This post is first installment in a series of development posts about Sinjid.

Krin and I are busily working on the upcoming Sinjid game! The most recent installment to the series was released well before the Sonny games, so some of you might be unfamiliar with the series. It was quite a hit here on Newgrounds, as well as on Armorgames and many other sites across the web.

What I'm going to talk about today is the music system Krin and I have built for Sinjid.

One of the challenges most flash and indie developers face is balancing the amount (and quality) of music with cost. You don't need to have a degree in finance to understand that the more music you commission from a composer, the more it will cost! So compromises are made, usually by skimping on the quantity of music.

When I was composing the music for Colony, back in 2009, Krin and I decided we'd try to add variety to the soundtrack by fragmenting the music into small chucks (instead of one long loop). This way, the system introduces some variety and randomization into the soundtrack. We had a great deal of success with the experiment, and people really enjoyed the randomized music!

With Sinjid, Krin and I are taking that concept, and expanding on it in nearly every way imaginable. The amount of music in the game is way higher than any of the other games we've been working on. We're already working with over 40 loop fragments, with plans on adding in a lot more. On top of that, we're splitting the music into multiple channels that can be layered -- meaning that the music is not only randomized from left to right, but from top to bottom.

What's more interesting, however, is how we're structuring the system (dubbed "Canary"). We've programmed Canary to have some knowledge of what is happening musically. It isn't simply gluing random bits together, it is making musical decisions about where it wants to music to go. Sometimes, it will decide to modulate, bringing the music to a new key. Sometimes, it will decide to slowly fade out the instruments, one by one, to bring the soundtrack in the background. It's really quite incredible -- I am amazed at how fresh the soundtrack is sounding to me even after spending many, many hours writing and tweaking the music!

If you're interested in hearing a sample of what the system is capable of producing, let me know. I'll talk with Krin to see if we can put up a teaser of Canary! :)

Recently, I've been reflecting on my past involvement in the Newgrounds community. It's been years since I was an active participant in the forums, but I have fond memories of checking the forums while in school (through a proxy, of course), reviewing audio tracks, helping out a new BBSer, and watching people get banned by the mods. I'm going to make a conscious effort to revive my presence on Newgrounds and bring even more audio for flash artists to use!

In other, less sentimental news, I've completely overhauled my website. Instead of giving you a huge wall of text about it, here are the new features, in SparkNotes form:

= Static homepage
= Restructured "music services" page
= Client Log-in pages
= New Portfolio and Resume
= Cleaner, fully functional blog

I spent several weeks building this site and populating the content, but it was absolutely worth it - anything I can do to make your experience on my website easier and more enjoyable is worth doing!

Sooo... go check it out :)

Are you a developer of games, movies, or animations? Regardless of the platform you're working on, you're going to need the best quality audio you can find to make your projects shine.

The Dev Center on DavidOrr.net can provide you with the professional audio you need- FOR FREE. All developers have a budget, and unfortunately that budget can limit your potential. It shouldn't be that way - and the Dev Center is here to help.

Some of the features include:

* A full musical database with an easy to navigate organization system (I've maximized screen real-estate to minimize endless clicking through pages)
* New PhpBB forums to seek help, request features, or meet other developers.
* Expandable flash navigation logo so EVERY page of TDC has a standard navigation bar to give you access to all the main pages

Even if you're not a developer, there's plenty of never-before-heard music for you to listen to (enough for an entire album!). If you have suggestions or comments, I'd love to hear them!

Check it out!

Hello friends! Today I want to tell you about something I've been working hard on for the past couple of weeks - The Dev Center.

What is it?
"The Dev Center on DavidOrr.net provides developers with the professional audio - FOR FREE. All developers have a budget, and unfortunately that budget can limit your potential. It shouldn't be that way - and the Dev Center is here to help."

While The Dev Center (TDC) is geared towards multimedia developers, it is not limited only to them. Anyone has access to it and the plethora of audio it possesses (at the time of this writing it will be launching with over 40 unique loops and pieces). I haven't done a total run-time tally, but we're looking at more than enough music for a full length album. Most of it is never-before-heard on DavidOrr.net or Newgrounds!

I'll make another update when TDC is officially launched. I'm going to be pushing a pretty aggressive advertisement campaign to get the word out, so don't hesistate to let your friends know!

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--If you're interested in my logic, read on--

My reasoning behind it is two-fold. First and foremost, I think the indie dev groups out there are suffering because the standards of products are rising across the industry. Whether it be movies or flash animations or console games, technology is ever-evolving and enabling developers with big budgets to produce spectacular things. But most low-budget groups simply can't afford the increasing startup costs required to make a viable product.

So, I'm falling back to my start-up roots in a sense. Before I got a commissioned work, I used to provide music at free or a very low cost in exchange for a splash screen. While I didn't make much money doing this, I did increase my exposure, which is extremely important. It was a great mutual relationship- I provided free music, and developers provided me free exposure.

Now I do a lot of commissioned work, but I still want to expand my audience. I think this is a great way to do it, because I'm giving back to a community that has given so much to me.

As always I really appreciate any feedback - I'm making this for you!

I thought that with a site redesign, it'd be a great time to introduce a feature I've been wanting to implement for a long time: a store! The store is launching with 5 pieces, which include 2 brand-new tracks. I've also lengthened one of the popular pieces from the original Sonny, Heroic Confrontation. You can hear clips of each piece, and if you like it- purchase the track via Paypal (a PayPal account isn't necessary).

This is very much a test run, and I'll see what kind of response I get to decide where to go from here. I'd absolutely love to hear your thoughts- they provide me with a lot of insight!

To access the store, you can click "Official Music Store" at the top-right side of the site, or click here! In addition, you can check for the latest updates without browsing the store by clicking on the "Store Updates" blog category. You'll filter all the posts on the for the latest news from the shop!

PS- I've created a new newsletter (trying a different approach), so if you're interested you can sign up right on the home page of the site!

Not much else to say really- check it out!

Thank you everyone for all your support!

I'll be releasing a full-length track created from a lot of the music from Colony, including some fresh material. I've used the capitalist theme in this track (each faction has it's own theme), which you'll hear developed through out.

I've been meaning to post more previews on my site, so I'll start the tradition with this post. Enjoy!

Capitalist Preview (brings you to my site- preview can be streamed from there)

Hey everyone! Krin has just finished a brand new RTS game called Colony! You absolutely have to take a look at this game, it's well worth it! I've had the pleasure of scoring an all-original soundtrack for it, which I'm really happy with. I'll discuss that in one second. For now, let me tell you about the game. It takes place in the year 2273, on the first planet colonized by man. It features three governments you can play as (each government offers a different play style), and a host of buildings and units. The visuals are stunning- among the most polished I've seen in flash games to-date. Once you think you've mastered the game, you can put your skills to the test by battling against others using an online multiplayer server!

We took a different muscial approach than the Sonny games this time around. I incorperated more electronic and rock-styles in this soundtrack, to try and play homage (as the game does) to the Starcraft series. We decided to and create a more unique soundtrack- this time around, instead of a few loopable pieces, we created many smaller musical "slices", that are assembled in any order during the game. Some slices are driving and blood-pumping, others are ambient and mood building. On top of that, each government has a unique theme that will play at certain times to help give each government a unique feel. I find that the music doesn't get as old as quickly, and you can bet that we'll be looking at this method to bring a more dynamic and ever-changing soundtrack to future games. This is very much a test run for future soundtracks, so we need to hear your input on how to improve it!

As always, you can head on over to Armorgames and play it, or you can click this link right here. We need your help to make this game a success!

Hello again everyone! I've been busy on Newgrounds these past few days, review lots of music, posting some new music of my own, and looking around at all the new movies and games. There is a HUGE amount of talent and creativity here. Newgrounds is a website that's evolving into a high-caliber flash and audio production community.

Anyway, I'm busy working on the ST music series, which is available to ALL flash developers here. It won't be on Newgrounds forever, but while it's here I encourage you to take advantage of the music. I've been sending out some PMs to some great flash artists I've found throughout the site asking for feedback and ideas, and I've gotten a lot of great response. Thank you all!

- - - - -FLASH DEVELOPERS READ THIS! - - - - - -
Now, I present you an offer. If you are looking for music and you don't find what you're looking for, please send me a PM or post here letting me know what you're after, and I'll see if I can make it. I can't guarantee I'll be able to make every request, but I'll try my best. FREE OF CHARGE. I'm trying to learn what developers are after, and I think this is a great way to do it. I ask in return that you support my ST series, and give me any feedback you may have. I need you to make this work!

That's all for now, stay tuned folks!
- David

Well, I wasn't ever gone, really. My focuses for the past several months have been more studious, and as a result I haven't had much time for website updates. A lot has gone on since my last update, though. Let me fill you in!

Sonny 2 was released a few months back on Armorgames.com. It's done great, and almost has 5 million plays just on Armorgames! You can find the music I wrote for it on Newgrounds, along with a revised copy of the boss music from the original Sonny.

I'm currently reviving my ST series. For those of you who don't know, I started the ST series a few years back as composition exercises. I would create a scene in my head, and then write a 1 minute loop to fit the music. A lot of people found that music useful, so I've decided to bring back the series for the movie, tv, and game developers to license and use. You can find some of the tracks temporarily on Newgrounds (and I'll be featuring them here). I'll let you know more about it as more are released and the project moves forward.

That's it for now, be sure to stop by often for the latest new music and updates straight from the source!