So here it is again in it's entirety and here are some of my thoughts on the whole process!

Piece a Day Challenge Day 59 - Final day by Neil Bruce For those on Soundcloud, please feel free to comment on the file!!

Firstly, I think and due to popular demand I will continue this challenge, but change the parameters slightly (also as I now know I am about to become super busy, I just want to make a little easier until I am over the difficult hump so to speak!). So what will I do?

I will now do a piece a week or PAW until the end of the year (31st December 2011), but unlike the piece a day challenge it will have the following parameters

Each piece has to be at least 2 minutes in length
Has to be a different genre or distinct style from week to week
I can't extend any of the pieces I have written for PAD

So I kind of came to the realisation that I very much have my own stylistic way of writing which I think I need to push the boundaries of, as such this is the reasoning behind pushing myself to compose something very different and outside my comfort zone (ish) each week.I wish during piece a day that I had been able to do more scoring by hand, but my Sibelius has stopped working and I can't be bothered to spend a fortune with Avid at the moment to upgrade. Slightly miffed at their licencing agreement. I have an old version and I am happy with it, why stop supporting it? Okay, I do know and understand the business reasons, but Avid are pretty terrible at doing this kind of thing! Grrrr! Music score no matter whom written by is a thing of beauty in it's own right and I would say in my opinion a work of visual as well as aural art. I always just love to sit back at look at the little black dots on the screen or paper and try and imagine the sounds in my head, I think this is a very special experience and way of appreciating music.In terms of the gear I used throughout the challenge (and this was part of the challenge too...compose with whatever came to hand!), I have been blown away with the sonic palette again of both Spectrasonics Omnisphere and Camel Audio's Alchemy. I just want to sit for hours making sounds, they are just so fantastic to use. I realised during the course of this project that my Kontakt templates need updating, but they are really powerful in enabling you with the ability to just sit down and have your own personal orchestra at your finger tips. Sadly my all time favourite synth (Absynth) didn't get too much of a look in this time, this might be one for the future. By the way, you can down a whole bunch of FREE absynth sounds which I created from here....Free absynth soundsNeed more RAM I think is the other message! Omnisphere just loves memory!!Some of what I think are the weaker pieces were written using very basic software, but also very basic sample libraries, I might go back at 'tart' some of these up!There are so many other interesting facts to take into account, it is easy to see how habits are actually formed, after about 10 days, this felt so normal and part of daily routine. I am actually missing it, and expecting to still being doing my little piece a day! Like exercise (if PAD is that easy to get in the habit of then I have no excuse about exercising), i think the message is it is easy to form good habits, and it is the most important message I think I take form this process!The other important message that I have learnt, is that by doing something positive (and creative) each day can give one a more positive outlook on life and make the day more enjoyable if the rest of it has been mundane. I started the process to put a positive spin on a lot of negative things which were happening in my life, mainly the announcement of the end of the time in my current role. I have learnt so much over the last 3 months, about myself, about what I can achieve and also the truth about others, I have seen the best and the worst in people and in situations. The positivity brought about by this project has kept me calm throughout and it would seem that without worrying too much everything has worked out well in the end, but I have learnt so much. This challenge has enabled me to keep smiling and keep positive and as a results things have worked out pretty well (ish!)The PAD has also been like a sonic diary, and insight into my feelings on a daily basis, times when I was tired, unwell, happy, sad, confused, angry, the loss of two friends (RIP Ian and Lanice)...it is all there. I hope it has proved to be enjoyable for those listening!So what did the song titles end up saying??Incoming, Options, Rain, Badaassss Hurricane Irene comes to Harlem, Aftermath, Exhaustion, Frustration, Completion, The shy tiger, The adventure begins, Don't Settle for anything less, Sadness, Sleepy, Magic Unicorn, Cuban, Journey, Different Brains, Stomptastic, Headache, Wind, Elbow, Up there, Eyes, Anticipation, Mistakes, Autumn, Beginning of the End, Strange, Anger, Remembrance, Insanity, Boing, Battle, Rainbow, Inquisitive, Tension, Viaduct, Heatwave, Relaxing, Subdued, Changes, Edge, Confused, Dreams, Intense, The Unknown, Rolling Mist, Tired, Anticipation, Onwards, My Mind, Pathways, The Queue, Perfect Sun, Unwell, Speechless, Soundscapes, The future is bright, The End?So PAW, or Twitter hashtag #paw ....what do you want the first piece to be??(oh and I having this week off!! But I will post a PAD left over!!)PeaceNeil