It's good, I don't often find country songs good, and where I come from it's a stereotype, I live in the bluegrass state, and some people like it. but I don't really
Author Comments
UPDATE [9-17-23]: Free downloads have been removed from music that is currently hosted on Bandcamp. If you like this song, please visit my BandCamp page to download it at cost. Support your favorite audio slut.
AIM 2023 Submissions Thread / Discussion Thread
[Change Log 6-15-23] I added some strings, a negligible amount of panning data, and changed the velocity of one note. It's a new song!
[Change Log 6-17-23] Was listening to this on the kitchen speakers for funzorz and realized the tamb during the climax was ripping way too loud. I lowered the volume slightly. BASK IN THE GLORY OF SLIGHTLY QUIETER TAMBORINES.
[Change Log 6-23-23] Actually nothing was changed today. I realized I should have used some church bells in the climax but it's after the comp due date and I just wanted to say I'M SO STUPID, URGH.
Joining AIM was a last minute decision. Saw the deadline fast approaching with about a week left and felt a tug of sadness that I wasn't planning on participating. To be honest I try to avoid music contests; don't like getting competitive or the feelings that come with competing. Plus the older I get the more I want to stand back and let the kids do it up. I'm just a weird adult now D:
Since I should say something about the art piece that inspired me, I'll point to the above image by CaptionPanic and gush a little. Harvest Moon A Wonderful Life was the first farming game I ever played, back in High School. Having worked in agriculture for 15 years, as an adult I find the farm genre oddly relaxing. There's something nice about a no worries farm sim where everything can go right. No pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides to worry about. No obnoxious customers or bosses to deal with. All you have to do is care for some farm animals, harvest some crops, make some friends in town, and get paid. Gustafa is the town musician that regularly gets festivals together. In the "girl version" he's a bachelor you can marry. I never married Gustafa but he's an all around good spirit, always playing guitar and chilling. The entire rhythm of the song is focused around the strings, metaphorically putting Gustafa in the middle of everything.
After getting the guitar stuff lined up I improvised some piano licks and sprinkled in synths for the harvest sprites. The sprites are visible in the image but they take on a background role in the game's story. From a functional standpoint, the sprites spy on you and help the farm by notifying when animals give birth. The piano licks and synth pads are supposed to be the sprites playfully interacting with the farm animals in their strange and magical way. I chopped the piano recordings up and layered them around somewhat randomly to give the forest sprites a sense of spontaneity. The rhythm also flows somewhat freely with a little rubato here and there. Farm sims kind of let you do things at your own pace. If you just want to scrounge around in the woods for forage you can make some healthy money doing that. You can also make bank by stopping by the waterfall in the forest to fish. Some natural elements like birds, and chimes were recorded in Georgia a few years ago during covid but I did use additional samples from this website called freeanimalsounds.org.
I wish they had more info on their webpage about how recordings were collected but they used the word "FREE" a lot and I found that very convincing :0
I've always enjoyed jam sessions and drum circles. Between the piano and guitar the melodies are reaching out to find each other. This gentle symphony is meant to be a communication between the participants. Since it's just me jamming with myself I can always correct and finesse little things but jam sessions with other people always have elements of spontaneity, suspense, and wordless communication. Melodies don't always resolve but it's ok because it's the joy of playing music or sharing it with others that makes the experience safe and fun <3
One more thing I thought to point out, there are a couple of wood blocks being used to "gallop" like a horse. The piano echoes the gallop during the climax by alternating between two notes. Like a prancing pony, imagine a prancing melody? Classic piano romanticism, sorry if its too conceptual...
tldr; this is not a grindcore song.
Quarl responds:
I've learned to like weird stuff, music is diverse and I love exploring. I don't usually go outside my EDM comfort zone but bluegrass and country have interesting histories and cultures. I'm in southwest Colorado at the moment and bluegrass is everywhere. When in Rome...
Just my personal opinion please do not take this seriously:
Too slow to be considered blue grass BUT I LOVE THIS SONG!!!
Quarl responds:
lol, perfectly apt crit. I've never been properly introduced to some blue grass. I honestly couldn't tell you the difference between progressive blue grass, folk 'n grass, and death grass. I'm a total phoney :'c
(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)
the accompaniments that unfold as the piece goes by are all really lovely... bringing out a lot of emotion and peaceful feeling. love the various field recording incorporations too, i'm a big sucker for that. :D this is spot-on for an atmosphere of "farm sim where nothing can go wrong and all is right with the world", and of course in the artwork you chose, this cheerful hippie bard with a joint embodies that exact feeling. in that respect you nailed it imo!
the only thing that kinda stands out to me about this arrangement is the guitar - being front and center and all, a bit more detail in the writing would go a long way. de-emphasizing the notes that aren't on strong beats by lowering their volumes would help make it feel humanistic, as would slightly varying their levels across the board. a few more changes in the chords would also be nice; or even just variations in how the arpeggios move/start/end/etc. regardless there's a lot of love in the rest of the piece and it is quite enjoyable and fitting!
Quarl responds:
I quickly fake dynamics with an automation lane on a volume knob, good to know I can go harder on those peaks and valleys next time I use a dulcimer patch to fake a guitar :p
AIM 2023 Judge Review
Oh hey, Quarl. Glad to see you in AIM from the participant's side now. I don't think your presence in the compo takes away something from any of the younger participants entering. It's also nice because I don't think I've really gotten around to listening to your music yet until now. Sorry!
I have a tiny amount of familiarity with Harvest Moon, but hearing the acoustic guitar, piano and animal sounds definitely felt relevant to how I looked at the art. What I love most about your entry is the concept - the town musician playing in one spot as the animals gather around him. The phrases in the faster section give this comfy feeling of togetherness, especially the cymbal transition at 1:40. The guitar feels so close and in-your-face compared to the rest of the instruments and that puts me right in the perspective of the musician strumming those notes on his guitar.
It was an interesting decision to use synths in a similar fashion to how a bowed string instrument might play in the background accompaniment. I'm not really sure if I get the idea of the animals interacting with the synths considering how much of a background element the synths come across as. All these elements still worked well against each other; I'm just not really sure if I hear the synths in this piece the same way you intended for them to be heard.
Overall, I think your general enthusiasm towards the Newgrounds music community reflects a lot in this entry - like one person, playing music, bringing people together in a sweet harmony. This may not be a grindcore song, but Gustafa sure shreds that acoustic guitar like a champ.
Quarl responds:
Most my music is noisy dnb and dubstep, keep clear of my catalogue if you want more like this :p
Ah, this is nice! Very peaceful and relaxing. I do love the piano parts especially. Great job! :)
Quarl responds:
Thank you AceMantra! I will file this compliment somewhere safe, probably next to my social security card. Will have to refer to it as "sexy compliment" so I can fit it in the S section.
Plenty more like this here!
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Quarl 
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Please contact me if you would like to use this in a project. We can discuss the details.
