Following The Creative Impulse

Last week I made the decision to work only on the songs for Spirit Blade 3 that other actors will be singing, and only enough to fully prepare those actors for their recording sessions.

Since making that decision I've felt a significant change in how I've been looking at my work on Spirit Blade 3. Before, I was dreading trying to "summon" good ideas from nothing, where now I'm excited about the creative process again.

Some writers and other creative types are much more disciplined than I am, taking a philosophy of "just write SOMETHING" even when they don't feel inspired. I envy those folks and the skill they've developed to do that. At the same time, it's not as though I never have times in the creative process when I have to take my work to the grindstone and sharpen it up. It just happens at a different time.

I think maybe those "grindstone" periods work better for me after I've built some creative momentum. When I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. That's how it was for me with a couple of songs in "Dark Ritual". I didn't buckle down and create a couple of them until I was well over halfway through mixing the entire audio drama. But by then I was so excited about how far along I was that it was easier to push through and generate ideas that would work well. (Or at least that *I* thought worked well. You, of course, are the final judge.)

So now as I look at the work ahead of me over the next few months, I'm pretty excited! This week I plan to finish working out the basics I need to for the songs in Spirit Blade 3 that will be sung by other performer, such as Michael Tully (Raan), Sean Anthony Roberts (Saolos) and Randy Hesson (Vincent). I'll also probably be contacting cast members to schedule the official reading session for the script, which will likely take place sometime in January. (Woohoo! I can't wait!) Lastly, I plan to get started on the revision of the script for Pilgrim's Progress: Episode 2, which has been sitting on my computer in rough draft form since the release of Episode 1. (I wrote more than needed last time, so now I'm ahead of the game!)

Over the next few months, there may not be a ton to report regarding Spirit Blade 3 and Pilgrim's Progress Ep. 2, but I'd wager that things will be pretty exciting in my office as those projects quietly build momentum! Meanwhile, stay tuned for some exciting news about an audio book project I'm signing the contract for now, and of course for more details about Spirit Blade: The Adventure Card Game!

-Paeter Frandsen

Spirit Blade 3 Songs

I thought I would be taking a different approach to the pacing of song development for Spirit Blade 3 compared to how it happened for Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual. Before, I worked on songs sporadically, only when inspired. I think this resulted in the best work I had to give, but it also meant that I didn't have more than melodies to give Michael Tully to prepare with before he came to record. (Sometimes less than that!)

I had originally resolved to fully develop the songs that other performers would be singing so that they can have a better feel for what the finished product will be while they record. But as I sat down a few times this week to begin work on those songs, I hit a wall and remembered why I did things the way I did last time.

So rather than risk producing forced song creations that are creatively uninspired, I've decided to fall back on the "Dark Ritual" method of working on the songs only when inspired, or when I arrive at their place in my chronological mix of the audio drama itself.

Sorry, Tully! I'll at least try to have a harmonic structure and temp track for you to learn from!

My Brain Falls Short!

A buddy of mine pointed out that he saw a special feature using "before and after" footage to show the "re-sizing" effects of Captain America on his copy of the Blu-ray. I double checked mine and discovered that the feature was in fact on there!

Not sure how I missed it, but I checked it out tonight and it has some great "before and after" footage that is really cool! So please disregard most of my previous post. (Though the filmmaker commentary is still pretty dry.)

Sorry!