Well, it’s the end of the year. It’s been… a year. Many ups and downs, though mostly ups! Here’s some of what happened in 2014:
- I participated in the Global Game Jam for the first time and met lots of cool folks and had a great time.
- I presented a paper on electroacoustic music, sound art, and spectromorphology in video games at the Ludomusicology Conference in Chichester, UK (this was my first time leaving North America and I happened to have my first panic attack upon arriving, but the trip overall was incredible).
- I finished work on Out of Nothing, on which I was the musician supervisor and score consultant.
- Had my piece Machinations premiered by the WWU Wind Symphony; I conducted!
- Elie moved back to Bellingham! Living apart from my wife was difficult, but we made it work while she student-taught in Seattle. Living together is much preferable.
- VR Trainers put out their final (and, IMO, best) album, Thrillwave.
- I did music for a few more short promo videos and whatnot and game jams and whatnot.
- I published my own hand-coded website!
- I wrote music for my first feature-length film, Valley of the Sasquatch, which should see release sometime this year!
- I was commissioned to write a piece for brass, percussion, and video, a collaboration with Juliette Machado and Dr. Christopher Bianco, as an introduction to the Star-Spangled Banner.
- Technically my wife’s life, not mine, but Elie got a full-time teaching position at Mt. Baker Middle School in Mt. Vernon!
I’d like to think I also improved my work ethic significantly. Getting things completed has always been difficult for me, but I think I made significant strides especially since September (partially out of necessity with the intense schedule of writing music for a full-length movie!). I think going forward this will make my work better and more efficient.
There were a fair number of things that didn’t work out this year that I was hoping would, some of which I’m still hoping will eventually see the light of day, but those things happen.
This year will see me finishing my master’s degree (DONE WITH COLLEGE AT LAST… until my [possible] doctorate), hopefully working on more games and films, the premiere of Valley of the Sasquatch, the release of my first solo album in five years, moving into a new home, getting a cat, and much more I’m sure. You can never predict these things, but I’m looking forward to whatever challenges and opportunities come my way.