Katawa Shoujo Forums

You sir, are a true genius.

As much as I loved the writing, the art and all the other elements of KS, I feel as if the musical score was the most gripping and tone setting of it all. I just want to thank you for composing and writing such beautiful pieces that deliver every time the game hits a climatic moment, Painful History, Shadow of the Truth, Breathlessly, Moment of Decision and all these very dramatic and darkened pieces are my favorites. However I very much enjoy all the pieces you wrote for KS, and it amazes me how versatile you are when it comes to composing

That said, I would love to know more about your thought process, how you go about capturing raw emotion and seamlessly converting it into a wonderful piece of musical art. What programs you use, how long you've been composing/playing instruments, and what your background is in concern to music (self taught? whether you studied it at University etc)

Anyhow, if you have read this, thank you for taking the time to do so. And if you don't want to answer my barrage of questions, please don't bother; you've given me enough enjoyment from your music already ;D

InfinitiveBlue wrote:You sir, are a true genius.

As much as I loved the writing, the art and all the other elements of KS, I feel as if the musical score was the most gripping and tone setting of it all. I just want to thank you for composing and writing such beautiful pieces that deliver every time the game hits a climatic moment, Painful History, Shadow of the Truth, Breathlessly, Moment of Decision and all these very dramatic and darkened pieces are my favorites. However I very much enjoy all the pieces you wrote for KS, and it amazes me how versatile you are when it comes to composing

That said, I would love to know more about your thought process, how you go about capturing raw emotion and seamlessly converting it into a wonderful piece of musical art. What programs you use, how long you've been composing/playing instruments, and what your background is in concern to music (self taught? whether you studied it at University etc)

Anyhow, if you have read this, thank you for taking the time to do so. And if you don't want to answer my barrage of questions, please don't bother; you've given me enough enjoyment from your music already ;D

You've inspired this young guitar player and music enthusiast to take up piano and to start composing, thank you again, and I wish you all the best in any future projects you wish to partake in

I'm glad you enjoyed KS!

I'll tackle these one at a time:

1. That said, I would love to know more about your thought process, how you go about capturing raw emotion and seamlessly converting it into a wonderful piece of musical art.
I think converting emotion into art is the most basic function of an artist. You can't be taught how to feel in a music class, you just do. I can't really explain how I channel this into my music, it just comes naturally. I like to improvise a lot, and a lot of my best music I think comes from that. I'll sit down at the piano and bang out something off the top of my head, and if I come up with anything I can remember I'll take it back to my computer and write it down. I don't really think about it, it just happens. That's not to say that I never think about what I write. I am familiar with forms of classical music and write these sorts of things regularly, but I tend to think of them more as technical excersises than anything else.

2. What programs you use
When I started out I solely used a program called NoteWorthy Composer. It's pretty oldschool, but I think it's still a nice program. Right now I'm using Finale 2010 and FL Studio 8. I sequence the MIDI's by hand and make sheet music in Finale, then run the MIDI through FL for sampling and mixing. The samples I use are largely a mix between Garritan Personal Orchestra and several free sounds (I particularly like airfont).

3. how long you've been composing/playing instruments, and what your background is in concern to music (self taught? whether you studied it at University etc)
In the third grade I tried to pick out video game music on a toy keyboard by ear, and about two years later I got a full sized keyboard. I used the demos on this to try and teach myself piano, and I found a teacher sometime in the sixth grade. I think that's when I started to take it seriously, so I've been playing for about seven years now. I've been composing for just about as long, but I don't think I had a really good grasp of it until the past two years. I also took viola in highschool, and I enjoyed that enough to buy one for myself and play it regularly outside of school. I was booted out of highschool due to lack of attendence (pretty recently), so as far as University education goes that's a no. Although I've taken structured piano lessons for several years now I was never taught composition or theory, I just learned how to compose by sitting down and composing every day. I've had people ask me about this before, and I think that's really the only way you can do it. You have to be willing to put in the time and effort to write music, and you have to accept that, for years, everything you write will probably sound awful. If you can handle that I think you'll be ok.

Being a piano player and a competent composer on top of that, you'd have a much easier time learning/teaching yourself theory than us single-line instruments. Kinda jealous a lil'. XD

Nicol, you just committed indirect homicide on me. Weapon used: Painful History. The first 30seconds.....