@VariableGR - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index

Q: How do you get interested in music?

In my childhood I played many games, both retro and from that time, games like Parrapa The Rapper, Parasite Eve, Silent Hill, Resident evil , Metal Slug, Pump It (Oh yeah, I played the arrow stepping game like crazy 😅) and a lot more

I was always drawn to the way things sounded, how the soundtracks of those games and some movies felt too.

That made me want to make music and try things from various musical genres.

How did I start? (2014)

I was 12 years old in 2013 and it was the year I learned to use basic things in Fruity Studio (FL studio) it was a bit difficult since I didn't have a good computer back then

But in 2014...wow everything changed a lot

First, my father supported me with a computer (the one I currently use)

And also one of my friends started to introduce me to the world of Spanish-speaking Hip Hop.

Like Nach, Porta, Chojin, ZPu, KseO etc..

I started making beats that were horrible by the way, And my friend started teaching me how to compose basic rhythm

Kick Clap Kick Kick Clap and that's all! Hahaha

(2014 -2017)

These years were spent making music only with my friend and that's it, although little by little the world of electronic music and video games began to give me ideas.

Something new I want to explore it

In hip hop my references started to be:

A tribe Called quest

The pharcyde

Outsider (K-Rapper)

Drunk Tigger (I recommend the song 8:45 from his album "sky its the limit")

(2018-2020)

In 2017 I was inactive but I continued to learn about music and important theory to make a song that contains complex patterns well.

But in these years...oh boy! They were the peak of my learning and creation, since some of the songs that I have here on Newgrounds were made in these years (2018-2020)

I also went out to be a DJ for artists who already record professionally with me and who are making some albums.

Small events in my country but I was excited to see that people went crazy when I played the instrumentals

The study was done by my friend who joined me to his record label (Lost People Records)

Electronic music was something I abandoned for a while until...

(2021)

It was a strong creative time to create songs, most of which were the ones with which I started to join this platform.

(2022-2024)

And to sum up these years, I have undoubtedly known several styles of music.

Q: What are some of your favorite songs, and how have they impacted the way you make music? Are there specific elements in those songs that you particularly enjoy?

1.- Find a Way - A Tribe Called Quest

Oooh man this is my favorite because it has a different rap rhythm than what I normally listened to before, I like how they play with the rhythm to make your head dance to the beat.

This song impacted my way of sampling because of the simple style and the rhythm it has, since many times people think that cutting and pasting a piece of a song is enough.

2.- Que Pasa - Aïnda ft. Feli Colina

This song had a greater impact on my way of seeing life because I never felt so fulfilled with what I did. But I realized that I put a lot of pressure on myself and I never stopped to think about how basic it was to be well.

3.- What was i made for? - Billie Eilish

In melodic matters, learning to make sad, melancholic and deep songs was difficult for me.

Until I heard this one that made me want to study the melodies and scales that were used in songs like this.

4.- All the Time - Jungle

Meeen this is what i like to have in reference for rhythm

In general, Jungle's discography has a very peculiar style and its percussions are excellent references to learn how to make more lively and entertaining loops.

5.- Mi destino - Daniel, Me estas matando

Despite its simple production, it was a song that gave me a lot of current ideas on how to use ear candy sounds and also to play with sound space.

It has an exact part that causes you a surge of emotions due to the sudden change of bass. (2:07 minute)

6.-Sleepless - Flume

Do you want some reference for your stereo field? This song teaches you how to use it to your advantage, the simple fact of placing sounds on different sides of the headphones or having a panning movement, its what makes a song pretty enjoyable

7.- Vendetta Di Dio - Resident Evil Revelation

It is important to convey emotions and oh boy! This song conveys the power of a god!

This song helped me understand what details and tonal messages convey an idea to you, in this case transmitting the power of a god to a final monster, and It's what makes you feel that helplessness of fighting with someone who is difficult or at a level beyond your reach.

With this I was inspired to make songs more focused on transmitting something.

That's all my favorite song for reference and mix level, also emotions and power

Q: What is the Internet about, and how would you describe your experiences with it?

There is too much information that we can sometimes use to our advantage, and it is a tool for knowledge.

Of course you have to be careful since 9 out of 10 things are invented on the internet.

In my experience I have found both good things and things that left me traumatized (⁠ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ⁠)⁠>⁠⌐⁠■⁠-⁠■

In particular, I have enjoyed researching information that interests me, particularly about mental health and musical knowledge.

Some people think it's just about watching simple things like Youtubers videos and basic things that one can't learn, but there are literally many chances that you will find things that will help you.

I'm not saying you can learn to live just through tutorials and virtual practices.

But learning to be smarter about how to do something in your favor

Q: What are some of your favorite stick animations and Pico games? Have you been familiar with Newgrounds for a long time?

More than animations I liked Stickman type games like Electroman, or a game when you have to fight with another stickmans

I also loved the one where you played as a sniper and had to be precise with the scope and learn about basic wind physics haha

I played the first ones from peak and of course, the special section of Newgrounds supporter the hidden game that has, (I think it was a Newgrounds Supporter section)

Oh yeah! I actually got to know Newgrounds with the Madness Combat game, when it was about fighting on platforms and the only selectable characters were the main one with a mark on his face.

Also when the update to put music in Geometry Dash was just coming out 😁

I actually fulfilled my dream that my music would be on Newgrounds and Geometry Dash woo! Haha

Q: What have you learned about music production from talking to others?

The most important rule I learned about music is that you have to break the rules... hahaha thats right

In music it can be considered more of an empirical art than a reasoning one since the results will not always be the same with all the songs.

There are times when even music theory contradicts itself a bit and other times it works wonderful.

Q: Are there specific techniques that have influenced your music?

Not as such, but my techniques in sampling is to cut and edit the samples with zero crossing, which is useful to cut a sound or an effect at a point close to zero so that a click is not heard, to make it a clean sample

In composing melodies I am guided by the circle of fifths And how the blues and pentatonic scales work

In mixing I focus only on removing the necessary volume and having clean sounds before mastering or mixing sounds for sound design.

Q: What are the techniques you’ve learned from music that you use the most or find particularly useful?

I learned about New York compression, which is useful for drums and rhythm instruments.

I also learned how to use panning and stereo field so you can have a lively and dynamic environment, The technique is to put some sounds at 45 percent on one side of the ear and some at 100 percent.

This helps you have a base of where you want the sounds to be heard (back, front, left or right)

Don't overdo the Reverb! Use at least 10% of the effect for more natural percussions.

For other instruments, play the lead instrument and use the others as a cushion.

There are only three pillars in a song! Don't try to overload a song that has no style or lacks meaning. Example:

You have the pillars of kick, bass and a synthesizer

Prevent the song from eating away at these pillars that are the meaning of your song

Now in matters of style the example would be:

You have pillars of melancholy, nostalgia and sadness

Don't do anything that overshadows those emotions or that doesn't fit with it. (Of course, except for songs with a story to tell and changes in their motivation, such as songs from movies or video games with historical development)

Q: Why do you want to teach?

Because I like to share my knowledge, to some extent I want to teach about music and how it is not always enough to want to make music, but to feel and think about how a song would work.

Q: What subjects or topics would you teach based on your current knowledge?

My main topics are about the wide musical variety, I would teach which musical genres are good references for different things and what messages they convey.

Basic handling of Fl Studio is certainly also on the list of things I want to teach.

What was the history of sound in ancient times on movies and how music began to work in video games

Of course music theory and harmonization tips

It would teach why relying on the work of others should not be considered bad when it comes to making a song.

Since being inspired is not the same as plagiarizing.

How sound works and how sound equipment works

At the moment they are small topics but I am just organizing them.

Q: Why don’t you like the idea that being good will lead to good things happening to you? Do you disagree with the concept of karma?

Many people I have met who are kind, good and considerate people, their life is not the best, let's say.

Many people who treat other people badly or who do something bad in general never get what they deserve, even though it is something that people don't talk about much and it is a painful subject.

There is no such thing as it may be a coincidence or it may arise from the fact that both bad things happen to good people and favorable things happen to bad people.

I don't like the concept of karma because not everyone deserves what happens to them, even though they think karma is about bad things.

Not all of us know what happened in a person's life, it's like judging someone who stole a loaf of bread for his family.

Not all of us deserve what happens to us because it is usually very unfair.

Q: What advice would you give to someone with ADHD, and how would you describe your own experiences with it?

Don't despair if you don't understand how the world moves faster than you, that time sometimes becomes your enemy because it passes quickly.

It's not that you're lazy to live life, You can't unite an idea into one

Take a deep breath and constantly write down in a notebook how you feel that day and what things you forgot to do.

In my experience my boyfriend has scolded me many times for being distracted

My family treated me like I was pretty useless when it came to learning and they didn't know what I had, and they don't really understand what diagnosed ADHD is.

Most people treat you badly and as if you were slow in many cases.

Q: What is it like having a boyfriend?

It is very beautiful to be able to live with someone and be there for someone who loves you or knows how you really are.

That all this is something beautiful and that you have to enjoy it, because you don't know when it all ends.

Q: Your advice for life

Don't let people make decisions for you, in every aspect

Just because you see that it is something famous does not mean you repeat it or because you think that it is tradition it is good.

Not all traditions are good, not all social spheres are clean

Also never decide something important in your life until you have had enough maturity and emotional power.

Like your sexuality: If you can't stand the fact that there are people who still don't accept this kind of things and can judge you for everything, It is always better to think before defining yourself

Your husband or wife: Experience first, get to know the world and the people you would like to be surrounded by. The first love is not always the best

Your way of being: To many movies guy? Don't think that life is a movie or series like the ones you see, although many think they are realistic, it is far from that. Feeling like you can be the protagonist of your own life is fine, But the social environment can shape you in many ways, it is your decision to see what characteristics you keep that you love and can accept as you are.

Example: i have 23 years and i have a lot of things to learn 😄! I know things about life but I'm too young to understand it, how the life works

Who to separate from your life or who to stay:

There are people who stay for a long time but can leave, there are people you barely know but you have to push them away.

Don't force them to be with you and feel obligated to be with someone

Enjoy yourself In a good way, Appreciate what you have right now because at least you have a house and internet to see this message.😄

Thanks for the opportunity Aalasteir 😎🤟!