme, do you have like a plan to going into it or do you just find something neat and run with? I can imagine it'd take a long while
A: this is a big one. ive been doing music for approximately 3 years now, keep finding my motivation through youtube recommendations and also me trying to find some bangers on it. idk how i push soundchips i just do my usual stuffs and it just works™ lol. i just kinda yolo everything, tho i will typically try to sketch out random things first and if it sounds good i will stick to it. it either is a very quick process or a long one actually :P
also its ok with the questions barrage, ill try to answer em all lol

174227

do you think life exist on other places in space?

any hot takes that you have?

what is the riskyest thing u ever done?

any plans for the near future? lets say for liek... the next 2-5 years, what do u see urself doing

least favourite food, if any?

did you pick up any cool skills (other than music or internet-related) during the pandemic?

besides roblox what video games did u play recently

best movie ever in ur opinion? ?

174233

from mioh :3
Q: do you think life exist on other places in space?
A: yes.

Q: any hot takes that you have?
A: firewire shouldve survived, ipods must live

Q: what is the riskyest thing u ever done?
A: i dont recall any of the things ive done and were risky :(

Q: any plans for the near future? lets say for liek... the next 2-5 years, what do u see urself doing
A: pursuing computer-related jobs and probably music as a hobby, would like to release an album in the near future with FM synth stuffs,,

Q: least favourite food, if any?
A: dont really have any cuz all ive ate before are all good stuffs

Q: did you pick up any cool skills (other than music or internet-related) during the pandemic?
A: apparently i can do sketches and drawings lol

Q: besides roblox what video games did u play recently
A: team fortress 2 mainly, maybe some honkai: star rail and devil may cry 5

Q: best movie ever in ur opinion? ?
A: id definitely say 9, underrated animated movie imo

174234

Any techniques you tried to apply in your own music but didn't succeed yet? If yes, why the problem?

174236

What advice would you give to people who want to improve their Compositional and sound design skills (specifically FM)? I'm especially interested since you are self-taught.

174249

lets say u have to climb a wall, and u have a choice of ANY wall in existence. the only constrains is that the wall must be at least 10m tall and completely vertical, and you must climb it without any gear or ropes. if u fall, u and 15 others will be killed. which kind of wall will you choose

coolest man-made place you ever been to?

rank all playable characters in tf2

what is a work o yourn that you think deserves better recognition?

is there anything that you know to exist yet cannot find online

what taste of music do you think u make

174254

Woooooo A64!! :DDD What do you inspire to do in the future chiptune and retro wise? Ever considered getting involved in gamejam osts? (or maybe ye have already?)

174264

A64 is welcome to answer the last 4 posts while everyone else asks questions to Bravoman from this point onwards.

174272

From Tex:
Q: Any techniques you tried to apply in your own music but didn't succeed yet? If yes, why the problem?
A: mostly related to FM sound design in general, i was trying to aim for a way modern sound design (id say notable examples are stuffs like HARDCORE TANO*C) which i do fail, my FM knowledge is subpar but insufficient for something like that for now, maybe soon enough i will get to that point

From B-Doh:
Q: What advice would you give to people who want to improve their Compositional and sound design skills (specifically FM)? I'm especially interested since you are self-taught.
A: i will definitely say, just listen to some music that you like for sure, its the main way for me to get inspirations. for sound design id say its just experimentations and maybe some questions for people that know better. i myself am not really that consistent and sometimes i still also have issues with basic stuffs too, so dont afraid to get experimental and ask people around.

From mioh :0
Q: lets say u have to climb a wall, and u have a choice of ANY wall in existence. the only constrains is that the wall must be at least 10m tall and completely vertical, and you must climb it without any gear or ropes. if u fall, u and 15 others will be killed. which kind of wall will you choose
A: yes. the answer is yes.

Q: coolest man-made place you ever been to?
A: i dont really go outside that much or went abroad at all but i think one thing's cool is that there's an observatory pretty close to my house that's recently opened and it looks nic as hell

Q: rank all playable characters in tf2
A: personal bias so, medic > heavy > engineer > demoman > soldier > pyro > scout > spy > sniper

Q: what is a work o yourn that you think deserves better recognition?
A: i lowkey cant guess what the typo is but if you think my personal stuffs that deserves more recognition would probably be my recent FM explorations and experimentation lol

Q: is there anything that you know to exist yet cannot find online
A: my headphones, sucks really bad to find proper info about it online (its a pair of philips shp2000 btw)

Q: what taste of music do you think u make
A: definitely edm, not sure about the vibe it gives off lol

From the OPM!!!!:
Q: Woooooo A64!! :DDD What do you inspire to do in the future chiptune and retro wise? Ever considered getting involved in gamejam osts? (or maybe ye have already?)
A: i still have feelings that i want to release an EP or album consists of FM sound design showcase with dem chips to showcase my craftsmanship but i dont really have enough time nor the true motivation to do that yet xD. also gamejams, i used to make a song for gamejam before and it was very trashy.

Thanks for the chances for me to answer the question ppl had to me Tex!! :>

174280

what toppings are going on your perfect pizza?

174284

If you could cross off only one more item listed in your BotB bucket list, which one would it be?

What is the most mundane thing you learned about driving so far? What is the most exciting?

How did you come up with your ms paint spray style that was so prevalent in your earlier visuall entries?

174315

what are your favorite and least chip sound design styles?

174316

Bravoman: if you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Favorite soundchip, and why?

What's something you'd be willing to share that most of us don't know about you?

174323

what kind of sandwich is ur favourite

what do u have as ur ringtone set

u hav to get a cyborg body part. it will have reduced mobility but absolutly insane power. which body part do u get a cyborg replacement of?

what is a vgm that always moves you, no matter when/where you are?
what is a vgm that gives you boundless energy?

any underrated groups/people you listen to recently?

174335

Alright I was busy so it's a time!!!!

roz asks what my favorite pizza toppings are.
All i need is those sweet peps and da cheez!

Tex asks these questions:
"If you could cross off only one more item listed in your BotB bucket list, which one would it be?"
Um, well I think it would be getting rad rabbit that high social status he deserves (lol)

"What is the most mundane thing you learned about driving so far? What is the most exciting?"
The most BORING thing I have learned from driving is that you need to check so much borrrrrinnnng stuff before you drive like under and over the vehicle and oil and AUGH, but an exciting thing is that freeway driving is crazy, scary and exciting. Gotta check those mirrors!!

"How did you come up with your ms paint spray style that was so prevalent in your earlier visuall entries?"
One day, on the draw a bunny challenge #6900, I wanted to draw a really silly funny goofy picture (RAD RABBIT) and I thought MS paint would be great for that so I just tried making an old-school kind of thing a child would do on MS Paint. It kind of stuck and over time I put more care into it than a child might.

Kot asks what my favorite and least favorite chiptune sound design styles are.
I must my favorite thing ppl do in chiptune is when they arrange and compose in a masterful way with just the most "milk and honey-like sounds" simply makes my ears quiver in delight! (hanna, doctorn0gloff, and people more on the grooving side like FADE and Tim Follin are great examples) But on the other hand I hate it when people don't use effort (like slappin a midi on gxscc) and call it chiptune. There are also many avant-garde kinds of songs in the chiptune scene that I respect, but don't really understand (it's cool anyways guys, keep doin ya thang)

kilowatt64 asks these questions:
"if you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be?"
I would definitely go to Japan, it seems like such an interesting place and I'm really interested in the culture, language, and people there. (they have so many cool things wowow!!)

"Favorite soundchip, and why?"
My favorite soundchip is definitely the SPC700 or the SNES sound chip. I just love the small samples, big echoes, and all the possibilities you can get out of it. Has a REALLY unique sound to it (I just need a good tool that exports to .spc hnggggg)

"What's something you'd be willing to share that most of us don't know about you?"
I'm a junior in high school for all of those who don't know, been making music ever since middle school when I was toying around with BeepBox on the bus ride to school/home. I'm also a huge band guy, I play the trumpet, just started to get back in the marching band groove this month.

mirageofher has a lot of questions for me:

"what kind of sandwich is ur favourite"
HAM AND CHEEZ WITH MAYO

"what do u have as ur ringtone set"
default iPhone ringtone lol

"u hav to get a cyborg body part. it will have reduced mobility but absolutly insane power. which body part do u get a cyborg replacement of?"
Hmmm... I'm going with my thumb toe on my right foot, just because that's niche and cool, plus I can show people my cool toe powers like lazors and all that jazz!!!

"what is a vgm that always moves you, no matter when/where you are?"
Duuuuddde... Listening to Tori theme from Equinox gives me a feeling of absolute wonder and awe. Makes me feel many emotions I can't describe

what is a vgm that gives you boundless energy?
The TIME TRAX MISSION BRIEFING THEME is just GROOVIN like CRAYZAYYYYY!!!! (if you didn't notice, I'm kind of a diehard Follin fan)

"any underrated groups/people you listen to recently?"
There's a record label/group on Bandcamp called Heimat der Katastrophe that makes some pretty interesting stuff. Dungeon Synth and a whole lot of other stuff, I recommend anyone who is an RPG junkie like me to check their stuff out!!!

174346

is there any random object, situation, time period, etc that u associate with a style of music for like no reason

how long have u weared your current shoes for.

have u ever used a instrument (sound, sample, vst?) in One Singular Song and then never use it ever again? which one wld it be

how annoyed are u with ads that go between tthe music

how many loops do you make when tying ur shoes. also how many knots

favourite 3 cheeses?

174347

what is the weirdest song you like (and why)

conversely what is the weirdest song you dislike (and why)

favorite secret sauce (interpret this literally or not, up to you)

174349

great choice!

174358

Which song of yours is the most bravomancore?

And which one is the least?

174359

More Questions!!!

From mirageofher:

"is there any random object, situation, time period, etc that u associate with a style of music for like no reason:
Well it took me a while to think of a good answer but whenever I listen to disco or 70s-80s R&B I'll be thinking of big structures/monoliths, gems, or even big 'ol spaceships. Like a sci-fi fusion of ancient history.

"how long have u weared your current shoes for."
I have weared my current shoes for about 10 hours now, but if you were talking about for as long as I've owned them, it's around 1 and a half of a year.

"have u ever used a instrument (sound, sample, vst?) in One Singular Song and then never use it ever again? which one wld it be"
I think by have you mean if? Anyhow, I would probably use multiple instances of the same moog-like subtractive synth vst in a song to see what cool sounds I can make.

"how annoyed are u with ads that go between tthe music"
I get pretty annoyed, the ads are a good reason I don't use Spotify and sometimes use YouTube to listen to music. (rarely SoundCloud as well)

"how many loops do you make when tying ur shoes. also how many knots"
I'll do 2 knots, maybe 3 for good measure. As for loops, I'm not really counting on those so maybe 4??? (I'll be honest, I know how to tie my shoes alright, but for some reason my brain does not know exactly the specifics of a knot in the context of shoe-tying)

favourite 3 cheeses?
It's gotta be Havarti, Mild Cheddar, and Muenster. In that order.
an honorable mention would be Brie.

From damifortune:

"what is the weirdest song you like (and why)"
This song is so weird, why do I like it!!!! Well the answer is that the ethereal sound design along with all the cool effects just make it so oddly fun to listen to! I love weird cool awesome songs like this. While this is a song on one end of the spectrum, try giving this weird song
a listen, it's got a different kind of quirkiness to it.

"conversely what is the weirdest song you dislike (and why)"
I HATE THE CRAZY BUS THEME (I'm sure everyone else does) because it's ear grating square wave hell. I must admit that it is very legendary (or infamous)

"favorite secret sauce (interpret this literally or not, up to you)"
The sauce they never tell you about. I can't even say what it is guys, it's too secret.

From Tex:

"Which song of yours is the most bravomancore?"
The ESSENCE of my style - I can't be too sure, as one can't completely know oneself, but I'd say this one.

"And which one is the least?"
I don't know why this don't sound like me,

If anyone else can define what bravomancore even is, that would make it easier since it's hard for me to judge myself sometimes

174374

While our bunny friend pursues their quest for musical identity, funute, our next seater, pursues their quest to avoid badges like the plague.

funute, is there any piece of media (book/game/movie/etc) that you really like, yet it cannot be found anywhere online? It has to be something you don't have archived either, so you only know it ever existed from memory.

174377

if you were to retcon a backstory for your name what would it be
from what i can tell, you have an interest and proficiency in programming. what brought that about and what kept it going beyond that point
once you get to an arbitrary amount of leveled badgelessness will you be tempted to get a badge, and if so, which one gives the most temptation (my guess would be something signalist)

174379

At what point did you start intentionally avoiding badges, and what linspired you to do it?

If for some reason a new BotBr wanted to reach a high level without getting any badges, what advice would you give them?

What is your routine/workflow for making renders?

174382

how did you figure out ym-fm feedback,,,,

174384

what are a few of your favorite albums?

what genres of tv and movies do you like?

174392

what's going on your toast?

174394

Oops! I did not see those questions. It slowed down so much that I kinda forgot.

KILOWATT64
Is there a particular quality in music that really speaks to you? Some element, aesthetic or feel that stands out to you whenever you hear it?
lush pads and wide soundscapes. I don't know why, either! I think that a possible explanation is that I was raised on th NDS era of chiptune which contains a lot of Big Chords with Stereo Panning Positions due to the increased channel count.

MIOH
if you cld delete one food from existence, what wld it be? combination recipes like "pineapple on pizza" are not allowed for this answer
i would delete bread because it would be funny everyone would freak out about not being able to make basic stuff

this is a purely hypothetical bout of sadism ofc, so don't give me this power

name 3 countries to stack on top of each other
top: russia (has the most trees)
middle: chad (has the most pollution)
bottom: united states (deflects alien conspiracies as it is impossible for them to crash land)
concept: the pollution enters russia from below and is turned into oxygen by the trees, and the US gets mad at russia and keeps them from taking over chad

also the united states can no longer claim aliens have visited earth bc they can't have any crash on their property

world issues solved: all of them (real)

thank you for coming to my ted talk

do you have a childhood song that gets stuck in your head
no

thank you for coming to my ted talk

what is a board game that you played recently
honestly can't remember

do you get any weird random feelings from time to time, like "internal lung tickling" or "rib bendies" or "spiky eyes" ???

sometimes my foot will fall asleep for no apparent reason with my leg 100% straight, also I do get those weird eye pains that are like headaches for one eye, and I get chest pain if I eat like shit sometimes, which is a frequent occurence after Parties when there are leftovers in the house

also muscle twitches are a thing that happens to me

if u cld be in any pokemon region of ur choosing, but only as a regular npc with 1 line of dialogue, which region wld u live in
Unova. Everyone who has played it remembers it fondly so I would be remembered alongside them. *nods*

I would say a swore word. it would be Funny

frogs or toads
the slippery boi: frog

i think they look cooler

toads are like the disgruntled cousin that doesn't bathe nearly as much as they need to

favourite pokeball?
dream ball

what is the oldest lamp/light that you own
the main light in my room is as old as the house its in so I'd say that one

do u like dragons
yus

scaly bois

174403

how many pencils/pens can you fit above ur lip, NO HANDS/ASSISTS, as a mustache??? my record is 4

lets say u hav to enter a ohb every day against some botbr. u host it, and so the format is yourn to choose! it must be different every day though. now, ur opponent is selected by a vote from a secret group of botbrs. if u win, u will get to know the identity of one of th secret group botbrs. if u lose, u lose 100 boons. a no-show is a loss. if u have 0 or less boons, a mosquito will bite the most annoying place ever. what is ur hosting strategy. and what kind of music n arts will u make to be Absolutely Sure to Win. or will u just succumb to mosquito

do u use blue or black ink when signing a document !

have u ever made some amazing cover but.. u had nowhere to share it or it was not appreciated as much as u wld like?

what pattern is better, leopard print or tiger print

what is a weird fact abt u that ppl wld be suspicious of if u told them

174404

have you ever licked a crunched mosquitoe off your skin?

174407

favorite type of cracker (saltine, club, ritz, etc)

174410

what's the weirdest guy youve met? what was he like? were you a better or worse person for having met him

174411

Whoa, it's my turn already!

========

From Tex
:

is there any piece of media (book/game/movie/etc) that you really like, yet it cannot be found anywhere online?

Not quite, although in the spirit of your question, I'll reminisce about some old, maybe lost-in-time gaming experiences.

Back in around 2006 or so in the Flash/web game era, I vaguely remember playing this neat game on some obscure website. It was like a sort of proto-Mario Maker, where you have one square screen of various tiles and enemies and things, and you could build out these custom levels or play a bunch of other people's levels. It also had an 8-bit style and it had some neat chiptune tracks in it too. I don't remember the name of the game or the website, so I assume it's lost to the sands of time.

Similarly, I used to enjoy checking out random custom maps in StarCraft: Brood War. For reference, people would make custom game modes in these maps, and they were basically distributed P2P by people hosting and joining lobbies on battle.net with these maps. I remember I particularly liked the TD maps and Bound maps (they're kinda like obstacle courses). I'm sure a good number of them I played are also lost to time.

From gotoandplay
:

if you were to retcon a backstory for your name what would it be

I didn't really have an internet identity set in stone at the time I joined, and I'd go around engaging in random sites for about a week or so. I would come up with random names for throwaway accounts by thinking of random phrases or fake English sounding words. Here I happened to be thinking of the word "finite" at the time and replaced the I's with U's to make it a fake funny sounding word.

It's still not supposed to mean anything, it's just a funny sounding fake word.

you have an interest and proficiency in programming. what brought that about and what kept it going beyond that point

I've always enjoyed tinkering around with computers and playing around with things like map editors and such since when I was a kid. Programming really caught my eye when my older brother started taking a Computer Science course in high school and I saw what kind of stuff he was working on. Everything else kind of fell into place from that point - took the same courses in high school, studied EE/CS in university, and got a nice software engineering job after I graduated. I still try to dabble in some hobby programming projects every once in a while or some other small tinkery things here and there.

once you get to an arbitrary amount of leveled badgelessness will you be tempted to get a badge, and if so, which one gives the most temptation

I think after level 29 is when I will break the badgelessness streak and go for the all badges quest! In particular I think having the rare format badges would be neat - eyeing the Mappist ones and maybe some other obscure ones :D

From Lasertooth
:

At what point did you start intentionally avoiding badges, and what linspired you to do it?

I think I found out about badgeless ascension being a concept around my 2nd or 3rd year of being active around the site. I had already been kind of accidentally avoiding badges by virtue of getting immersed in all the different formats on the site and trying a bunch of them out instead of focusing on one particular format, so I figured I'd go for it to keep with the spirit of exploring all the different formats.

If for some reason a new BotBr wanted to reach a high level without getting any badges, what advice would you give them?

Same deal, explore all the different things the different formats have to offer! Although once you start getting to 5/7 or 6/7 badge progress, obviously you'll have to start avoiding those formats and keep an eye out on when the other formats show up in which battles. Also keep in mind that a) you'll likely get more points submitting to majors, and b) there are other ways to rack up points outside of submissions.

What is your routine/workflow for making renders?

Depends on the format. For some I have to open the tracker or player program and export it from there, or even just record the audio output with some PipeWire tools/magic. For the majority of formats though, I have scripts to run some program (nsfplay, openmpt123, etc.) to render to .wav (the script is mostly just to plug in a bunch of flags to these programs). I also have a script to normalize the audio. If the entry loops, I'll also open it up in Audacity, find the loop point, and add a 10s fade at the end.

For hardware renders, the process looks like this:

1. Prepare the file to be playable on hardware
2. Copy file to microSD card, put in flash cart
3. Connect up console - video to HDMI converter to monitor, audio to desktop line-in (ordinary onboard audio, no fancy audio interfaces or anything yet)
4. Navigate to player file
5. Unplug video (to reduce noise)
6. Start recording from line-in on desktop to .wav
7. Play out the track
8. Do the usual processing (normalize, add fade for looping entries)

I also have a small script to convert to MP3 if there's no editing I have to do in Audacity.

Depending on the entry, this can be either a very easy process or a somewhat lengthy process. Either way I get to experience some fine tracks/entries :)

========

This took a bit longer to write up than expected, I'll be back later to answer the rest of the questions so far!

174417

I'm back with more answers!

========

From Kot
:

how did you figure out ym-fm feedback

I assume you mean in terms of sound design, to which I say experimentation is the best way of figuring out how to design FM patches! I do think understanding how it works under the hood can help guide the way you play around with the parameters, but ultimately I think building an intuition on what each parameter does is the best way to approach sound design. Still planning on making that video on FM sound design planned one day...

From damifortune
:

what are a few of your favorite albums?

I'll pull some top picks from my Bandcamp collection:

- TREY FREY - Refresh
: One of the first albums I bought, an energetic set of DnB/dance tracks, made with 2xLSDJ too which is super neat
- kulor - Soundchip Salad
: An interesting exploration of a bunch of different sound chips and old keyboards, combined with some classic groovy kulor sound, what's not to love!
- Karl Brueggemann - Downforce
: Fun concept album, great mix of energy and grooves
- Lena Raine - Celeste OST
: A very pretty and emotional soundtrack, fits the game so well too but is also a nice album outside of that context
- Karl Brueggemann - Dreams Aligned OST
: Karl nails the JRPG aesthetic, plenty of *chef's kiss* tracks here
- RESOFORCE - Dungeons of Aether: FM TRACKS
: Delightfully punchy and energetic PC-98 tracks

Sorry I'm a dork and heckin love chiptune!

what genres of tv and movies do you like?

I never was too big on TV and movies until maybe recently, but I find sci-fi and drama to be the most interesting to me. I'll also enjoy fantasy or comedy sometimes as well.

From roz
:

what's going on your toast?

...uh, just butter I guess? Sorry I don't eat toast much :/

From mirageofher
:

how many pencils/pens can you fit above ur lip, NO HANDS/ASSISTS, as a mustache???

Am I allowed to tilt my head for balance? I barely managed to fit one (1)...

lets say u hav to enter a ohb every day against some botbr...what is ur hosting strategy. and what kind of music n arts will u make to be Absolutely Sure to Win. or will u just succumb to mosquito

Hmm, depending on how long this goes on for, I would maybe have enough boon runway to last even if I lost every battle and maybe even account for some boonlosses? I first thought what if I hosted the obscure formats that I like and am decent at but nobody else really does, to secure some easy wins, but that runs the risk of boonlosing. Maybe I try to host packs that specifically fit my style or put in some really obtuse rules?

Although after all that's said and done, I'd probably lose steam at some point and eventually succumb to mosquito :(

do u use blue or black ink when signing a document !

I prefer black ink, it makes me feel more professional and serious :)

have u ever made some amazing cover but.. u had nowhere to share it or it was not appreciated as much as u wld like?

I've done a few covers but haven't shared most of them, that's just me being lazy though. I do have a few shared on my YT channel though I think. Also, ~~I may or may not be saving some of them for Decadent Decade 2 someday~~

what pattern is better, leopard print or tiger print

Tiger print looks cooler, leopard print looks too tacky to me. Sorry if I'm right and you're wrong :P (jk)

what is a weird fact abt u that ppl wld be suspicious of if u told them

When I tell people I have perfect pitch, they always want to test it hehe

From kleeder
:

have you ever licked a crunched mosquitoe off your skin?

Nope, not a lizard, sorry. ~~lizard people conspiracy is not real trust me~~

From 02FD
:

favorite type of cracker

I like Ritz crackers. If these count, Graham crackers or rice crackers are nice too.

From zipdisq
:

what's the weirdest guy youve met? what was he like? were you a better or worse person for having met him

I've met someone who gave off incel vibes. From what I remember, he was struggling with life things, and he had some strange thoughts about his life strategy, women, and dating which were a bit unsettling to say the least. It was hard discussing these things with him since it felt like arguing with a brick wall. I don't think meeting him necessarily made my life worse or better per se, but I do think about his situation every once in a while and how to steer people like him towards a better path in life, and I hope he eventually finds peace.

174418

Hi funute!

Got anything in particular you're looking forward to this year?

What's something you'd share that most of us don't know about you?

What's your favorite soundchip, and why?

174423

ok, ok... what's going on your PIZZA?

174444

I want hot Seat please

174463

From kilowatt64
:

Got anything in particular you're looking forward to this year?

This question made me realize we're 2/3 of the way into the year right now. oof

I thought about goals at first but then reread the question as asking about events. Events-wise, well I'm turning the big ol' 30 this year which I guess I'm kind of looking forward to, but also a bit existentially nervous about, heh. For goals I'll just say a bunch of personal development stuff (won't get into detail here). I've mostly put aside the music writing stuff for now but I might still have room to pick up piano practice again.

What's something you'd share that most of us don't know about you?

I already shared the perfect pitch thing, but also it's funny that I didn't even realize myself that it was a thing until someone told me!

So I guess bonus fun fact, I play a mean game of Tetris >:)

What's your favorite soundchip, and why?

My pick is the C64 SID chip! (If I had to pick a specific one, let's go with the 8580 for its consistency and fixed quirks.) It was way ahead of its time in terms of features like a versatile set of waveforms and filters. It comes short on some other features that are taken for granted in other chips like having only 3 channels and only having ADSR envelopes for volume control on each channel, but it's got just enough to let people run wild with it, and boy did people go wild with it! Basically, it's got *character*.

Runner up goes to the NES 2A03 for being relatively simplistic, yet timeless and classic. It's got heart. I also have nostalgia for its sound, even though by the time I started gaming, the NES era was by and large done and we were already on the SNES.

From roz
:

what's going on your PIZZA?

Yeah can I get a sausage and mushroom pizza
? That's my goto. Olives, bell peppers, and onions are also welcome. Basically just gimme one of those supreme pizzas.

I'm pretty not picky though, so whatever's hot and fresh I'll probably eat a slice of it! (and yes, that includes pineapple on pizza)

174464

Do you enjoy reading? If so, have a favorite author?

174472

Outside of Battle of the Bits, which games made you play around with their map editors?

How far did you get in making your own game maps, generally?

If you could easily hack a game in which the current tools to do so are either non-existent or rudimentary right now, which one would you choose and why?

174497

If you could go back in time to one specific moment in your life to interact with your past self but you only got to say one important statement or perform one action before returning to the present, what moment would it be and what would you say or do?

What’s your favorite thing about ice crystals or about anything surrounding them?

What’s your approach when needing to get into a certain music production format quickly?

The same thing i asked mirageofher: if you had a device used to listen to and make music with the audio capabilities of any channel of any chip, but you only get five channels and you can’t use the same chip twice, which channels would you choose?

174510

From kilowatt64
:

Do you enjoy reading? If so, have a favorite author?

Never got into reading books if that's what you're referring to, but I do enjoy reading technical articles and blogs from the likes of Fabien Sanglard
, Copetti
, Nicole Express
, and whatever else I'll stumble upon on Reddit or Twitter from time to time.

From Tex
:

which games made you play around with their map editors?

- StarCraft: Brood War: This classic RTS game came with a map editor tool which was pretty easy to use and get into. You could easily paint map terrain and place objects on the map, and there was a neat event-trigger scripting system that let you make up new game rules and even entire new genres of games. As I mentioned in my previous answer, there were tons of custom maps being passed around on battle.net, and I remember spending hours digging into the details of these maps since you could just open up most of these maps in the editor once you downloaded them.

There eventually were custom 3rd-party map editors people made that let you do more advanced hacky stuff that the original map editor didn't let you do, like paint individual map tiles and set triggers and values outside of the normal limits. It was interesting trying to learn how some of these tricks worked but a lot of them went over my head.

- Half-Life/Counter-Strike: Like StarCraft, this classic FPS game also had a big mapping scene, and you could pretty easily find servers that would host and run custom maps. The mapping process here was a lot more complicated and technical with the Hammer editor and an entire compiler toolchain you have to learn how to configure and run, but I managed to figure how to piece things together after a whole lot of trial and error.

Somewhat strangely, my mapping curiosity didn't carry over to the Source engine despite how many countless hours I've spent on Source games across HL2, TF2, and CS:GO (and Dota 2 if that counts).

- Super Mario World: I dabbled with SMW ROM hacking a bit before its debut on BotB, after watching videos of some of the early big SMW ROM hacks (like Super Demo World: The Legend Continues and Brutal Mario) and feeling inspired to make some of my own. Lunar Magic was easy to pick up but also really easy to make rookie mistakes in for reasons that as a n00b make no sense.

- Quake: I picked this one up recently compared to the others. Like HL/CS, Quake also has a big mapping and modding scene, and some of the maps and map packs out there are simply amazing (Arcane Dimensions, looking at you!).

Honorable mention to Doom, but that happened after the Boom 'n' Doom major.

How far did you get in making your own game maps, generally?

In general, not very far. In more detail:

- SC:BW: The most I remember doing is modifying other maps people already made and making some mapping experiments. I had some grand map ideas I wanted to make and put out to the world, but young me didn't have the patience and determination to make it happen back then. These maps are probably long gone by now if anything :(

- HL/CS: I got farther here despite the mapping process being harder and taking longer, especially for CS maps. I had one full map finished that was yet another de_dust clone, plus half of a cs_office-inspired map. I also had several smaller, DM-like maps (think like fy_iceworld), each with some weird gimmick. I may or may not still have the map files sitting dormant on some old hard drive somewhere...

- SMW: I've collectively made about 2 worlds' worth of levels, just vanilla style levels though, nothing out of the ordinary. I was also making what was essentially going to be one big shitpost ROM hack that I was using as a playing ground for all the different Lunar Magic features and eventually a bunch of other stuff like custom graphics, music, and assembly. I got about halfway through on that one up to the point where I was making custom palettes and stuff in LM but no custom graphics or anything yet. (also I distracted myself while writing this by revisiting my old hacks lol)

- Quake: Didn't do much here. I spent maybe a week trying to recreate de_dust2 from memory and had a little portion of it working, then got bored.

- Doom: The WADs I released on BotB are the extent of what I've made in Doom.

If you could easily hack a game...which one would you choose and why?

At first I didn't actually really have a game in mind and was thinking about how modding for modern games is largely dead since a) AAA game devs/publishers don't like people messing with their games, and b) there's less of a demand for it since game dev is generally pretty accessible nowadays.

Then I thought about how I've been playing Diablo IV recently, which is...a fun game, but a hot mess in terms of both technical quality and questionable game design elements, but still fun enough to warrant putting hours into. So I guess that's my answer for today: figure out a way to magically fix the messy parts of the game, redesign away the ugly design flaws, add more content, etc.

From Lotepamera
:

If you could go back in time...but you only got to say one important statement or perform one action...what moment would it be and what would you say or do?

I'm not particularly regretful of my past, and in fact I think the way I acted and lived in the past eventually helped shape who I am now. That being said, I'd probably go back to high school freshman me and tell myself to stop being a lazy ass, not that I turned out badly but life would've been a lot easier and better a lot sooner lol

What’s your favorite thing about ice crystals or about anything surrounding them?

Do snowflakes count? I think the weird but sciency nature of how they form patterns is really neat.

What’s your approach when needing to get into a certain music production format quickly?

To be honest, I don't really know. Outside of OHBs, I would definitely not call my production workflow quick, lol. And I feel like I usually just YOLO it whenever I'm actually working on my music. (I feel like I might have misunderstood your question, sorry if that wasn't what you were asking!)

...if you had a device used to listen to and make music with the audio capabilities of any channel of any chip, but you only get five channels and you can’t use the same chip twice, which channels would you choose?

Let's say, 4 wavetable channels from different chips (so like, PC-Engine, FDS, N163, Game Boy) and 1 regular old PCM channel from any of the chips (YM2612 is the first to come to mind). Sort of feels like cheating, but there's plenty of versatility there, no?

174517

Very detailed answers from one of our resident renderists. Thank you.

Lasertooth is next.

174520

what first got you into idm

174527

Lasertooth, I'd love to know -- what got you interested in teaching?

What characteristics of music do you find most inspirational when you're listening?

What's something you'd be willing to share about yourself that most of us here don't know?

Is there a story to your username?

174528

What originally drew you to sunvox?

174534

How did you come up with your username/internet handle?

174552

what's your favorite FM algorithm

... and favorite FM operator? :0

174575

damifortune asks: what first got you into idm

When I started actively seeking out music in high school, the first tool I used was Pandora (which at the time was solely about making algorithmic-recommendation "radio stations"). Going off the music I'd enjoyed from my dad's library, I had a "prog" station seeded with Yes, an "electronic" station seeded with Kraftwerk and YMO, and a "jazz fusion" station seeded with Weather Report. Sometimes I'd let the site shuffle between these three, and sometimes I'd just listen to one for a while. During a period of shuffling, the electronic station turned up Autechre's "Eutow"
. I distinctly remember thinking "Wow! I should be listening to the electronic station more!"

Eventually, I seeded a new station with Autechre. I also impulsively bought Exai, at that time their most recent album, which was very different from "Eutow" but eye-opening in how texturally weird it was. Autechre has remained my single favorite musical act to this day.

kilowatt64 asks: What got you interested in teaching?

I fell in love with math at a young age, but felt very isolated in that regard. So an early motivator was wanting to share this thing that I thought was great but suffered from the stereotype of being everyone's least favorite school subject.

There are a couple of other factors I've noticed looking back.

First, it's fun to experience other people's a-ha moments -- helping somebody understand something is exciting much like figuring out something for myself is.

Second, there's a strong thespian streak on my mom's side of the family. My grandfather was an actor and my grandmother sang opera for a few years, and I think an interest in performing has been passed down from them, even to relatives who haven't pursued acting. My mom is a librarian, and one of her favorite parts of the job is reading stories to audiences of small children; I think teaching plays a similar role for me.

kilowatt64 asks: What characteristics of music do you find most inspirational when you're listening?

I like this question a lot!

One thing that really gets my neurons firing is clever use of contrast, juxtaposing two very different elements in a way that fits together unexpectedly well. This is pretty open-ended, but one of the best examples is my favorite Autechre track (and a contender for my favorite song of all time), "LCC"
. That basic rhythm of half crazy stuttering and half straight quarter notes is permanently etched into my brain, and has directly inspired me on several occasions (for example, in the beat of "Alphabet City"
).

I also love it when producers sneak chords and harmony into their timbres in subtle ways. For example, the last third of Robert Hood's Down Town
. There are chords there, but they're mushed up into the percussion or quiet swells that emerge in its wake.

One more thing is chaotic-sounding counterpoint, where you've got multiple different voices weaving in and out, starting and stopping on different schedules but fitting together harmonically. Shnabubula is very good at this.
I don't think I'm very good at this, but it's something I've tried on occasion.

kilowatt64 asks: What's something you'd be willing to share about yourself that most of us here don't know?

Besides music and math, I'm a huge fan of the board game Terra Mystica
, and once reached the top 21 of a competitive league
with 367 players.

kilowatt64 asks: Is there a story to your username?
Kot asks: How did you come up with your username/internet handle?

All I remember is that, before I knew the term "polymeter", I used the phrase "lasertoothing" to refer to playing patterns at the same tempo but in different time signatures. (I was obsessed with King Crimson's "Frame by Frame"
, which does this.) I don't remember where this expression came from! I suspect it emerged from a goofy high-school conversation which also riffed on the fact that there's a character in Fiddler on the Roof named "Lazar Wolf", but I couldn't say for sure.

When I first put music on the internet in 2013, I used the alias "Lasertooth", and then it just became one of those artist aliases which is chosen on a whim early on and then kept around for the sake of consistency. If I were starting from scratch I would pick something else. On the other hand, Chimeratio once told me that he found my music distinctive for its "pointiness", so maybe the name is fitting.

gotoandplay asks: What originally drew you to sunvox?

I don't remember this either! At some point I was looking for self-contained free musical software and SunVox came up. The built-in synthesizer aspect of it was definitely a big draw.

One factor that might have played a role is the online game Need for Madness, which had a neat page
explaining how all of its music was .mod files from the Mod Archive. This was my first exposure to the concept of module files and trackers, and it's possible that set me off in search of software like SunVox. In an alternate universe, perhaps I would have landed on OpenMPT instead.

damifortune asks: what's your favorite FM algorithm and favorite FM operator?

Favorite algorithm: all 4 operators in series. I want the option to make the weirdest crunching noises possible, even if I don't use it often.

Favorite operator: either the highest-level modulator (#1) or the lowest-level modulator (#3). The former because it's needed to making my favorite algorithm work (and can take feedback in all algorithms), the latter because it's the one I generally pay the most attention to.

174582

Other than Battle of the Bits, STAFFcirc, Sample Pack Contest and your personal pages, where else have you been online, musically speaking?

Do you enjoy photography as a hobby outside of here? If yes, show us a photo you're proud of and tell us about it.

174595

what did it feel like to work on getting a PhD in maths? i am on track to finishing my undergraduate degree in a year after some ups and downs but the idea of doing a PhD kinda terrifies me because things just get so advanced at that level. do you ever get overwhelmed? or maybe there's some fulfillment there that i may not be fully able to understand

any interesting ways you manage time, tasks or generally information?

anything that puts you off or gets in the way of using composition softwares? any deal breakers?

any interest in hardware synths or music devices?

btw tex, you can throw be on the back of the seating queue. i'm a little reluctant but i'll give it a shot and see what happens.

174622

Is there any topic in math that you feel like will forever mystify/amaze/unsettle you?

Have you ever incorporated your specific field of study into your music?

Which synthesis method doesn't exist yet but should?

Do you have a favorite xenharmonic scale?

Is there a historical period you're particularly fascinated by?

What's your take on platonism vs. nominalism (if you have one)?

174638

u are absolutely required to break a tooth beyond repair and keep it in ur gums. which tooth wld u choose. keep in mind appearance and pain level

what is a weird phase u were in when u were younger?

lemon or watermelon candy?

if u cld host any non-botb format on botb just once (like a wildcard of hostings..), waht wld u choose

tell me abt a time u did smth reckless

favourite book?

name some weller-known musician artist(s) that u think shld be more varied in their works

if there are no ethical things to think of, wld u ever clone urself? if so, how wld u interact with th clone

174682

Tex asks: Other than Battle of the Bits, STAFFcirc, Sample Pack Contest and your personal pages, where else have you been online, musically speaking?

I spent some time on Newgrounds before any of those things. I participated in a couple of music contests, and the tracks I made for those ended up on my album Original Sine. I drifted away from the site around 2017, though.

Apart from that and the places you mentioned, I haven't engaged much with musical communities online. The STAFFcirc call for submissions in 2020 was a turning point for me in terms of putting myself out there.

Tex asks: Do you enjoy photography as a hobby outside of here? If yes, show us a photo you're proud of and tell us about it.

Probably not what you're thinking of, but I like taking pictures of odd/entertaining things I run into in everyday life -- usually in the form of signage, advertisements, license plates, etc. This requires almost no effort or skill on my part other than noticing things, so I can't really say I'm proud of any of these photos, but here's one of my favorites (spotted on the wall of a rental home I was staying in):

argarak asks: what did it feel like to work on getting a PhD in maths? do you ever get overwhelmed? or maybe there's some fulfillment there that i may not be fully able to understand

The experience varies a lot -- it depends on the thesis advisor you're working with, the culture of the department you're working in, and a lot of random chance.

For me, the most intimidating thing early on was the amount of independence. The expectation in the first year or two is that you should be figuring out what you're interested in doing and finding a faculty member who's willing and able to support you in doing that thing -- which is quite an open-ended task! The advisor I ended up working with was fairly hands-off, and the project I worked on was a little outside his usual area, so even after I settled in with him I often had to figure out my own direction.

What makes PhD work difficult isn't that the math is intrinsically harder, but rather that it's poorly documented, and there's a chance it might just not work -- this is a natural part of working on something new. I spent a lot of time testing out examples with code, guessing at patterns, and then finding new examples that disproved those patterns. There was also a lot of combing through papers trying to find explanations of facts that seemed like they should be true but were unclear.

I did find the independence and novelty of it very fulfilling at the end, though. Finishing a PhD means that you've had an idea that no one else has had (or at least bothered writing down) before, which is a very satisfying thing to look back on.

(If you have further questions or want to chat more about grad school in math, feel free to reach out on Discord!)

argarak asks: any interesting ways you manage time, tasks or generally information?

Not really. I'm kind of a mess, and my attempts to cope with that mess are pretty typical. I do have an elaborate system of bookmarks in my web browser with a folder structure that goes 6 layers deep in one case.

argarak asks: anything that puts you off or gets in the way of using composition softwares? any deal breakers?

I wouldn't say there are deal-breakers. For me, part of the appeal of a new musical tool is puzzling out how it works, so even something poorly designed can be engaging. But for routine use, there are a couple of things that put me off.

In general, I prefer tools that are flexible and complicated to those that are streamlined and limited. It bothers me when, using a tool, I think "it should be possible to do this" and then realize that it isn't.

I'm also not a fan of minimal interfaces -- I like seeing lots of buttons and tables that detail all the things I can do, and being able to scroll through those things to find the thing I want to do without jumping through too many hoops. (That said, I'm okay with Pure Data, which has an extremely minimal interface -- perhaps because almost all the functionality is wrapped up in the objects, and it's not too hard to call up a list of all the different objects you can use.) It bothers me when an action is triggered by a keyboard shortcut but there's no indication of that action's existence outside the list of keyboard shortcuts. For example, in 0CC-Famitracker, there doesn't appear to be any explicit indication of how to add a note-off event, so it was annoying to figure that out.

argarak asks: any interest in hardware synths or music devices?

I think hardware is cool, but it's not something I've ever gotten seriously into. The main reason is that I'm very cheap, and hardware is expensive. Also, I like understanding what a tool is doing at a fundamental level, and since I have experience with math and programming but not electrical engineering, it's easier for me to understand software than hardware.

Max Chaplin asks: Is there any topic in math that you feel like will forever mystify/amaze/unsettle you?

Going to grad school has affected my answer to this question in two opposite ways. On one hand, there's a lot of math out there and it is beyond my capability to understand more than a tiny sliver of it in my lifetime. On the other hand, I like to think that, if I was willing to put in the effort and had time, I could learn any single topic, at least to the point of not being mystified.

That said, the topics that mystify me the most right now are in mathematical logic and computability theory. There's something uncomfortable about using a system to analyze itself and question its own underpinnings.

Max Chaplin asks: Have you ever incorporated your specific field of study into your music?

No. For one thing, it isn't very directly applicable. But also, while I like thinking about math and music in general, my specific field of study is my work, while music is a hobby; it's never occurred to me to combine those parts of my life.

Max Chaplin asks: Which synthesis method doesn't exist yet but should?

What do you mean by a method "existing"? It seems to me that, if I could conceptualize a method precisely enough to answer this question, then it would exist.

(Foreshadowing for the Platonism question????)

Max Chaplin asks: Do you have a favorite xenharmonic scale?

Not really! In general, I tend to think of music in terms of intervals and chords rather than scales (which is a weakness on my part, since it means I just end up reconstructing scales through trial and error)

I guess I can say that I also tend to think of things in terms of the harmonic series, so outside plain 12-edo I lean toward just intonations rather than temperaments -- but I'm not very systematic about this.

Max Chaplin asks: Is there a historical period you're particularly fascinated by?

I like well-documented historical periods, because for me the most fascinating part of history is seeing what people had to say about it at the time. So the periods I'm most interested in are the ones recent enough to have lots of records but distant enough to be unfamiliar to me. But I wouldn't say there's one specific era that stands out.

Max Chaplin asks: What's your take on platonism vs. nominalism (if you have one)?

I don't have a thoroughly considered take on this, but I vibe more with nominalism. I do use the word "exist" in reference to abstract objects all the time, but I think it means something pretty different from when I use it in reference to concrete objects.

mirageofher asks: u are absolutely required to break a tooth beyond repair and keep it in ur gums. which tooth wld u choose. keep in mind appearance and pain level

Furthest-back upper left molar. It's visually unobtrusive and I can avoid using it if necessary.

(This question hits close to home for me -- I had a lot of dental work done as a teen.)

mirageofher asks: what is a weird phase u were in when u were younger?

There was a period, sometime around 8 - 10 years old, in which I was totally obsessed with languages, and wanted to learn a new one every few weeks. Since I had the attention span of a child, learning the language mostly consisted of understanding its writing system (which, in retrospect, may have been the main thing I was interested in), occasionally learning to count to ten, then moving on.

I don't remember the specifics of what I learned, but I did come out of this experience pretty good at identifying different languages (at least, European and Asian ones) from samples, and I still think linguistics is Very Cool.

mirageofher asks: lemon or watermelon candy?

Lemon, any day.

mirageofher asks: if u cld host any non-botb format on botb just once (like a wildcard of hostings..), waht wld u choose

Comic strip.

mirageofher asks: tell me abt a time u did smth reckless

I'm not a very reckless person, but I do like to take very long walks around where I live. Sometimes the sidewalks run out and I'm not prepared for it -- which is especially awkward when I'm 3/4 of the way through a giant loop, and the alternative is backtracking. At one point I ended up running across a bridge crossing a river which had no shoulder or bike lane (fortunately, there weren't cars around at the time). On another occasion, I tried to cut through the woods and may have accidentally ended up in a stranger's backyard.

mirageofher asks: favourite book?

Not sure if I have a single favorite, but today I'm going to say Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics.

mirageofher asks: name some weller-known musician artist(s) that u think shld be more varied in their works

I'm not sure how to answer this question. It's very rare that I've found myself wishing an artist were different in some way; my attitude is that artists are going to do whatever they want to do and it's up to me to find the ones who are doing things I like.

mirageofher asks: if there are no ethical things to think of, wld u ever clone urself? if so, how wld u interact with th clone

If the clone was produced as a baby, I would feel an obligation to help raise him. For a variety of reasons, I don't currently intend to have children, and I would refrain from cloning myself for the same reasons.

If the clone was a perfect copy of me as I currently am, I'm still not sure I would. What does the world gain from having another one of me? But if I did, I'm not sure I'd want to interact with the clone much, since I already know myself pretty well -- I'd be happy to just let him go off and do his own thing, and check in every few years to see how his life has diverged from mine.

174704

Thanks, Lasertooth.

Kot is next.

174706

*sigh*

okay I will ask.

how did u come up with ur username here, were you aware it means feces in German before u settled with it and are there other usernames you use in other places?

174707

Which came first: your trademark musical style or your use of MIDI/FM synth? Because they feel kinda inseparable from an outsider's perspective

174714

i would like to sit in the hot seat and ask some (hopefully not too personal) questions

if there is any botb format you would definitely do in a heartbeat, what would that format be and why?

what got you into producing music in the first place?

would you say botb has helped you develop as a creator? if so, in what ways would you say you've improved since joining botb?

what is your favorite fast food item?

174715

LUMBY IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

for lasertooth (because i missed): sour cream, guac, salsa. you can only dip your nachos in one of them, forever. which one?

for kot: how are you ordering your coffee?

174719

What's the worst thing you could find out a couple of people are doing that would upset you specifically?

Thoughts on the space cadet pinball sound effects?

How do (or did) you fare with music production while school/college swamps you with loads of work?

If you could have one person remix one of your songs, who would you choose and which song?

Is there is a sub/microgenre you know of whose attributes are disputed, and what's your take on it? How does it differ from the most common take you've heard of it, if there is a difference?

What's a real life easter egg you've come across? This can mean something that makes a reference, or something unique and cool in general.

Thoughts on Nerds? (the candy)

174723

@roz: Salsa.

174726

what started your love for midis? also thoughts on banana on toast?

174747

how do you make such bangers every time,,??????

174749

Tell me everything about the character in your avatar. Is that a blue ghost of a cat or something else? Is that a tincan attached to its cheek? Is it wearing a cardboard cap and the "b" stands for "boons"? Why did you choose it to represent you?

174771

u get ice cream. is it in a cone or a cup. related: do u lick popsicles or bite them

do u hav any cool collections u wanna talk abt...

if u had to rename urself to anything that is not a common name, like magdalena or jim or lucky. waht wld it be

any songs that hav been annoyingly stuck in ur head recently?

what temperature water do u prefer to drink, on average

least favourite animal

what botb entry had the most impact on u

174812

what's a question that you would have liked somebody to ask

174823

Kot, why didn't you answer any questions during your turn? Did something happen? Did you regret signing up for this? A lot of people here love your music and were looking forward to your replies.

Anyway, OminPigeonMaster is next.

174834

on a scale from 1 to 10:
how ominous are you?
how pigeon are you?
how master are you?

next questions shldnt be answered on a scale from 1 to 10 but with actual words instead:

do you prefer the name Omin, or the name OPM?

what is a .txt file and how do you create one?

hows your game project going?

are u still interested in lunarmagic?

whats ur fav game and why?

how much do u enjoy the following things and how wld u describe ur skill level on them: music, art/draw/pixel, coding, gaming

do u do or have done any sports or are u interested in watching certain sports?

best tea flavor?

whats ur fav place where u spent a vacation?

whats ur MUSIC origin story? as in: when did u learn to compose? when did u start composing and why? how did u fall into the endless hole of FM music making? and why did u chose the software u mainly use today?

dont u want to buy a new and fully working laptop maybe?

have u been writing recently and hows the progress on that?

what was ur fav thing in the miniatur wunderland and pls dont say it was the currywurst you ate twice.

what do u enjoy most: bus, train, boat or airplane?

any botb goals u still wanna reach?

any creative art goals you wanna reach? can be music, game making, writing, anything...

where do u see urself in 10 years?

does the last one sounded like a question from a job interview?

whats ur favorite animal and why is it the pigeon?

174840

what's your history with music? performing, writing, or even just enjoying. what's the OPM musical arc like

174841

who got bronze?

174842

Oh dear!! I have almost forgotten that I was on the hotseat! Where are my manners...

Kleeder:

how did u come up with ur username here, were you aware it means feces in German before u settled with it and are there other usernames you use in other places?
The name Kot is an amalgamation of two things: my old username (KoleOBlack) and my affinity for a certain game called Diep.io.
During my tenure as a dev of a very well known opensource Diep.io clone (Arras.io, more specifically Woomy Arras, a fork of it). Someday around August of 2018, I decided to name myself "kot32" ingame, thinking it'd be funny as fuck and it later down the line kind of amalgamated into "Kot".

I wasn't really aware of the german word kot despite having studied german for most of my high school years (i have unfortunately forgotten how to speak and can only read)

As for usernames, I go by Bruh Man on YouTube, but besides that I've got no other aliases of significance.

Blast_Brothers:

Which came first: your trademark musical style or your use of MIDI/FM synth? Because they feel kinda inseparable from an outsider's perspective
The musical style.

Before I knew how to design patches I used to be a very avid listener of fusion, both the american (think Weather Report, The Chick Corea Elektric Band, Sungazer, etc.) and japanese (think T-SQUARE and Casiopea).
I still listen to these but I've made it my task to be a little more varied with my taste (hence my affinity towards surprisingly avantgarde and danceable flavors of sound)

FM/MIDI design came later as a result of two things: a strange dream I had about the manifestation of Virt (Jake Kaufman) himself telling me to stop resting on my laurels and face my fears, and my midnight desperation when I started making YAOTA.

The latter in particular was fascinating as said desperation was what brought that into piano and beginning part together.

Lumby:

if there is any botb format you would definitely do in a heartbeat, what would that format be and why?
uuuhhhjjjj nsf+ or nsfclassic. nsf+ because designing sound on the vrc7 alone is funny as fuck and nsfclassic because it's good fodder for jumpscaring people with one channel music

what got you into producing music in the first place?
A lot of sources but mostly the fact that I've always been interested in music composition, regardless of medium.

I vividly remember always asking the various music class teachers and professors about music composition only for them to look at me weird.

That question asking is what also led me to join a folk choir in elementary since there were a few people in that extracurricular that actually gave a damn about music,,,

would you say botb has helped you develop as a creator? if so, in what ways would you say you've improved since joining botb?
In many ways, yes. BotB's not only driven me to improve my craft but also learn a lot more about how actually flawed I was as a person.

Last year I used to be this overzealous, miserable perfectionist that always gave themselves an excuse to feel like shit and to burden others.

But in many ways stuff like the scoring of GENERAL SERUM (my sincerest apologies) and the like taught me that perhaps it was I who was keeping myself down with my excuses ("everyone forces me to work too much", "i fucking hate living in the shadow of others", "i wanna be loved", "but i'll never be as good as others", and all that kind of self-deprecating nonsense no one should want upon themselves)

The moment I realized this I've felt like a burden disappeared. Like I've just managed to let go of the manifestation of my victim complex.

But above all else: it taught me art was, like, really not that complicated.

what is your favorite fast food item?
KFC chicken wings and BBQ sauce all the way.

roz:

for kot: how are you ordering your coffee?
i don't drink coffe but i often just order coca cola or pepsi whenever i'm at a cafe with my homies

Lotepamera:

What's the worst thing you could find out a couple of people are doing that would upset you specifically?
Throw stuff out behind my back. My relatives did this to many of the shirts I had that had value to me and the only reason I still hold this petty head-grudge is because they got mad butthurt when I even thought of the idea of selling an oversized bed that's in my room (talk about double standards!)

Thoughts on the space cadet pinball sound effects?
Young me loved them and the current me loves them even more.

How do (or did) you fare with music production while school/college swamps you with loads of work?
My work mentality transfers over to my creative work mentality. It's also why I'm kind of lazy as fuck in the summer.

If you could have one person remix one of your songs, who would you choose and which song?
Oh, so many ideas...
FlDE cover of Near Kepler (they're the maestro of funk flavor)
Tobikomi cover of The Wavetable That Doesn't Wanna Be (i was so anticipating this when they did the christmas covers and got kinda despressed when it didn't happen, but such is unrealistic expectation)
Abstract cover of Visage (think he started this once while i was still making that track, i'm still intrigued to this day)

I know this is for only one but there are so many more people I'd list here if only my writing wasn't all text walls... i have deep respect for everyone...

Is there is a sub/microgenre you know of whose attributes are disputed, and what's your take on it? How does it differ from the most common take you've heard of it, if there is a difference?
Jazz fusion: the djent/digifu crowd likes to think that it's just odd times mixed with fascinating jazz chords.
But to me, jazz fusion leans more towards standard progressive rock's concept drive and straight-laced sound than mathrock's cute energetic odd time-only appeal.

But alas, freedom of taste is a freedom of choice, and I wholeheartedly respect that.

What's a real life easter egg you've come across? This can mean something that makes a reference, or something unique and cool in general.
idk if it counts but there's more fm in real life than you think: the sound of bongos (8:5 carrier-modulator ratio), the jewish harp (8:1?), tubular bells (not sure about the ratio but it's got more in the modulator than the carrier), and so on

Thoughts on Nerds? (the candy)
not a fan of hard candy but the character designs are cute

dobra:

what started your love for midis? also thoughts on banana on toast?
Nokia. More specifically Aleksi Eeben's work. Everlasting is arguably one of my favorite ringtones from the Nokia 1209 I've had for a brief period and I still am intrigued at the fact that he was also the guy who made Playing With Delay and Street Jungle (two very iconic tracker modules!)

banana on toast?
the fruit on top of it? no thanks.
the fruit as sandwich filling/sauce? sure thing!

jaezu:

how do you make such bangers every time,,??????
by listening to music outside my comfort zone, it really is not that complicated. (i think)

Tex:

Tell me everything about the character in your avatar. Is that a blue ghost of a cat or something else? Is that a tincan attached to its cheek? Is it wearing a cardboard cap and the "b" stands for "boons"? Why did you choose it to represent you?
The character in my PFP? That's Sentroo Braumann.

He's a sentient Diep.io Tank of sorts that in many ways represents myself: surprisingly non-descript, up to people to make of it what they will.
He's got a teardrop shaped head becaue I thought it'd be a fun way to teach myself foreshortening, yes, he's wearing a cardboard cap with the boon sticker on it (in some incarnations he has the B emoji as a sticker)
The thing attached to his cheek is a Diep.io tank barrel, it isn't actually a barrel (since he can take it off) but he likes to pretend that it is.

Kot, why didn't you answer any questions during your turn? Did something happen? Did you regret signing up for this? A lot of people here love your music and were looking forward to your replies.
Ah, I've been going places this week and have completely forgotten about this! My sincerest apologies, I will ensure this won't happen again! ;_;

Either way, glad to hear that everyone's been enjoying my work.

mirageofher:

u get ice cream. is it in a cone or a cup. related: do u lick popsicles or bite them
I like cones more than cups, honestly.
Regarding popsicles, I bite them since licking them makes people in public look at me weird (serbia moment)

do u hav any cool collections u wanna talk abt...
i have a surprisingly large collection of various marbles. i tend to simulate bullet hell shmup bossfights with them sometimes whenever my compsci/gamedev head's empty as fuck.

i recall first starting the collection back in 2012 when young me asked my mom to buy me some marbles after seeing some in a german learning book (those were particularly popular in serbia's teaching material market iirc) and it continued thanks in no part to a particular relative (one of the few i have respect for) buying a few when i was younger.

might show photos of the collection on the botb/puke7 discord when i get my camera fixed (i fucked the viewfinder mirror up while i was trying to clean one particularly annoying hair that was stuck in the actual mirror)

if u had to rename urself to anything that is not a common name, like magdalena or jim or lucky. waht wld it be
Probably Mikula. It's a strange nickname my grandmother used to call me some time ago, but it's got a strangely special place in my heart.

any songs that hav been annoyingly stuck in ur head recently?
Operation: Evolution by Dimrain47
Banger as fuck song but i do not really like the community it's most commonly associated with (Geometry Dash)

what temperature water do u prefer to drink, on average
Not sure about the exact temperature but I like cold water regardless of season

least favourite animal
Wasps.
I've had one fly straight into my fucking ear and sting me there. I'm not that afraid of them anymore but they're annoying as fuck as you have to basically freeze if you don't want them to pick a fight with you.

what botb entry had the most impact on u
Biruhan - The Machine
That song is what drove me to make the magnum opus of my OPLL sketching: "finally, bruhium" (the OPLL dubstep song)
But, it also reminded me of my childhood since I used to be an avid listener of Skrillex and Rob Gasser when I was an elementary school student.

Damifortune:

what's a question that you would have liked somebody to ask
"Are you okay?"

174843

To Kleeder
Dear kleeder

Ten

TEN

TEN!!!!!

Having answered your first questions, OPM is my preference. Omin was a necessity of spelling my name on the site with the character limitations.

Txt files are imaginary and cannot hurt me.

My game! Very embarrassingly slow atm
I'm currently trying to babystep my way into learning the game engine Godot, there are many great tutorials, I just need to stop focusing on making pixel artwork for a second so I can actually learn. Unfortunately I'm stifled by my ambition with that project but I've not remotely given up, as it's my main focus rn.

Yea! I'm interested in Lunar Magic! It'll never satiate my desires to craft original games of my own making, but it certainly has some power over such an itch.

My favourite game is a strange one. I don't play it as often as some other titles, which I guess I would get more enjoyment out of in some sense. But Dynamite Headdy is my favourite game, because it's shaped me so much in taste and ambition. One of Treasures Mega Drive gems, the flare for creativity, and bombastic ambition gives me life!

The enjoyment and skill level I think I have in those things you mentioned: With music it can be one of the greatest joys to make my own. Ive experienced burnout before, and that can hamper enjoyment sometimes, but it remains still an absolute favourite pursuit. I only wish my mastery of it was greater still, for though I consider myself capable, I'm not on the plateau composers like Doc, Jakerson, MMM, Melonade and Karl exist on, or it takes more effort on my part to attempt to bridge that gap.
One of my happiest accomplishments though, is the belief that I've carved out some musical skills of my own. My FM Slap is among my most powerful weapons, and I'm quite proud of it; even Karl himself should fear it bwahaha! And I feel like I could make a pretty kickass soundtrack for the type of game I'm truly passionate for creating.

Pixel art is something I've come a long way on. Still far from the best, I nevertheless have managed to improve a lot on where I was back in 2020. It's a skillset I can largely thank botb for picking up, through the practice of ohbs.
Drawing with a pen, I consider myself on the cusp of probably being an outsider artist, since I don't follow any particular rules others have made in regards to drawing. But I'm proud of it all the same; it's flawed but it's my own, and I think fairly unique.

Coding is still an ambition, I love the principle though, the idea of, for example, creating a network of behaviors for the player character, controlling the precise feel of jumps and other movements, fine tuning it all. I romanticise the idea, and the freedom it brings, but have yet to make it a skill of my own.

I don't really watch much sport. But I do really quite enjoy an amateur game of badminton and table tennis. I sometimes watch my fathers football team, but it's necessity of respecting his desires rather than something I seek out actively (Though I can quite enjoy a game in the moment).
Oo and I like Mii Sports so maybe that counts XDDDDD

Best Tea is Yorkshire tea, this is an undebatable point that I would die on a hill for.

I'm going to cut this comment here and answer your other questions concurrently! >:::)

174853

Who got bronze Kleeder???

My favourite holiday vacation spot hmmm
When I was young it was probably Barmouth. Now it may very well be Whitby. But Hamburg is very much in my mind, for one of the most exciting and memorable holidays I've ever had, and I probably would have to choose it. Above all else, it has a very good friend there that I'd always be happy to chill with :))
I've had great holidays with my father and his side of the family across the peak district and Scotish Highlands too, that defo rank high, but the company I travelled with made that what it was for me.

Both yourself Kleeder and Damifortune have asked for my history with music, henceforth I shall try and answer both.

I had mused with the idea of creating music for some time. I've always had a passion for creation. Your own mind fashioning a thing that you can call your own, that no one else but you could craft. That sentiment is definitely important to me.
And it's a passion with reach; maybe my music will lie mostly unlistened to for decades, but hopefully it will exist. Maybe I one day will be able to give another music lover a similar touch of inspiration, that some of the obscure artists I favour have given me.

14, 15 was probably when I technically began to make music. Back then, I was into stop motion animation, had a little mario stop motion series on YouTube (aged horribly, not gonna share it xD). For this little animated series, I made very crude remix's of video game music, by recording audio into windows movie maker, adding layers of instrumentation. That was my very first proper experience with making music. Then later I got the obscure DAW known as Acid Studio, before later joining a Music Technology Level 2 course, and obtaining my stand, Cubase.

As for FM, it's in my blood, my very roots. It was always the Mega Drive that drove me towards a passion of music. The radio did nothing for me. Even great 70s music, back as a kid, I wasn't so interested in. But nothing was more experimental and full of energy. That music gave me an excitement for sound like nothing else, and in the biggest state of irony, many of my peers would see it as only background noise. I suppose I also fell in love with the sound, the twang of the fm bass, or the fullness of the fm brass.

So I would've fallen into creating FM music anyway, but what really added the extra fuel was the rarity of it. There was, and still is a limited amount of FM representation in modern games that are fashioned to look and give off a retro feel. I've seriously given this more thought and time in my head than you could imagine, and it's one of my pet peeves, but also ironically something I wouldn't ask to change, as it gives me a sense of purpose, to correct such things.

It was Botb where I truly began to explore and fufill my FM yearnings. I have buried hordes of music, created before. (I do plan on releasing some of it very soon) It was during my Music Technology Level 3 course, where I began to use my voice once more, and for the first time in my own music. And then later on, I learned just a bare minimum of playing chords on keyboard, so that I could play some of my originals at local open mic events.

I have a tendency to use what works until it breaks, and it's very hard to evolve beyond it. You've seen my headphones x)))) The headache of then moving all my files too ugh, I know eventually it must be done, but I have a hard time finding the motivation haha

Writing has been far slower than my video game work. I'm trying to not spread myself too thin I guess x) wanna get one of my projects finished by this year at least, and then maybe I'll pick up writing more again.

Aaaaah the Miniature Wunderland, for anyone reading this besides Kleed and I, was an amazing miniature landscape. It's hard to explain in a way that does it justice so I'd advise looking at pictures of it online. But to answer the question! Had to be the huge mountains of Switzerland! Unbelievable piece of work.
Though it's closely ahead of the airport, the Las Vegas set, and the functional boat! And the currywurst x))))

Airplane! For the hassle of getting on, being up there is an unbelievable experience. I think about the history of mankind, and how recent the insane feat of flying craft it, and how we are, relative to the history of mankind, still some of the first humans ever to experience flight.
But I had an amazing holiday on a tall ship once, and I can tell you that, if one experience beats even that out, it's getting to lay down in the net of rope (called the dolphins bay) under the bow, and where the figurehead would be, watching the front of the boat tear into the sea, on a warm sunny day.

My main Botb goal rn is the pursuit of Diamond Allgear. I haven't forgotten it, and I would never forgive myself if I let myself lose the opportunity of being the first to claim it!! I want it to be my grand accomplishment of pigeon supremacy!!!

Creative art goals absolutely!! I really am so close to having my long pushed back album done. While it surely has aged and won't be my greatest work, it will be fully realized at last!
And most of all is my ambitions with game development. Probably my greatest desire is to have the art of video game creation under my set of powers. Then perhaps I shall feel a true evolution of pigeon mastery!!!

I don't like to think about 10 years x)))) I don't set an expectation anymore. I just know where I don't want to be in 10 years, which is having accomplished none of my goals. If in that time, my ambitions of creating games will not only be fully realized, but the quality of said games will be something I can have personal confidence in, then perhaps I'll consider things a success. And I see at least that in 10 years time, even if the wilder fantasies do not come to be, and I continue to be an obscure presence in the land of the internet.
Ye it does, but I didn't answer it the way I would in a job interview lolol

Pigeons are not elegant. They do not have the prestige some other birds carry. They are clumsy, and I get great entertainment out of my local pigeons weighing down branches, as they desperately cling to them. Yet I feel a kinship, I feel bad when I see children chasing them away, or having to jump frantically out of the way when feet approach. It is partly that society views so little worth to them that they are my bird.
I also think they're quite cute, and I would want my minion army to be cute.
But also important, is that they have something to prove, as do I! We're in a mortal bid for achieving that sense of purpose, for proving ourselves to the world!! My creations then transcend to be weapons of the pigeon empire itself, and I fulfill my role as Ominous Pigeon Master.

174882

i want a spot in the hotseat please

174887

i wld like to nominate tex to get the last remaining hotseat slot.

174893

pidge what are you dipping your chips in :0

174895

howdy opm, you're a positive presence and the type of person that when you show up to a battle it puts a smile on my face. Not a question, just want to say that.

What's something you'd share that most of us here don't know about you?

Will you share your game with us when you're done?

Favorite game composer?

Favorite game for the art alone?

174897

Thanks Kilo!!! That means a lot to me, if my presence can be felt as a positive :))))

Ooo something you don't know about me hmmm, did you know I like FM?!?!
It is apparent that I'm very obsessive towards my interests, and therefore a lot of what interests me is known about. But I guess some random pieces of info.
I take swims in the local river on a regular basis this time of year, usually in the late morning or early afternoon, in order to boost productivity. I find that you have to give the mind small victories sometimes, as a bouncing point for further victories.
My first interest was stop motion animation, but it developed into music over time. I touch on that actually in my response to Kleed.
I have 1 brother and 2 sisters, all older than me significantly.

I absolutely will share my game when it's complete. Honestly I'm hoping to build up my skills with a few small stepping stone projects, just to give me experience in game dev, before properly tackling my big project, so if I do that then I'm sure I'll be sharing the results of my labours on Botb. Heck, I'll probably utilize botb as a starting point for some ideas both in pixel and music form. Ohbs can be great opportunities for such things.

Among my favourite video game composers is Norio Hanzawa, who has an amazing, often bombastic high energy style of composing. Their efforts on projects such as Gunstar Heroes, Mischief Makers, the arcade Bucky o Hare, Dynamite Headdy and Alien Soldier are marvels to my ears.
But I have a hard time pinning down one specific composer, so many greats. Motoaki Takenouchi is another great composer; one who leans in on progressive rock, creating music with a rich amount of depth. Their efforts on Jewel Master and Landstalker are brilliant, and I know of other games they've done the OST for, that I have yet to play but are critically acclaimed for their music, such as some of the Shining Force titles.
Matt Furniss is also an excellent composer, crafting soundtracks for titles such as the original Puggsy, James Bond the Duel, and many others. And I see Aki Hata float around into some of my favourite game OSTs, being one of the composers for Dynamite Headdy (there were a couple of them on that title it seems) and the musical mind behind Rocket Knight Adventures tunes.
I can't ignore the unreleased Time Trax ost and Ploks soundtrack by Tim Follin either, nor the many efforts of Yuzo Koshiro.

It's an endless hole of underappreciated gems; genius composers with incredible soundtracks to their names. It makes me rather regard them like Olympian deities of old, holding qualities of greatness in their actions and accomplishments.

Favourite game for the art would probably be Dynamite Headdy, I'm in love with the aesthetic, the world it builds. The presentation of the game is one of the things I hold it in such high esteem for.
But I do also love Sonic 2's art style, their's something almost streamlined to it, smooth and relaxing on the eyes. I quite enjoy vibrant styles, where the colour really flows out, like Ristar's beautiful pixel art, though I also enjoy the darker art style of Castlevania 4 and Bloodline, with all the intricate details put into the sprites and backgrounds.
Also can't ignore the more unique steampunk aesthetics of the original Rocket Knight Adventure and Steel Empire.

174898

The blood of my enemies Roz!!!! Bwahahahaha!!

174899

out of the 1157 emtries you currently have, what entry did you have the most fun working on? same question for which format

having been around since the big boom of botb back in 2020, did you ever expect to do any of the things you've done now back then?

how does it feel to be the proud owner of an aviary?

favorite collab?

being known for your wizardry in the frequency modulation, how did it become a part of your sound? we know it has been a part of you since, well, ever, but how did you first experiment with it? is the process similar or much different to what you started with?

if you had to pick one person that was instrumental in making you interested in being a creator in the first place, who would that be?

favorite anime???

do you miss the storylines? (e.g. vavco)

is there one game going forward that inspires you the most as a game designer?

and finally: are you dr eggman irl?

174920

Lumby!!! Great to see ya dude!!! It's been some time!

I think I did see myself obtaining level 30 if I willed it so, put in the time for it, but I don't know if I thought about it much. Merely having a means to create on mass without everything being left unseen on my pc gave me such excitement, and if not for that, I wouldn't have had the same level of passion I don't think. My habit is to try and make high quality things, by spending an eternity hidden in my room, working on a project, but the site challenges that, and I needed that to be challenged. So I dunno x) I think I did to some degree, but I was so focused on just the thrills of creating and receiving feedback, that I think that took the focus for me.

I always retain a sense of pride at my place in pigeon hierarchy, and such an aviary suits me well as a base of operations. >::::)

In terms of the resulting entry, my favourite collab is possibly Clandestine Casualty. LOVE how it came out.
But I can't ignore the fun irl collabs have been!! In person collaborations with Roz and then Kleeder and Mioh were such a treat.

Ahh well I had a big interest in the Mega Drives sound, as far back as I can really remember, and once I learned that vsts existed to emulate such sounds, my curiousity and excitement were peaked. I really wanted to imitate my heroes, the forgotten composers of the megadrive, whom have such talent. And of course, I truly love the sound of the YM2612. That slap bass fm, the fm brass, the echo leads. While it's been in my heart, since forever, my time experimenting with FM truly began properly in 2020, when I joined the site. I'd been making tunes for at least 5 years prior.
My methods did change through time. Nowadays, I experiment with hard pans more. I typically avoid using delay or reverb effects, and instead have two of the same fm instruments, one slightly quieter than the other, tuned slightly out of tune to widen the sound, for that reverb effect, used often for leads. I also didn't use an SN7 emulator originally, I think using it for the first time in the entry Stranger Museum.
While I still bend the rules with the 6 FM channel/5 FM 1 PCM and 3 SN7 channel rule (like all the time) I think Im more conscious of trying to not break those rules too much.

Hmmm one person. I suppose Matt Furniss comes to mind. Maybe the greatest of the UK Sega Mega Drive composers during the 90s. He was one of the names I noticed early on, and I kept seeing his name credited under different titles I owned.
The quantity of work he has behind him always impressed me. The amount of tracks he gave to the game Puggsy, even crafting unique boss themes to every one of the 6 boss battles, it made me respect his clear passion for the project. Very few location themes are reused for different areas. And for some reason, his being on the same side of the pond as myself helped me feel like I could do as he could.

Favourite anime hmmmmmm
I really enjoyed the original Fullmetal Alchemist (still need to finish Brotherhood). Code Geass is up there for me.
It's probably either Trigun or Cowboy Bebop.
Tbh shonen like One Piece and Naruto are guilty pleasures (though never got into Boruto).
I can't call them my favourites, but their highs are definitely something.

Yea!! :D But I'm content that they happened at all. Like Vavco was genius x))))

I touch on this sort of in a previous post but it's absolutely Dynamite Headdy. Treasure games in general give me life, but nothing has inspired me more than that title, for it's wild ambition.
Levels vary wiiildly throughout the game, with one stage being a shmup, a few being largely platformer based, with some minibosses thrown in, and the third level being almost entirely a boss rush. It has so many enemies, bosses, minibosses with unique designs, squeezes absolutely everything out of it's theme, and is ready to explore one time gimmicks that are memorable, like the danzen dungeon 3d effect, the spinderella boss fight rotation, the floor ceiling reversal midway in stage 8, etc. The game feels like a stuffed suitcase overloading with ideas, and I love it for that!

I am literally Eggman. You never wondered what kind of Egg Eggman is?? PIGEON EGG!! BAKA!!

174926

what is ur favourite red meats

where is the coldest river u ever swimmed in?

waht do u dislike most abt fm synthsis

during yourn stay in deutschland, we barely talked abt ourn personal lives, as we were having too much fun (lol). if its ok to ask, i wanna know more abt ur pigeon partner!! how did u 2 meet, etc

i rly look up to ur voice. how did u learn how to sing..?

r u ever thinking of trying out musescore or any other score-based sws?

is there any songs that always calms u down? song that always sends u into Destruction mode? unlocks a third eye? makes u sad? gets ur mind brain pumping?

tell me abt some goal u had when u were younger. did u meet it now?

favourite tea

do u enjoy some activity that is unbecoming of a pigeon master?

when is the next pigeon takeover scheduled for, i need to put it in my calendar pls thx. also i need the exact location so i can prote- so i can help you. definitely

have u played tears of the kingdom

give me a Proud entry that u made away from botb. now.

any theories abt any mysterious historical event?

is there any random urges that u get, that if a person knew abt it, for they wld call u insane?

wat is ur favourite guilty-pleasure snack???

any style or genre u mite want to try out composing musically?

which artists or other media from ur childhood have influenced u the most

in school, what was ur least favourite subject

if u cld pay to delete something from this world, what wld it be and how much wld u pay

have u ever played any touhou games...

favourite season out of these two -> spring or fall?

any experiences u wanna share with us? can be anything from "i made a perfect omelet in 2018 but then i dropped it" to "i drank the legendary immortality elixir in a pure diamond shot glass"

174933

The cooooooldest river is the same one I often swim in (I always swim in the same river, but sometimes it's colder than other days).

My least favourite thing about FM synthesis is Gems by Recreational Brainware x))) And I guess relative to that is my own lack of complete understanding in wielding it. I use presets, but I respect deeply, those that know how to get the sound they're after, without utilizing presets.

Ah we met online! :)))) The same year I joined Botb. But we didn't meet through music, I can't remember exactly what I was asking about online, but it was a rather miscellaneous thing I think. And an answer developed into talking about life, which then developed into a friendship, and again developed.

That means a lot!! :DDDDD I used to sing in school performances so I got some time to practice. And I had a really nice music teacher that gave me a few basic lessons on posture and bad habits to be aware of (dunno how much of that I've retained, but some of it at least). I stopped singing for awhile after I left school to college, but I picked it back up after a year.

Aaaah I just dunno if I have the enthusiasm for musescore. Maybe if I could see some benefits past learning it. The good thing with tracker knowledge is that it feels like it brings me closer to making music for real hardware, whereas that thought process I don't think extends to muse.

In regards to how music can bring out feelings, I don't really tell anyone this, but I can get really emotional when listening to something that fully gets me. I usually try and find a quiet walk, so no one can see. Or I listen in my room.
Hymn to Him by the Mahavishnu Orchestra, the entire Tales of Topographic Ocean by Yes, Eduard Artmievs Warmth of Earth (my favourite album, of which I belieeeve mk7 introduced me to? I think?) After the Love is Gone by Earth Wind and Fire, etc (Doc, Amelia and Melonade should really check them out, those 3 have such strong jazzy harmonic instincts after all, and some of there compositions have touched me in that same way).
But yeah, tracks like those, they give me a euphoria for life. Experiencing it, and getting what I get from it, the shiver inducing harmonies, the passion, and often range of dynamics, from subdued to bombastic; it's some of the most powerful experiences I've felt in my life, and I really mean that.
Then there are those tracks I just cannot-not tap my feet to, like Can't Let Go also be Earth Wind and Fire (underrated banger by them) Meeting on a Milky Way (from the Warmth of Earth album).
One of the reasons I wear glasses outside while listening to music is so people cant see how teary eyed the music is getting me XDDDDDD

Plantasia is an album I'll sit down with if my goal is to chill out. For me, it's one of the ultimate chill albums, cos it has enough going on to be more substantial than pure ambient sound, but is also so laid back, I can just relax and pick up maybe a hobby while still listening intently.

Songs that send me into high energy mode are usually video game boss themes, Like a lot of Norio Hanzawa tracks. I guess they do for me what Punk does for punk rockers lolol.

Chimeratio's Escape the Lab is among what comes to mind, when I think of tunes that make my brain pump.

I'll end this series of responses here, then answer the rest in a followup! :)))

174947

A lot of your bitpacks share the theme of imaginative conflict. Is it because this theme inspires you more than any other? Or do you find anything imaginative to be inspiring by default, like music for a map in the skies?

Tell me about a game you played in which playing it in multiplayer mode was insanely fun.

174948

OPM, have you ever touched a pigeon? I was in England once, 17 years ago, staying in London for a few months of university, and had great fun feeding the pigeons in Trafalgar Square and letting them climb on top of me. (but I always showered afterward)

Do you live in a city or a more rural/countryside area?

174967

Ever had the mindblowing feeling of accidentally discovering that two tracks you like from two unrelated games were composed by the same person? If yes, which tracks are those and who is the composer?

Is there a VST that you used substantially, but don't use anymore? If yes, why did you stop using it?

And is there any VST that you'd like to give a try that you haven't yet? If yes, what is so interesting about it?

Do you have any physical objects in your possession that have a special meaning to you? If yes, what are they and why are they special?

During your turn, you mentioned the names of a few people who you consider to be more musically skilled than you. But is there someone who you consider to be equally skilled? It has to be someone who feels like a rival in equal terms. Someone who you can always see yourself either winning or losing to. You don't have to mention any names if you don't want to.

175015

Yeah Sloop! I've gotten to feed the London pigeons too :DDDD I live in the countryside right now, a few hours away from London (which, by British standards is a long way away lol).

I guess, now that you're making me think about it Tex, I imagine myself in the shoes of being a vg composer, looking at a project they've been tasked to create the soundtrack for. I find that mindset gets me most passionate to create, whereas say more abstract bitpacks can maybe sometimes be a struggle for me by comparison.
Likewise when the bitpack is a story, I relate it to being a story from some hypothetical video game. That seems to be a component I need to get properly engaged, at least usually.

Multiplayer games that I've gotten a ton of fun out of? The 3 games I really used to play the heck out of on multiplayer back when the PS3 had wifi were Little Big Planet (later 2, when that came out) Black Ops 1 (probably not the sort of game you'd expect me to play, but I was actually pretty good at it) and GTA V (great game to just mess around in).

Now it would be Super Smash Brothers U mostly; though Mario Kart 8 is pretty fun, I get a kick out of Smash Bros, which is weird, cos I otherwise sort of suck at most other fighters. Mario Kart 8 can also be extremely fun, but I prefer SSBU, where it feels like luck is a little less influential in the gameplay mechanics.

I was mindblown quite a bit when I realized that Matt Furniss was behind so many soundtracks, from games I'd played already. And again when I realized Hanzawa was behind both Gunstar Heroes, Alien Soldier, and the Simpsons Arcade Game.

Aw yeah! there have been vsts, of which I used to use, and now don't. I can't quite recall the name of the one that's mental image is in my brain, but it was an amazing vst for ethereal synth ambiance. But the reason I stopped using that was because it was very pricey, and only at College and University.
In fact, quite a few vsts that I don't use anymore for such a reason as that x))))
I suppose as far as VSTS I own, the defaults from Cubase, like Halionsonic, and Retrologue. I used them exclusively when I first acquired Cubase, so they don't really get as much interest from me now, and there are just generally so many vsts that have sounds I dig more.

Oh yea, there are some incredible high fidelity orchestral vsts that I can't use, because my computer and subsequently house, and neighbourhood would explode, from the sheer size of those megabytes xDDDDDD
For a long time I wouldve answered with FM8, but I do now have that vst, so wooo!!!

Objects that mean a lot to me, yea. So some of my earliest memories are actually of video games, playing the megadrive with my sister, who is much older than me. I remember playing Sonic 2 alongside her; I'd be Tails most of the time, and she'd get us through zones that I couldn't yet reach by myself.
The reason I bring it up, is that from when I was a young child, to a young teen, my sister, who knew I loved Sonic, made for me models of various characters, out of a molding clay known as fimo. They are all precious to me, and she made many; mostly Sonic figures, alongside some Mario ones.
As she did them, the details got more impressive too, and because she herself was into the Mega Drive Sonic titles, some of the figures she made were enjoyably more obscure, like various badniks.

I also do treasure my collection of game consoles and cartridges. I have quite a formidable Mega Drive collection >:::::) But I am, to this day haunted by the fact that my Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles cartridges are both lost. I had a boxed Sonic & Knuckles, which was cardboard!! I had manuals and boxes for both! I have no idea where they went to this day, how it was lost, but I forever begrudge it.

I consider myself on a level playing field with Kleeder, but that we shine at different things, and so make a great team when we do collaborate. Make no mistake however, we are ideological enemies, fated for conflict D:::<
Vav, when they choose to do battle in FM, is a very formidable challenge. I've beaten them, and they've beaten me, and I consider them very much a worthy adversary.
But I can see myself losing to plenty of botbrs honestly. There's a lot of talent on this site, and I'm not aloof enough to think that I'm impervious to defeat at the hands of any botbr.

Still gotta respond to the latter half of Miohs message too >::::)

175025

While OPM still gotta respond to the latter half of mioh's message, we gotta ask questions to our next seater: kilowatt64.

175033

what's a tidbit about yourself you'd be willing to share that most folks here do not know about you

when you listen back to your audio entries here, what do you hear / what do you think

do you still aspire to reclaim your pixelist class some day

what sorts of ideas do you start with for a piece of art (music or visual), and how do you go about fleshing them out

175044

Finishing my response to Mioh, starting with projects I had when I was a pidgeling, I had a lot of goals. I wanted to learn stop motion animation (which I did tbf) compose music for video games (I've joined some itchio projects, but the scope of what I had in mind makes it only a partly accomplished goal), and even back then I wanted to create video games, I just never believed it were possible for me to, knowing the process required understanding coding, which I saw more as unknowable hieroglyphics, that only those whom were fed special elixers of forbidden knowledge at birth could understand.
Ive played with level making games, like Little Big Planet 1&2, Mario Maker, Lunar Magic, SMB3 Level maker, but you know where my progress lies on creating my own game.

Yorkshire!! I think Kleeder asked the same, YORKSHIRE TEA!!

I like to pet cats, which you might THINK is unbecoming of a pigeon master, until you realize that one third of all cats are actually highly advanced gundam mechs, with pigeon pilots in the frontal lobe cockpit.
So I saw a picture of a really nice sunset from Great Abaco, and I quite like the name having the word "Great" in it, so I'm launching the airship into the Northern Bahamas for an invasion, on about the 26th August. I'm gonna add "Zone" to the end of some of the names of locations there, like Pine Beach "Zone" Pete's Pub "Zone", Tom Curry's Point "Zone" etc.
Somewhere between Tom Curry Point and the Marsh Harbour Airport, I think is where my central tower base will be located, to the right hand side of the Marls Land and Sea Park Zone.

I'll place Pigeon mech turrets across the Abaco national park, and little abaco island I'm gonna place rocket thrusters underneath, so I can lift it up, and utilize it as a flying fortress to protect the central island.

We'll make it all look like business as usual, so no one will report about it, but I'll be periodically working towards taking over the Bahamas.

I have not played Tears of the Kleeder

OOooo a proud entry I made away from Botb, ye mean a tune I'm proud of that doth not exist on Botb? I'm quite happy with the OST I provided for TeePeeDee's Metroidvania Month 16 game jam entry: https://itch.io/jam/metroidvania-month-16/rate/1568354

any theories abt any mysterious historical event?
Bees.
I don't think bees are real.
I think in 1993 our history was rewritten to include them.

Yea defo, like many I've experienced the phenomena known as appel du vide. It's rather annoying when it happens, cos I find heights exciting.

OOoooo guilty pleasure snack! Cookie Dough with ice!!!!! GOD I LOVE COOKIE DOUGH WITH ICE AAAAAAA!!

I want to meddle more in progressive rock, though I've worked within that genre quite a few times.
I dunno if it counts as a genre, but experimenting with other fm based chips from arcade machines!

I go into depth on this in past answers, so I'll give an abridged answer here, but my main inspiration as a child were the chiptune composers of old, from the Mega Drive. Later on I became inspired by bands such as prog rock band Yes.

French was probably my least favourite subject. I don't know exactly why, and it's unfortunate, cos I admire multi linguistic people, but the lessons I found dull. Cooking and DIY were also two that I never could get into, despite finding the subject matters conceptually interesting.

Raisens and there likeness. They put them in all sorts of things that I like, and there inclusions ruins it!!! Like Rum and raisan ice cream, I JUST WANT THE RUM!! REMOVE THOU VILE RAISAN!!
And I'd pay £89.99 to have it removed from the world.

I've played a good few shmups but never any touhou! Don't mind a bullet hell, but I like how a game like Thunder Force IV or Steel Empire will have varying dangers besides dodging bullets. And I've never been a great shmup player in general anyway x))

I prefer Spring; we treat the start and end of years as bookmarks, and so Spring is a period where we still feel like we can accomplish many things. And I love the fresh summer breeze, which is something that I'm closer to in Spring.

Never answered the red meat question but haaaas to be pulled pork!!

And an experience I want to share. I mean I DID drink the legendary immortality elixir in a pure diamond shot glass, but yknow, I don't wanna brag about it.
I think, if anyone is in my position, where they desperately wish to create music for video games, I would recommend they try and join the odd itchio game jam. It's an experience I've had, a fun one at that.
Be honest about what kind of soundtrack you want to make, don't feel like you need to accept an invitation when the game doesn't appeal to you. There will always be projects for you.

Sorry for the late response but thanks everyone for the questions ::)

175045

oh wow my turn already! here goes, sorry if I get long-winded

from damifortune
what's a tidbit about yourself you'd be willing to share that most folks here do not know about you
Oh no turning my own first-day-of-school question against me! Well, lots of things I could share here. Let's see, I think most people around know that I'm married and a dad, but I guess a tidbit about that is our youngest kids are beautiful twin girls that were born extremely premature and ended up with varying degrees of cerebral palsy. One of them can't walk or talk (wheelchair bound) and she has been my companion hanging around for many a battle. She had a rough start to life, but has the best smile and laugh that you've ever seen. They started first grade today! My wife is a hilarious, genuine person and I wish you all knew her. She's not around here but is sort of a botbr in spirit (she knows lots of your names).
Other stuff? I'm left handed, love swimming/hiking but don't do much of either, have a very wimpy retro games collection, and am a very sentimental person. Probably no surprise on that last.

when you listen back to your audio entries here, what do you hear / what do you think
Ooh, I like this one. I've got a long way to go to reach where I want to get, but my honest answer to the question is I have surprised myself with some stuff I've written. I could point at several specific improvements in my songs that I've watched develop the last year and a half or so that might be marginal for some (song structure, feel for melody/harmony, sound dynamics, etc), but exciting as that growth is, it doesn't actually hold up a candle to the fact that I've sometimes written stuff that I simply like to hear and really connect with emotionally. This is mindblowing to me, and gets me excited to keep going to see what heights I can personally reach, years from now. One of my early drivers for creating music and art was hoping to someday create stuff like artists that I admire. This is still an aspiration, but has slowly shifted to a hope that I can just create music and art that represents the best thing that I can authentically write from myself while drawing from those inspirations.

I'm a big believer that each of us has something unique to share that nobody else can fully replace. As fun as it would be to create something that blows everyone away, art doesn't need to be the best in a competition to bring some value to the world, and this is cool.</kevin-philosophy>

do you still aspire to reclaim your pixelist class some day
I still think about this because I love pixel art and it would be super fun to exist on the botb classist leaderboard and uh....I don't think that'll happen as a chipist as much as I love chip formats :) The struggle is I'm like 6000 points short now, and I did some quick math and could probably only make that up if I did like 200+ pixel OHBs or some really high scoring major entries, and with no music in between. I could always shift music to an alt, but I also thought about converting an alt into my pixelist alter ego, not sure. More to come on this :)
I got catapulted up to begin with because of my sledding penguins entry in 2022's winter chip, which I never in a million years expected to win the pixel category OR to take third in the major. Big friggin surprise when I logged in after it closed. In fairness, I think it's worth noting that people tend to score art and music a bit differently.

what sorts of ideas do you start with for a piece of art (music or visual), and how do you go about fleshing them out
It varies, but sometimes I'm concentrating on a specific emotion or visualizing myself in a scene before I start writing something. This helps inform the whole process if I start out this way. So, music from others that appeals to my own emotions and/or has strong storytelling elements tends to be a big hit for me. Sometimes I'm not taking this emotional/visualization approach and simply starting with putting down a beat/bass line or melody that pops into my head (the first thing that comes to mind after reading a prompt in an OHB for example). I've found that, at least in OHBs, I can often work with my first idea, even if it's not very strong. Sometimes it takes 30 minutes of working on an initial idea for me to actually see that I can do something fun with it. For majors of course I can be more picky and careful about the process. I've mentioned this in chat previously, but some of my lowest-scoring and fewest-favorited entries in majors have been some that I am most proud of because of their (intended) storytelling and emotional elements that I still connect with.

175067

The other day, you told me you emulated an ascending trill that you heard in a 2A03 track (and it sounded very convincing in your entry, btw). Any other chiptune tricks you managed to emulate and any others you want to emulate?

You used a noir detective avatar for a long time. How much into noir are you? Is there a film genre you are into more?

Tell me about your earliest pixel art ventures. What programs did you use back then? Anything pixel art related that you liked to create that you don't create now?

Besides going to mexican restaurants and making Día de los Muertos inspired pixel art (at least that's what Calypso feels like to me), are there any other activities related to mexican culture that you like to partake in nowadays?

175073

Wow that your kids started first grade so recently!! Congratulations on their school start!

Your interest in pixel art, does it stem from a desire to work on video game projects, or is it removed from any particular end purpose, and just a sheer love of the art style?

Do you have any particular favourite video games from the retro age?

I think we all want our music to reach both ourselves and listeners. You said you've gotten to experience the wonder of crafting songs that you yourself can then listen back to and enjoy, even be moved by.
What do you consider the more important of those two; that the music touch yourself, or the listener? And somewhat relative to that, do you consider one of the reasons you're drawn to digital art, to be it's longevity, that it may remain throughout the rest of our lifetimes and beyond?

Are there any longterm projects or goals you have, in regards to your art passion (I mean both music and pixel when I say art generically).

And what's your favourite animal? >::) (If it's not pigeons then F- Results!!)

175078

Tex:
The other day, you told me you emulated an ascending trill that you heard in a 2A03 track (and it sounded very convincing in your entry, btw). Any other chiptune tricks you managed to emulate and any others you want to emulate?
Oh yeah! I love old game tracks that sound full, like NES tracks that make effective use of volume and channel economy to emulate echo and reverb. I remember seeing a same channel echo on a Fearofdark NES track (sequence of eighth/sixteenth notes echoed starting at the third row of the sequence, then managed with alternating volumes with every row. Ctrl +M for mixed paste in fami is your friend!). I use this one frequently. Plenty of other tricks I've picked up. Working with Señor Cabbage, that taught me how to make a fuller emulated reverb sound by using a slight pitch offset on a second channel. I have also tried emulating specific instrumentation, because instrumentation in itself is nostalgic fun for me. So, I sometimes use NSF importer and take NES NSFs and use the tool to try and reverse engineer and recreate specific instruments from a game I like. Got more on my to do list to recreate, speaking of.

You used a noir detective avatar for a long time. How much into noir are you? Is there a film genre you are into more?
I love the vibe of old detective stories, but I'm not sure that I'd say I'm very much into it. My favorite comic growing up was Calvin and Hobbes, and I loved the gritty detective character that he portrayed.
I love Watterson's use of long shadows and black/white contrast. Not in the realm of noir, but I also grew up enjoying old black and white movies like Casablanca, Citizen Kane, various Audrey Hepburn films, which instilled an enjoyment for grayscale color schemes.

Tell me about your earliest pixel art ventures. What programs did you use back then? Anything pixel art related that you liked to create that you don't create now?
Actually, my first proper attempt with pixel art was my penguins entry for Winter Chip on battle of the bits. I'd never consciously thought about creating pixel art specifically before then, although I have enjoyed seeing pixel art created by others as well as art in video games for a long time. I did have a copy of Aseprite a year or so prior and tried half-heartedly creating sprites a few times for a little game I wanted to do with a friend. For a while I did draw a series of comics, partly as a thing I wanted to create for my sister who was going through chemo at the time. I used Clip Studio for that and still would enjoy using that tool. Mad respect for pixel artists who draw with a mouse, I'm not always very successful at that and tend to stick with a drawing tablet.

Besides going to mexican restaurants and making Día de los Muertos inspired pixel art (at least that's what Calypso feels like to me), are there any other activities related to mexican culture that you like to partake in nowadays?
When I was younger, I spent some time living in Mexico and loved the people and the food, and parts of that time of life stuck with me through the years. I still enjoy the music and especially the FOOD. I loved how holidays in Mexico were very centered around family and community, but I can't say I've tried to deliberately participate in any specific cultural celebrations. Sports-wise, back then I was into soccer which was a big part of the culture with the people I hung around with. I played a lot with a group of guys and although I wasn't very good at the sport, I played with spirit and earned the nickname "pequeño campeón" as a result lol. A friend from Veracruz I keep in touch with still calls me this.

And yeah, I was going for that vibe with Calypso :)

OPM: thanks!
Your interest in pixel art, does it stem from a desire to work on video game projects, or is it removed from any particular end purpose, and just a sheer love of the art style?
Just enjoyment of the art, although I would love to make art for games and attempted this in the past for a personal project with Fredgar Jones, actually, although he did most of the art. We didn't get very far at that point but maybe will try again sometime?

Do you have any particular favourite video games from the retro age?
Loads, yeah! I especially loved story-driven games when I was younger, so RPGs were a top favorite for me (and still are). If I had to pick just one, I would probably go with Final Fantasy VI although it would be a close fight with Chrono Trigger and Zelda LttP. Secret of Evermore, Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3 too. Other favorites included a ton of other stuff. I enjoyed action games like Ninja Turtles, Monster in my Pocket, puzzle/adventure games like Nightshade/Hero's Quest, tactics games like Commandos, N64 shooters, and of course Smash Bros which has been mentioned a few times in the thread. Does Animal Crossing on Gamecube count as retro enough? I loved that one to pieces! Harvest Moon, Castlevania, on and on. It's always some combination of gameplay + story + music + art that sticks with me.

I think we all want our music to reach both ourselves and listeners. You said you've gotten to experience the wonder of crafting songs that you yourself can then listen back to and enjoy, even be moved by.
What do you consider the more important of those two; that the music touch yourself, or the listener? And somewhat relative to that, do you consider one of the reasons you're drawn to digital art, to be it's longevity, that it may remain throughout the rest of our lifetimes and beyond?
Deep question! I think there's probably room for either focusing on yourself or your audience, but generally speaking I think it's important for the artist to connect with their own work. When this happens, in my mind it often naturally follows that the audience may pick up something from it as well. In the end, I'd rather have created something that I love, rather than have created something that others loved...if I had to choose. That being said, when people connect with your art, it can be very motivating to keep at it. I do think the longevity of digital art is great. I love the idea that someday something I create might inspire someone else to do something. That's so awesome to think about

Are there any longterm projects or goals you have, in regards to your art passion (I mean both music and pixel when I say art generically).
I'd be interested in creating or continuing another comic series at some point, focused more on pixel art style, something akin to what Hanna created a while back. I'd also love to release some kind of cohesive album to share. I also love the idea of completing a game with original art, music, sfx, and code, but feel like at the present stage of life that might pull away too much from other important things.

And what's your favourite animal? >::) (If it's not pigeons then F- Results!!)
it is most CERTAINLY pigeons and definitely NOT frogs of any kind, especially red-eyed tree frogs. I am also NOT partial to cats or dogs, especially tabby cats or labradors, nooooo thank you, planet earth

175112

im not reading sory

175121

ok

175126

The reception your Penguins entry received was overwhelmingly positive! Is there anything else you remember making for the first time that received a similar peak of reactions?

You play the acoustic guitar and the ukulele. What made you learn to play those instruments? Would you like to be able to play any others? If yes, which ones?

Besides learning new tricks, tell me everything else you like about collabs. What do you like about the ones you joined? And what do you like about the ones you experienced as a spectator?

175144

Another long winded one coming...

The reception your Penguins entry received was overwhelmingly positive! Is there anything else you remember making for the first time that received a similar peak of reactions?
Nothing particular comes to mind, but I always appreciate positive reception (and improvement feedback!). When I was in high school I participated in theater quite a bit, mostly as extras in school musicals, but my senior year I landed a good role in a comedy play and was surprised that I had a talent for it and was well received. I haven't done theater since school days but I have toyed with the idea of trying out for a a local play for fun every now and again.

You play the acoustic guitar and the ukulele. What made you learn to play those instruments? Would you like to be able to play any others? If yes, which ones?
I learned guitar in high school because I watched my older brother who had played guitar and I always loved it. Never anything original, I just wanted to learn how to play songs from bands that I liked. I love the sound of the acoustic guitar wherever it shows up in music and someday want to get myself a really nice 12-string, that's been on my wish list for a long time. As for the ukulele, my wife has a sister who lives in Hawaii and on a visit there, she picked me up a Hawaiian-made uke which was really cool. I love the simplicity and unique sound of it as well! I'd love to be a decent piano player and have been learning using an app for the last 8 months or so. I figured actually being able to play the piano, I could write more interesting chip music, be quicker at constructing chords, and that kind of thing. (So far, I think I've felt some smallish benefits from this) Of course learning takes a lot of practice, which takes a lot of time, and it's a bit slow going with life demands but I'm still working at it! You're never too old to learn something new, I think.

Besides learning new tricks, tell me everything else you like about collabs. What do you like about the ones you joined? And what do you like about the ones you experienced as a spectator?
Main thing for me is just getting to know some cool people. Sometimes you can get to know someone a bit better than normal chat/site interactions allow for when talking 1-on-1 about a song. I've learned something useful each time I've worked with someone, so from a selfish perspective it's great too. For me, just seeing someone else's approach to writing stuff in itself is very beneficial. For this same reason I really enjoyed the OHB vlogs that people have shared, feels like that kinda learning for me is more effective than reading stuff online/watching youtube videos about music writing topics. Something about seeing the way someone thinks about creating something and the workflow they follow to achieve it is huge.

My first complete collab was with Cabbage Drop, my thought was (a) he makes good music with a unique style, (b) doesn't chat a ton but still manages to put out "cool person" vibes, and (c) he doesn't know this part, but in my head I considered us sort of fond arch-rivals because we are often neck-and-neck in OHB scoring mooohahahah :D Chatted with him a bit, cool person confirmed. And he's the type of guy that's happy to share anything with you about his process (which is quite involved, dude's got a toolkit of skills)!

My collab with roz which was my first time doing something like that in real-time (ptcollab) unless you count guitar jamming with friends back in the day. This was a lot of fun too, especially since we could shoot the breeze a bit while working on stuff. Also a cool person with a lot of talents that is happy to share!

I could say good things about my other few experiences as well. It's also interesting to work with someone with a more distinct approach than your own, nitrofurano's approach to music is very different than mine, but when we did a collab it was a cool challenge trying to make something that could blend.

I'm really excited about other opportunities down the road too...
foreshadowingforeshadowingforeshadowing

Anyway, I'd recommend collabing to others, especially if you feel like a noob. All noobs! If you're interested, try reaching out to someone! The worst that can happen is they say "no thanks."

As for spectating, a few of my all-time favorite botb entries have been collaborative works. It's cool to see different mixes of people, including the rare combo of people who tend to do really well in compos working together on a high energy piece that really knocks it out of the park, whoa. I also love seeing collabs that are focused on thoughtful expression and interplay between artists. Those to me are real gems. I could point at some of my favorite collab pairs, but instead I hope it suffices to say that I appreciate you, keep doing your thing, people.

175164

what is a badge u want but are too lazy to get

wld u rather start all major entrys with megalovania or be limited to length of 10 seconds for every x in the xhb (10 seconds for ohb, 20 seconds for 2hb, 40 seconds for 4hb)

least favourite kind of vehicle

what is ur most memorable batol on botb?

tell me abt a pet peeve u have in terms of video game mechanics

any favourite drinks?

if u cld combine 2 animals what wld they be, and what wld u call this new species

are you a "organised desktop" kind of guy or a "litter the screen with project files" kind of guy

175171

how did you get started making your own music, was it something you learned from teachers or by yourself?

you've said you work in cybersecurity, can you tell us more about that or is it TOP SECRET???

which BotBr would you most like to collab with (that you haven't already)?

and finally....... what toppings will go on your burger???

175175

mioh (I was somehow reminded of your darkrai avatar today)
what is a badge u want but are too lazy to get
I'd love to have SPC but have only done 3 entries...not sure why I haven't pursued it more. Path of least resistance, maybe. I'd also love to have a bronze AdLib but it's awfully far away.

wld u rather start all major entrys with megalovania or be limited to length of 10 seconds for every x in the xhb (10 seconds for ohb, 20 seconds for 2hb, 40 seconds for 4hb)
lol this is tough. uh, I want to say I'd go with the time limit one, megalovania would get old after a while. Although it can be done stylishly

least favourite kind of vehicle
something big and bulky, like a hummer

what is ur most memorable batol on botb?
You are getting more than one.
Majors: Winter Chip XVI (when I joined, and got so excited about making music I kept waking up at 4:00 AM through most of January). Also Advent Calendar 2022 which was crazy, stressful, and fun and I got to know a lot of people better.

I remember my first couple of Yea Video Games, because the sample packs were great and I loved the idea of the series (the type of thing I've always thought about). Also coda showed up to the second one I did and I had followed his music for a long time so it really caught me off guard but was cool to be in the same place even if I was in early stages of learning.

I remember some of hanna's 4K/8K battles which were rad, and generated some more of my all-time favorite botb tracks. There was one battle that I remember a lot even though I didn't submit anything.

Also, the first battle I hosted was an N64 sample pack one and it was very memorable to me because it was so awesome to hear people making great music with samples that I love so much and had spent the time to put together.

tell me abt a pet peeve u have in terms of video game mechanics
It's not really a mechanic, but when a game starts launching into a lengthy and complicated tutorial just to get started playing, my eyes start to glaze over. Also when I play a dialog-heavy game that is voice acted, I don't often let the voice lines actually play out, even if they're well acted. I dunno, I just read and want to move on through the dialog as soon as I'm done reading, and it makes the voice lines sound really choppy and weird.

any favourite drinks?
Ice water is the greatest of all times. Also enjoy a nice tea or a coffee, or anything with coconut in it. Also orange juice MUST be heavy in pulp or there is no reason to drink it.

if u cld combine 2 animals what wld they be, and what wld u call this new species
chimpanzee + chameleon. The chimpeleon is known for its high intelligence and powers of stealth

are you a "organised desktop" kind of guy or a "litter the screen with project files" kind of guy
I utilize a proprietary hybrid system where things appear organized and structured and then others are inexplicably scattered all over the place and I will never find them. Desktop looks kinda messy but not horrible

roz
how did you get started making your own music, was it something you learned from teachers or by yourself?
on my own. First actual time making anything was in high school in the early 2000s. I bought a computer with my first couple of paychecks after my first job, and at some point got a a cracked copy of Acid Studio from a friend and a few of us made like 50+ awful but fun songs. A couple botb entry titles have been nods to this old stuff that some friends I lost touch with might recognize if they ever came across it. I still have those sitting around and they are good for a laugh. After high school, I didn't do a lot with writing music beyond a few half-hearted attempts at songs until I joined this place.

you've said you work in cybersecurity, can you tell us more about that or is it TOP SECRET???
by reading this post you are hereby placed on several U.S. watchlists
don't say I didn't warn ya

I have worked around a bit, currently I work in the private sector as a threat hunter. Job is pretty much just to go out there and proactively look for malicious activity or hacking type behavior on our networks and also handle some project work. In a big enough company, there's always something weird going on, which can be fun. Nature of the job too is that some times are high stress and pressure, other times not as much.

which BotBr would you most like to collab with (that you haven't already)?
*gulp uh.... there are plenty I could mention. Should I put them out there? There are a couple that haven't materialized yet, and beyond those, I think it would be fun to work with Beej, damifortune, dippy, kleeder, Tobikomi, ko0x, Viraxor, others still. I don't know how compatible styles are and I haven't asked any of these people lol. Time is a limiting factor too.

and finally....... what toppings will go on your burger???
Lettuce, onion and tomato are a MUST and the critical foundation upon which other burger toppings must build (unless it's something like a mushroom and swiss burger in which case an exception can be made)

175188

Thanks for the answers, friend.

roz is next

175191

*glup*

175192

Is altruism inherently selfish?

175195

before you joined botb what were you spending your spare time and energy on

what has your musical journey been like, where did it all start

when did you decide to make latism part of your identity on the site

what's going on your pita bread

175202

What is a food that is underrated? Overrated?

Favorite sound chip?

Where did you learn to play piano?

Favorite video game soundtrack?

Favorite video game for gameplay?

Your music touches on a lot of styles. Where do you find inspiration for OHB ideas?

What is the ideal breakfast?

How did you end up working in medical services?

What's something about yourself you'd be willing to share that most of us don't know about you?

175207

roz roz ro-o-o-z, romaz ro-ma-maz, ga ga u-la-laz, want ur bad romoz

ok so do u like popcorn? do u put anything on it?

is there anything that gets stuck in ur head very often since old times?
or do u ever find urself humming the same tune without knowing?

favourite level or fight from a video game?

what is ur favourite excuse to stay inside

cold and humid with eternally wet socks, or absolutely perfect temperature and weather conditions but with a daily itch in that part of ur back that u cannot reach?

favourite sauce? (eg mayo, chicken dip, mustard, chili sauce, relish, sriracha, ...)

what is something that genuinely angers u

unexpected music genres that you enjoy? what abt movie/show genres?

is there any book or story that greatly moved u?

also pls hug rory for me. she seems rly sweet and cool overall but itd be awkward for me to randomly dm them ^^;;

tell me abt a cool adventure or a nice day u had in the past

what superpower(s) do u most usually imagine urself with?

wld u rather make a story-driven game with a terrible plot, or a strategy-driven game with bad mechanics?

gimme the botb entries that u had the most fun making!!!

most annoying thing that people do unintentionally?

in 5 words, describe some artist or musician that u rly look up to. then say their name!!!

175215

pick one thing in/about your life and tell us how it has impacted you. essentially, a backstory

if you and the other BOTBrs were in a big dorm and you all had character archetypes like a goofy sitcom, which one would you be (you can say who the others would be if you want) and what wacky zany hijinks would occur if there was an in-person OHB or something

175301

wow!!!!! mucho texto incoming..........

Minerscale
Is altruism inherently selfish?
no.

damifortune
before you joined botb what were you spending your spare time and energy on
much less interesting things. a lot of unfinished projects.

what has your musical journey been like, where did it all start
weeeeelllll it actually goes back to a play group i attended as a toddler called something like "sing and learn" where we played little kids' instruments like tambourines and stuff and learned songs like the alphabet song and the months of the year song (which i still sing in my head to remember that stuff!). the lady who ran this group, Linda, just so happened to also be a piano teacher, and since young roz seemed to be taking an interest in music anyway it was a pretty natural progression to just 'graduate' straight into piano lessons with Linda.

i could talk more about what it was like learning piano but what i really want to say is that Linda is an angel, a woman of infinite patience and kindness, a walking encyclopaedia, and someone i still think of as an extended family member. even if she never taught me piano, if i'd just gone around to her house once a week to chat, i would be a richer person for it today.

but she did teach me to play piano, so there's that.

when did you decide to make latism part of your identity on the site
some time ago i accepted that this is not something about me that's going to change.

what's going on your pita bread
FUCK YES. LET'S TALK. OK. uuuuhh roasted peppers, olives, harissa, HALLOUMI, tzatziki, red onions, feta, chickpeas, pickled chilli, walnuts, falafels, tomatoes, houmous... i would have every one of these at once AND MORE if there was ever a pita bread big enough to hold them all :c

kilowatt
What is a food that is underrated? Overrated?
UNDERRATED: pineapple on pizza
OVERRATED: ketchup

Favorite sound chip?
2A03 my beloved, i will always come back to you.

Where did you learn to play piano?
see my answer to dami! but for more detail i learned in what you might call the 'traditional' style, which was certainly beneficial because it whipped a few good habits into me that i would absolutely not have had the discipline to self-impose.

Favorite video game soundtrack?
i could lie, but i won't: minecraft. between the ages of ~12-14 i did very little at all with my free time besides play minecraft. C418's original "volume alpha" score is buried deep in my brain, deeper than any other videogame soundtrack and really most other music that i have ever listened to. it was baby's first ambient, and accordingly it turned my understanding of what music could even be for upside-down. not only that, but through the interviews and AMAs with C418 that i ravenously consumed his recommendations put me onto the wider world of ambient music from erik satie to brian eno to aphex twin.

i am also working long-term on a minecraft-related music project that i may be speaking more about on here sometime soon........

Favorite video game for gameplay?
anything source engine. it's just got that magic innit.

Your music touches on a lot of styles. Where do you find inspiration for OHB ideas?
i wish i had a good answer for this. i sit at the piano, sometimes the muses sing to me, sometimes they don't.

What is the ideal breakfast?
fried eggs on toast. crispy.

How did you end up working in medical services?
well there's two ways of answering this. the first one is: my mum's a nurse, so i just inherited the family business. the second one is: i did a gap year before university and, for want of something to do, walked to the local employment centre, applied to the first ad i saw, and there i was.

What's something about yourself you'd be willing to share that most of us don't know about you?
i wish i had 9 toes or something so i had a good back pocket answer to this kind of question.

mioh
ok so do u like popcorn? do u put anything on it?
just salted. i'm a popcorn ascetic.

is there anything that gets stuck in ur head very often since old times?
or do u ever find urself humming the same tune without knowing?
everything. i'm a habitual whistler, which has gotten me into no end of trouble with authority figures who find it annoying. whichever melody is currently stuck in my head i will reflexively whistle on repeat until someone throws a heavy object at me.

favourite level or fight from a video game?
the world of minecraft which, being infinite, contains every minecraft level within it.

what is ur favourite excuse to stay inside
time to OHB!!!!!!!

cold and humid with eternally wet socks, or absolutely perfect temperature and weather conditions but with a daily itch in that part of ur back that u cannot reach?
the latter, rory would scratch for me :)

favourite sauce? (eg mayo, chicken dip, mustard, chili sauce, relish, sriracha, ...)
spicy mayo, or maybe peri peri. at nandos VUSA is a favourite. yeah i'm one of those capsaicin freaks.

what is something that genuinely angers u
indifference to suffering.

unexpected music genres that you enjoy? what abt movie/show genres?
i don't really know what people here would expect me to be into based on what i make, so by the same token i don't know what would be unexpected. i know this is a pretty trite thing to say but i'm very cosmopolitan with my listening, i don't think there's a single genre of music i've heard of that i haven't liked at least some pieces from.

is there any book or story that greatly moved u?
numerous. recently i read Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy which certainly moved me but perhaps not in the way this question is asking. i read McCarthy's The Road when i was much too young to, and that made a deep impression on me which i imagine has affected my taste in literature to this day.

also pls hug rory for me. she seems rly sweet and cool overall but itd be awkward for me to randomly dm them ^^;;
ok!!!

tell me abt a cool adventure or a nice day u had in the past
on holiday with my family & rory the guy who owned the house we were staying in on mallorca took us on a trip on his tiny boat a good way around the island, stopping to swim in the sea in many interesting spots for fish-watching and to eat at a cool restaurant that you had to swim to and climb a set of stairs in a cliff-face to reach. that was an awesome day.

what superpower(s) do u most usually imagine urself with?
to communicate with animals.

wld u rather make a story-driven game with a terrible plot, or a strategy-driven game with bad mechanics?
the latter because it would probably lead to interesting speedrunning strategies.

gimme the botb entries that u had the most fun making!!!
all the battle of the bands entries!

most annoying thing that people do unintentionally?
chew open-mouthed.

in 5 words, describe some artist or musician that u rly look up to. then say their name!!!
leader of the starry skies

tim smith

Lotepamera
pick one thing in/about your life and tell us how it has impacted you. essentially, a backstory
following my traumatic birth i was briefly anoxic. for precisely how long i don't know, only that, according to my mum's telling, i was blue before i took my first breath. later in life i learned that people who enter the world this way are diagnosed with a whole litany of developmental disorders at a much higher rate than the general population. whether this explains anything about the general course of my life i am unfortunately too affectively compromised to determine.

if you and the other BOTBrs were in a big dorm and you all had character archetypes like a goofy sitcom, which one would you be (you can say who the others would be if you want) and what wacky zany hijinks would occur if there was an in-person OHB or something
nice try but the rule against BotBr fanfiction DOES extend to forum threads and i am NOT getting ailed today.

175308

oh shoot I didn’t know that was a taboo here. sorry!

175319

haha oh no don't worry i was just horsing around. the real reason i didn't answer that question is because my answer would naturally generate a cliquey vibe based on who i mentioned/didn't mention, & i couldn't possibly mention everyone, so i thought i'd just deflect with a silly one.

175338

what sorts of art inspire you to make your own art

what kinds of unfinished projects do you have lying around from before the botb days

what are some of your favorite books, and is there any common thread between them

175339

Any particular memories from playing Minecraft?

175351

why did you start hosting the recent haiku OHBs and what do you like about haikus?

175352

what do you do to make the world a better place (for yourself, ur loved ones, ...everyone??)

175397

super seconds! a little birdie told me that my answers were kind of cagey last time so here is roz on Honesty Mode:

damifortune
what sorts of art inspire you to make your own art
sometimes i hear a song i don't even remember listening to before and realise that not only have i heard it, but i've in fact been subconsciously trying to copy its vibe in everything i've been making for years. i think inspiration works mysteriously.

what kinds of unfinished projects do you have lying around from before the botb days
well, one was a minecraft sound-alike tribute, but that may soon be getting something of a second wind if my current plans bear fruit......

what are some of your favorite books...
i think answers to this question are inevitably going to suffer from overrepresentation of things you've read recently which are still fresh in your mind and important books from your childhood... so i'm not going to fight that.

about a year ago i read Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy
which completely blew me away with its ambition - or rather, the fact that it managed to realise its ambition so perfectly. really i think it's the final word on ecological sci fi. it's surprising that i liked it so much especially since my usual taste leans much more towards the impressionistic, but ol' Stan won me over!

as far as books from my childhood: i devoured Discworld
, H2G2
... basically the standard british nerd fare.

...and is there any common thread between them?
something i've noticed is that i have an enduring fascination with fictional works about the peculiar social dynamics of all-male environments, from barracks to boats to boarding schools and so on. the source of this is no mystery: i went to an all boys' school*, and the particular horrors of the homosocial world stayed with me. unfortunately a large portion of literature in this genre is of the macho triumphalist OO-RAH, HONOUR AND BROTHERHOOD variety.

currently i'm reading Dan Simmons' The Terror
, a historical supernatural horror novel about the famous, doomed franklin expedition
which fits well into my groove. when i finish it i hope to watch the well-received miniseries.

about two years ago i read The North Water
, another book about victorian men freezing to death on a boat, but this one with a rapist-murder-mystery angle. it was also extremely my shit. it got a miniseries adaption too which i felt was criminally overlooked, so if you're more into the watching than the reading and are interested in colin farrell looking the oiliest a man can possibly look, you should give it a go!

i also enjoyed Redburn
by Herman Melville (of Moby-Dick fame).

*for brits: grammar

kilowatt
Any particular memories from playing Minecraft?
the first summer holiday since i discovered the game; i would have been 12. shutting myself in my room, curtains drawn, meals ignored, bladder tormented. reality dissolved, my peripheral vision atrophied through lack of use. i was in that world. i was really in it.

around the time i turned 13, i ran a server that me and a few friends would log into every day after school. we would play the game some, but also just hang out in there shooting the shit 13-year-old style. one afternoon it was just me and one friend, taking turns telling secrets. i told him i had a crush on a boy in my class, and made him promise never to tell another soul. the next day at school he told everyone.

during my first year of uni, when rory was living in my student accommodation (rarely leaving because she wasn't uh strictly allowed to be there), one day i spun up that old game for a little nostalgia kick. she asked what i was doing, so i started a world for her and talked her through what the whole deal is. at first she didn't 'get it' - before long it was all she wanted to do. that game kept us - ok, i won't speak for her, but it kept me - sane through a very difficult time.

for a few years, me & rory ran a server for us and some friends. every year we would start a new world, play for a few weeks/months, everyone would help each other achieve/collect/build everything they wanted to, then it would go back into hibernation until the next year. it was a great system for keeping things from getting stale. maybe we'll spin it up again sometime!

dobra
why did you start hosting the recent haiku OHBs and what do you like about haikus?
well i'd been playing around with the idea of doing a plaintext series based on some popular poetic form for a while. the first couple of haiku battles were sort of testing the water and they were so well received - and i enjoyed doing them so much - that i just never stopped!

what do i like about them? well, this post probably goes a long way towards explaining it, particularly this part: channel F is like the "minimum viable chip" and by the same token the haiku is the "minimum viable poetic form". basically it's appealing for the same reason chip music is appealing: extreme limitation. i love the challenge of trying to wring the maximum meaning/sentiment possible out of 17 syllables, and i do also just love the lilt and flow of a well-composed short sentence. i hope this comes through in my entries!!

kleeder
what do you do to make the world a better place for yourself:
working in the field i do is a big part of it. i expect people would think that would come under the "everyone" category but it's really just about placating my own conscience, for reasons which will become apparent. creating art that i would like to see is another part.

ur loved ones:
building a life together with rory. staying in close contact with my family, meeting them regularly, and going on holidays together.

...everyone??
this is the part where i have to lay my cards on the table and also kind of give away why my reply to Minerscale's question last time was so curt: i'm basically a true-believing utilitarian. like the cartoon kind that people think doesn't exist in real life. i don't know the best way to talk about this without alienating people/laying out my whole personal philosophical history, so there's no real way for me to answer this question which won't seem extremely strange to someone not already steeped in the same styles of thought as me...

...but here goes. the answer is this: my refusal to directly participate financially to animal slaughter outweighs everything else i could possibly do in my life a thousandfold. a hundred-thousand-fold. some questionable statistics have it that the average british adult eats the equivalent of about 14 chickens a year - by not doing that i'm basically at -14 murders per year, every year. i mean i don't rank the murder of a chicken quite as high as the murder of a human, but it's close enough that the specifics hardly even matter because these numbers could be off by an order of magnitude or two and it would still overshadow everything else i could possibly do, good or bad. it is the fact about me that i would want etched deepest into my gravestone.

that said, as a hedge on human exceptionality, i have also donated via givewell
, an organisation which researches charities and directs your donations to those they deem the most cost-effective on a lives-saved/suffering-reduced-per-currency-donated basis (for the interested, this amounts mostly to anti-malaria bednets and direct cash transfers to impoverished people). since last moving house my financials have been... pretty dire, but once i'm back in the green i plan to start donating again.

175400

Is "roz" a real-life nickname? Or an online-only name?

What is a problem you see in modern civilization, besides animal slaughter?

175402

it started online-only, but when i meet online friends who know me by that name they tend to continue to call me it in person, which is fine by me!

175404

Hey Roz!

1. Have you ever written a song that is so good that it still makes you think "Whoa, I did this?!" if so, what song?

2. What format do you wish you were better at?

3. Has your evil twin Zor ever come out with something you wish you did yourself? If so, what?

175405

1. Have you ever written a song that is so good that it still makes you think "Whoa, I did this?!" if so, what song?
not yet!

2. What format do you wish you were better at?
allgear! i mean, i can already submit anything to allgear of course, but specifically i want to git gud at using a DAW, something i put off for so long. BOTBoBOTB was a great way to dunk myself into the deep end on that front but i still have much to learn.

3. Has your evil twin Zor ever come out with something you wish you did yourself? If so, what?
hahaha well since until yesterday zor was so consistently trouncing me in the haiku series i would say... any of zor's haiku entries! even yesterday zor only placed below me due to the late penalty which was, strictly speaking, my fault.

175423

roz!

Do you have any particular creative inspirations outside of music/poetry that influences the music/poetry you make? (a painter, novel, a building, a particular sunset you've seen, etc.)

Also! favorite basic waveform?

175431

roz can answer numch's questions while everyone else asks questions to Sloopygoop from this point onwards.

"Christmas with Mister W" is a release of yours featuring a Wario Land-like soundtrack. How did you come up with this concept? Would you create another Game-like project along those lines? Why or why not?

What is it that makes you love to work with Game Boy aesthetics and love Game Boy things made by other people more than anything else?

I know you love cheesy samples. Tell me what other musical quirks you love.

175444

thanks for the questions everyone! i was nervous but this has been fun :)

Do you have any particular creative inspirations outside of music/poetry that influences the music/poetry you make? (a painter, novel, a building, a particular sunset you've seen, etc.)
i don't get to do this often because i live in the centre of town and don't drive but virtually every time i go on a good walk i come away invigorated and inspired. something that makes a big difference is that the town i live in is basically in a big bowl surrounded by moors on all sides, so even though i don't get to get up there often they're almost always at the edge of my vision when i'm about town. sometimes i just stop and gaze at them. then again, the moors are not really a natural landscape...

Also! favorite basic waveform?
jaggy NES triangle my beloved...

now FOR SLOOPYGOOP:

would you rather be known as 'sloopy' or 'goop'?

how did you learn to play the accordion? what kind of music do you usually play on it?

i've always really enjoyed your vocal entries. do you have a consistent creative process for them, and if so, what's it like?

what are you having on your waffles?

175462

Hello everyone! It's my privilege to sit in the Hot Seat and feel important :) Thanks to everyone who's already answered! Now, let's get to your questions:

From Tex:
"Christmas with Mister W" is a release of yours featuring a Wario Land-like soundtrack. How did you come up with this concept? Would you create another Game-like project along those lines? Why or why not?
-
I don't fully remember why, but I think a year or two before the release, I had messed around with some Wario-like Christmas tunes. As Christmas passed that particular year, I decided I had made enough material that I might as well make a bunch more to complete an album!
Wario Land is one of the first games I played for the Game Boy, and Wario Land VB has a very important part in my games history, so the musical style was important to me. At the same time, I'm no longer religious, so each year I kind of re-evaluate how I relate to certain holidays. Messing around with Christmas songs was a way to process those feelings a little bit, and perhaps doing it through Wario was just a way to be cheeky. But although the concept is goofy, the musical approach is sincere.
It was lots of fun to emulate the Wario style, but the truth is I don't know many other game/series soundtracks well enough to have a concept for a follow-up (and I had to do a lot of studying for Wario, too!) I've done an opera song in Kirby-Battle style that I'm really proud of. A full opera in Kirby style sounds like a terrible undertaking. (but I'd listen to it.)

What is it that makes you love to work with Game Boy aesthetics and love Game Boy things made by other people more than anything else?
-
Game Boy and Game Gear were actually what I played the most growing up, because I owned both, so the sound is incredibly nostalgic for me. When I discovered chiptune in college (university), I was so excited to learn that people could make their own music with these old systems. So I had to do it myself! I gravitated toward LSDj and never let go. By this point I feel that Game Boy is a sound that I'm very fluent in. I'm always wondering if this is all some form of arrested development.
I do like to perform live, and my act always has me singing with a Game Boy backing track and usually playing the accordion. That all gives me something to do while the sweet squarewaves are playing. For most of my audiences, the whole thing is so unusual that I think there are still infinite ways for me to experiment with the sound.
I've been getting slightly involved with the indie Game Boy dev scene and sometimes think about learning to make music for other systems, since the homebrew scene is super fun.

I know you love cheesy samples. Tell me what other musical quirks you love.
-
Hmm... I love really well-done mashups and YTPMVs.
And I've been listening to a bunch of 90s house-pop and classic 70s rock these days. And Juana Molina, Argentina's Thom Yorke.

From Roz:
would you rather be known as 'sloopy' or 'goop'?
-
Sloopy/Sloop!

how did you learn to play the accordion? what kind of music do you usually play on it?
-
I like telling this story. Growing up, I took 10 years of piano lessons (although I wish I had been taught that it's okay to play fun music!). One day much later in 2010 I was playing my keyboard when a housemate asked me if I would ever play the accordion. So I said "sure" and soon enough we were driving to a nearby pawn shop to buy a nice piano accordion for cheap! Three of us in the house formed a little folk band (vocals, tambourine, guitar, and accordion) and played a few open mics although I don't remember if we ever headlined our own show. Soon I had the great idea to play accordion at the same time as my Game Boy stuff.
So I taught myself to play, by figuring out chords for our band, and by taking some of my favorite Radiohead songs at the time*, etc, and figuring out how to play by ear. A diagram of all the [Stradella bass] buttons helped (the columns are arranged by the Circle of Fifths). I think learning how to play things you want to play is the best way to learn an instrument. At the same time, I'm forever grateful that I was already very familiar with music theory thanks to all those piano lessons.
_{*Motion Picture Soundtrack}

i've always really enjoyed your vocal entries. do you have a consistent creative process for them, and if so, what's it like?
-
Thank you! Songwriting is something I think of as hard, but it's really gotten much easier for me. The process is not consistent, but I think I often come up with a chord sequence first, and add a melody to that. The lyrics are very important to me, so it and so is the meter and rhythm of the lyrics. That all influences the melody, and vice-versa. A good melody or lyric phrase might start everything off instead!
I've mixed things in Audacity back in the day but have moved to Ableton Live.
I actually have a whole bunch of vocal material to release upon the world, but I am intimidated by recording and mixing it myself. Uh... just you wait!

what are you having on your waffles?
-
Maple syrup! and maybe some butter.
A nice fresh fruit topping is also good.

175533

Hi sloopygoop!

What’s something you’d be willing to share about yourself that most of us don’t know about you?

If you could meet an artist or composer you admire in person, who would it be?

175551

uh oh, i just realised i brain blanked right over sloopy's other question!!

What is a problem you see in modern civilization, besides animal slaughter?
well, ah, a lot! it've got to be vague about this to avoid stepping over the site's no-politics line: what i care about most on the global scale comes under the umbrella of "resource misallocation".

175557

Thanks roz! I think I edited that question in, right as you were answering my other one.

kilowatt64 asks:
What’s something you’d be willing to share about yourself that most of us don’t know about you?
-
I was homeschooled until age 13! Then I went to a private school. I have no experience with public school.

If you could meet an artist or composer you admire in person, who would it be?
-
I would really like to meet Dan McLay, aka The J. Arthur Keenes Band. He's a big inspiration to me, and once he even kindly shared some of his LSDj files with me to look over.
Second place would be the singer Kevin Max, whose vocal harmonies also heavily inspired and influenced me.

175566

when and how did the name Sloopygoop arise, and has it always been the name you associated with your music since you started gameboying?

what's your favorite j arthur song? i was actually gonna ask whether you happened to take any inspiration from his music since you have some similar approaches and style, but you just mentioned that, so you get this question instead

you've been given two weeks of free time and an all-expenses-paid trip to somewhere; where will it be?

175579

if you had unlimited resources to pour into a hobby, what would be your crazy personal passion project?

175591

Ever pulled an all-nighter working on a project that had to be ready early in the morning? If yes, what was it?

You said your live performances are unusual for most of your audiences. Any unusual, but amusing remarks from those people about your performances that you'd share?

Since you also grew up playing Game Gear games, is there a chance you'll also compose with its soundchip in the future? Or have you composed with it already, but not here?

Is there anything you want that is currently unavailable? For example: it could be BGM from a show without voice and sound effects overlapping; it could be a ROM from an unreleased game; or something else.

175595

From damifortune:
when and how did the name Sloopygoop arise, and has it always been the name you associated with your music since you started gameboying?
-
Yes, I have used Sloopygoop as a screen name on most sites I ever uploaded something to, so when those sites were something like 8bitcollective, there sloopygoop was. (I think I made a point of not capitalizing the S for a while.) For my Game Boy debut in college I just used my real name, but afterwards in my adult life, Sloopygoop became my stage name.
The name itself is something I came up with when I was very young. I made a whole cast of cartoon characters who were these Pac-Man-style ghosts (not intentionally imitating Pac-Man, just: those ghosts, and their 80's cartoon representations in a storybook I had, provided the template of what a "ghost" looked like). There was originally a fantasy mythology for them but eventually I decided that they were basically just people, shaped like these ghosts. They were all sea-foam green. There was Sloopy Goop, his younger twin siblings Sonny and Sissy, his friend Arnie Caramel, and his "evil" cousin Sloppy Gop. Also his mom and dad and eventually a friend named Susan. I drew lots of comics with them. Actually, they were known to people in my college (university) because I was the driving force behind a "weekly" student comic strip publication and still was drawing Sloopy comics.
I have an idea to make a funny game with them in GB Studio. But that would probably require me to fall into a pocket dimension with unlimited time.

what's your favorite j arthur song? i was actually gonna ask whether you happened to take any inspiration from his music since you have some similar approaches and style, but you just mentioned that, so you get this question instead
-
Favorite is hard. I'll give you some tops, in no order:
-Cardboard Box
-Congratulations
-Watter (Wetter)
-The Bus That Wouldn't Slow Down
-Catfish Lagoon
-Strawberries and Cream
-Tommy Did The Walkin'

you've been given two weeks of free time and an all-expenses-paid trip to somewhere; where will it be?
-
This is hard! I think my mind would be enormously stimulated in Southeast Asia. I've always wanted to see wild ancient constructs like the U.S.A. doesn't have, so Angkor Wat and the Great Wall of China are things I want to see. Mesoamerican pyramids. Rome and Athens, I guess. I want to be awed by big ancient things.
I also want to hang out in Canada and France (could use the French I've been learning). All in all, though, I'd probably have the most fun as a two-week tourist in Japan, because of all the years of (moderate!) interest in various anime, manga, and culture. See some Torii.

From Roz:
if you had unlimited resources to pour into a hobby, what would be your crazy personal passion project?
-
That Game Boy game doesn't even make the list! As it stands, I really want to put out some really nice vocal albums, so hopefully I can do that with or without sinking resources into it.
Here's what seems expensive: Flying lessons. Flying a small plane seems fun. Mickey Mouse always made it look easy. Soaring through the air in a small plane. Or hang gliding. Those would be my extravagant hobbies.
Oh! and naturally, travelling to my heart's content could be a great hobby with infinite time and resources! But super-duper passion project, is still going to be making albums. Got a few current projects to finish first.

From Tex:
Ever pulled an all-nighter working on a project that had to be ready early in the morning? If yes, what was it?
-
Oh, yeah, I did that all the time in college. I worked too hard on my studies, but I also worked too hard on that comic strip paper. I drew several strips for it and was always digitally cleaning the images for the other contributors. Many sleepless nights trying to get that ready for print.
Not so common to me anymore. Most recently I did an all-nighter (or mostly all-nighter) last year for a game jam. All-nighters to finish a project are really exciting but whoof, I don't find it healthy as a way of life.

You said your live performances are unusual for most of your audiences. Any unusual, but amusing remarks from those people about your performances that you'd share?
-
Just positive comments! Most people still aren't used to chiptune so I'll get lots of curious and confused questions. It's great to know I've still got that novelty factor, but my favorite compliments are the ones that are about my songwriting or performance/stage presence. I take the Game Boy stuff for granted!

Since you also grew up playing Game Gear games, is there a chance you'll also compose with its soundchip in the future? Or have you composed with it already, but not here?
-
Sure there's a chance! Although I'm not terribly interested. And if I want to emulate that sound, I feel I can already do it with a Game Boy using 50% square waves all around. GG/SMS enthusiasts will probably tell me it's not that simple!

Is there anything you want that is currently unavailable? For example: it could be BGM from a show without voice and sound effects overlapping; it could be a ROM from an unreleased game; or something else.
-
Off the top of my head:
-at some point I'd like to see the One Piece films that weren't released in the West (though I'm only a couple hundred episodes into the anime)
-the OST for the Sonic the Hedgehog SatAM series (but they seemed to have access to it in the What A Cartoon podcast)
I'm assuming all of these things are probably available if I really dig deep enough.

175650

I can totally imagine Sloopygoop on 8bitcollective back then now that they mentioned it. The LSDj scene was huge in that place.

jaezu is next

What have you been into lately?

What are your thoughts on this place so far?

175651

i liked the lofi sound of your entry warpstarspeedway. was that a stylistic choice or just the samples you wanted to use?

what will go in your fruit salad?

175652

Tex asks:

What have you been into lately?

I've been working on my Minecraft server lately, basically just playing on, monitoring and fixing up things that went wrong, e.g. reuploading Dynmap icons I accidentally deleted. Other than that, I've been cleaning out my room in preparations for moving houses, but not much else though. Yes, I'm that boring.

What are your thoughts on this place so far?

So far I actually like it ig. Its premise is interesting, there's much to do there, and the community is pretty friendly. Unfortunately for me though, almost all the OHB's are either in the late evening or the middle of the night, aaand i suck at writing good music. Pretty much a double lose for me. I would be active more if I were better at writing music, as this lack of skill (or skill issue) kinda holds me off from even trying.

roz asks:

i liked the lofi sound of your entry warpstarspeedway. was that a stylistic choice or just the samples you wanted to use?

Pretty much me forced to quickly choose some samples because there were only 20 minutes left until the deadline. I didn't even consider putting any stylistic elements in there as time put a huge pressure on me to finish the tune. And please please please don't remind me of this track, it fucking sucked aaaaa (//ω//)

what will go in your fruit salad?

Lettuce, tomatoes, corn, watermelón, chimken, a really nice freshly squeezed orange juice to drink and LOTS OF VINEGAR >:D

175659

- Since when have you been composing?
- Can you name a few people that inspired you to choose the path of music?
- Do you have other hobbies?
- What genres do you listen to more and which one(s) do you feel like you want to master?

175713

Is Minecraft the game you spent the most time playing? If not, then which one?

What is it that makes the game you played the most so addictive?

As you know, we have other kind of battles that aren't music-focused: photography battles, writing battles, coding battles, drawing battles, game level map battles, etc. How confident are you to join these compared to music ones?

175714

Nett hier, aber waren Sie schonmal in Baden-Württemberg?

(ich kenne die Antwort zwar schon aber i had to

175736

Unfortunately for me though, almost all the OHB's are either in the late evening or the middle of the night
next week i'm going to be hosting a lot more music battles, so maybe you'll be able to attend! and at all times of day in the weekend :D

175761

trackers or daws?

175788

what is your favorite album

175834

SnugglyBun asks:

Since when have you been composing?

I've been composing chiptune specifically since 2021, when I first started using FamiTracker. As for music in general though, I've dabbled in it as early as 2018 (!), but I am terrible at it. lol

Can you name a few people that inspired you to choose the path of music?

It was the works of people like Rob Hubbard and Jeroen Tel that pretty much got me into making chip music and eventually entering the demoscene. As for people whose works pretty much encourage me to keep going, i'll just list them here:
- acrouzet
- FΛDE
- you (yes, that is indeed true)
- psc64
- A64
- DeMOSic

Do you have other hobbies?

I enjoy reading books/manga, sleeping, and watching anime; also I have an unextinguishable love for trains and aviation.

What genres do you listen to more and which one(s) do you feel like you want to master?

Right now, my most listened to genres are metal (as a whole) and (Post-)Soviet-era rock, and I'd like to get better at metal, cuz why not.

Tex asks:

Is Minecraft the game you spent the most time playing? If not, then which one?

As far as I can remember, Minecraft is the game I have the most hours on (by far), because I've started playing the Java Edition in 2015.

What is it that makes the game you played the most so addictive?

no idea lol

As you know, we have other kind of battles that aren't music-focused: photography battles, writing battles, coding battles, drawing battles, game level map battles, etc. How confident are you to join these compared to music ones?

I would want to join all of them, but I lack pretty much every skill imaginable 😭
I'd have to bump up my game by a considerable amount to even stand a small chance against the other participants.

kleeder asks:

Nett hier, aber waren Sie schonmal in Baden-Württemberg?

Wo denn auch sonst :P

Viraxor asks:

trackers or daws?

trackers.

damifortune asks:

what is your favorite album

It's Группа крови by the Soviet band Kino. Y'all should definitely give a listen.

175835

Enderjed is next

Tell me about something you achieved that you didn't plan to achieve. It just kinda happened.

175850

Alright Enderjed,
How is it that you have/have access to a cannon?

175957

what's going on your full english order?

175961

Alright Time to get one chunk of questions out the way.

Tex, That's quite a difficult question, but I suppose one thing I accidentally achieved was programming my own chess engine (from the ground up) with equal playing strength with that of myself.

Sloopygoop, That's a mighty good question. I won it (Ordnance QF 2-pounder) in an auction (alongside ammunition) as a museum was auctioning off it's artifacts to pay off debt due to the cost of living crisis. If your wondering how I have access to it now, it's because I have it in a locked shed.

Roz, I'm afraid I don't go for a full english breakfast, as I don't really eat breakfast, other than a cup of tea (if I can afford it)

175998

Favorite architectural style?

Since you play chess, what are your thoughts on grid, turn-based RPGs? Do you enjoy any of those? If yes, which ones?

Of the music genres that originated centuries ago (waltz, baroque, symphony, etc.), which one speaks to you the most and makes you want to emulate it the most?

176001

Right Tex, I see you've asked multiple solid questions there.

Admittedly, the first question you've asked really did make me think, as it's an internal question I've never considered. It was somewhat hard to boil it down, but I do believe I have quantified it down to Victorian Gothic revival, and Dutch Baroque styles of architecture.

Grid turn based RPGS? Like Fire Emblem? Because admittedly I think the only grid & turn based RPG I've played is FE6, as most grid and turn based games I have are strategy games

In terms of music styles from centuries ago, although I do like listening to old marches (Especially Strauss II's marches), I cannot deny that I'd love to emulate the elegance of a symphony, a few examples being; Symphony No. 3 "American": I. Allegro, and Beethoven's Symphony No.7 in A major op.92 - II, Allegretto.
Although with my current skills as a composer, skills like that are barely attainable in dreams.

176035

favourite cheese

176038

hi Enderjed --

What's something you'd like to accomplish? (Can be anywhere)

If you could go anywhere in the world to visit, where would it be?

Do you have any favorite composers you admire?

176080

Enderjed can answer mirageofher's and kilowatt64's questions later while everyone can now ask questions to jaxcheese from this point onwards.

176088

Mirage, to answer your question involving cheese, it's quite specifically Lidl branded mild cheddar.

Kilowatt, to answer your questions:

In terms of accomplishment, I'd say retirement is quite a large goal to successfully attempt.

As I've already been to quite a few places in the world (Amsterdam [would definitely go there again], Krakow, Balinese Islands, Canary Islands) and have plans to go to other places (Vienna, Budapest, Iceland, Berlin, somewhere in Japan, Hämeenlinna, ect.), so I have no idea.

In terms of favourite composers? That's a ludicrously hard question.
Best I can file it down to, would be Johann Strauss II, Jonah Senzel, Jeroen Godfried Tel, Albert William Ketèlbey, and Guillaume David. (Admittedly, Ayden George, Karl Flodin, Lukhash, and Ahoy, all come close, I'd say)

176091

I am an open book my friends.... fire away

176096

did you ever use pxtone for any school projects? or discuss/share that aspect of your craft with your peers while you were there? if you did what were their reactions?

if someone offered you one MILLION dollars but you were no longer allowed to use portamento for the rest of your life, would you take the money?

favorite live instrument to take the lead? how about favorite synth lead?

in your drummer eyes, what's the most important part about sequencing sampled/synthesized drums?

176097

Did your interest in PxTone flourish firstly on your own or were you firstly encouraged by the PxTone community? (speaking as someone who has no direct contact with the group)

Similarly, did you discover Sample Pack Contest just by chance or did someone invite you? I remember we competed there a few times.

Any other formats you'd like to try or are you 100% satisfied in that regard?

176099

did you ever use pxtone for any school projects? or discuss/share that aspect of your craft with your peers while you were there? if you did what were their reactions?

somehow never pxtone! but I did write two tunes with famitracker for a high school chemistry class. it was generally a serious class but there were two kinda self-directed Creative projects where you would make something based on a chemical element and a compound. I wrote my tunes about thallium and ammonia. we had to include certain statistical info (like, electron configuration or whatever) in the project so the lyrics were kinda goofy. you can hear both of these on selections #2
. I never recorded any vocals, there's just written text that follows the lead.
I was quite shy irl about my chiptune/vgm stuff for many years, well into my time in college (maybe I still am a bit).. I always had trouble believing anyone would take it seriously. I had embraced being a nerd/weirdo but the music parts of school were where I got some respect and community and I wanted to keep it that way. I did share it with select friends and they were mostly very supportive, which I'm still thankful for. ever since my mom and my then-girlfriend pushed me into showing some chiptunes to my composition professor in like sophomore year of college I have been more and more open about it. mostly everyone seems to think it's cool but maybe things are quite different these days than they were in the 00s and early 10s...
oh actually one time I did use pxtone to chiptune a piece we were playing in middle school concert band and everyone seemed to get a kick out of that. I just sent it to the director and he unlaterally decided to play it for some of the bandfolks when I wasn't even in the room which was probably the only way it was ever going to happen lol.

(edit: I just listened to the thallium song again and it rules, I gotta do a vocal cover of this sometime)

if someone offered you one MILLION dollars but you were no longer allowed to use portamento for the rest of your life, would you take the money?

I initally wanted to answer "no, not for any amount of money" to this. but if rather than just taking the money for myself, I was convinced that I could do significant good in the world with the money offered, I might consider it. it would be tough. I might have to change gears to writing exclusively piano music.

favorite live instrument to take the lead? how about favorite synth lead?

as much as strings are my favorite instrument I don't think I really care for violin lead in like a popular music context (which is what I think of when I hear "take the lead")... maybe I actually don't have a strong feeling about this. sax is pretty classic!
this is perhaps well known but I am a square wave stan. easy answer for that one.

in your drummer eyes, what's the most important part about sequencing sampled/synthesized drums?

the big divider between mediocre sequenced drums and solid sequenced drums is good velocity work. I'm pretty confident about this. just the snare and toms will do but hats is great too. even if the samples you're using suck I swear this turns drums that sound like a robot/bad gba game into drums that sound close enough to real. (and I'm pretty sure it's just because you're not hearing exactly the same sample over and over) there's a million little tricks I use to cover the little gap from solid to great (if I may appraise my own drum writing as such) but that's the biggest single thing.

Did your interest in PxTone flourish firstly on your own or were you firstly encouraged by the PxTone community?

there wasn't much of a pxtone community when I started pxtoning in 2011. (or not that I was aware of then. piston source was starting to wind down at that point. I had no idea about botb. there was certainly an active japanese pxtone scene though.) I first discovered pxtone precursor "orgmaker" because I was way into cave story, and started using it because it was the most accessible (free) tool I had seen at that point. I think I found out about pxtone on the cave story tribute site, where I was posting some stuff in the orgmaker sharing thread, and gradually switched over bc I liked some of the extra features it had. the forum also had a pxtone thread which was afaik really the hub of western pxtone activity from like 2011-2017 until my discord picked up speed. I got a little encouraging feedback in that thread but it was nothing like what we have now...

Similarly, did you discover Sample Pack Contest just by chance or did someone invite you?

I'm pretty sure I first heard about spc from dami posting in sinecraft and/or pxtone. it had just been revived with vol. 8 which had some of my favorite computer musickers on it. so that made me want to join in.

Any other formats you'd like to try or are you 100% satisfied in that regard?

I really love fm synth but I have never really made it the authentic way except for some old vrc7 stuff. so learning bamboo/furnace and some fm-programming chops is at the top of my list. it doesn't look like there's been much klangfreude activity lately but I once wanted to learn that one too. in general I don't feel the pull to learn lots of formats right now, too much else going on.

176105

What's something you wouldn't mind sharing about yourself that most of us don't know?

What's something you'd like to accomplish?

176114

What's something you wouldn't mind sharing about yourself that most of us don't know?

I have been dreading this one a little lol. one time in my freshman seminar in college we did one of those "tell us one thing we don't know about you" icebreakers except it was in pairs and you had to tell the class something about your partner after talking to them. when my partner said "jaxcheese can play a couple of instruments" the prof said something like "hmmm, I think we all already know that about jaxcheese." a moment that suddenly made me realize there aren't That many interesting things about me or my life outside of music, which I have made into my entire personality...
here are some nonmusical tidbits I came up with anyway. it's easier when you're not put on the spot
- I have lived in new england for my whole life. I really like the weather despite how everyone else seems to feel about it and I like being near the ocean. I think it would be tough for me to leave but I might someday
- I keep a dream journal and go through periods of regular, pretty vivid dreams. usually not scary, often kinda mundane, sometimes a little profound and mysterious
- I like modern art a lot. really anything that makes me feel weird I like
- I played baseball as a child but stopped when my teammates were getting too serious about it. after a long adolescent period of anti-sport sentiment I'm coming back around to sports thanks to the jon bois dorktown documentaries
- I was in a trio of close friends through parts of high school and college. for some reason at one point we got pretty attached to the idea of us all wearing/having a pair of red or maroon pants. I'm the only one of the trio that still wears mine. I'm wearing them now

What's something you'd like to accomplish?

pulling out some of my loftiest, most unrealistic goals for this, don't make fun of me:
- I would like to write a game soundtrack that gets pressed on a vinyl record
- it would be cool to work with sega in some official capacity. I keep seeing sega fans on twitter end up getting hired to do music/art for something or other, they seem to do this a lot. I am a Longtime sega fanboy
- I'm working on a masters degree in library science, specifically archives. I'd like someday to get paid by the vghf or similar to do some real archive work with old vgm, beyond what one can do just on the 'net. like rescuing old notebooks and floppy disks and giving them a permanent home for the vgm researchers of the future... relatedly I would like to learn some japanese.
- I go through ~one "cool idea for a video game that I think about sometimes and make some notes on" per year. someday I would like to actually make one of them. most recently I have a lot of good sketches (textual) of a short, very self-expressive/self-indulgent visual novel about "playing chamber music" and "alternative kinds of love" that I am yearning to see through. maybe next year.
- one year ago I would have put "be in a band that plays vgm live" in this "lofty unrealistic" category but I'm in one now?? this still feels surreal

176132

Besides Cave Story, what other games were you way into?

Are you fast at typing? Have you done anything that required you to type really fast?

You said that if you were offered one million dollars, you could do significant good in the world. What would you specifically use the money for?

You also said that SPC vol. 8 had some of your favorite computer musickers. Who are they? And which songs made you start to admire them?

Ever submitted a sample to any samplepack and was satisfied with the way someone else used it? If yes, which sample was it? Who used it? And what song featured it?

176135

what is your favorite dessert item

any cool must-visit spots for prospective bostonian visitors

crate-digging in any random record store, what would be the absolute #1 most holy of grails to stumble upon, assuming price wasn't an issue

176138

Besides Cave Story, what other games were you way into?

as previously mentioned I'm a big sega fan--sonic first and foremost but also monkey ball (I have written extensively about monkey ball
), jet set radio, nights, space channel, a whole bunch of mega drive games. mother 3 and chrono trigger were the teenage foundation of my jrpg appreciation and are still favorites. the silver case is my favorite visual novel but snatcher gets a special mention. rhythm heaven on ds gives me the warm and fuzzies; more recently katamari does too. I played mega man x pretty young on my friend's snes, that one's still a favorite too.
by hours my most played game is probably terraria or minecraft from my high school multiplayer days. but they don't really fit my vibe so they usually get left off the list lol
bonus shoutouts to my friend neo's game astronautilus, my favorite game from the last few years

Are you fast at typing? Have you done anything that required you to type really fast?

I am not the fastest but pretty fast. I don't think I've ever Needed to type really fast but it comes in handy pretty often. at my current archives job I do a lot of manual data entry. being able to transcribe text off of labels quickly speeds up my cataloging a lot.

You said that if you were offered one million dollars, you could do significant good in the world. What would you specifically use the money for?

in fact I said "if I was convinced that I could do significant good", bc I'm really not sure what amount of money could change the world and where it would best be spent. it's a tough question. I think we are really on the verge of global environmental catastrophe right now so maybe that's the right place to start, but I'm not sure at all what the most effective way to throw money at that problem is.

You also said that SPC vol. 8 had some of your favorite computer musickers. Who are they? And which songs made you start to admire them?

- bomb boy who I then knew from his soundshock appearances which are all great
- kfaraday who I guess I knew from famitracker forums and staffcirc. it's not easy to pick out good kfaraday tracks though they're all so esoteric
- kulor who I knew from soundshock and his solo albums. those kulor soundshock tracks are still pretty special to me and I also loved "my first lsdj"
- shnabubula who I also probably discovered via soundshock/staffcirc though his album "snesology" is now one of my all-time favorites.
- (dami was also there and is now one of my favorite computer musickers but at the time I think I did not know his music that well yet)

Ever submitted a sample to any samplepack and was satisfied with the way someone else used it? If yes, which sample was it? Who used it? And what song featured it?

I can't think of a good example for this one. last spc I submitted a clip of the purdie shuffle (signature groove of drummer bernard "pretty" purdie) that got some good use but I can't remember which tracks in particular did it the best. mine certainly used it a lot. actually this might be the only time I sent a sample in to spc.

what is your favorite dessert item

snickerdoodle.... (mint choco ice cream is close 2nd)

any cool must-visit spots for prospective bostonian visitors

I wish I had a better answer for this one.. until recent years I spent almost all my hangin-around time on the north shore. I love boston but I'm still getting to know it in earnest. maybe my advice for bostonian vistors is to take the commuter rail up to gloucester or rockport for a day and experience the serenity of "small seaside new england town". gloucester also has my favorite record store in the world (so far).

crate-digging in any random record store, what would be the absolute #1 most holy of grails to stumble upon, assuming price wasn't an issue

I have been lucky to find some of my grails in recent years. though now that I'm getting more into japanese music that stuff of course only surfaces very rarely in the stores that I frequent. I think right now the one that hits the perfect intersection of "favorite" and "hard to find" is shigeo sekito - special sound series vol. 3. this guy was briefly popular here ~10 years ago when mac demarco did a version of one of his originals. he mostly played cheese fusion on a yamaha electone in the mid-70s. the first two volumes of this series where he plays standards and originals remain somewhat popular and findable but vol. 3 where he does versions of classical music is elusive. it's funny to admit but in ~2015 this album introduced me to chopin ballade no. 1 and schumann dichterliebe which rank among my favorite classical music now. so it's pretty special to me and a unique collision of things I like.
I would also really like to find some original jp pressings of ymo albums which I think will not come easily or cheaply.
second-tier grails: some jazz albums I love but have never stumbled on a copy of. bill evans - we will meet again. chick corea - now he sings, now he sobs. pat metheny - bright size life. I'd also like to have a nice recording of the brahms piano quartets on vinyl. it's weird I've never found one in my years of classical diggin, maybe they're not recorded very much.

176194

Which period of history (including the past decades) appeals to you the most in terms of fashion?

You mentioned names of several games you were way into and "a whole bunch of mega drive games". Which ones?

You'll get hired to compose music for a new Sega game. However, you're either told you'll have to create the soundtrack in a specific style for a well-known game series, or you're told you'll have complete creative freedom to create the soundtrack for a brand new game series. Which opportunity would you prefer?

EDIT: rate, on a scale between 0 to 10, how down you are to join each of these activities:

bar
pool
fishing
camping
museum
theaters
nightclub
live performance

176201

Which period of history (including the past decades) appeals to you the most in terms of fashion?

wow interesting. I know very very little about men's fashion today or in history, not something I think about a whole lot. I'm lookin at pictures now and a lot of stuff from the 70s is appealing but not necessarily anything I would have the guts to wear. I dunno... I like turtlenecks, when were turtlenecks popular

You mentioned names of several games you were way into and "a whole bunch of mega drive games". Which ones?

the first real video game I ever had was a little box with 6 mega drive games built-in: sonic 2, gain ground, columns, ecco the dolphin, the ooze, and alex kidd in the enchanted castle. these are still very special to me.
I also really like: castlevania bloodlines, rocket knight adventures, alien soldier, dynamite headdy, shining force, ristar, thunder force iv, toejam & earl. I'm really not a beat em up guy but if I had to name a favorite beat em up it may well be streets of rage just for aesthetics. comix zone is also pretty sick.

You'll get hired to compose music for a new Sega game. However, you're either told you'll have to create the soundtrack in a specific style for a well-known game series, or you're told you'll have complete creative freedom to create the soundtrack for a brand new game series. Which opportunity would you prefer?

hmmm I think a big part of the dream for me is getting to make a contribution to one of the series I love. I wouldn't mind working within restrictions... sega music is right in my wheelhouse most of the time anyway.

rate, on a scale between 0 to 10, how down you are to join each of these activities:

bar - 1/10
pool - 3/10
fishing - 5/10 (edit: actually I dunno maybe a lot lower. the cruelty of it is icky. we definitely have to throw em back at least. I just have family memories associated with this but I probably wouldn't go for it these days.)
camping - 4/10
museum - 8/10
theaters - 6/10 if we're talkin movies. probably higher if it's like actors on the stage.
nightclub - 0/10
live performance - 9/10

thank you for all the questions :)

176226

2nd favourite cheese

also is there anything u do to prevent ur brain from sleebing during the day. any strategies?

176227

2nd favourite cheese

the sad thing is that I really don't know much about cheeses or have many opinions about them. for the most part I can't tell em apart. or at least if I ate one I wouldn't be able to name it. I'm only called jaxcheese because when I was a kid I thought cheese was like a funny word or concept. I used to talk about it all the time despite barely knowing a thing about it.
in college I got the same caprese sandwich with mozzarella a couple times a week every week, so that one I got to know. is that a plebeian favorite cheese pick??
but SECOND FAVORITE... I don't even know where to start man...

also is there anything u do to prevent ur brain from sleebing during the day. any strategies?

it's funny you ask this because in the past couple years I have started to think I have some kind of undiagnosed sleep disorder. under certain circumstances I will suddenly become extremely sleepy. like, can barely keep my eyes open even though I'm really trying to focus on something and I got plenty of sleep the previous night. my trick has been to excuse myself, dash to the bathroom, and splash cold water on my face, which spooks me awake for half an hour or so. ymmv but I think there is something scientific to it.

176232

@jaxcheese: you're welcome!

zipdisq is next

Tell me about any fond memories you have that involve storage media.

176271

What should I know about you in order to ask the best possible questions?

176279

what's your favorite album

what sorts of music inspire you the most

if you had to eat only one food for dinner for the rest of your life what would it be

176292

Tell me about any fond memories you have that involve storage media.

When I was young, before I became a zip disk, I actually had zip disks. Or rather, my family had them. and used them to store stuff like family photos, music, emails on. I remember I made/curated a lot of things like ancient emulators, notes for video games, cheat codes I found on old geocities pages, etc. I still have the disks and drive. One of them has a torn-off piece of a "fun dip" candy wrapper stuck to it - I wrote over the "D" in Dip with a sharpie so it would say "Fun Zip".

What should I know about you in order to ask the best possible questions?

I don't know enough about myself to answer this, sorry.

what's your favorite album

I think right now it's Big Wave by Tatsuro Yamashita.

what sorts of music inspire you the most

This kind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arft0tjFKQg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEdsIqXijmE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5tll8qWJP4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U639g-EGJ8s

(Also any music composed by the average BotBr.)

if you had to eat only one food for dinner for the rest of your life what would it be

Loco moco.

176344

TrippleP is next

176346

when you finally received your third P and evolved into TrippleP, how did it feel

what's your favorite dish to cook

what sorts of things inspire your creative work

176349

What sort of stuff do you like to do outside of music?

Where would you visit if you were offered an all-expenses-paid trip, and why there?

176456

TrippleP, what shall the near future of the world be??

176457

Favorite Mario game?

Are you into weird experimental animated shorts? If yes, what's the first one that popped into your head?

Ever found something valuable abandoned anywhere? If yes, what was it?

Do you have a project in your head that you'd like to develop?

176460

1. do you believe in god
2. who is the best waifu
3. How many times have you touched with your mouth each of the following things: ice cream, street lamp, ear, octopus, computer, the oneness of reality
4.have you done martial arts
5. what color is your aura now (not botb aura)
6. potato
7. bananad
8.
9.are you employed
10.
11. can you juggle 3 balls

176464

how did you adopt your musical style (i.e. pppcore)?

did you know of any botbrs before you joined botb?

anything that particularly drives you to write music?

176471

hey also erstmal dankeschön dass du das video eingeschaltet hast und willkommen zu einer neuen ausgabe HEY PHIL

es tut mir wirklich leid aber ich muss mich heute wieder ein bisschen beeilen, denn ich bin seit dem morgengrauen wach und war den ganzen tag auf den beinen, weswegen ich nun größere anzeichen von müdigkeit verspüre. darum kommen wir mal zügig.... zur ersten frage!!!

hey phil . .... jetzt erstmal eine durchziehen?

magst du bratwurst?

wieviel kuh hat das h?

wir lassen ja so ziemlich alles durchgehen, aber was ist denn bachkippe?

OKAY, dann kommen wir mal zum heißen stuhl ~

how did you find out about botb?

what were your main inspirations regarding music composing and how did they change over the years since you started?

what was your connection to music as a kid?

whats your goal in life with creative work, let it be music, video and generally anything artistic?

in all the time youve made music, what would you say: was the most important moment? was the worst decision you made? was the best decision you made? (this is regarding music making, not life experiences in general)

is there an entry you did that you think got way too little attention?

whats your favorite piece of music that you composed yourself?

whats your favorite piece of music that you didnt compose yourself?

is there a botbr you always wanted to collab with but it simply never happend?

looking back at the past 5 years on here, do you think it was a good use of your time? or do you regret certain things regarding botb?

if you could have an endless amount of time every day, so that you can work on as many projects you like but without the pressure of a close deadline, do you think you would be more or less productive?

whats your fav animal and why?

is there something you really hate?

do you have a personal goal maybe outside the artistic hobbys you have that you wld like to share publicly?

you went through quite some username changes... if you could give yourself a new username now and could restart your whole "internet career" from scratch with this name, which name would you pick?

when will you come over again for a week so that we can chill, drink and compose together?????

you do beatboxing and i remember when you practiced it a lot to get better. are u happy with how good you are at it at the moment or do you think you should practice a lot more until you reach a state that you are happy with?

are there any long-term creative projects that you keep delaying, even though you tell yourself that you totally really want to finish them? xD

56?

did you or do you do any sports? are you interested in certain kinds of sports?

in case you have one, whats your favorite season? and favorite weather condition?

you get attacked by a big flying elephant, what would you choose to defend yourself if you cld choose 2 random objects?

do you have any travel plans (can be other countries or just inland)?

you get the chance to pick one lost media and make it appear on your hard drive. which media would you choose to revive?

i think thats all,!!! :D

176489

how many holes does a shirt have

is there any song you regret making

what is ur most creative way to open a bottle

i want u to collabo with amy and me!! is this possible... someday...

least favourite bug

to u, which fruits define each of th 4 seasons?

do u have a embarrassing music phase

when you have a sandwich, do you prefer it to be cut in half? if so, which way???

write a short rap lyric abt dragons

which side of the book is "forward"?

do u enjoy sports

löwenzahn

give me a random weird or unexpected fact abt you

what smell of soap is ur favourite
what smell of soap is ur least favourite

is there any media that is important to you, but it cannot be found online?

classical music rave or speedcore tea party???

what is a good habit that you wld like to develop soon

do u dislike the end pieces of pre-sliced bread loafs

wld u destroy all ur electronics and delete all online presences for 10.000 euro. (you are not allowed to return once u do)

have u done yoga before

what is ur most lazy halloween costume...

any new hobbies u picked up recently?

give us a Song that everyone shld listen to rn

ur first game system?

ur pretty cool phil. i wld like to meet u again

176491

Hopefully TrippleP answers all these questions not with a single or a double, but with a tripple post.

argarak is next

176495

Do you like vectoring, argarak? :D

176501

Which signalist format (or similar tool, not necessarily a BotB format) were you first exposed to, and how did you learn about it?

What was your thought process behind designing the pinched-cube logo you use?

176511

How have you started with music?

I have heard about vectors 2 posts up, so what is your opinion on the Vectrex video game console?

When did you first hear about BotB?

176515

Collidy :::
Do you like vectoring, argarak? :D

yeah heh. i got started making vector graphics maybe ~8 years ago now with inkscape and i've been using the same software ever since. i honestly don't remember exactly how i got started with it. my best guess is that around that time i was beginning to get into writing websites and i wanted to create assets for those websites or something like that.

but like vectors are just cool. they scale to any resolution, they're (usually) small, you can manipulate and edit them easily and probably many more benefits that i can't recall from the top of my head. i want to say that they've defined my visual "style" for the longest time, i make stuff like album covers in inkscape for example. and you can also animate them which is really cool... i have multiple svg animated entries on this site at this point.

Lasertooth :::
Which signalist format (or similar tool, not necessarily a BotB format) were you first exposed to, and how did you learn about it?

i wasn't much of a signalist before i joined botb. before then i was more interested in tracking modules and some hardware stuff, i wasn't all that exposed to music programming or modular synths or anything like that, at least as far as i can remember. i'm pretty sure my first signalist format that i got into was vcv rack and that was around the time that i got started on botb and was excited to try out as many formats as i could. the "very rare formats" major at the time was somewhat of a motivating factor there. i think vcv rack is still in the top 10 or 20 of the least submitted formats but it was definitely the case back then.

as a side note i find it somewhat funny that i used to complain and hate bytebeat when i was first introduced to it before it finally clicked for me heh.

What was your thought process behind designing the pinched-cube logo you use?

it came about because back in school years ago i used to doodle stuff and i was kinda obsessed with having paper notebooks around with me to write down ideas and keep myself "organised". in retrospect there are just so many times where you just waste time doing basically nothing in school, so i would draw stuff and some of my favourite stuff to draw was geometric shapes or grids or patterns, that kind of thing.

over the years i've had and worked on multiple websites on the internets and back then i was starting out and i wanted to create some kind of logo for the new website i was going to write myself and not just use wordpress. i had a logo back then that predates the one that i use now but it was terrible even for my tastes back then so it got scrapped pretty quickly. i ended up doodling some isometric grid and yeah that's what came out and i liked it, remade it in inkscape and it's kinda stuck with me ever since.

back then i thought it was like a pyramid inside of a cube but clearly that's not the case because surely it would need to point to the centre of the top square face and it would need a continuous line to the point of the pyramid. i guess it is like a wireframe cube that's like intersecting a plane or has been cut off at the end. it's a bit confusing heh, i don't think i've successfully replicated it in any 3d software.

Retro Gracz :::
How have you started with music?

i started around ~5-6 years ago, around 2017 when i got into collecting and listening to .MOD files. one of the games that i was obsessed with (and still am somewhat to this day) is a port of star control 2 called "the ur-quan masters" or uqm for short. i was going through the assets of that game and i discovered that much of the original music in the game was all written using .MOD files. i was also looking through the assets of another game called "rocks'n'diamonds" which is also a pretty old classic game, one of the earliest linux games which also used a bunch of .MOD files. i eventually started to collect a bunch of them from The Mod Archive.

one of the things i did was open those files in milkytracker and replace the samples or just screw around with the module in some way. but i eventually tried out writing some original modules. which are all pretty basic heh. i used to generate my own wave and drum samples with the milkytracker sample generators which are pretty limited.

i did get a bit better over time and i compiled a bunch of my modules which become my first album release. all of that was from 2018, and it amuses me a little just how much time it took me to finish modules back then compared to what i can achieve now heh. i attribute much of my growth in my musicing abilities from botb.

I have heard about vectors 2 posts up, so what is your opinion on the Vectrex video game console?

it's funny that i actually knew about the existence of the vectrex before i really even got into old hardware. i remember watching this video about it many years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wkEL3RcW8s

i think it's really cool and certainly a unique console compared to well... anything else really from the time. vectors would appear from time to time in arcade stuff at least from my knowledge but a home console achieving this must have been pretty bold. having to have a custom monitor for it must have drove up the price a lot. i've never tried one, or would really intend on having one, but if i ever find myself inside of some kind of retro museum where they have one set up, i'd love to play on it.... i ought to go to one of those places sometime.

When did you first hear about BotB?

it's tricky because i'm not sure exactly how i got to know about botb, but i was part of the "2019 cohort" and i was already somewhat part of, if not monitoring what was going on around The Mod Archive which has some connection to this place, there was a time where botbrs would post their music on there regularly but i don't know if peoples do anymore because i haven't been on a site in a long time. so it was from that connection, i think it would have been a matter of time before i would have found this place. heh, i remember wanting a place like this to exist back when i started making modules, so clearly it was written in the stars to begin with.

176516

you hav such a chill n level personality, which i kinda admire abt u. makes me wonder, is there anything that annoys or angers you?

what is ur attitude toward running... do you like it? do u hate it?

name a obscure game

do u have a botb hot take

if u had to eat only 1 kind of fruit for th rest of ur life, which wld u pick

are you ever getting tired of hearing references to something?

name a word that u constantly misspell

do you take some superstitions seriously? like just in case?

how many cups of water can u drink in one sitting

do u drive? do u speed lol

favourite kind of chocolate

u must now live with a very itchy rash forever until u die. but u can select the part of ur body that it stays on. which part wld u choose

choose a well-known company to destroy

favourite book

do u hav any pets

176521

"name a word that u constantly misspell"

> argrgak

176540

Something about yourself you’d be willing to share that most of us don’t know?

When you’re listening to music, what inspires you or stands out to you?

176574

mirageofher :::
you hav such a chill n level personality, which i kinda admire abt u. makes me wonder, is there anything that annoys or angers you?

it's interesting that you mention that heh, i feel like it's not uncommon for people to observe that. however, at the same time, people who are closest to me generally also see the more neurotic and anxious side which isn't something i display that much, or something that can come across too well on the internets (maybe subtly). anxiety is actually something that i've been struggling with the most, but maybe there is some correlation between anxiety and being more outwardly on the chill side -- i imagine there's some psychology theories to back that up heh. i definitely value it a lot and tend to go in that direction.

anyway the question! yes... there is a ton of stuff that annoys and angers me. here is a short list:
loud noises, crowds of people, unexpected smells, every time my neighbour turns on their stupidly loud car, traffic noise, sirens, flying insects, people yelling for no reason, buses being delayed, overly windy weather, overly warm/sunny weather, phone calls, internet outages...

there's definitely more stuff but there's what's off the top of my head heh.

what is ur attitude toward running... do you like it? do u hate it?

well i love running away from my problems. oh you probably mean physical running.... right. there was a short time in my life where i did some running stuff, actually used to run 5km when i was younger. but these days, i get pretty tired walking 5km let alone running so i guess i regressed in that sense heh. i think running requires some investment, you need the right shoes and clothing and stuff and some consistency with it. walking is a bit of a lesser barrier to entry and you still achieve moving your legs around just less quickly. so that does the job for me, even though it doesn't train stamina quite as much. so yeah, i don't really have the fitness to do running at any longer distances, but i don't exactly hate it. i'd need to train a bit first i think if i wanted to do it again. maybe if i had an indoor treadmill i'd use it but no real space for that at the moment.

name a obscure game

there was a game that i wanted to work on about 8 years ago called tw-light (tw standing for "time-warp"). it's a game based on the melee portion of star control 2 where you have two ships fighting in real time in 2d space with asteroids and planets to fling yourself around. the twist is they added support for 4 ships at a time and added a crap ton of ships to the game, most of them being completely whacky heh. there were ships that could only move in 4 directions or ones that would suck in other ships or separate out and have a beam in the middle to do damage, there was a bunch of them, most of them i can't remember now. actually pretty fun. it's a fork of the original "star control: timewarp" project. it's still around here ( https://tw-light.xyz/ ) but not actively developed anymore.

do u have a botb hot take

fakebit is evil. arial black is too bold. openmpt is clunky to use. we need more 25/48 battles. we got battles. but where's the bits?!? we need more bits.

if u had to eat only 1 kind of fruit for th rest of ur life, which wld u pick

maybe the tomato, i mean it's scientifically a fruit right? it's so versatile, you can make soup with it or sauce or you can slice it up and put it in your sandwiches. the tomato is truly the jack of all trades of the fruit kingdom (some people may classify it more as a vegetable and you know that's fine). if not, maybe the banana since it's hard to really get sick of it, or the avocado but they tend to go bad a lot.

are you ever getting tired of hearing references to something?

i don't think i really have good examples of that. usually on the internets i can filter much of the stuff i don't like, and even in the real world it doesn't happen much. one thing i do hate is when people or companies try to push christmas stuff way before december. it should be law that you're only allowed to promote christmas during december and no other time. it's not like it's not enough of a marketing assault as it is, even for only one dang month.

name a word that u constantly misspell

i want to spell vechicle instead of vehicle. yeah i misspelled this one while writing these answers so i'll go for that. i also misspelled "misspell" as mispell. too many 's's.

do you take some superstitions seriously? like just in case?

i don't take any superstition seriously, at least there's nothing i can really think of. i do have a history of "safety behaviours" but i guess that's not really the same thing. superstitions rarely ever get to me like "you shouldn't go out on friday the 13th because it's unlucky" or whatever, i honestly struggle to think of examples even. i've got plenty other things to worry about lol.

how many cups of water can u drink in one sitting

probably 3-4 before my body will reject it, but it depends on how long i can pause in between cups or how slowly i can drink heh.

do u drive? do u speed lol

i don't drive, i don't have any kind of licence for any vehicle lol. i didn't really care about it much before, plus cars are a lot of hassle. it's convenient in some ways and hassle in others. i don't exactly need a car but on the other hand buses also suck. if i lived in a city i think i would have no reason to have a car, but i don't so i would get some use out of it driving to the train station maybe. but it's a lot of investment. and i probably wouldn't drive that much. plus it sounds terrifying and i don't really trust myself to drive lol.

i tend to be very cautious in many situations so i highly doubt i'd ever speed for any reason. it would be far more likely for me to drive too slowly and be dangerous that way lol.

favourite kind of chocolate

if it's between white, milk and dark then milk is my favourite. dark is fine and white is too sweet. but specific brands i'm not sure. i remember having almond milk chocolate a few times, it's very nice. mmm... almonds....

u must now live with a very itchy rash forever until u die. but u can select the part of ur body that it stays on. which part wld u choose

i would choose my left shin. it's not outwardly visible most of the time and it would maybe not suck quite as much as other places. but i think all places would suck in this scenario heh. i would need some serious monk like self control to live with that for the rest of my life.

choose a well-known company to destroy

microsoft. that way we could finally instill the year of the linux desktop. it's been a long time coming.

favourite book

i don't really have a favourite book, i've not really been reading fiction all that much at all, but maybe i should get into it. mostly psychology/self-help or uh textbooks lol. one book i remember enjoying a long while ago was "what if?" by randall munroe, the guy behind xkcd. some fun absurd stuff there.

do u hav any pets

no. actually i was allergic to cat and dog hair for the longest time, but it's not too bad these days. i used to have budgies many many moons ago but nothing other than that.

kleeder :::
'"name a word that u constantly misspell" > argrgak

not a question but you're not the only one, i can recall at least one other time where someone misspelled it consistently. i wouldn't have expected it to be so difficult to spell because it's not that long. maybe it does phonetically sound pretty choppy and mechanical since it's got 4 syllables so maybe that's got something to do with it. but it's not like my username gets mentioned a ton on the internet anyway heh.

kilowatt64 :::
Something about yourself you’d be willing to share that most of us don’t know?

i have heterochromia, so my eyes have different colours. one of them is more green while the other is more blue, it is not overly obvious so you do have to look for it. i won't post evidence so you'll just have to take my word for it heh. in poland we have a national ID card kind of thing and they write down your eye colour there so i actually have "multi-coloured" written on mine.

When you’re listening to music, what inspires you or stands out to you?

i tend to pay attention to textures and the colour of the sounds that are used the most i think, since timbre plays a big role in determining how the music feels to you. also how busy or sparse the music is, how the frequency spectrum is filled, when things get introduced, how everything is structured together and that kind of thing. when i want to replicate a type of style that's usually what i focus on.

the amount of repetition the music brings or uses is something that interests me in different music, since that's really the glue that keeps everything together. what is similar? what changes? how much do things loop and what does that bring? repeating some things over others can bring about different feelings.

i guess i also like the gimmicks a lot too heh. reversing samples or variable bpm or stuttering or erratically cutting parts in and out, it's fun to use them and it's usually easy to throw into your own tracks. i may overuse things like this sometimes... heh.

176578

Ever listened to an already existing genre of music, for the first time, through a videogame? If yes, which genre of music was it? And which game soundtrack was your gateway into that genre?

Tell me about something you didn't know for a long time and lacking that knowledge ended up being beneficial for you in an "ignorance is bliss" way.

Which is your favorite type of bass (donk bass, acid bass, etc.) to listen to? And to work with? Are they the same?

176601

what's your favorite album, and are there any albums that really make you go "oh yeah i want to make that"

what's the process of starting a song like for you, generally? or does it vary a lot?

any recommendations on tasty polish food to learn to cook?

176639

Tex :::
Ever listened to an already existing genre of music, for the first time, through a videogame? If yes, which genre of music was it? And which game soundtrack was your gateway into that genre?

i tried thinking about it and i don't think that was really ever the case. i've been playing video games all my life really but when i was younger i wouldn't ever pay attention to genre because i wasn't much into music then anyway. so i might have but i also wouldn't have really noticed. and i don't think there's been anything lately that i've played that's opened my eyes (or ears) to some kind of new genre. but that's probably because i don't play a lot of new games all that much and just loop around playing games i like or finishing games i never got around to finishing. so maybe i would have had a better answer if i did.

also i just don't really like thinking about genres too much when i listen to things. i'll mostly do that when i'm looking for new musics and so those paths aren't crossed much. i have discovered some cool musics thanks to the game "n++" but that's cheating because that game's soundtrack is all just actual techno releases from music labels and stuff lol.

Tell me about something you didn't know for a long time and lacking that knowledge ended up being beneficial for you in an "ignorance is bliss" way.

this one is a really hard question for me. i tend to find that the more i expand my knowledge, the better things become, not the other way around. but maybe that's not always the case? like if you're in a difficult situation in life sometimes the more you know how screwed you are the more you want to give up. i guess that's usually correlated with how intelligent you are.

i've really been pondering on this question for a while so i'm sorry i'm not really able to answer it particularly well.

Which is your favorite type of bass (donk bass, acid bass, etc.) to listen to? And to work with? Are they the same?

i don't really think i have any favourite bass, i rarely categorise bass sounds really. i guess most of the time i like bass that's cleaner and a bit less in the foreground. i tend to like it best when it's a solid foundation for everything else that's going on in the music, whether that's listening or producing it.

the function that they fulfil are definitely not the same, since a more forward bass (i.e. one with more harmonics) is more present and eats up more frequency space and creates different feeling than if occupied less harmonic space. the way the bass is sequenced also matters, like how dense or sparse are the change in tones makes a large difference.

it usually depends on the sound palette i choose or have access to. most of the time though, i write bass to be like working behind the scenes, grounding everything together. it's kinda fun in that case to take the bass away for a while, that way it's like the sound is floating in a way heh.

damifortune :::
what's your favorite album, and are there any albums that really make you go "oh yeah i want to make that"

maybe i'd choose "autechre - draft 7.30" since that was the last album i considered to be my favourite. it used to be "boards of canada - geogaddi" but clearly i was going through some phase then heh (it's still a great album of course). it's hard to choose because there's a lot of good music and even if i have a favourite album it's not actually something i want to listen to all the time which makes it tricky. most listened album =/= favourite album, at least not every time.

in the future i want to make something more clicky and minimal glitch than the stuff i've been putting out lately, it's just that i haven't found a way to do it that works for me right now. something like "snd - tenderlove" or "mokira - cliphop" like the stuff coming out of mille plateaux in the 2000s. that would be cool.

what's the process of starting a song like for you, generally? or does it vary a lot?

i think it varies the most depending on the tool i am using. for s3xmodit or remix stuff usually i'll start off by just listening and trying out each sample, tuning or editing when necessary. renoise is similar but i might also add a bunch of modulations or effects but which depends on the limitations in my sample choice, if it's really limited then usually there's more editing and effect nonsense that goes into making each sound a bit different. i allow the samples/sounds to inspire me in the moment and i'll start off with whatever stands out to me the most. i almost never start with melody, since usually melody turns out the best when you've already got something and you just noodle on top of it. sometimes i'll start by liveplaying in some chords or adding layers of percussions or maybe even ambient sfx to get things going.

in vcv rack i find that i usually need some small plan to get me to flow into things. something like a bitpack i guess heh, so if there's already one present then that makes it a little easier. then i can start laying down modules. there's usually some boilerplate for most patches, whene you need an oscillator, filter, vca, envelope, sequencer then throw down a bunch of effects for good measure (delay and reverb and occasionally something else lol). for pd it's similar but there's a ton more boilerplate if i'm not using abstractions so it's like i need to lay down all the stuff to make a kick drum (osc~, vline~, *~, message boxes, etc.) and then lay down all the things i need to make something else. but plans tends to be more involved there.

the easiest to get started for me is in hardware probably because everything is already there, there isn't a ton of setup really. all i need to do is get started messing with sounds until i make something i like and i can work off it. but it's not like this always works, there tends to be days where i sit down to try something and nothing comes out, or things don't flow well. that's okay, it makes things less consistent but that's not all that important to me.

it gets tricky when i want to write s3xmodit modules with my own samples because that adds a lot of overhead. i've done stuff like write scripts that take out a set of random samples from my samples folder to generate unique sample packs heh. that can help sometimes.

any recommendations on tasty polish food to learn to cook?

personally one of my favourite polish dishes is pierogi, they're like dumplings with a dough that's partly mashed potatoes i think (i haven't actually made them myself before from scratch). they have a variety of fillings, usually i like the classic potato, cheese with onion filling but there's also cabbage and mushroom or lentils or anything really. you even have sweet pierogi where you can put stuff like blueberries and cheese for example. i usually prefer having them boiled and not fried since it's a little easier on the stomach but it's fine to have fried from time to time heh. i tend to be lazy and cook pre-made ones but making them from scratch one day could be fun. a variant of this is pierogi leniwe (lazy pierogi) where cheese is added to the dough but into a parallelogram shape with no filling, similar to a dish called "kopytka".

when i was last there i also had some nice croquettes which is actually made from pancake dough which i didn't know about before. they had sauerkraut (or natively "kapusta kiszona") and mushrooms and it was very nice. thin tomato soup is also pretty popular and actually something i've made from scratch so there we go heh. usually goes with rice or pasta.

176640

big lumby is next

176669

hey lumby,

What's something about you that most of us don't know?

Have a favorite composer?

What's the ideal destination for a place to visit?

Favorite soundchip?

Favorite game OST?

Favorite games for gameplay?

176676

>>What's something about you that most of us don't know?
damn i could answer this in so many ways lol
gonna go mundane: did you know i'm a sports fan? like, more in a jon bois kinda way, but yk watching the mke bucks is my drug ngl.

>>Have a favorite composer?
gonna assume you mean vg composer; if not, alternative answer is below. i could go sentimental and say manami matsumae, composer of the og megaman on nes. really underappreciated talent in vgm history, being one of the first female composers of video games. that and, yk, being the composer of one of the best osts on the nes.

...nah, fuck sentimentality. yuzo koshiro babyyyyy /j

ALT ANSWER: uhhh shostakovich

>>What's the ideal destination for a place to visit?
if you mean here, then no doubt it'd be x-ray arcade. local punk venue down packard ave with a full blown arcade in it; it's even got the local brew nes homebrew game brew ski, SPACE RAFT. ask puke about it

after that, it's oriental theater/landmark lanes near north and farwell, record head on 71st and greenfield, lion's tooth near smith and kinnickinnic, volta records at greenfield place (past 74th and holmes), american science and surplus on 69th and oklahoma, and uhhhhh matc and uwm lol

keep all of those on a list for when you visit milwaukee!!

>>Favorite soundchip?
it's really shifted throughout the years. as of the moment that i'm in, a lot of cool shizz is being done with fm so that's the one that's inspired me the most. it's probably shifted to midi again doe, but i'll see once i make a big full comeback or something like that. aside from that...

the one i got really attached to, believe it or not, is not really a sound chip iykwim. the zx speaker i've gotten a ton of enjoyment using, it's arguably where my best stuff's been made on, and i'm usually tinkering with it when i do have my mind on music AND i get time to do it. i kinda wanna make a zx album one day, when college is winding down and i can focus on it with all of my college knowlege

>>Favorite game OST?
damn, toughie lol. there's a lot of good ones, but i think i'll settle on puyo puyo tsuu for this one. it's sharing the top spot with mega man 4, pokemon gen 2, undertale, and tales of phantasia, so i won't go into too much detail. just know, the super nintendo version of floor (not remix) is pretty ballin

>>Favorite games for gameplay?
battle arena toshinden on the super gameboy is impressive from a programming standpoint. here's a version of bat that's basically ssf2 turbo, complete with a 2-player mode that DOESN'T require a mod/better model of the addon. that, and it plays super smooth for a game boy fighter.

in terms of addictiveness, i could play ace attorney post-trials or pokemon pre-gen 6 all day. mindless fun, i swear.

from a straight up game design standpoint, hypnospace outlaw is the most meta thing i've seen and i've fallen in love. it's more of a simulation than a game, really; a piece of metacommentary on the state of society from 1995 til now. i'm still putting it here tho because technically it's a game and as a game it's pretty mindblowing

there is no other game that creates chaos like duel monsters. change my mind

176700

big lumby, ¿if you could 🙰 would be able to update ×Undertale× what would you add or fix?

176701

what is your favorite album

is there a way of writing a song you are interested in trying out in the future that you haven't really done before

if you could collaborate on a tune with ANY person in the whole wide world (currently living) who would it be. does the answer change if the person is unliving

176717

>>big lumby, ¿if you could 🙰 would be able to update ×Undertale× what would you add or fix?
ah bhap bhap, only one

if i had the power to lord my will and power over toby fox of the past and force his hand forth changing undertale and thus the historia of all gaming forever...i'd make napstablook and muffet bigger characters rolewise

>>what is your favorite album
oof, loaded question cuz there are a lot of answers to that. instead, i'll give you my list of recommends that constitute my favorite album collectively

- anamanaguchi - dawn metropolis
- bi**hin bajas - switched on ra
- dan mason - void
- descendents - milo goes to college
- telethon - citrosis

>>is there a way of writing a song you are interested in trying out in the future that you haven't really done before
adhd is a real pain in the ass and this question embodies why. there are so many music ideas i want to do in the future, especially as i move through college, and i want to put them down in auditory note form or in my music notebook. i usually forget to, tho! i need to really enforce it in the future, but if you want a straight forward answer to your question, uhhh soz lol

taking down notes builds synapses in your brain which allow you to remember things better. that's what my geosci teacher said offhandedly, anyway.

>>if you could collaborate on a tune with ANY person in the whole wide world (currently living) who would it be. does the answer change if the person is unliving
BIG DISCLAIMER HERE: the only way i'd be wanting to collaborate with anyone is if i already know them and am comfortable with them. a lot of the time, i'm either thinking i'm out of someone's league or we're not on good terms, taking that assumption and then hiding in my little turtle's shell afterward. i will be the first to admit this. it's something i'm working hard on, but just so we're clear, those are the terms.

that said, i've been wanting to collab with vav for the longest time. i think there's a lot i can learn from working with him, that and he's just a chill guy to be around. really up to whether or not this whole college thing boosts my self confidence enough to just ask him one day lol

answer does not change if unalive. i am NOT envoking my dark satanic powers for one song

176725

who's the character in your pfp? i'm so intrigued,,,

176738

How did you get into ANSI art?

Tell me about a meme you like that you consider to be timeless, that is, it requires little to zero context for anyone to understand it.

Is there any purchase you're very satisfied with?

And is there any purchase you regret making?

176745

What's your favourite monster of the week from any Kamen Rider/Power Ranger episode?

If you were a monster of the week, what would your powers be? How would you thwart your adversaries?

Do you favour an open world game with lots of potential hours of playtime, or shorter more focused and compact game experiences?

And it's good to see you Lumb! :)))

176749

>>who's the character in your pfp? i'm so intrigued,,,
sona of mine that i don't really show off much anymore! planted pot imp shaped like 'friend' (read: sphere)

>>How did you get into ANSI art?
my very first ansi entry into a major - and coincidentally the first time i took it seriously - was this one! it was the first time i ever really delved into ansi, but the love has been lifelong...sorta.

see, i grew up emulating a lot of windows 9x, as well as playing with qb64. both of these things looked cool to me in a sort of retro megaman-y kinda way. (despite it not looking anything like megaman at all, lol)

and yet i hated pablodraw! that's mainly due to me being in my mush-for-brains adolescence phase where everything frustrated me and every day was an anxiety riddled nightmare. point is, it turned me off from ansi, having to deal with all of its minor inconveniences. that is, until it came into my life.

moebius really kickstarted me back into making ansi, and way better than i did before as well. it's always a shock to me, looking at fourteen and wcf xvi back to back and knowing that there was an 18 month break between the two where i was cold turkey on ansi. like, holy shit.

of course, from there, i built a sort of rep for making these things and badae bang badae boem i have 4 ansi golds. and a pair of overalls. of course, keeping my title as the unofficial KING OF ANSI^tm wasn't the main thing keeping me going.

really, it's just the methodical, calming quality of hashing one of these out. having an idea in your head, only to have it extinguish without even writing it down, is excruciating - especially in ansi. it takes a lot of patience to see things come to fruition, as well as a lot of studying of other ansi pieces to see what makes the format tick. i'm just glad i put the effort into it and see it pay off. :)

tl;dr: blame pigdev

>>Tell me about a meme you like that you consider to be timeless, that is, it requires little to zero context for anyone to understand it.
the nightmare of every creator

>>Is there any purchase you're very satisfied with?
i got a djembe very recently and that's been paying off dividends! i'm playing with a dude who's not the best skill-wise but damn does he have a fire for playing. hand perc ftw

>>And is there any purchase you regret making?
i am cancelling every annual subscription i've signed up for as soon as christmas comes.

>>What's your favourite monster of the week from any Kamen Rider/Power Ranger episode?
stop reminding me i need to watch kamen rider ;_;

it's hard to decide with sentai weekly villains. for the most part, they kinda blend in with each other, not unlike their american counterparts. if i had to choose one that really stuck with me, it's vega zuno
from choujuu sentai liveman. that legit made me tear up, how the plan went down. it's episode 31 if curious.

if this were about sentai villains in general, no doubt it'd be bio hunter silva
from choudenshi bioman. real mf energy

>>If you were a monster of the week, what would your powers be? How would you thwart your adversaries?
i think everyone knows~...by turning all of the food into cockroaches.

>>Do you favour an open world game with lots of potential hours of playtime, or shorter more focused and compact game experiences?
really, it depends on what i'm in the mood for. there are long, open game experiences that i've had fun with, but over time, i end up shifting over to shorter experiences just to catch a break. vice versa once i'm tired of those.

>>And it's good to see you Lumb! :)))
u//w/u

it's good reconnecting with all of you, really. college has been taking up my time since it's the main focus as of late. once i'm done with it, expect a NEW and IMPROVED big lumby who'll know what they're doing only more so yea. in the meantime, i will have a job at my college's makerspace, and you bet i'm gonna vouch for this site while i'm there!

176750

HamMan is next

Also, if anyone else wants to be featured in the seat, you must claim the last remaining slot before HamMan's turn is over.

176751

as I said, you shld take it, Tex. take the hotseat. take it now. get it. it's yourn. you earned it!

176752

I'll reveal that my turn is after HamMan's or after the possible single person who joins after HamMan.

176753

then I nominate puke7 for the hotseat!!!

176756

are you having bacon or sausage with your breakfast

176775

if a videogame asks you "What is your favorite thing?" with no other context, what do you write

176869

damifortune:
Bacon, it is better for breakfast. But sausage is better for dinner, and Canadian bacon is better for lunch.
kilowatt64
Ham

176874

HamMan!!!

Tell me about a movie you've watched several times, if any.

176904

what is your favorite type of ham and why is it your favorite

is there any aspect of pixel art you'd call your favorite? (e.g. dithering, palette cycling, palette choice, etc.)

who's that person in your pfp?

176941

HamMan can answer these questions whenever.

Next is... uhh... whoa, it's my turn!!

Me waiting for my turn:

176944

how did you come up with the idea for this thread?
did u expect it to become such a big thing?
is there a botbr you wanted to enter this hotseat but they didn't?

176949

Do you like Brazilian music? What are your favorite artists/releases/compositions?

Are there musical tricks/cliches you have a weakness for?

How did your environment change over the last decade in terms of development/poverty/safety?

Is there anything about BotB you would change if practicality wasn't an issue?

176951

@Delta
almost 3 months later i finally answer this last question x . x
What inspired you to choose music as your current passion?: I honestly am not sure, i feel like it's a lot of things. I was exposed to chiptune composition programs like Famitracker at a really young age for example this really old 2a03 Beat It cover from 2011 that i first listened to when i was 11 years old (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWyllV0tztg
). That made me learn about how a lot of the chiptune scene would make these songs and covers and i wanted to try out, but i was too afraid and too much of a noob to actually try until much later.
And uh, this part is a bit more personal. When i came out as trans i wanted to find a outlet of my emotions and feelings, and i already knew that there was a growing number of trans musician in the chiptune scene during that time. I wanted to make songs that expressed how i felt, about my stories, the things i loved, etc; and i also wanted to be in a community where i would find folks like me and where i felt really welcome and happy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And now for the question towards Tex:
- What's you favorite instrument?
- How did you find Battle of the Bits?
- Is there a particular BOTBr you admire?
- Since when did you start composing?
- What music programs do you usually use? Do you find yourself more capable with trackers or more traditional DAWs?

176954

Tex:
You seem to have a wide spread of musical and artistic interests. Are there any musical styles/genres that you wouldn't care to write music for?

If you could meet up with any composer to have a 1-on-1 interview, who would it be?

What is the most nostalgic sound chip for you? Is that also your favorite sound chip to write music for when writing chiptunes?

Your songs often seem to present a variety of ideas that blend together smoothly. Where do your musical ideas come from?

What's one thing about yourself you'd be good with sharing that most of us don't already know about you?

If you were writing a sample-based remix song and could only draw samples from a single game soundtrack, which game would it be?

What are some of your favorite games/series for the music alone?

What are some of your favorite games/series for the gameplay alone?

Any games that nailed both music AND gameplay for you?

Your work has appeared in a variety of places outside of Botb. Do you have have any particular projects or experiences outside of here that you remember particularly fondly?

176983

are there any local/regional acts that have inspired your music? regional applies to the rest of the continent as well (argentina, peru, etc)

what instruments do you play? which one is the most fun for you to play out of all of them?

favorite retro game and retro game console? (pre 6th gen) [can be homebrew, cannot be hacks]

favorite retro computer? (pre 2000)

any album recommendations?

out of your entire time on battle of the bits, what's the one main takeaway you've had that you wouldn't have without this site? as in, what's the one thing that's changed the most for you since joining?

name one feature from botb that are respectively your favorite and least favorite, and explain why. same question for formats as well

out of all botbrs who you've never teamed up on a song with, which one would you collab with first out of all of them?

favorite anime?

what's the one thing you're most grateful for regarding botb?

if given the chance, would you host a major battle someday?

will there be another one of these anytime soon?

and lastly: you are awesome!!

177001

A longcat post this way comes.

@kleeder
Q: how did you come up with the idea for this thread?
A: ocremix had a subforum I used to post at called "UnModerated". But then, stuff happened and the core groups from that subforum left the site and created their own forums. So, in one of those forums, an user called "Bummer" hosted their Hotseat thread and I joined it. The idea was revived a couple of years later, but never again.

Q: did u expect it to become such a big thing?
A: I never know what to expect. At first, I thought it would've been successful enough if it had at least 10 people join in so that the event could last at least a month. But we had almost the triple of that amount, which made the event encompass practically the whole summer. This makes me happy. I missed being part of a website where people make art, while there are also non-artistic activities that are still focused on the website group.

Q: is there a botbr you wanted to enter this hotseat but they didn't?
A: doctorn0gloff is one. But a lot of other folks, too.

@Max Chaplin
Q: Do you like Brazilian music? What are your favorite artists/releases/compositions?
A: I do! My favorite brazilian singer is Lulu Santos. And my favorite track by him is Assim Caminha a Humanidade
. But my favorite brazilian album overall is Electronicus
by Renato Mendes, which consists of moog versions of several brazilian songs.

Q: Are there musical tricks/cliches you have a weakness for?
A: Sometimes, I have a melody and, while it plays, I may briefly change its octave and return to the original octave shortly after.

Q: How did your environment change over the last decade in terms of development/poverty/safety?
A: The pandemic affected the poorest class the most. As a result, there are lots of drug addicts that wander around here, to the point that the nearest entrance to the park I take a stroll at was blocked for an undetermined period. But at least I can still enter the park from the main gate. However, I haven't directly experienced any unsafe situations in this area so far. I lived in the south of here during my uni years and it was a far more dangerous environment, with burglars attempting break-ins in my house and I was also victim of robbery once.

Q: Is there anything about BotB you would change if practicality wasn't an issue?
A: It would be nice if people were able to change their BotBr names if they wanted to without having to start a new account. But it does seems impractical if that would also require all of the files attached to one's account to also be renamed.

@SnugglyBun
Q: What's you favorite instrument?
A: Synthesizers. But if they don't count, then the daxophone

Q: How did you find Battle of the Bits?
A: After 8bitcollective was gone, I wanted a website replacement for my pseudo-chiptune posting. There was even a knockoff called "μCollective", which only lasted for a while. Ultimately, I found BotB through a link posted in the Chiptunes = Win Facebook group iirc. But I didn't start being active until last year.

Q: Is there a particular BOTBr you admire?
A: DBOYD is my number one inspiration to get encouraged enough to make more music with trackers. I highly relate with their music. And we share a lot of game ost tastes that are similar to the music we make.

Q: Since when did you start composing?
A: Started composing with Propellerhead Reason in 2003. But I didn't read any tutorials at all back then and my english sucked anyway lol. Would just try whatever that worked well enough for me and make music without a care in the world. Didn't post what I created anywhere back then or talk to other computer musicians, either. Was basically on my own until I joined ocremix a year later.

Q: What music programs do you usually use?
A: Started using FL Studio, when a childhood friend told me about it, a year after I started using Reason. I've been using it ever since. All of my allgear, fakebit, msgs midi, remix, wildchip and xg entries were made with FL.

Q: Do you find yourself more capable with trackers or more traditional DAWs?
A: Definitely DAWs. I've used them most of my life. Only recently Battle of the Bits made me use trackers.

@kilowatt64
Q: You seem to have a wide spread of musical and artistic interests. Are there any musical styles/genres that you wouldn't care to write music for?
A: This is a difficult one. There are certainly genres I'm less likely to write music for, like dubstep. But that doesn't means I'd never, at least, borrow elements from dubstep for something else.

Q: If you could meet up with any composer to have a 1-on-1 interview, who would it be?
A: Norio Hanzawa, who made the music for Gunstar Heroes, is a God. There are zero interviews with him and the only photo of him online shows his back to the camera. One of the most mysterious game composers of all time. I'd like to know how he came up with his style and his influences.

Q: What is the most nostalgic sound chip for you?
A: I love the ym2612 and the SPC700 for different reasons, but I played Sega Genesis games before SNES ones, so the ym2612 soundchip ends up being the most nostalgic.

Q: Is that also your favorite sound chip to write music for when writing chiptunes?
A: It used to be for a while. But I'd like to try the 2A03 and the SN76489 soundchips more, on actual trackers.

Q: Your songs often seem to present a variety of ideas that blend together smoothly. Where do your musical ideas come from?
A: Thanks! I listen to a lot of music, so I'm sure a lot of it inspires me. Possibly a blend of pop, game and anime music.

Q: What's one thing about yourself you'd be good with sharing that most of us don't already know about you?
A: I like to do voice acting. It's been on my plans to dub an entire anime episode just for fun.

Q: If you were writing a sample-based remix song and could only draw samples from a single game soundtrack, which game would it be?
A: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Q: What are some of your favorite games/series for the music alone?
A: The Hybrid Front
, Panorama Cotton
, Jewel Master

Q: What are some of your favorite games/series for the gameplay alone?
A: Time Pilot
, Green Beret
, Pit-Fighter (genesis version)

Q: Any games that nailed both music AND gameplay for you?
A: Shining Force II
, Rocket Knight Adventures
, Mole Mania

Q: Your work has appeared in a variety of places outside of Botb. Do you have have any particular projects or experiences outside of here that you remember particularly fondly?
A: I'd Receive the Worst News From Your Beautiful Lips
is a song of mine I remember fondly. Watching people during the stream wonder who made it
while I kept anonymously laughing IRL was something else.

@big lumby
Q: are there any local/regional acts that have inspired your music? regional applies to the rest of the continent as well (argentina, peru, etc)
A: If we're talking only about South America, brazilian bossa nova inspired my music very sporadically. But if the question encompasses Latin America as a whole, I made a cuban cha-cha-cha (which was a much bolder inspiration than bossa nova ever was) entry for the last Summer Chip.

Q: what instruments do you play?
A: Right now, none. Had violin classes as a kid (which I didn't enjoy, btw). Then, guitar classes. And snare drum classes for marching band rehearsals only. There was a piano in the apartment I grew up in, but it was untuned for several years lol

Q: which one is the most fun for you to play out of all of them?
Never had keyboard classes, since those were the most competitive for enrollment at school. I'd probably have enjoyed those the most, because I loved playing with synthesizers as a toddler.

Q: favorite retro game and retro game console? (pre 6th gen)
A: I'll go with Mario Kart 64 thanks to the local 4-player battle mode alone. As for the console, this is a tough one because I love both the SNES and the Sega Genesis so much. It's really close, but I'll go with the Genesis, for reasons that include it having Toejam & Earl
, which is a highly involving 2-player co-op experience.

Q: favorite retro computer? (pre 2000)
A: Never had a Commodore 64, but I'll go with that one because the music from Last Ninja 2
is my jam.

Q: any album recommendations?
A: Not sure if you are into the genres encompassed by all these albums, but Karl Bartos - Communication
, Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
, Tesla Boy - Modern Thrills
(not full on YouTube)... I'll stop here : )

Q: out of your entire time on battle of the bits, what's the one main takeaway you've had that you wouldn't have without this site? as in, what's the one thing that's changed the most for you since joining?
A: I was intimidated with the thought of having only 1 hour to compete, as someone who struggles to rush with art making. But I eventually realized that sometimes the results of my entries can be satisfactory and, in some instances, even surpass my expectations.

Q: name one feature from botb that are respectively your favorite and least favorite, and explain why.
A: My favorite feature is being able to host XHBs in any format at almost anytime because it feels empowering and I love people show up out of nowhere to participate. My least favorite feature are May taxes, because I spend months earning those boons from battle activity and suddenly a good chunk of them are gone. Yeah, we can ask for them, but I'd rather keep only spending the ones I earned on my own or earned from people who voluntarily send them to me.

Q: same question for formats as well
A: my favorite format is draw, but specifically if it includes bitpacks in which you get to draw characters. Characters are fun and without them, there is no storytelling. Meanwhile, my least favorite format is tic80 because I suck at coding and wasted so many hours trying to learn for the ac22 battle that I gave up on submitting.

Q: out of all botbrs who you've never teamed up on a song with, which one would you collab with first out of all of them?
A: I never teamed up with any BotBr! Except with PolarBirds for a non-BotB song before I started being active here. It has to be with people who match my energy well enough, like OPM. I meant to finish a collab with a certain someone for the last Winter Chip, but that didn't happen. So, I'll try to finish it for the next one.

Q: favorite anime?
A: Gintama, because it's the most character-driven show I've ever watched. And it has a bit of everything.

Q: what's the one thing you're most grateful for regarding botb?
A: Definitely the friends I made. For without them, any community sucks no matter how relatable its subject is.

Q: if given the chance, would you host a major battle someday?
A: I'm not sure. At least from what I can tell, major hosts must film themselves or at least record their voices during streams so that folks can be aware of the results unfolding. Can't say I'm the type to go this far at the moment. But if I submit a major proposal to the Future Battle series and it receives enough popular appeal, it would be interesting to consider, assuming I'll be allowed to, that is.

Q: will there be another one of these anytime soon?
A: hmm... maybe

"and lastly: you are awesome!!"

you are awesome

177060

I remember you held some photograph battles a while back, some of the first battles I joined actually. What made you hold them? Do you have any background in photography?

177067

Where does the name Tex come from?

P.S. Thanks for starting this!

177077

@dobra
Q: I remember you held some photograph battles a while back, some of the first battles I joined actually. What made you hold them?
A: Before those battles, we had photo battles held with the visuall format. Then, kleeder started hosting the Appreciate Nature major: a photo major. I thought this was an opportunity to suggest that photography had its own format, because it's distinct enough of an art form for such. The idea had enough popular appeal and puke made it happen! So, I started hosting photo battles for days in a row to express the importance of that change.

Q: Do you have any background in photography?
A: I went to cinema school (specifically, to animation school). And cinema itself encompasses a lot of different languages and art forms that one must learn if they're serious about filmmaking. So, during my time in uni, I had classes of many subjects, including photography classes. Our main project during those classes was to create a short stop-motion film, which is a technique of filmmaking that essentially requires taking photos. One at a time.

@Sloopygoop
Q: Where does the name Tex come from?
A: My first artist name was "Txai", which was the handle I used during most of my online life. Then, when I reached a new rounded age, I decided it was time for a major change. So, I changed my artist name to "texturology", which is the name of an IDM album by Beaumont Hannant. A couple of years later, I shortened it to just "Tex" because it's easier for people to say it in chatrooms.

"P.S. Thanks for starting this!"

Thanks for joining this!

__

And that's a wrap! At least as far as my answers in this thread are concerned. TrippleP said they'll answer their questions eventually. So, look forward to that happening at some point.

I learned a lot of cool things about you folks. Maybe we'll do this again.

Since this thread became monumental, the list of participants was updated. So, when you click on the names, you'll jump to where their turn started. Accept it that turns are often overlapped by previous people's, who had to answer some of their questions after their own turn.

Shoutout to everyone who didn't join the seat, but who contributed to making the event more diverse with their presence: Delita, Max Chaplin, VirtualMan 😅, Lincent, gotoandplay, Viraxor, fish qt, blower5, RadamLee, BubblegumOctopus, Blast_Brothers, Jimmyoshi, Dippy, B-Doh, dobra, vikispod, Minerscale, Abraxas86, numch, Collidy and Retro Gracz.

Okay, bye!