The journey continues as the universe wills it. At this point, I’ve given up trying to overthink the logistics; I’ll just say that bureaucracy is inherently terrible and stupid, but even worse are those who wave their “professionalism” around to justify their exorbitant fees, only to fail at the basics of the trade and try to downplay it all. You can’t expect to land on your feet when you mess up the fundamentals while charging a premium—sorry, not sorry.
On a brighter note, something is actually going well: the composition process. I’ve entered Phase 2, which involves refining the instrumental backing tracks I wrote over the last month and a half. Right now, I’m adding effects, electronic soundscapes, and other musical evolutions to add color to the mix. In about two weeks, I should be done and moving on to the lyrics—my true Achilles’ heel. I’ll have to manage somehow, but one problem at a time.
“Fortunately,” the themes I’m tackling align perfectly with the current situation in Rome: pickpockets approaching elderly ladies in broad daylight on the street (not just the subway anymore); people pulling up to motorcyclists at red lights to steal their bikes at gunpoint; and let’s top it all off with a few stabbings here and there. Nowadays, 13-year-olds are going to school with knives. I have to say, back in my day, there were people like that too, but as soon as word got out, they were marginalized and labeled as “crazy” or “dangerous.” Now, it seems carrying a knife has become a trend.
On the flip side, people don’t know how to rob banks anymore. Someone got arrested just yesterday in a neighborhood near mine; after all, when you stop practicing an activity, you inevitably lose your edge.
This is the eleventh song I’ve released and one of the first I ever composed, between 2011 and 2012. It was inspired by a backing track I wrote in 2009 using Guitar Pro—there weren’t even drums back then, and the instruments were all MIDI.
In my opinion, there’s too much compression. Unfortunately, it was one of those cases where the sound engineer processed it to emphasize the “violence” of the sound, but then an AI program compressed it to embarrassing levels. It has a sound I’d describe as “plasticky.” It’s definitely a song that would perform much better live.
The lyrics are inspired by the universe of Dragon’s Dogma: a chosen human is robbed of their heart by a dragon, who then invites them to hunt it down and kill it to break the curse. Later, you discover the dragon was just another “chosen one” who killed the previous dragon to take its place in an infinite loop, as the dragon serves as a sort of guardian of the world.
Plot aside, when I played Dragon’s Dogma, I found the animations extraordinary… well, not all of them. The animations for major events or high-level combat are well-done, and the magic/spell graphics are amazing. However, the “transitional” animations during side quests are terrible for a game released in 2012—we’re talking PS1 levels. Even the vendor interactions are static, old-school RPG style. That really annoyed me; the game is enjoyable albeit repetitive, but that stuff could have been polished more.
During my university years, a friend in the Psychology department told me about a workshop he attended. Participants were asked to imagine being a warrior facing a dragon and to describe the preparation for the duel—describing both themselves and the dragon (size, color, dimensions). He found it fascinating to discover that the dragon represented the obstacles, fears, or problems each participant faced in real life.
- Some saw a small dragon, others a massive, fierce one.
- Some saw themselves fully armed; others felt helpless.
The description of these two protagonists offered many interpretations of one’s perception of a problem and the “weapons” available to reach an objective. For example:
- If I have an exam but I’ve studied hard, I might imagine a small dragon facing a soldier with a rocket launcher.
- If I have an archery competition, I might imagine a huge dragon despite my training, because there are too many variables: the temperature, the other archers (I use a left-handed bow, so I’m always face-to-face with righties who often have noisy breathing), and the struggle to look past prejudices when an opponent you’ve written off ends up shooting well.
That’s why I chose a dragon as a co-protagonist; I love the symbolism. If you have time, draw a dragon and the commander going to meet it. It doesn’t always have to be a fight; sometimes you have to compromise and learn to live with your problems.
See you soon.