Hey guys, me again. First, thanks for rocking with me through this insane season of my life. As I mentioned, my car situation is under control. No more pesky loans frustrating attempts to keep a roof over my head. That's the best news I've had since 2022, thanks to you, the Newgrounds community!

About $900 was graciously covered by your donations. That's more than anyone has helped me in my entire life. I do still have repairs to make, since the shop didn't fix my original problem, but now I can focus on saving for it while I work on other projects. Oh, and eat more than just $1 macaroni and hotdogs. Wow.

Second, thanks to everyone who has taken time to support @Porter, who recently had an accident and outrageous repair bill. Porter is a fantastic digital artist, open for commissions to make ends meet!

Some of Porter's recent art:

Now for your regularly scheduled programming: Important events and free music producer stuff!

Top of the list, the Re-Remix Me Competition is accepting auditions until May 15th! You may have seen it on the calendar or Audio Forum. Re-Remix Me is a three-round competition, the Top Five finishers of which will receive $225 in cash prizes and frontpages.

I wanted to make the competition more exciting and personal. So, I switched up the format in a few ways.

Besides following Newgrounds Audio Portal Rules to enter, a short introduction is mandatory. Community interaction is encouraged from competitors and spectators, so if you're a fan, root for your team! (And leave some tasty reviews)

Submissions will receive a 4-category breakdown of score as well as personalized reviews from yours truly. Production, Mixing, Mastering, and Style are what I'm looking for. The latter represents concepts that are difficult to define in isolation, such as imagination, cohesion, uniqueness, expression, and wow-factor.

The overall spirit is different by design. Instead of remixing the promo artist right away (me), you'll remix your fellow competitors first (Round 2), after which, all competitors will receive licensed remix stems for this track.

That means, even if you don't make it to the final round, you'll still get to remix me, and yes, distribute the resulting work according to the license provided.

If less than 15 people enter by the submission deadline, May 15, all participants will advance to Round Two, which will mean everyone is a winner.

Detailed breakdown of contest structure and prize distribution lives here. Looking forward to everyone's submissions!

Music Producer Freebies! May 2025

Finally! And thanks for your boundless patience, because I've been swearing I'd drop this for a while now. Let's not waste any time!

Sonixema has released not one, not two, but three free instruments for FREE Kontakt Player.

This is huge, because if you didn't already know, many free libraries require paid Kontakt. And that's expensive.

These libraries are: Delicate Strings, Whispering Woodwinds, and Emotive Brass.

Lancaster Audio's Pulse 2 allows you to load and export your own Impulse Responses

I see massive potential for crafting your very own metal guitar cabs with the blending features described here. Not something I've ever tried before -- I've been using Bass Grinder cab on top of different amps for some time now.

Unison has released 50 free MIDI and sample packs

These include YouTube tutorial presets, as well as some pretty okay samples. If you can tolerate the relentless marketing emails, go for it!

DiscMakers has written a solid guide for successful album releases

Considering I'm writing a book of my own, I'll definitely be taking notes.

Reddit DrumKit - Every 808 You Will Ever Need

Okay, maybe not every one, as I still use a LOT of my 808s from Adreanaline, which you can demo on Sample Focus, but I was certainly happy to find these for my archives.

Reason Recycle is now free!

One of the most legendary tools for sampled beats. Recycle is no longer a relic of the mid-90s but a retro workhorse with a modern facelift. Oh, and it's free for the masses.

Green Oak Plugins releases seriously rad plugins, Tungsten and Cesium!

Author of some of the most infamous plugins in the noughties -- with a hand in modern heavy hitters such as Trilian, Omnisphere, and Keyscape. Green Oak has now unleashed Tungsten delay and Cesium chorus on the world.

Having used the latter extensively, I'm impressed. There's nothing like it I've ever seen. It nukes the competition at frying, baking, muffling, and otherwise blowing your synths to demonic levels of unintelligibility when you need it to -- and doesn't, when you don't.

From delightfully devilish to tastefully tainted, Cesium is the bomb.

SoSouthernSounds has sent me at least 5 more free kits in the mail. They're still kicking. Get them here.

SoSouthern has freebie after freebie in their archives, lots of codes, and lots of hip-hop kits. Simple and light, I have to say, while I might not like the website formatting, I do like their style!

Bloom Drum Percussion Lite is free for a limited time!

Trying to check if this freebie is still good, but Plugin Boutique is offering Excite Audio's Bloom Drum Percussion Lite (regular price $19) free when you enter code g032itmp at checkout, and it sounds pretty awesome!

TugImg synth

How do I even explain what this is without it sounding just as weird as it looks -- this is the most avantgarde, interesting little synth I've ever heard. Make a wavetable out of the Mona Lisa, if you dare.

I can't think of a use-case in my particular set-up, but if you're feeling uninspired, give this guy a shot. You can create and modify wavetables from images in realtime, drag them about and destroy them on the track.

Shoegaze vst

Curious little find I saw this week. It's exactly what it says on the tin, reverse-delay by spelltop! Since reverse-delay is a common effect in many genres, I thought I would leave it here.

And that's it for plugin news! Next up I have some updates and a short snippet from my book!

First off, if you didn't know, I'm writing an OH-LAWD-HE-COMIN sized music producer help book. We're up to 87 multi-page articles, most of which are complete or near complete.

What's holding me back are frustrating bits of hardware lore and plugin-reviews, which need a great deal of research and review. Following that, I have to edit first and second draft articles.

As you know, my content is stupidly wordy hot off the press. So, to save everyone's eyes, I took some advice: let things sit for two weeks, go back, and mercilessly cut things to size.

This tactic has been fruitful, and I recommend it to anyone who struggles to organize their writing.

BOOK SNIPPET -

Crafting the Perfect Bio

A lot of words are spilled into the void for these. Names, places, pronouns, job descriptions, cheeky quotes about how cool we are – expressions of how we see ourselves, and unconscious messaging of how comfortable we are to be ourselves.

How do you define a "good" bio? Is it the laugh or the crease of the reader's brow? How you feel having written such a masterpiece? How many follows you get with a blank PFP and that text alone? (I wish there was a test for that.)

Some bios are good at drawing attention, like a well-placed ad, but they're also personal, like what kind of ugly Christmas sweater you'd rather to be seen in. What good is a bio though, if it doesn't present you in a way that's authentic, or attract people who can relate to your music?

To illustrate, we're going to take a look at some real life artist blurbs.

This one is from Cameron, AKA VenusTheory.

If you’re the modest, underselling type, this is your go-to. Notice how he greets the reader. It’s not the already very low-key, “hi,” it’s “howdy.”

He talks like a regular dude, not “VenusTheory – the visionary sampler, essayist, and sound-designer.” Probably because that’s just not who Cameron is.

Watch him. He’s modest, reserved, and perpetually relaxed. The most exciting developments on his channel drop with all the rush of an old lady reading local news, and that’s part of his charm.

The same cannot be said of our next artist, who is publicly obsessed with teeth.

If you’re a bit of a weirdo, something like this may strike your fancy.

Note the curt text, formatting, nudity, and customized theme, a feature which is unfortunately lacking on most platforms today. 

Theme says more about boypop (and you) than you can imagine.

In this case, the name, single, and bio are supporting details, yet the profile screams an artist that is unapologetically different and proud.

It’s loud. It’s green. It’s abrasive. You can’t unsee it.

In fact, having seen it, I became only more convinced of the failures of modern social media to drive audience retention.

Let’s take a look at the same profile in Tumblr’s new (gross) Twitter-like feed for comparison.

The same profile has been completely neutered. Void of any expression.

Same person, same art, but the essence is stripped away, sanitized for the mass-produced conveyor belt of content.

My point: no biography stands on its own.

Cameron’s is part of his own professional website. Boypop’s is the centerpiece of a carefully selected theme.

Customization will always trump cheeky descriptions of who and what we are.

The further you move away from prefabricated homes for your art like Facebook and X, the better.

Social media is designed to keep you scrolling through mass-produced content, liking, sharing, and swiping – not meaningfully interacting with artists.

If you want to build a fanbase, you want intentional interaction, messaging, and branding.

Inspired, I made my own page for shiggles.

Not a lot of thought went into this tumblr. I grabbed a Windows 98 theme, typed up a shitpost based on the Xena Warrior Princess intro, and added some images.

The style and obvious nod tell more about me than a “cool” bio ever could. You’ve learned: I’m weird, I have history on Newgrounds, I make music, and I’m really into nostalgic 90s media.

All that in a matter of seconds, and it took precious little time to write.

Brevity is something I’m rapidly becoming a fan of. I realized, it’s not that no one reads anymore; it’s that no one has time for useless information. That’s why good bios seem to run short; if we wanted more, we’d check the encyclopedia.

You don’t have to be a weirdo or a drive-by to make a memorable bio, but creativity goes a long way. Give yourself the permission to say more with less, be yourself, and stand out!

Community PSA: @Porter has had a car accident and could use your help! See news!

Update: Interview with @Aalasteir!

---------------------

Regularly Scheduled Programming:

I don't know what's come over me, but get a load of this.

From May 1st to July 6th, I will be hosting the Re-Remix Me Competition!

Summary: Three rounds of competition, including an audition in which participants submit their very best Newgrounds track, a knockout round of remixing randomly assigned fellow competitors, and the final round, remixing my latest single from dry stems! Let the best remixers win!

Prizes:

Half of all participants will receive free copies of my remix stems -- that's everyone who makes it past auditions. This includes a license to use them commercially, with 50/50 splits. I will frontpage the top 3 from Round 2.

Finalists: 1st Place - $100, 2nd - $50, 3rd through 5th - $25, for a grand total of $225. Plus frontpages!

Get the details here!

Album Art:

Ps: You may wonder how the heck I can afford $225 of prizes after my last few news posts. Well, see, I NO LONGER HAVE A GIANT DEBT hanging over my head! Thank you, Newgrounds!

Also, turns out a couple months is enough time to make that kind of extra money.

If you would like to donate to the prize pool, you can! I'd like to extend the prize pool down to 10th place.

If you couldn't read that, yes, the labels are at it again, suing Internet Archive. (See @Yatsufusa's much more well written post)

Why? Because they couldn't suck any royalties out of a few old records, and/or they want you to forget old media exist and buy new junk.

Imagine PETABYTES of lost media -- art, history, and entire websites. This is what will happen if the labels win.

If you've downloaded a sample pack, read a book, or used the Wayback Machine even once, I urge you to sign this petition, and share with a friend!

And if you have not already, be sure to donate to the Archive! $10 a month is a small price to pay for the fight against internet impermanence. If you can't donate, archive!

Below is the full text of the petition.

The Issue

Open Letter to the Record Labels Suing the Internet Archive

We, the undersigned, call on the record labels and members of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)—including UMG, Capitol Records, Concord Bicycle Assets, CMGI Recorded Music Assets, Sony Music Entertainment, and Arista Music—to drop your lawsuit against the Internet Archive.

Your $700 million lawsuit, targeting the Internet Archive’s efforts to preserve and provide access to historical 78rpm records, is not just about music—it’s about whether our digital history survives at all.

These fragile recordings are part of a vanishing American culture. They capture early jazz, blues, gospel, and folk—voices and sounds that might otherwise be lost forever. The Internet Archive’s Great 78 Project seeks to preserve that legacy, and make it available for research.

But your lawsuit doesn’t just threaten these recordings. It threatens the very existence of the Internet Archive, including the Wayback Machine, a vital public service used by millions every day to access historical snapshots of the internet. Journalists, educators, students, lawyers, and citizens use the Wayback Machine to check sources, investigate disinformation, and preserve public accountability.

This lawsuit is an existential threat to critical infrastructure for the internet. At a time when digital information is being deleted, rewritten, and erased, preservation is more important than ever. We cannot afford to lose the tools that safeguard memory and defend facts.

We urge you to drop this lawsuit and support, rather than punish, the preservation of our shared cultural heritage.

Defend the Internet Archive. Protect the Wayback Machine. Drop the 78s lawsuit.

42,014

Verified signatures

@TomFulp, @CyberDevil, you may find this of interest, since Newgrounds is an archive of sorts itself!

Hey guys, popping in for a quick update. We are officially 94% of the way to me being able to pay off that stupid loan and getting back into music! I'm currently not dying of starvation, working odd jobs, and of course plugging away at my book, which is what I wanted to share with you!

I wrote this chapter today, while I was fiddling around with cymbal samples for AFMD (ADR3-N's Free Metal Drums).

It's one of 71 articles I've drafted since the whole financial debacle in March. If you spend a lot of time working with cymbal samples, you'll love it.

Without further ado:

Cymbal Sampling Hax

So you downloaded a pack of cymbals off the internet – only to realize they’re all oneshots… of different cymbals. Not much you can do with that, right?

Wrong! Turns out, you can make them a little more musical – with DIY cymbal chokes!

This method works best for MIDI composition.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Some cymbal samples
• A MPC style sample plugin
• A release knob!

For this experiment, I used a pack of Paiste cymbals from Internet Archive, but it works with any cymbal samples – maybe even any sample VST.

In my case, I use Mixcraft’s built-in OmniSampler. It allows you to drag and drop samples directly into the plugin, and the “global” feature allows you to adjust all the parameters at once. You’ll see why this is useful in a second.

Step 1: Load Your Samples

First thing you’ll want to do, drag the samples you want into OmniSampler – or your sampler of choice.

You’ll be doing this twice, so keep it to just crashes – or hats. Whichever is your preference.

If you want to do both crashes and hats, repeat these steps with a new patch.

Once everything is loaded, set your attack to 0 ms and your release to 600 ms. This is the most important step! 600 ms is about the average release time of a real life cymbal choke.

Now, when you trigger your cymbal samples, they should choke instead of ringing out. The length of the midi note will control the amount of time before the choke!

Step 2: Load Your 2nd Set of Samples (Optional)

A second set of samples allows you to swap between chokes and sustained hits. This is optional, because you might decide you prefer manually controlling the release.

Nevertheless, as far as quality of life improvements go, it’s super easy to set up.

Simply load the same samples an octave or two higher than their choked counterparts – in order. Otherwise, it defeats the purpose.

For OmniSampler, new samples import with a default release, which significantly decreases the amount of work you’ll need to do, i.e. you won’t have to do them manually.

With each sample an octave or two apart, you can select any of the chokes you write, or vice versa, and swap them to sustains with the flick of a keyboard shortcut.

In Mixcraft, this is as easy as select the note, hold SHIFT and UP or DOWN, and presto, octave jump. Swapping between octaves and DIY “velocity layers” is a snap!

Step 3: ENJOY!

Whether you decide to manually draw in your sustains or apply Step 2 for velocity control, you should now have a fully functioning, slightly more versatile cymbal bank.

This is ideal for open hi-hats with a couple round robins. Since pedals are hard to hear in a crowded mix, your DIY chokes will fool pretty much anyone into thinking you have a full library!

You can expand this technique with pitch shifting

For multiple cymbals, you can detune them. This will make it seem like you have more samples than you actually do. Coupled with the manual releases and some simple shifts in filter “resonance”, you might even fool yourself!

Still, it’s not a replacement for multiple round robins. Without them, your new cymbal patch will be best suitable for slower passages and those that are not very busy with repeat crashes.

However, if you’re using it to supplement an existing drum library, one that doesn’t have any chokes, or if the cymbals are a little ugly, congrats – you now have options!

Don’t forget to apply global FX to glue everything together, and of course save your patches!

And that's it!

I'll probably be working on this beast for a few more months, the way it's going. If you'd like an update on future articles, request an @! Once everything is ready to go, I'll drop the whole shebang on Gumroad for free!

Special thanks to the amazing people who made this and my continuing work possible:

@stevemaddenfootball (@Aalasteir)

@AED-4

@BrandyBuizel

@CrimsonKero

@Cyberdevil

@Droid

@FarFromSundown

@liljim

@jimmythecaterpillar

@KI1

@Mariogd

@MATRVG

@TeffyD and the Mall Music Collab Team

@theOve

@TomFulp

@Whirlguy and the Newgrounds 30th Anniversary Collab team

@zeroizeroizero

@Yatsufusa

And many, many more. I would not be here without you!

Hey guys, me again. Just a drive-by update on how everything is going since the predatory loan and everything else happened.

Well, I have a way to contact the outside world again. Your donations have saved me. My car still needs work, but it's looking like I'll still have a roof over my head by the end of this!

I won't @ everyone for the 3rd time, but thank you so much! Very soon, maybe even in a month, I can mark this as complete, and start worrying about NEW problems!

What all has happened since?

Well, my birthday came and went with little ceremony. Luckily I like it that way. I grew a few more grey hairs and lost some weight, but I'm doing okay!

I haven't had time for music, but I have been stealing a few hours here and there to work on my book.

It's a production help resource which will release on Gumroad for free.

It promises to be a serious undertaking.

ETA to be determined, but if anyone wants to beta-read or assist in translating to Russian, I'm open. You will receive copious amounts of credit.

So far I've written over 50 pages across multiple topics, including:

• hardware
• plugins
• common ills
• motivation
• mix issues
• mastering
• scams
• streaming hacks
• starting capital
• sales
• distribution
• licensing
• savings
• social media dos and don'ts
• investments

Basically, everything you need to start your music career off right.

I even wrote on how to get paid to play video games, for those who can't afford the serious expenses a music career typically demands. You know -- distro, licensing, interfaces, microphones, plugins, the next doo-dads.

I even plan to go over ALL of my essential plugins, which could be a masterclass in itself.

It goes without saying, it's not just comprehensive. It's a lot to unpack.

I still have some cutting to do, which is hard.

Every day seems to bring with it another bright idea, which I guess is to be expected when you're me.

But this is crazy. I'm legit sitting here cramming 20 years of music experience into one book.

You'll be heartened to know I'm keeping up with a to-do list. As the sum of my whole career, my magnum opus of music producer tips, I very much intend to get this done.

And I haven't forgotten about my other projects. I still need to upload some covers and remixes to Gumroad, but things are falling into place.

When I resume working on music, I'll circle back to my Free Metal Drums with a freshly minted selection of Paiste cymbal samples. Debating whether to release them as an update or a separate pack. It's getting rather large.

I also have a few plugin announcements I will more than likely append in the comments some time later. Please comment "AAAAAAA" if interested, and I will @ you when the time comes.

Anyway, I'll see you guys again soon.

Thanks again. I couldn't do this without you! <3

~Adrean

I wasn't expecting much response, if at all to my last post. Well, I was wrong. I don't even know what to say besides, thank you.

For anyone who doesn't know what happened, the last few months leading up to this have been a shitshow.

TLDR version: I bought a used car in October, moved apartments, lost my job in December, bailed my sister and family out of rent trouble over Christmas, and I've been door dashing for cash ever since. I can thank my girlfriend for that, since Dasher wasn't accepting drivers in our area. She's been awesome.

Anyway, I was strapped, but I was making it. The next couple months were working on music, trying to get my girlfriend and myself moved in together. Had to help her a few times, and she helped me some others. Looked like I had some time to breathe for a while, and then, car trouble happened.

Wasn't something I could fix, so I took the car to Midas and got shafted. The repair was supposed to be $600-800, but it ended up being $1800 bucks. I had to take out a predatory loan to get my car back.

That loan would become like $5600 if I couldn't pay it in 100 days.

I thought I could handle it if I knuckled down. I'd just have to cut expenses, quit music for a few months, door dash up the money, and limp my (still not fixed) car along until I could get it to someone who wasn't a complete crook.

Then my phone died.

Without my phone, I couldn't pay bills or really, anything. I was completely fucked. So, I asked for help.

I expected nothing, but you guys delivered.

Now, including my savings, we're about 70% of the way to knocking this out. That's ludicrous to me.

Seriously, I don't think I deserve how much you've helped me. I couldn't believe it at first. I screamed. I cried.

Thank you, not just for the donations, but the front page news, the kind words, advice, reviews and … everything.

Just, thank you.

This stuff messed me up so bad, I couldn't think straight. I didn't even get to the part about how all this happened right before my birthday. I dunno, felt too dramatic I guess.

Well, if not for you guys, my birthday would have totally sucked, but I had a nice, low-key celebration this weekend. I sat with my girlfriend, had a steak grilled cheese burrito from Taco Bell, a single beer, and watched a couple episodes of Xena: S3E12, The Bitter Suite, and S2E4 Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

It was a nice, chill $20 wind-down, and none of it would be possible without you.

So, happy Dirty 30 to me, and thank you so much to everyone who has helped me get through it, including but not limited to:

@Aalasteir

@AED-4

@BrandyBuizel

@Droid

@FarFromSundown

@liljim

@jimmythecaterpillar

@KI1

@TeffyD and the Mall Music Collab Team

@theOve

@TomFulp

@Whirlguy and the Newgrounds 30th Anniversary Collab team

@zeroizeroizero

@Yatsufusa

And many more people who have shown interest, downloaded my sample packs, or sent kind words.

Even for those of you who can't donate, thank you. I was feeling really alone and hopeless. This whole experience has made me realize, I have a lot more friends than I think!

Plans for the future and other updates

Firstly, if you've checked on me and I haven't replied, feel free to bump. I've gotten back to most everyone since I've been away, but sometimes I accidentally leave something on read, especially if I get interrupted while typing a reply.

I still have to get my car fixed, since Midas didn't even solve the original issue, but financially speaking, I can probably afford to return to collabs, samples and sample instruments in May. That's about a month and a half away.

I've been working on a music production help compendium whenever I'm stuck at home. I plan to release it on Gumroad when I've cleaned up the headers and organized a little better. Right now it's like 30 pages and hard to navigate.

I also released a remix I did before all this happened over on YouTube.

I planned to record the vocals myself, get a cover license, and post it here, but for obvious reasons, that didn't happen. The end result is good enough, some of y'all might dig it anyway. When I get back into the saddle, I'll put this on a maybe list.

Thanks to your help, I have a semi-working phone, so my Venmo, CashApp, and PayPal are accessible. If you wanted to donate before but were waiting on that, send me a DM!

Ko-fi and Gumroad stuff -- I'll be keeping the former up to date to reflect any new donations or surprises, including any cash I can pull up myself.

I think it's only fair to do that; I don't expect everyone else to drag me out of this financial ditch.

I also wanted to note: Gumroad takes a commission fee from any sales; the best thing to do on there is choose a product you want to donate on, then download the rest for free.

I have some plans for new downloads, like unreleased demos and tracks that I can't post to NG for copyright reasons. Please remind me to do that, because I probably will forget.

Anyway, thanks again.

I literally couldn't do this without you, at least not without eating peas for two months straight and stressing out about having to eat peas. I was sitting here wondering how I was going to afford gas, take phone calls and use Map Quest for my appointments, or handle 24 months of payments if I couldn't get this loan paid off in the next 100 days. I can't express how much you've saved my ass. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.

Thank you so, so much. If there's ever anything I can do to return the favor, just say the word.

-A

Hey guys, me again. I got a problem. A two thousand dollar problem.

Basically, my phone is broken, and my car is falling apart. I got a loan to pay off repairs, but I have to pay it off quick, before the $1800 dollars I took out takes on double in interest.

My savings are wiped. My budget is FUBAR. I don't make any real money on my projects here, so for the time being, I'm on hiatus. Meanwhile I'm working shifts job searching, doing tasks and late night food delivery. I feel stuck.

Ordinarily I wouldn't ask for help, but this blows. I have so many projects to do, deadlines I was supposed to meet, and I can't! From the time I get up, to the time I go to bed, I'm trying to pay these bills.

So, as embarrassed as I am to say this, if you like my work and want to see me continue soon, please consider a donation!

Currently my Paypal is defunct, but Ko-fi and Gumroad are live. The latter even has lots of free goodies for you, if you're a music producer.

I also have Venmo, PayPal, CashApp, and Square. DM for details. I'll have to get my phone fixed to access them, so it might take me about a week to accept those payments.

I really hate asking for money, so please only donate if you think my work (music, samples, and virtual instruments) is worth it!

I'm by no means abandoning my free music, magazine, or sample projects. Just taking a very unwanted break!

Thanks to those of you who have supported me so far. I wouldn't be here without you. Hope to see you soon with better news and more free music producer stuff!

-Adrean

See also, @Droid's gofundme for @BrandyBuizel's situation

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-brandybuizel-overcoming-ocd-and-job-loss

Heya guys! I'm back from dying with the flu (still coughing but pretending it's fine). Just wanted to drop some updates.

It's been a really busy week! All the projects from last time around are still going, and I have some new ones! Expect new singles.

First is probably going to be an olskool hip-hop single with @VariableGR, depending on when we drop. Those of you who like my rap will be pleased. We got some intimate, low-fidelity depression flow on the way.

I have a few surprises in store behind that. Got a cover of APT (that one song that's half K-pop and half Bruno Mars lmao), a sick remix of Ya Soshla S Uma (t.A.T.u) and another for Sacrifice (also t.A.T.u.). Basically, I have a little cash set aside for licenses, and I don't mind spending it, lol.

Also got a slap-house track by the name of Taco Body Boat Bitch -- since I enjoyed the last track I did so much, plus a ton of demos I'm working on behind that.

Last slap-house for reference:

I've been recording vocals and bass all week. So if you don't see me, I'm compiling takes lmao.

In other news, Legend of Korra fandub is going swimmingly. I just finished sound engineering for episode 8, season one, and cleaning up the background audio for another engineer for episode 10. May or may not have some new sound work from JT424 as well, TBD, but I'll be returning as an engineer in season 2 of LOKFD for sure. (see Odysee for current episodes)

Waiting on some of my collabs to kick off -- that or inspiration to hit me like a truck. Beyond that, I'm still plugging away at cymbals and samples to eventually throw up on Gumroad. Also have/had the pleasure of working with @Troisnyx and @Whirlguy respectively on not one but TWO big-time productions for Newgrounds' 30th Anniversary! Keep your eyes peeled and your ears unclogged for that.

My own 30th anniversary is coming up next month, so I don't see myself slowing down. How about you? What are you up to this week?

Hey guys, me again. Just updating where I've been the past couple days, which is... in bed, actually.

See, I caught the flu. Which is so weird to me btw, because I never really paid attention to flu before. Last time I had it -- symptomatically at least, I was like 9, and I was over it in a few days with a dry cough, stuffy nose, and sore inner ears. That was it.

Well this year, shit knocked me flat on my ass. Laid in bed the first 4 days straight staring at the ceiling, wishing I could fall asleep. I couldn't because the fever had me writhing like a wiggle worm. I flipped, I flopped, I coughed, I cried for mommy, I prayed, even jokingly asked my gf if she'd hack into my Newgrounds and let everyone know if and when I died before I finally went to the doctor. I thought I had pneumonia, it was so fucking awful.

I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Worse than covid. Here's how I think I caught it.

You guys know I only touch grass a few times a week for social obligations, bills and chill, right? Well, remember that wedding with the 20 pound cheese-cake I mentioned last post? (And I do mean cheese-cake btw; it was 20 pounds of cheese.) There were like 100 people there, all crammed into the bottom floor of a quirky little venue called the Sunstroke House.

We were practically walking on top of one another, and my anti-social ass was about to die. I don't like most people for one reason: small talk, and tons of boring, useless information. If it's not about improving your life, music, tech, making actual friends, or some really autistic special interest type shit, leave me out of it.

Still, I'm not an asshole. I can't stay put, and I like to make people laugh. So, I flitted around that wedding like a social butterfly on crack, trying to make the best of it. Loooots of exposure to people's mouth breath. Yay.

My girlfriend and I were there for about three hours and took a bunch of food home. Think charcuterie meats, cheeses, fruits. You know, the kind of stuff everyone is touching with their bare hands not to spill on the floor, because the tongs are so damn inconvenient. And I spent most of the time eating with my hands and sipping wine mixed with koolaid.

I'm not sure why the koolaid part is important, but let's get to the point. There's your big exposure.

A couple days after, I'm sick AF, in the bed, lungs hurting and thinking I'm about to die. Like, my lungs are full of mucus that looks like Jacob's coat of many colors. My eyes feel like I dunked them in talcum powder. My head hurts, and I can't breathe without coughing up shit. It takes me a few days to realize all the unwashed hands I must have figuratively put in my mouth at the wedding, and then the covid precaution flashbacks hit.

When I tell you I calculated that incubation period back to that day, cried, and promptly decided I never wanted to go outside again, I did, lol. I'm still sick, and it's been like a week. I got sick, came home and got my roommate sick, my girlfriend got sick from taking me to the doctor, and I'd be surprised if the dog and the cat aren't sick lol. It's really contagious.

Basically, it's been so bad I'm only now getting to my mails and notifications properly. In the next few days I expect to be back to work on normal projects. Just wanted to share that this flu shit is something else. Take whatever precautions you need until the season is over -- and be prepared to be stuck in bed for a few days if you get it!

Hey guys, me again. What's new? Well, a lot lol, but I've been doing the usual, keeping the lights on, updating sample packs. Had a rough start to the year, but the Christmas/New Year festivities were a nice break, and I recently went to a wedding where the cake was a GIANT stack of cheese wheels, so that was cool.

Biggest news so far, if you checked my last post, we're officially live on Gumroad, aka the new home for all my personal freebies.

This means ADREANALINE, ADR3-N's Free Metal Drums, CTK-2400 Keys, and CTK-2400 Drums are the freshest, prettiest, and most up to date they've ever been. If you need crazy percussion and lo-fi keys, look no further.

Everything is pay-what-you-want. You can use the product page as a donate button if you really want to make my day, share my page, or request updates from my support email for any new content :)

PS: Big thanks to everyone who has checked out my stuff. You know who you are. I hope you have as much fun with my projects as I did making them!

Now, with my shameless self-promo out of the way, time for the real show!

I'll try to get through this month's freebies on a low character budget. After like 4 years of doing these lists, you'd think I'd have settled on a good format, but here we are lol. Anyway, without further ado:

MORE MUSIC PRODUCER FREEBIES - JAN 2025

Giulioz's RDPiano (VST)

This might be the coolest thing I've seen in months. A FREE 80's piano emulator and it's only 9 MB? Yes please.

This ain't your mama's keys -- she probably lost those -- but look at this cute little GUI! If that doesn't scream COP THIS PLUGIN, I don't know what will. Besides the YT demo.

16 Sounds has some Massive, Prophet, and Serum presets

These are demo versions of their full products, but still pretty cool! Notable are the Psytrance, Prophet, and Massive basses!

Ad-free YouTube to MP3 Conversion (V2 YouConvert)

This is sort of an honorable mention, but I use converters all the time for my more obscure sampling needs. There are plenty of these around the web, but I like this one because it doesn't short-link you to potentially malicious sites with every click!

Limitation: won't do extremely long audio, like 10 hour sleep meditations. Idk why you'd sample that much audio anyway, though.

Project Zentra - Midi Chord Progressions Made Without the Traditional Use of Music Theory

I really liked these chords, and they were pay-what-you-want, so here they are, and here's where I found them: SUPERCUT: Ep 2 - Rant about Making Midi without Theory

FOLEYS GALORE - 99Sounds (Samples)

Any sound engineer would be stoked to have another few gigs of nature sounds in their pocket, but if that isn't your gig, you could try making 432 hz healing frequency binaural beats with forest ambiance. You know, you do you.

See also: 99Sounds Free Water Sound Effects

Free Bad Piano (Kontakt)

Had enough of perfectly good free pianos killing your vibes? Don't feel like routing FX to bastardize them into a bit-crushed mess of detuned trash? Don't worry. Bad Piano has you covered. With varying degrees of badness, this granular bad boi will put out all (or most of) the gross panini plinks you could ever need.

BassTR Amp - Audio Assault (Bass Locker VST)

A bass amp that serves as the perfect introduction to Audio Assault's Amp/Bass Locker suites. I'm not a fan of amp lockers, but I've been in love with AA since the late, great GrindMachine amp sim, back before 64 bit plugins were the norm. That's a LONG time, but they've only gotten better with age. If you need a pro sound on a budget, this is where I'd put my money -- or lack thereof!

Note: Grind Machine II succeeded GrindMachine. The former is pretty hard to find on the Light Side of the Force. Of the two, I prefer GM1 for its raw, ugly djent tones.

If I can dig up my old PC, I may upload GM 1 and 2 to Dump. I got them for free during their promotional periods, after which they retailed for a whopping $7. They were and are my favorite amp sims besides Trivium's (not free) AmpKnob sims, Emissary with NadIR, and Sigma. I've been waiting to see if AA will ever add the GM series to Amp Locker, but I haven't seen any signs they might since 2019.

Btw, if you click on "Emissary", you'll be transported to igniteamps.com, where yet MORE metal production freebies await you. Ignite STILL has a LOT of products up after over 10 years! How freaking awesome is that?!

SoniX Melody Mastery 2 Pack Leak (not royalty free)

I got this in my email from (at least) two-time Grammy Nominated producer KXVI's mailing list. Take a peek!

Also peep the SoniX Audio website, where you'll find yet more free samples -- and be able to sub to said newsletter.

Cymatics Dope Drums (Samples)

Cymatics is a name that needs no introduction. Everyone has heard of them. Almost everyone has used them. For the price of a little bit of email marketing spam, you too can have dope drums. I mean, Dope Drums. Ba dum tiss.

SoundFonts4U (sfz, sf2)

If you don't use sforzando or another sfz player, this isn't for you. If you do, this is nice little browse. Korg users will be pleased to find a small section catering specifically to patches you can load directly into your keyboard, including a realistic grand! Those who can't afford Kontakt guitars can take a stab at a section of sfz guitar patches!

Dieswyx's Freebies (Xfer Serum)

@Dieswyx has a bite sized cutie for you to try on! 2 MB. If you're strapped for space, you can't beat it!

Description: The violet sounds are back, this time the Prototype has finally escaped... I wonder who could be its first victim. 😈

Make powerful and aggressive bassline patterns, soft and energic melodies, or warm and slow harmonies with over 100 sounds that comes in this delicious and versatile pack, made for you to have fun, and it's free (only on Newgrounds)!!! come get it till it's hot!!!!!

-

What are you getting?

45 Basslines.

10 Keys.

15 Leads.

5 Organs

10 Pads.

10 Plucks.

15 Synths.

5 Voxes.

Demo

Get the pack: https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/download/5242cade5c148275ae2a8e2e63f01012

Donate: https://dieswyx.gumroad.com/l/pro2type

That's about it for the downloads this month! Wow react this post and I'll @ you if I find anything else useful before Feb 15!

Now, for science, to the Production Tips!

Make your delays… less LAME (Video)

 Combining Guitar Amps for extra CRONCH (Video)

Basic Drum Miking: The Snare Drum

 And th-th-th-that's all folks!

Keeping things short and sweet for, reasons -- specifically to get back working on the projects at the bottom of my last post asap. I'll finish out here with some minor personal updates and a nod to our lovely sponsors!

FPS nerd alert, @MATRVG and I have put out not one but two LOTR-Trilogy-length Call of Duty walkthroughs! They are FINISHED!

Yes, you read that right. Americans will use anything but the metric system, to say nothing of what we'll do for entertainment. Ba dum tiss.

Why am I so excited? Because this isn't just any no-commentary walkthrough! It's a labor of love.

See, Cold War and Black Ops 6 have taken on quite a few RPG elements: collectibles, multiple endings, and lots of dialogue trees for our silent protagonists Bell and Case. This makes the games fun to play, not so much to watch -- unless the streamer narrates every line of dialogue, and that itself can be annoying if you aren't a fan of said streamer.

Otherwise, when you need to grab a drink or look down to scratch your rapidly progressing gamer leg, you have to pause... But we've fixed that!

Now, @Matrvg's channel is the ONLY place you can enjoy the ENTIRETY of Black Ops 5 and 6 without pausing to wipe.

Thanks to his amazing dedication, masterful editing, and a LOT of voice acting from yours truly, every line of dialogue is FULLY VOICED.

This means that instead of staring holes into the screen as you watch Bell, Belikov, Mason, and Case progress through the missions as silent protagonists, you can glance away to grab your gamer fuel of choice. No more spilling hot coffee all over your brand-new keyboard!

You can watch them here. (Embedded Playlists)

Cold War

Black Ops 6

So, how did we do it?

Obviously, Matt is the star of the show. He screen-recorded both games in their entirety, made subtitles, and wrote detailed scripts for each. These were then voice acted by me, converted with the same models I made for my music (or upon request from samples), then edited over the resulting recording in post.

Seriously I can't hype him or these projects enough. His edits are SO unobtrusive, you would think we had modded the games -- and I wish we could have -- because I had so much fun!

I can't wait for our next projects together, with the F-Gents crew. Just. So. Much. Awesome! And because I enjoy this kind of work so much, I'm gonna say this now: if you have a parody and you need seamless, quality voice acting, hit me up!

On another note, the Legend of Korra Fandub lives on

You can check out the episodes up to 6 and their versions on Google Drive, 5 on Odysee. Episode 4 is my baby. Episode 8 needs to come out soon! T_T

See IMDB Cast and Crew.

Besides that, I got a lot of other projects and the usual day-to-day, which reminds me -- I probably better get back to that. Trying to speak less words and do more things, lol.

Shoutout to my amazing supporters, without whom none of this would be possible: @MATRVG, @MariogD, @Cyberdevil, and @JimmyTheCaterpillar. Stay awesome!

If you'd like to help keep these projects and all the other stuff I do free, you can donate at the links below!

https://itsjustadrean.gumroad.com

https://ko-fi.com/adr3_n

https://www.patreon.com/adr3_n

Comment any freebies I missed, and @ a friend who needs them!

Until next time! :*