And it hurts.

Lets celebrate!

Since he doesn't like my short posts I'll put up a longer one to make him happy.

So I put up my little preview of the song I've been working on for a while now. To my surprise the reaction was great. To be honest I enjoy it very much so. Only problem is I can't seem to decide on the direction of the song. This in turn with my lack of time is making the song a long and enduring one. I want it done as much as everyone else does. I want this one to be just right though, sorry it will be a while.

So heres where I stand.
Intro - 85% Still not sure about it but I might make some minor changes.
First build - 99.99% I kind of like it but I'm not sure if it will fit.
Peak - Well the preview is part of the peak and is about 95% done
Second build - 60% Still need to fix it some.
Second Peak - 0% Thinking about it nothing down on paper yet.
ETC

So its slow... I actually am working on it in portions. I probably should of started on the build and intro first but I really wanted to make a peak that I would be satisfied with.

As a few of you already know the song might not make it all the way to newgrounds.
Why? - Well Nal wants to put an Electronic EP together and I thought, "Hey why not I have nothing to lose so far." So a chance of money and some exposure is great. Well its not great for you guys as much as I love your support and I know its hard to pay for songs that have always been free. While I will continue with making songs free I would love to see where this song can take me.

So if you want to hear my best song to date you might just have to buy it. :(

I'm not saying my time and effort is worth money but its a great reward for what I will be putting into this song. Just hope I can finish it in time because I will not rush this song at all.

So anyways if you want to talk give me a PM or something I'll give you my MSN or AIM and things can happen. I'll keep this news post updated as much as I can.

Thanks everyone,
Nick Tomassetti - Mrmilkcarton

Updated 9/28/08
Updated 10/7/08

More then just a bunch or letters put together.

Don't let the bed bugs bite.

If only I could make a quality song I was happy with.....

Update 9/3/08-
Been listening to alot of my old songs, I almost feel like I'm taking a step in the wrong direction for Trance. Either way I'll take what I've learned and apply it. Maybe then I'll get what I want.

Due to someone taking my Email and signing it up to sites I will no longer tolerate stupid crap and you will have to PM me if you want to talk.

I've been meaning to write this for a while now. I've thought long and hard and I'll probably still forget everything I wanted to put down. While it might sound harsh and that I sound like a hypocrite I am still willing to help others and improve their songs. What I want people to understand is my knowledge is small as it stands and not as vast as the oceans. I also want people to understand this.....

I am no where near perfect I am far from the best and my music is not better then anyone else.

While your reviews are nice please review an artist with their song in mind and more then just "Dude this is awesome" it might be great but I'm sure there's something you can say you liked or disliked and how you think I/they could improve. BUT! When you are reviewing please know what you are saying. I've had alot of ignorant reviews in my past that I've received. When reviewing if you don't like something try to explain it in simple terms (I myself don't know all the technical stuff of music yet). Having an understanding of how to create music helps a ton when reviewing. Please make sure you understand the Genre the song is in. If I make Trance music please don't tell me I should sound like Envy because that is real Trance. It is far from it, its dance music which can be tough but not too hard to tell the difference.

Here are some things that are commonly found in Trance music on Newgrounds which I myself have noticed. Top 6 Problems With Most NG Trance Music

This has been bothering me along with some other stuff. I get alot of people asking me what program I use. I use FL Studios 8 if anyone doesn't know, now you do. The thing that gets to me is people ask me how long it took me to get good. I'll be honest with you I improve fairly fast, you can see it through all my songs. BUT, I have been playing the piano for 11 years now. This talent did not come from no where. The first thing I ask when people want to make music is can you read music and do you play an instrument? If the answer is no to both well then.... Honestly I'm not going to teach you how to make music but more the program or structure of a song. If you do not know how to harmonize and stay in key then the amount of time you will spend improving will be much longer then those who can already play an instrument and read. Learning a program is alot simpler then learning the mechanics of music and its theory. So please people music is like Flash animation on this website. It takes some talent and creative ideas along with time to improve and get good at what you do. It does not happen in a week or a month. Time is always there when learning something you will not learn it in a day if you do not understand the counter parts to it.

The next thing that grinds my gears is when someone makes a post or tells me my music is fake. Synthesizing a sound is not creating fake music. That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Sure sampled loops are really cheap but if you rip them up and make them your own they are a useful tool. On that note a guitar and a synthesizer is just as much of a tool to make music as anything else. If you don't want to listen to it then don't, too bad its popular. I love all sorts of music and I'm not biased towards one. I make Trance music it.... It uses synthesizers and drum samples. It is far from fake -

1. I make my melodies on a Midi keyboard (A piano that goes into my computer). It's like putting a guitar into an amplifier its not fake in anyway its just getting the sound you want except my keyboard is routed through a synthesizer.

2. I can play real instruments and I'm sure other people can too. I can't record myself because I don't have the technology too do so, I would rather have a synthesized piano that sounds just as real and or better then a recording (depending on equipment).

3. A synthesizer has presets (oh dreaded sytrus set), artists can choose if they want to use it or not. Presets are a great way to learn but its not a great way to get noticed (except Dimrain...). Practice with them then make your own. Its just a tool to get your idea out just like an instrument so if its still music right?

4. Time and effort is always spent when making music. Some less then others but you will know who spent more time. The program does not make my music I make it myself.

So come on people there is no fake music. You can hit pots and pans and make a beat and its still considered music.
Take into mind the whole meaning of this post is not to deter you from making music but more or less enlighten you upon the hardships of making music.

If you have read through this so far great. :D
I have just one last thing to say. I try to read everyones reviews. My response might not be amazing but I take in what you said if its useful or not. I even listen to the guys who mark me low just because they didn't like something. Your reviews do count, I'm sure most active users read their reviews. Some choose to respond others don't. Try to keep the artist in mind and their level of expertise when giving a lower score review.

Don't want to be mean and I still encourage people to give me an AIM or MSN just try to make sure you understand a little about music before trying to create.
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On a side note I'm making a Trance song and working on a remix for Karco. I have no idea when either will be done and when I'll submit my song. The remix will be part of a Trance single which you can find more information at Karco's page
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I'm still doing other genres so any free stuff you can point me to helps out a ton.
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New to FL studios? Wanting to learn? Check out my new project I'm working on called the FL Blogspot Project! If you want to contribute to the project make a tutorial PM me it and I'll add it.

Updated July 2nd*
Aight so I put it in some of my responses and reviews that Trance is not going to come from me as often as it has for the past few months. I'm not stopping my music I'm looking to spread my genres now and forcefully doing this by listening to other music that I also enjoy. The said genres I will probably spread to will be DnB, Ambient, and industrial. Classical may appear from time to time along with Trance.

My plans are to make some DnB mixed with some classical strings. Ambient will be drum and pads and industrial will be hard. I'm not sure how much I will release, it depends on the people I send the 5" MP3 to. It's a complicated thing. As of now I am scouring the web for free samples and listening to DnB constantly with some classical hear and there. If you know any artists on NG or professionals I should check out I'll add them to my list if you leave a comment to check out (Don't self whore).

I'll try to keep this news post updated with what I'm doing.

Aight I finished my latest songs.
Your Eyes (Original Mix)
Entrance Me (Original Mix)
Go check it out if you love Trance.

It's interesting for myself and anyone else to look at my old work then compare to my newer work. The amount of time I have improved in is actually shorter then I would have thought. I'm not even sure how I'm improving I can see it in some aspects of my music though.

I have taken notes though on myself especially when listening to music. I have a tendency to try and figure out how they did what they did in a song. Sometimes I even try to use it later on in my own way. So if you do something I think sounds amazing I might just try it later on.

Well enough of that on to what I really wanted to do in this news post
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People I Would Like To Talk To From Newgrounds
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Well I doubt any of these people will read this but hey its worth a try. (The order does not matter)

-Maestrorage: I think you were one of the first classical artists I found on NGs. You have my respect and talking with you would be awesome.

Rig: Need I say more?

API & B0UNC3: These two go hand in hand for me. They were some of the first artists I heard back in 2006 when I first found the audio portal. I wanted to achieve the excellence they did in their music and much more. I'm not as far as I was 2 years ago and I'm still getting closer each song.

There are many more artists that I would like to talk to but I just woke up and those are off the top of my head. If you want to talk to me I always have my AIM and MSN up to add so give me a message.
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What I Use
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I often get asked the question: "What Program do I use."
It's no secret people I use FL Studios.
Granted I do use a few VSTI plugins like Nexus and Vanguard I do use alot of free synthes. 3XOsc are a big part of my songs which come standard with FL studios. I love them to death and I don't think any one of my songs doesn't have one.
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People Worth Checking Out
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Pulstate: Professional Trance anyone?

Karco: Many great songs and much more to come from him.

DJ Immune:Nothing but awesome from him.

Well thats enough for now, I'll probably add to the list more and more over time. So if your interested in it check up on it from week to week something may have changed.

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New to FL studios? Wanting to learn? Check out my new project I'm working on called the FL Blogspot Project! If you want to contribute to the project make a tutorial PM me it and I'll add it.

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New to FL studios? Wanting to learn? Check out my new project I'm working on called the FL Blogspot Project!
Go here and read up and get the link

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For those who want to hear a better master on Ethos heres a link to download from my site.
Milk{Ethos} HIGH QUALITY VERSION 8Mb

SYTRUS PRESET PACK (Has all the settings from my Sytrus song and a few more!)
Try not to abuse it too much.
DOWNLOAD SYTRUS PACK HERE (FL 8 Required)
Wanna play Sytrus on FFR? (Flash Flash Revolution) Now you can lol!
Milk{Sytrus}FFR Style!
Props to StarScythe for taking the time to do this
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On to the FL core challenge information. I've never spent so much time mixing and EQing as I did with this song. I used 39 mixer channels lol. Almost maxed out. I'll provide some links to pictures of my instruments and file.

Aight so, I started off with a vague idea that 3XOsc's are pretty awesome and now I know that they are more then awesome. To get a good sound though takes some time and effort. I layered 4 of the little buggers for my lead each with their own mixer channel. The INS of the 3XOsc is the most important part if you want a real nice filter and sound. I spent a few good hours working on the 3XOsc lead constantly adding body to it through the song. My lead bass and ARP looked something like this 3XOsc and TS404 Galore. .

My FL file picture...
Now my Automation isn't that complicated but it was a big part of the song. I honestly didn't use that many synthes as it might sound. My automation changed the synthe sound through filters and adding on to each. The bass changes from a hard bass to a softer one through out the song. It's doing this through a cutoff filter in the INS settings. A little look at al the settings and I got what I was looking for. I found that if I want a good airy reverb on my synthes it was just best to link it to another mixer channel. Doing this got rid of some of the annoying habits reverb can have when its directly placed on a mixer channel other then linked.
A closer look at my Mixer Channel.

If you want to know how to link a mixer channel to one another I took a crappy picture and kinda tried to explain it. It's really simple process. I did this for alot of my instruments and it got me higher quality sounds in my opinion though.
Image showing how to link mixer channels

Other then that stuff there really isn't much to explain. I used the basic samples that came with FL and mixed them to a higher quality. some were layered like my leads. Some of the FX came from Demo projects that also come with every version of FL (a treasure trove of goodies). Sampling a 3XOsc woosh is also a nice way to make things easier and clean.

Sadly I won't explain how I made my leads thats for you to figure out. It's much easier to learn yourself then me telling you to turn these knobs. I will tell you that they are comprised of multiple TS404s and 3XOsc's.

Enjoy!
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If you need anything explained or help with anything give me a MSN or AIM. Don't worry I'm not a prick who thinks his songs are amazing, I actually think every song I have could use some good amount of improvement.

If you want me to review a song leave a comment or review one of mine I sometimes check out songs of people who have reviewed me.

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YOUTUBE RANDOM VIDEO - How do Japanese people do this....?

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New Song - Sytrus! - 100% Complete Status - Submited!

Don't doubt the power of Sytrus people. There may be tons of submissions using the presets but if you really look at this fine piece of Plugin we call Sytrus then you will see the potential. I was asked/challenged to make a full Sytrus song by my friend F-777 after showing him a demo on Image-line's site. I can honestly say after I heard their demo I wanted to understand this monster of a synthesizer even more.

Let me tell you, this thing has so many hidden goodies and knobs to turn it's amazing. Each day that I was making this song I found things they never told me about. I had to do so little mixing in my mixer track is was awesome how much Sytrus covered. The CPU load was fairly heavy but not as heavy as many of my other songs.

Every synthe I made in this song was built from the ground up. No modding presets none of that. I took this as a serious learning experience and it was well worth it. It was tedious work using the default blank setting and making my pads, bass, leads, etc in it. Drum samples and FX were not Sytrus though.

I might release my Sytrus Pack for Newgrounds to feed upon. They aren't as complicated as the standard presets but their sound I think is a notch higher.

So please people, the point of this song is to change your mind about Sytrus. Sytrus is like that kid who sits in the corner at lunch during school who gets a "hi" from time to time but no one ever really cares to meet and talk with him. I think after this I will use Sytrus a ton more.

I hope this song will change your mind about Sytrus.
Leave me a message or comment if you want me to update you when my new song Sytrus is submitted.
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-Don't be afraid to give me a message I'm always willing to talk and give tips or be given tips.

If you want me to review or critique your song leave a comment, or review a song of mine asking. I usually go to the users page after a review has been left none the less.