2023 HAS BEEN MY BEST YEAR OF MUSIC, HANDS DOWN.
This year in numbers:
- 11 frontpages! (excluding collabs)
- 19 songs! (excluding tests/small projects/collabs)
- 115 new followers! (INcluding Tom Fulp)
- 65,335 total listens on new songs! (And counting!!)
The counts speak for themselves! This has been BY FAR the most successful year of my music “career.” The quality of my songs has remained pretty constant as well, although there were some bad eggs thrown in the mix. But even those far outshine most of what I’ve made in previous years.
Improvement
My improvement this year hasn’t really been in technical capability as much as just consistency. I used to have this irrational fear that the next song would just suck compared to the last one, and I had hit my peak performance and would never make something as good. It really started when I created Time VIP. But then, I surprised myself with Walk Away. And then Three, and then Evolve, and Nebulae. I have been continually making works that I AM PROUD OF. I’ve even seen some success in releasing songs I don’t like as much, because other people really did. Overall, this has been a great year of steady musical improvement and stable high-quality music, with a lot of successful experimentation and branching out.
Contests and Collabs
2023 has been filled with new experiences as well, such as participation in:
- Pixel Day 2023
- Audio Portal 20th Anniversary Collab
- Art Inspired Music Contest (AIM)
- Christmas In July Collab Album
- NewGrounds Underdog Audio Competition (NGUAC) (The Guac)
- Music Secret Santa 2023
And the creation of my own contest, the Walk Away Remix Contest, which morphed into contestants remixing whichever track of mine they liked the most. These were all really new and interesting things to try out, and in every single one I was glad I participated.
Just trying new things is always a bit of a challenge, but these experiences are part of the improving process, and the more I try them, the more comfortable I get with these sorts of events.
Mixed Opinions?
Yep, for reasons related to my personal life, I am extremely glad to see 2023 go. I just hope I’m not jinxing next year to be even worse. But with my comically bad luck, who knows what’ll happen?
My heart is holding on to the fact that God DOES have a plan for all of it. Even the crap.
Reflecting on 2023
Many things about it could have been better, and many things have gone well. This year has seen some amazing things, like improving at music and art and even scoring perfectly on a PSAT. I’m also watching myself grow as a person toward the person I want to be. Trying to be more calm and reserved, more understanding. Maybe my short-term memory will stop failing and I’ll be able to remember what someone said three seconds ago in 2024! I’m staying optimistic.
Overview
This has been the best year of music, but the worst year of my real life. The world has gone crazy as well! But I’m keeping a level head and trying to focus on the positive. Who knows, maybe 2024 will be the best year EVER, music and real life. When the fireworks go off at midnight tomorrow, I’ll be cheering.
Thanking my most Loyal Supporters
I would like to acknowledge the people who have provided the most support over the course of this year.
A HUGE THANK YOU TO:
Thanking my Biggest Inspirations
There are definitely some people who have inspired me this year.
MANY THANKS TO:
@acheney - your prowess of the technical side of SunVox is genius, and will never cease to impress me.
@G2961 - you make the SICKEST stuff, and so quick too! How do you make awesome tunes that fast?! I needta create tracks faster…
@LordAndiso - you are one of the most musically creative/gifted people I have ever encountered. I aspire to make music as creative and unique as yours.
@SpeedoRH - of course you’re on this list… you make such clean mixes and give such great advice, how could you not inspire me?
@Waterflame - I don’t care if you see this or not, but if you do, you’re musical consistency to make killer beats for as long as you have is super impressive. Keep going, you’re awesome
Of course, I have other inspirations, but you guys are the first to come to mind. If you were tagged on either of these lists, you are a LEGEND.
Wrap-up
That’s all I have to say on 2023. It’s been a crazy year. To anyone who has somehow read this whole thing, stay safe and have an awesome 2024!
SpeedoRH
Wow, this year has been quite frantic looking back on it! I mean, I feel like we both had the best years of our musical progress by far. I find it magical that some of your songs have started to stay in my mind for months from this year (e.g. Alight and Elevation from the Alight EP and Time VIP).
I want to be as sincere as virtually possible when I say that I'm very, VERY glad to have been able to contribute to your musical progress through all our messages and reviews and whatnot on this website (and hopefully made your day better too), and I truly look forward to another year of greatness for the both of us.
OVERSCORE
Yeah it’s been a heck of a year! You had an awesome year, from making all of those epic future bass songs to winning my dang remix contest! I know I’ll be listening to Adrift and Joyride for a while ;)
Yes, thank you thank you THANK YOU for all the advice and positive feedback! Every review has made my day, and all the WIPs you send inspire me a lot. 2024 will be the best year yet!