Hello everyone!
Just to make sure I don't have people reading that don't care, this is just a little* (edit* massive) news blog about me and what I've been up to, as well as my plans and goals for 2023. If you are interested about music and SFX resources, this could be relevant to you! I will be labelling each section, so if you're only sort of interested, you are free to read only the parts that sound interesting!
INTRO
It's already almost Febuary and I don't know where the time has been going. Honestly, you could tell me it's any year between 2020 - 2025 and I'd believe you. I don't even know what time is anymore. There's a song that I wrote last year about this for one of the annual NG audio tournaments, and it continues to be so relevant to me. ANYWHO, that aside, I still want to make the most of the year all around, from Newgrounds activity to my personal life. I will continue to dedicate myself to making free resources (music, SFX, or whatever else) for creators online. My goal is to create a massive library of stuff that really helps people create what they want to create, as best as they can. I have a lot to talk about in terms of how I'm doing this now, and how I plan to keep it up and do even more in the future.
SOUND EFFECTS
I've recently delved into the SFX scene through my freelance work. I've found that SFX are something I really enjoy making! I've worked with several individuals and game companies to put together sounds for their projects, and I'm feeling ready and confident to create some high quality stuff that's free-to-use. I thought it would be pretty sweet if Newgrounds were to add a section for SFX artists on their platform somewhere. I sent Tom a message about it, so we'll see if anything comes of that idea. For now though, I've been putting music and sounds up online for free in a few places. My Bandcamp is usually where I send people for the music, as it contains the highest-quality downloads for that stuff (and the option to pay if you waaant). For sounds, while my offerings are few at the moment, over time I will be offering more! I currently put EVERYTHING on 'Open Game Art' where it can be downloaded for free, and I have a collection there for sound effects, which will be growing over time. I'm hoping I can put the stuff on Newgrounds too pretty soon! I recently posted some free, totally nasty and visceral, bone snapping SFX on there and on YouTube.
FREE MUSIC FOR GAME DEV (or anything else)
As of last year, I decided that every piece of music I release (unless otherwise stated) is going to be free-to-use. That will include my personal tracks, as well as a bunch of music I am making specifically for the purpose of game/content creation. I'll tell you about what's in the works right now.
This is a follow-up album to 'A Bag of Chips', which is a collection of chiptune tracks for creators to use in their projects for free. 'Another Bag of Chips' will be a collection of 10 more free tracks made with the same stuff in mind, but with some more diverse sounds and moods, as well as looping versions of every track included. I am very excited to release that, and it should all be finished before June, although I'm aiming for the end of Febuary or early March. You can hear what's currently finished here on Newgrounds until the final release with all the extra stuff is up on Bandcamp.
This is an album inspired by the soundtrack of a game called 'Road Trip Adventure' (or 'ChoroQ HG2' in Japan). This was a game I grew up playing, and had a soundtrack that stuck with me hard. There was some unfortunate controversy surrounding the game recently where it was confirmed that the developers had stolen the music from the composer 'Michael Walthius' without his permission or knowledge. I was bummed to hear about that, as it feels like a bit of a stain on the integrity of the game, especially because the music is so beloved to me. That being said, it's still a wonderful soundtrack, stolen or not, and the game is also super fun and charming. I was debating whether or not to redirect the project after the controversy, but since it's old and was never really popular here anyways, I've decided to keep going with it. I've been posting visualizers for all the tracks as I go on YouTube.
Another Bag of Chips and New Peach FM are my priority projects at the moment, but afterwards, I do have 2 EPs on the backburner! One will be focused on fun electronic sounds and vocals, while the other will be more focused on bombastic digifu sounds. Each EP is going to have 3 or 4 tracks, each with a lot of care put in. I've been neglecting my personal music itch lately, mostly because I have so many other projects and am constantly juggling those with freelance client work, but I do plan to scratch it hopefully sooner rather than later. Also, of course, these EPs will be free-to-use.
FREELANCE
I'm pretty sure a good chunk of folks have no idea that I am mostly making music for clients day-to-day. I'm usually not able to share this music, and even with the stuff that I can, I can't release them under free-use licenses, so I just don't. That being said, there are some places where my professional work can be heard!
Bitmates is a project I am working on with a very dedicated and talented team of artists and developers. I have had SO much fun working with this team, and I feel very connected to the project. The game is still in-progress, but the first volume of the soundtrack recently released on streaming services like Spotify. This game IS a crypto project, but is one of many emerging blockchain-based games that have a whole lot of care put into it. It will be free-to-play when it launches, and will not require any purchase of an NFT or anything like that. Something I think is cool, however, is that every item in the game will be tokenized, meaning they will hold real value and some cool economies will emerge revolving around those items and trading. It will also play very similarly to Runescape. I'm excited for this one.
I've recently worked with a couple growing Pokémon-centric streamers to create their theme songs and SFX. I always have a lot of fun working with content creators, big or small, because I can very tangibly see the effect that the music has with the community! These streamers are Calm & Collecting & Yellow Yugo. They are both Pokémon streamers on the rise, and they typically focus on hunting for shiny Pokémon! I've really enjoyed working with both of them, and they've amassed some very positive and excited communities!
Super Choppy Orc was a really fun project. It's a game that recently released on Steam! While not the biggest release I've worked on, it's still one of my favorites. This is a speedrunning-focused game, and a follow-up to a popular and fun school time-waster called Choppy Orc. It amassed a large speedrunning community back in the day, and is a nostalgic return for a lot of folks. I felt very proud and excited to be a part of it! I've talked to the developer about making a demo for the game and releasing it on Newgrounds, and he said it was something he was considering! So hopefully we get to see that here some day.
Those are just a few of the freelance projects I've been working on lately. While they do take up most of my time, they've been the projects keeping me afloat! I am also usually available for work, too! If you are working on something and you need some music and/or SFX, feel free to contact me! You can view my portfolio here!
OTHER PROJECTS
Freelance and releases aside, I've been doing some other fun stuff too. Some of these things are somewhat under wraps, or are uncertain or have a ways to go until completion, but I can touch on them at least.
- I've been getting into animation again, just a little! I have a really short, 11 second thing on the way to get myself warmed up again. I'll probably release it here, though I don't imagine it'll do stellar. Either way, it'll be fun and it's been a nice return to the craft! I'm hoping to animate some bigger things within the next year or so (if time allows).
- I've also been composing a new cartoon by Jaquin, though I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to say about it right now. I've spoiled that one is coming now though, soo sorry Jaq! He is one of my favorite artists/animators on this platform though, so please check out his art and give him a follow.
- And lastly, I've been working on a game. Well, just started recently. I've been making games for fun for about 10 years now (wow), but every time I get going on something, the ideas inevitably balloon to an impossible scale, and it ends up sitting in the void forever. This time though, I've outlined the whole game FIRST, so new ideas get to sit on the backburner while the essential stuff gets made first. It's gonna be a pretty decent while before I'm able to share more about it with you though, and it's possible it will end up sitting in the void just the same as the others. I have hope for this one though, I'm teaming up with a friend, and I'm excited about the idea. Hopefully I have more to report some day soon. I hope you like gambling.
OTHER STUFF
It's been a very long-time dream of mine to be a voice actor, and sometime soon, I'm going to whip up a demo reel to stick on Newgrounds. I'd love to act in your animations, and I will lend my voice to your project no matter what it is (I may eat those words later). Obviously for free! Anywho, if you need a voice actor, I'd love to help you out.
I have this new hobby of writing incredibly long feature requests to Tom through the forums or messaging. I think about this site all the time and am always having new ideas. I love that Tom will read anything. It's very clear how much he cares about this site and its community, and it feels so great to be a part of it, even if I'm not really doing anything! Some of my absolutely genius ideas include: An SFX section on the audio portal, April Fool's Day loot boxes and profile cosmetics, blog post scheduling, better playlists, radio features, and surely some more.
I've been getting closer with the digital fusion community over the last year or so, as I find the music really resonates with me, and is what I love to make. It's been awesome to see the community appear on Newgrounds too, and I look forward to seeing it grow! If you are a digital fusion composer, please message me. I have some opportunities and plans for seeing community growth on Newgrounds on the horizon.
I am sometimes asked how I may receive support or tips for the stuff I offer. I very much appreciate those of you who have reached out about that! I don't usually have a great answer, as I don't have a Patreon or donate button or anything. I think, though, the best way you can support me is via Bandcamp, where while all my music is free, anyone is free to pay what they want for the offerings on there. Additionally, and preferably, you can support me for free just by sharing my music around with people who may need/like it and following me online! While I always appreciate some monetary help (helps me eat!), I find that having people around who find what I do to be helpful/enjoyable is my favorite. Especially if you comment and interact and all that. I love hearing from you guys, and I've been very touched by some of the messages and comments I've received! I've been working on my Twitter and YouTube presence lately. Or if you must throw money my way, consider commissioning some music!
SUMMARY
If you've made it this far, you are insane. Thank you for that, really. I hope my ramblings were enlightening or helpful to you in some way! If you want to talk about anything, need advice or help, need music for your project but can't afford it, or like tacos and want to rave about them, I would love nothing more than to talk to you! This year, I plan to lift up the community however I can. I am working towards financial independence with my music, and once I get there, making free music for you guys will be what I get to do for as long as I can!! I love you all, and I thank you very much for the continued support, kind words, and listening! And a special thanks to Tom Fulp for reading so many of my ramblings over the last few months, and always making a point to respond in great detail! You (and the team) are a huge part of what makes Newgrounds one-of-a-kind, and a platform I want to see take over the world some day.
Best wishes, all!
-Zane Little
