In today's episode, I'm pretty much wrapping up the track I started last week for an episode that my brother and I recorded a few weeks ago based on a setting in his role playing game, Mappa Mundi.  I'm using the same DAW (digital audio workspace) I started learning how to use last month, the free web-based program Bandlab. 

Part of the reason for the past month and a half of making tracks this way was to warm up to the idea of making music entirely digitally (since that is what most people in the niche I probably most closely align with musically - synthwave - use).  I must confess as a nonjoiner, I tend to ignore, be oblivious to, and occasionally even take perverse pleasure in being the contrarian.  So I was using a more analog approach until now, mostly because it just worked.   But now I can see the benefits.  Yes, there are downsides (it's basically all done in front of a computer), but I think it's a worthwhile investment to learn this program and then progress to some of the more commonly used DAWs that most music producers use.  They are just tools, after all, and at the end of the day, any tool is just that.

What I still don't know if using a DAW actually saved me any time.  I actually don't think so.  That might because of the ongoing learning curve.  But it might also be due to the capability of fiddling more with things on a more microscopic level, whereas the analog world involved more guesswork and the necessity of being okay with imperfection, even with the finished product (as anyone who has heard the pops and hisses of records and cassettes can attest to).  With things going digital, I can see the capacity to fiddle endlessly and never fully finish anything.  So we will have to see.

This episode also made a little mention of Jane Goodall, one of my heroes, who passed away recently.  I brought it up since the premise of the track is that you're a naturalist/explorer observing a supernatural phenomenon in the world of the game (cue pixelated depiction below), but though she gave a lot to the world due to her work and her passing marks the end of an era in some ways, I actually don't she'd want people to be sad and pessimistic at her passing.  She championed for people to have hope (since 2022 she did a podcast she called her Hopecast, after all).  She championed for local change.  She championed for us to remember that one does not need to go to the ends of the Earth to find adventure or do good - good starts right in front of you with your own life, your own family, your own community - a great thing, I think, to keep in mind in uncertain times.

Thanks for listening!

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Once Upon a Dream, the second Thirteenth Hour soundtrack, is now out in digital form and on CD!  

It is out on most major streaming services such as Bandcamp, Spotify, and YouTube Music.  (If you have no preference, I recommend Bandcamp since there is a bonus track there and you will eventually be able to find tapes and special editions of the album there as well.)  The CDs are out now!

-Check out the pixelart music videos that are out so far from the album:

-->Logan's Sunrise Workout: www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7SM1RgsLiM

-->Forward: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9VgILr1TDc

-->Nightsky Stargazing: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S0p3jKRTBo

-->Aurora's Rainy Day Mix: https://youtu.be/zwqPmypBysk

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•  Signup for the mailing list for a free special edition podcast, a demo copy of The Thirteenth Hour, and access to retro 80s soundtrack!
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https://13thhr.wordpress.com/2025/10/06/the-thirteenth-hour-podcast-530-musical-interlude-finishing-ice-giant-part-2-2/