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Member of the Month - June 2017

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Hello friends! It's that time of the month again.
Give it up for musicalman this month - he's a blind musician who found his way into porting for SMW, and he has been extremely kind to offer a lot of help to people with his extensive knowledge. You should definitely check his stuff out as well! Hope you enjoy the interview, which may not be that long, but it's certainly nice and great.

Koopster So, tell me a bit about your interest in music and how you stumbled upon SMW Central. What got you into making music specifically for SMW?
musicalman Well, because of my visual impairment I've not been able to play video games. But I've always liked listening to people play games, and in the case of old games especially, listening to and learning how the sound capabilities of consoles are used. I've always liked the sound of the Snes, and I found a tutorial about how to emulate the SPC700, which is the sound processor the Snes uses. That tutorial also briefly mentioned AddmusicK. I didn't really know what SMWC was about, I just explored AddmusicK for making Snes music, and it wasn't until maybe 6-12 months after I started playing with the tool that I went on SMWC and learned what it was all about.
Koopster That's quite an interesting story. I assume you also make or have made music outside of the SNES as well?
musicalman Yes, I've experimented with Nes, and I do a lot of midi sequencing. I have other tools for other sound chips but haven't given them the time I think they deserve.

Koopster I see. As far as listening to music goes, is SNES music also your preference? Are there any songs or soundtracks you like in particular? And what about non-VGM?
musicalman I am primarily a VGM geek. I often focus as much on the technicalities of the music as I do on the musical experience itself. At times knowing the technicalities ruins the excitement, ya know? Hearing something intriguing and being able to determine, with little speculation, how it was accomplished. I also enjoy other stuff but I've never been one for lyrics. It's refreshing to listen to modern stuff, whether VGM music or not, because of how different it sounds and the added complexity and lack of transparency, if I can put it that way. But all in all, my musical preferences are pretty broad.
musicalman And as for soundtracks I like, anything by Tim Follin is a must, as well as a lot of JRPG music. I'm drawing a blank on specific games at the moment, as there are things I like from a lot of games and soundtracks.
Koopster Gotcha. So you like to listen to music and think about how it's done... I sometimes find myself doing that as well, as someone who wants to learn how to make music :P

Koopster So, back to music creation, do you happen to have any projects that you've been working on? Maybe something you want to work on in the future? Do you plan to join our music contests, such as Idol?
musicalman I've been thinking about a few projects now. As well as trying to port single songs I like, I've given thought to porting osts from other older games to Snes to see how it might sound. The one I was most enthusiastic about for a time was the Shining Force series for Megadrive. I even started a few fake Snes versions of the songs, using midi and sound fonts and the like, before I had AddmusicK. I've yet to try to translate those to actual ports. I think it would be doable and tons of fun, at least for me, but I'm just too lazy 😃
musicalman And yes, I would like to participate in SMWC Idol, though my lack of motivation and habitual procrastination has gotten the better of me every single time I start something... But when I read about the contest, I was strongly compelled to participate. Since music is my passion and is the only section here which I feel I can make a worthy contribution to, I think I'd be, well, disservicing myself if I didn't test myself against like-minded individuals.
Koopster I see. Good luck with your projects and everything!
musicalman Thanks! I am definitely glad I am being a little more well-known. It's always fun to have some sort of obscure hobby, but even as introvert as I am, it still feels a little empty if I'm in it alone. Three people have now contacted me from SMWC, either by PM or E-mail, asking questions about music stuff, wanting to chat elsewhere, etc. and every one of those messages makes my day because I know I have an audience.

Koopster Ah, that's really nice to hear about! 😄 I'm certain you are very appreciated, both for your content and for how extensively helpful you have been in our music forums. What drives you to help people out? And, even though you already answered this to an extent - what do you think about our community, based on the people you've interacted with so far?
musicalman Several things drive me to help people out. A very small part of it can be attributed to my disability I suppose. I've needed more help than some others in some areas, and I've found ways to deal with that helpless feeling, even for something which is overall unimportant. I can still relate. Primarily though, what drives me to help is that, I am not one of those people who grasps broad concepts intuitively. But once I get it, I get it for good pretty much. A lot of the stuff I've learned is based on experimenting because I cannot learn any other way, not from a textbook or some distant discussion. So when I'm helping someone with a problem or confusion or whatever, I do so knowing that I've played extensively enough to now be able to explain my interpretation and show them how to back up my findings, and I think that kind of knowledgeable, but personal attention is what may make my words helpful. I also love having theoretical knowledge but we all have different capacities for that I believe, and mine is such where I can relate to both ends of that spectrum. As for the community, I find it a very friendly place. I often don't think of the community as a whole though, I think of individuals, and around here I see a wide variety of personalities, which is why I think I've found a place here. I've seen people say it feels like a virtual lounge of sorts, and I can't form any real disagreement with that. 😃
Koopster Haha, I'm glad that you found a place for you here. We're glad to have you. Thanks a lot for taking your time to answer this interview; hopefully it will bring more people to get to know your work, which you certainly deserve!
musicalman Thank you for the opportunity to do this interview! Maybe, if more people know me, it will motivate me to not just rant in the custom music forums, but do actual music. Time will tell I suppose. Haha

bet u missed me (not)
hell yea man. congratulations! #tb{^V^}
LINKS Twitter | YouTube | SoundCloud | Fortaleza Reznor
to hear birds and see none.
Woah, congratulations! I don't really know you, but you seem very talented. Always inspiring to see blind people accomplish things that the ones that can see can't do.
I don't know you, but congratulations! Sounds like you are incredibly talented. Keep up the good work! #smw{:TUP:}
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
--Proverbs 25:11
an other quite underrated member. Congratulations to you #tb{:j}








Very deserved, congratulations :P
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Congrats man! I really didn't know about your visual impairment at all, so you seem pretty talented and all around helpful :)
Windowless ride, feeling alive
Are you alive or just breathing?
Just wanted to come here and thank Coopster as well as everybody who has posted here, or will post here in future, for the kind words.
One thing I didn't mention in the interview was that I've posted some of my music here, at present only my Snes work. You can find it here. I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to make suggestions as to other music ideas or something. I doubt they'll get done promptly if at all but maybe I'll get inspired. When Idle comes around I'll need the ideas :)
Also don't hesitate to contact me if you want to talk or something; I don't bite. Not hard anyway.
Make more of less, that way you won't make less of more!
Oh hey, nice man! You definitely deserve this tbh, due to how much help you're giving out to the custom music section. I have yet to thank you properly for all the help you have been giving me with MML stuff, since without your help I probably would be still kept in the dark lol. Cheers!
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Congrats, definitely well deserved! You always write gigantic walls of helpful posts so this wasn't that hard of a decision to make! #smw{:peace:}
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Congratulations! You definitely deserved this!
*everything stops*
Yeah, that's me. You're probably wondering how I got into this situation...
*cut to next post*
hearing that your impairment doesn't stop you from making music is encouring.

Congrats #smw{:TUP:}
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