Monday, June 14, 2010 Buried In "To Do's"

"In Search Of Truth" will have to wait until Wednesday this week. I was greeted with a massive "to do" list today that has put my day out of wack a bit.

So for any who think I spend my day just sipping soda in my room while creating fun, geeky stories, here's a list of a few of the things I still need to get done. This kind of stuff is pretty typical for me every day, but it's not so typical for me to still have this much left at 4pm that I had hoped to get done before the end of the day.

delete 12 spam comments on the podcast site (5 min)

finish final test listening on Spirit Blade and Dark Ritual song bundles (30-45 min)

make final corrections to song bundle mixes (??min)

deliver files to website tech admin on CD for upload(30 min)

email new forum tech admin regarding some changes to the site (5min)

listen to most recent "Alliance" project for approval and make polishing notes for director (15-30min)

send notes to director (5-10min)

figure out what the crap to write about on "paeter's brain" (5-20min)

write paeter's brain blog entry (20min)

watch E3 coverage on G4 to prep for wednesday's paeter's brain blog entry and podcast (3-4hours)

check email and write responses (20-90min, I try to choose my words carefully)

find an appropriately themed picture to go with this post(ah forget it)

create a url for the new spiritblade forum (5min)

edit the video special feature for this month(20 min)

post video to youtube(10min)

create link for video on the spiritblade website (5min)

edit the behind the scenes audio special feature about the spirit blade song remixes.(20min)

start mixing work on the secret project (ah, who am I kidding. I'm outta time...)

See you Wednesday!

-Paeter Frandsen

Friday, June 11, 2010 Remix Songs Finished! Forum and Big Announcement Coming!

As of last night the remixes for the songs of "Spirit Blade" are finished! Next week I will be getting them(and the repolished songs of "Dark Ritual") ready for sale on our website and anticipate that they will be available the week of June 20th!

I've also made the decision to move forward with plans for a Spirit Blade Underground Forum! Thanks so much to all of you who gave your feedback on this subject. It sounds like a strong core group among you is very interested in seeing this happen! Woohoo!

We're much closer to launching than you may think, but I need to check a few things off of my list first. One of those is getting some moderators for the forum. If you have contacted me before about being a moderator for a potential forum, please let me know that you are still interested. If you haven't contacted me already, but are interested in moderating, please e-mail me at paeter (at) spiritblade (dot) net and I will give you some more information that you can use to make a decision.

Lastly, keep a close eye on this blog. Very soon (in the next week or two, I haven't decided when) I will be unveiling the name of the "Secret Project" and providing you with a bunch of juicy details!

Stay tuned!

-Paeter Frandsen

Friday, June 4, 2010 Spirit Blade T-Shirts Available Now!

The contest is over, the winner has been chosen and the T-shirts are ready to go! Help spread the word and show everyone how Christians can be geeks, too!

I've already had a few great interactions with people as they puzzle through the meaning of the shirt.

Multiple sizes, fittings and colors available with prices starting at just $12.99! Visit our spread-shirt store to check 'em out!

http://spiritbladeproductions.spreadshirt.com/ 

And be sure to send me a picture of you wearing a Spirit Blade T-shirt! I'd love to post SB Shirt "sightings" and see how many places we can find people wearing them!

-Paeter Frandsen

Friday, May 28, 2010 "Fly" Almost Finished!

With the school semester finally over, I am back into (mostly) uninterrupted work in my office. It's been great! I've been working on re-mixing "Fly" this week and have certainly hit my stride. The background track is largely finished and I am going through the vocal track right now to clean it up and decide what effects I want to use. 

As with the other remixes, I'm keeping the general feel of the song the same. Although it has a slightly harder edge to it, the remix of "Fly" maintains the energetic, positive sound of the original. It also has many more percussion layers and a few added fast arpeggios that propel the song forward even more.

I'm pretty sure I won't finish the song today, but it will likely be done by Wednesday of next week!

-Paeter Frandsen

Saturday, May 22, 2010 Ready For The Summer!

My three week stretch away from my office is finally over...I think. It's always possible I could have some subbing to do next week, but very unlikely.

I am more than ready to jump back into mixing, although at the moment I am exhausted and need the weekend to recuperate. Just two songs left though! Then I'll be nearly ready to release the song bundles! A release during the first half of June is a very strong possibility right now. And at that time I will also be announcing the title of the secret project! (I can't wait to tell you all! It's been eating at me for MONTHS!!)

So stay tuned! Some really cool stuff coming up at Spirit Blade Productions!

-Paeter Frandsen

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 Found Some Time For T-Shirts!

I finally had a day to work in my office today! (Although I'll be out again now for the rest of the week.) After spending the morning catching up on e-mails I got a chance to test out the listener submitted design I have chosen for our T-Shirts!

I've chosen an online printer and I just need to finish setting up my information with them. But I should be able to announce the winners of the T-Shirt Contest on the podcast this weekend!

Stay Tuned!

-Paeter Frandsen

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 So Busy Things Are Slow

As you may know, I do some substitute teaching a few days every month to help fill in the holes of our family budget. I never know when I will be subbing until the day before (or often as late as the morning of) a job. As is often the case, teachers are anxious to be done with school near the end of the year, and so are more likely to use vacation time or sick days.

Naturally, that means that near the end of many spring semesters, I find myself yanked away from my desk and planted in various high schools for a day or two at a time. This week is shaping up to be a full week of subbing, as last week was. And I've already agreed to sub for another teacher for most of next week.

So if you were itching for the latest update on the song bundles, the t-shirt, The Alliance or the "secret project"... well, I won't have much to report for about another week and a half. You can count on the usual posting schedule, but don't cross your fingers to hear about any big strides in production around here.

On the other hand, after another week and a half I'll effectively be done with any subbing for the semester and will be giving my full attention to Spirit Blade Productions for three solid months in a row! Woohoo!

-Paeter Frandsen

Saturday, May 8, 2010 Long Week, Late Post

Hey Folks,

Sorry for the late post this week! I've had an unusually busy week and much of it has taken me away from my desk.

I'm nearly finished re-mixing  "Golgatha's Tale" (wow that went fast!) and will likely be moving on to "Fly" early next week!

I'm currently testing the top submission in the T-Shirt contest to confirm that it will work out the way I think it will and I hope to have these cool shirts available for you guys very soon!

That's all for now. Don't forget to kiss your mom and tell her you love her! There are good moms, bad moms and every mom in between. But if you're alive and breathing, your mom went through some very unpleasant things to make that happen. So don't forget to show her some love!

-Paeter Frandsen

Wednesday, May 5, 2010 "Deadly Game" Finished!

I'm finally back in the mixing groove and on a roll! As of Monday, the remix of "Deadly Game" is finished!

Of all the songs I've mixed so far, this one feels the least changed from the original, in terms of style. I was able to add significantly more orchestral and choral elements so that the finished product has much more of the expansive, epic feel that I was shooting for the first time. The mix is also greatly improved in its balance and much easier on the ears. (The original has lots of piercing treble, to my ear.)

As of now, I'm already more than halfway finished remixing "Golgatha's Tale", which is also changing very little conceptually. With both of these songs, I've been adding more of the same kind of material that was already working in the original versions, and then adjusting the balance of the mix so that you can hear those elements much better than before, while still keeping the vocals in the front of the mix. This was something I had a lot of trouble with the first time, and so the original mixes tend to sound very vocal heavy with a thin track behind them.

I'm so excited to be taking what I've learned since 2005-06 and applying it to the remixes of these songs! As I intended, the songs requiring the most reworking were completed first, so I'm in a stage now that is moving along much faster. If my current pace continues, I may be able to release the song bundle for "Spirit Blade" by the end of May or early June, with the song bundle for "Dark Ritual" releasing at the same time or very soon afterward!

Also, once these two song bundle projects are released, I will be ready to announce the name of the "secret project" I've been keeping under wraps this year!

Stay tuned!

-Paeter Frandsen

Friday, April 30, 2010 "Music For Despair" Video Journal!

Earlier this week I posted the next video journal about the production of "Pilgrim's Progress: Similitude Of A Dream"! The video is titled "Music For Despair" and it is part 1 of 2!

Musical scoring plays a big role when I put a scene together and this was no more true than with the "Swamp Of Dreadgloom" sequence!

Check out the latest video journal to get an idea of how I strategically make use of music in my audio dramas and how some of the selection process is handled!

You'll find a link to our Youtube channel with a bunch of other free goodies at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/spiritbladevideos

Enjoy!

-Paeter

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 A Recent Loss

Some of you may have heard me mention the name "Ryan Emenecker" a couple of times. Ryan is a friend of mine and the very talented guy who designed the main website (www.spiritblade.net) and also the CD art for Spirit Blade, Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual, and Pilgrim's Progress: Similitude Of A Dream.

A little over a week ago, Ryan's mom passed away after a sudden cancer diagnosis and just a few months of fighting the disease. She was only 54 and had been a big part of Ryan's life and the lives of his wife and daughter.

Ryan's mom was not a woman who trusted in her own strength and goodness to be made right with God. She made the decision long ago to trust Jesus with that job. So Ryan and his family are not sorry for his mother anymore. Her suffering is over. But the loss to them is extremely painful and they miss her very much.

Because of this, I wanted to give a gift to Ryan. It would be insulting to imply that a material gift could remove the grief he is feeling, but it can still be a reminder that he is loved and appreciated by a community that he has impacted.

I want to invite you to be a part of this gift with me if you have enjoyed anything you've found at spiritblade.net and if you feel inclined. If you have enjoyed the atmosphere of our website or if some element of Ryan's CD art has attracted you to the story it represents, you're invited to join me in reminding him that he is appreciated, cared about and valued.

I've created a donation button using my wife's paypal account that you can use to donate a gift for Ryan. 100% of your gift will go to Ryan.

Whether you donate or not, you can also send a message that I will include with the gift for Ryan. Send any messages to Ryan to: paeter(at)spiritblade(dot)net

The deadline for all e-mails and donations will be Friday May 7th.

You will find the donation button below. Any amount would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

-Paeter Frandsen

NOTE: This post has been edited and the donation button is no longer available. Thank you so much to everyone who donated.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 Out for a week

Well, the trial is now over and it was a very interesting experience serving on the jury. I found a great deal of relevance to my desire to seek out truth in scripture and in the details of my everyday life. I may blog about it sometime, though I don't have the time for it today.

Unfortunately, even though I am now returning to my normal schedule as of this week, I will already be going out of town this Friday and will be gone all of next week. There will be a podcast this week which I will release sometime on Thursday, but there will be no podcast the following weekend. I will also not be posting on either of my blogs next week or checking my e-mail very much, if at all. So my HUGE thanks for your enduring patience with me!

The good news is, when I get back, it will only be a week or two before the school semester is finished, which means I will soon be able to take a three month break from my side gig (substitute teaching) and give all of my time to finishing these remixes and heading full throttle into the Secret Project!

You can plan on an announcement of what the Secret Project is on the same day that I release the song bundles for Spirit Blade and Dark Ritual. So stay tuned! It won't be too long!

-Paeter

Friday, April 2, 2010 T-Shirt Contest!

Hey Folks,

I've been brewing up an idea for some "Spirit Blade Productions" t-shirts that I think would be cool, though my graphic designer has his hands full right now. But if you're handy with graphic images, you might get yours for free!

Those participating in this contest have until the end of April to send me their submissions. Here's the deal:

I know conceptually what I want, but need someone else to bring it to life. The concept is simple, quirky and attention getting. The image I'm looking for is a stacked addition math problem. It has a "Christian Fish" symbol at the top, a retro 1930's-1950's space ship or flying saucer below that and a dragon at the bottom. Then of course you've got the long horizontal line dividing the problem and the solution and a plus sign off to the left indicating an addition problem. Below the line, as the answer to our math problem, is "spiritblade.net". (no "www")

So when someone looks at this unusual shirt, the idea is that they will put together the following in their mind:

"Christian + science fiction + fantasy = spiritblade.net"

All images should be simple "clip art" type symbols. Nothing complicated. Just enough to be indentifiable. And the complete design should be using only the color white. My plan is to put this on a dark blue shirt.

I will take my three favorite submissions and test them out on several online t-shirt printing websites, so it may be handy to test it on two or three yourself(not actually printing any of course) before submitting to me so that you can see if it is compatible with the formats typically requested by these sites.

I'll use the winning design to make our t-shirts and the top three submitting designers will get one sent to them free!

Submissions (and any questions) can be sent to- paeter(at)spiritblade(dot)net. (Please note that all submissions become the sole property of Spirit Blade Productions.)

I could really use your help! You've got until the end of April to be a part of Spirit Blade Productions history, and get our first T-shirt before anyone else! For free!

Thanks and good luck!

-Paeter

Thursday, April 1, 2010 Spirit Blade: The Musical Comedy!

Well, I've been dropping hints about the "Secret Project" coming from Spirit Blade Productions for several months now and I'm finally ready to let the cat out of the bag!

I have long been a fan of classic musical comedies like "Hello Dolly" and "The Music Man". What makes them so great is that everyone is always smiling! And even when they are sad or angry, it's all in good clean fun.

Over the years I've seen a tremendous shortage of family-friendly Christian entertainment. There just doesn't seem to be anything safe for me and my loved ones to enjoy together. So for the last several months I have been secretly toiling away at developing "Spirit Blade: The Musical Comedy"!

The story will pick up where "Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual" left off and involve several hilarious rag-time numbers at the beginning to get things started. In the second act, Raan will be cured of his cyberneticism and Ebony will become an emotionally healthy Christian just in time for the two of them to be married. Vincent and Merikk will have hot cocoa and talk over their differences and then share a very warm hug with Saolos. Best of all, everyone will stop using all those offensive fictional cuss-words that I'm pretty sure the Bible speaks out against.

The nice folks we thought were dead turn out to be alive and the bad people all say they are sorry and humbly go to jail. The bad news is that the Sheida are still bad. But the good news is at the very end, Merikk wakes up and finds out it was all a dream. He is actually not in the future and instead lives in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where he teaches children's Sunday school using a flannel graph.

Well, I better get back to work! I can't wait to share this with all of you!

-Paeter

Friday, March 26, 2010 My "Legal" Search For Truth

As I mentioned earlier this week on "Paeter's Brain", (spiritblade.net/paeter) I was summoned for jury duty this week and was selected out of more than 60 people to be on a much smaller jury. I've never served in this way before and I'm looking forward to "searching for the truth" as the trial continues.

Naturally, I can't say anything about the case until it is over, but I wanted to let you all know that the trial is expected to run for three days a week for the next two weeks. Add to this my average of 1 day of subbing each week and there's a good chance I won't have much to blog about for the next two weeks.

My notes are prepared in advance for "In Search Of Truth", which should continue without interruption. And I will be seeing "Clash Of The Titans" next week and so will have content to put a podcast together at least next weekend. (And yes, there will be a podcast this weekend as well.) But I may not have any progress to report for Spirit Blade Productions for the next two weeks, for which I am bummed.

In the meantime when you think of me, you can pray that my eye and ear for the truth will be sharpened and I will be able to process information well in order to come to an accurate, God-honoring verdict.

Thanks!

-Paeter Frandsen

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 Pilgrim's Progress Video Journals!

I'm happy to announce the launch of the Spirit Blade Productions Youtube channel! 
(Username: spiritbladevideos)

I've updated the "Media" page of spiritblade.net to include a link to the Youtube page where you can check out the first "video journal" for production on "Pilgrim's Progress: Similitude Of A Dream". You might also notice that I've changed the layout just a little bit on the "Media" page. (I've shifted a few things from the right column to the left.) Please check it out and let me know if you have any thoughts about "user friendliness".

http://www.youtube.com/user/spiritbladevideos

Enjoy!

-Paeter Frandsen

Friday, March 19, 2010 Taking A Breather

I'm really pleased with the amount of progress I've made this week, but I decided to take a little time off for the rest of the weekend. My wife is out of town so I'm a single dad for a few days. I've also had some family in town and some others with time off that I've been taking advantage of.

I can't imagine that I won't finish "Soldiers" sometime next week. I'm just polishing at this point and the sound won't change much from here.

Have a great weekend!

-Paeter

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 Soldiers Almost Done!

Progress is moving almost faster than expected for a change! It feels really good to love listening to this song. Something I was never quite able to do with the original version.

 Although the melody is largely the same, I made a few minor changes using pitch correction and a vocoder to give the melody a slightly darker feel now and then. The harmonic structure has undergone the greater amount of change, giving the song a strange quality while not taking things so far that it becomes "experimental" music.

Now I'm basically adjusting the mix and then adding a bit of "seasoning" to the existing mix with fills and effects. It's looking very possible that I'll be finished with "Soldiers" by the end of the week!

-Paeter Frandsen

Friday, March 12, 2010 Momentum For Soldiers

It's been a great week for building momentum on the remix of "Soldiers". The first half of the week was spent finding a new free vocoder (my old one broke when I updated it). After two frustrating days I found one that I like and spent most of yesterday recording the phrases of Soldiers that I will use the vocoder for.

For those in the dark, you might remember that I used a vocoder in the song "Necromancy" (from "Dark Ritual") to create that low robotic sounding voice. I will be using a similar effect in the remix for Soldiers and I'm very excited about how things are sounding so far!

The bulk of tough creative work seems to be finished on this song, and so I'm excited at this point to be mixing the song together from start to finish with no further troubleshooting anticipated. It's possible that I could finish sometime next week, but we'll have to wait and see!

-Paeter Frandsen

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 Do You Want A Spirit Blade Forum?

I’m currently considering the idea of hosting an online
forum at spiritblade.net for anyone to come and talk about the goings on of
Spirit Blade Productions, The Underground Alliance, the Podcast or the Blogs.

It would also be a place where Geeks who are Christians or
who are open to Christian thought can talk about all the things they “geek out”
over and share ideas with each other. In modern Christian culture, the geek is not always
made welcome. And although a forum would in no way be a substitute for involvement
in a local church, it would be a place where geeks can feel free to let their
faith and fanaticism interact.

It would also be a place where I will be able to interact
with listeners/readers in a unique way, since I would be very active on the
forum.

However, the creation and upkeep of a forum is a significant
undertaking. Although I would aim to organize it in a way that will not
significantly effect my other efforts for Spirit Blade Productions, the
additional workload will still be enough that I won’t enter into it lightly.

So this is the part where I need your feedback. And it’s as
easy as a few clicks of your mouse! I’ve set up a poll you can reach by
visiting:

http://www.spiritblade.net/blog   (That’s the blog in case you’ve never
visited before.)

Scroll down a little and you’ll find the poll in the
left-hand column.

Just one quick vote (and only one, please) will help me get
an accurate read on how useful a forum would be. If the timing isn’t right for
a forum, I’m more than happy to wait until it is. But if the timing is right,
it’s certainly something we can do!

If you have any questions or thoughts about the idea, please
don’t hesitate to let me hear them. And no matter where you stand on the idea,
I need your vote on the poll!

Thanks for your help!

-Paeter Frandsen