Cosmophonica – The Dark of the Day

For about a year I had been producing music and uploading it onto YouTube (both original and GenAI). I recently decided to change the name from Elements of Chill to Cosmophonica.

Why that name? Cosmos is all that was, is, or ever will be. According to the late, great Carl Sagan. Phonica alludes to sound and audio. I am an absolute space nerd and I am also an absolute music nerd. So, it just works. There’s a symbol I’d been adding to my artwork for a long time and it so happens that with a small modification, it sort of looks like a C mixed with a P. So, that’s the symbol meaning

Here’s the first Album via Spotify. I will post the other album soon and a third album is forthcoming. It’s hard to describe the music style but it’s mostly instrumental, experimental, ambient, dark ambient, soundscape, etc. Anything that can lead your imagination to places you weren’t sure existed.

Also, the names of the albums are all to do with various things I experienced or heard as a child growing up in Central Georgia. When you’re a kid, things are mysterious, whimsical, mysterious, and so forth. As we age, we forget about those things but I like to go back and revisit those thoughts and embed them into my music.

Cheers!

New Look Coming Soon™

Take a look around because the scenery will be changing in the next few days. It’s time to give this ol’ site a makeover and have it be more conducive to showing my work, telling prospective employers who I am and what my skills are. Right now it’s just a mish-mash of stuff.

The staging area is already is production. Now I just have to add all my art and designs. It’ll go live before I’m done with that though but there’ll be plenty to see.

Stay tuned.

Dark Ambient Music For Study, For Work, To Relax, To Sleep.

Industrial and otherworldly sounds teleport you to far-off destinations causing your imagination to take over and drift you off into a dream. Or those same sounds intrigue the mind and help you focus on tasks at work or for school. Become Immersed.

These songs were created using Mubert, an A.I. text-to-music generator. If you’re a solo creator and need some quick music for relaxing or some inspiration.

I’ve Been Busy, Now With Even More Busier

In my last post, I talked about my venture into Etsy-land and the Print-On-Demand story at hand. There are two sides to every coin though. That has nothing to do with this though, it’s just a known fact. The other thing I’ve been busy with is YouTube. We all like that music that you put on and just listen to in the background while we work or study right? That’s what I’m doing. It’s a labor of love at the moment but it’s keeping my video editing skills sharp as well as my audio editing skills.

For the time being, I am using AI to generate the music. The one thing I have to do is master the tracks because they come off the assembly line sounding a little lunchboxy. I made that word up. The songs just sound flat but that’s a good thing! That means we can polish them up and such. So, there are actually two sides to this venture.

The music is generated using a website called Mubert (mubert.com) and the idea is you just pick the genre or style you want, select how long you want it, and hit the button. After a few minutes, you’ll have a pretty solid track, usually. Some are missed but on the whole, it does a great job. You can use the text-to-music feature but it’s kind of a shot in the dark as to whether you’ll get what you’re wanting. After you download the tracks as .wav I use Audition to master them and string them together into one long cohesive track (with fades and such so that it sounds good). After that, it’s video time.

For that, I also use Midjourney. Now Midjourney’s text-to-image is pretty amazing and you can really dial in what you like. So a chill vibe city in the evening with stars overhead is one way to go, or a dystopian metropolis is another. Maybe a serene valley with lush fields as the moon looms overhead. It’s endless. Not done yet though. Once I generate and upscale the image I like, it’s time to add some movement. A static image is boring so I will employ particle effects or rippling water or other atmospheric effects to give the image motion. It’s not critical to the music but it is a visual interest, so I go the extra mile for that.

The results are something I’m proud of. Perfect? No. Pretty darn good? I think so. There are many music channels, I’m looking at you Lofi Girl, and I am assuming most of the larger ones have a team of people and/or composers. For now, I am just one person doing the best I can with what I have. I am writing my own music but that is a more involved process than just clickety clicking a few buttons (usually).

Where can you find it? Why, I’m glad you asked. Or, I asked for you. Either way, you can find the entire “Elements of Chill” channel here but I’ll post a couple of my favorite videos down below. As of this writing, I’m up to 70+ videos. Each is at least an hour long. It’s definitely a labor of love. So, I hope you enjoy!

Lofi:

Dark Ambient:

Ambient Atmospheric (good for sleep!)

I’ve Been Busy!

Where in the world to begin? The beginning is a good place. It all started nearly 14 billion years ago and, wait, not that far back. Ok, let’s start around mid February. Job prospects aren’t looking so hot as the industry I’m in is saturated and competitive. Most positions I apply for has me as one of hundreds of applications. I’ve sat in the hiring seat before and just a couple dozen resumes can be daunting. I won’t get started on how technology has FUBAR’d the hiring process but what I will do is talk about how technology is changing faster than most of us can comprehend.

I don’t like TikTok. I do, however, understand why so many people do like it. From a design aesthetic it’s basically the MySpace of today. It’s filled with endless amounts of hideously crafted content. People get down with it apparently and the people that drive that ship understand that. That said, I use TikTok because go where there’s people to see your product, right?

Ok, where were we? I touched on that in the prior post and between then and now Chat-GPT has gone up to Version 4 (from 3.5) and Midjourney went live with Version 5 (up from 4) while I was typing this. Why is this important? Well, everything else in the creator world is creeping along but the AI tools are leveling up seemingly exponentially. Good? Bad? Don’t know. What I do know is that if you ignore it, it’ll come back to haunt you. I also mentioned that in the previous post. I’m reiterating it now. Don’t blink. You might miss it.

What does this mean for me? I’ve decided to use the tools available to me (for free or cheap) to enhance my skills as a creator. That means merchandise, baby! Specifically, AI-assisted designs. This is not a free lunch though. It still requires plenty of input from the designer but it does around 50% of the work, I’d say. The old saying of “don’t reinvent the wheel” applies here. Someone invented this tool, so, I’m not going to reinvent it.

All that said, I’ve created my own Etsy shop. I could have just said that at the top but where’s the fun in that? Also, it’s linked on my menu anyway if you didn’t read this far. You can’t miss it. Ok, so, I created a shop. What does that mean? It means that I’ve decided to use my free time to keep my technical design skills sharp while also making a few extra dollars. The first part of that sentence is the most important part. Extra income is a bonus. By undertaking a project like this, I hope to keep growing my skills as a designer, and creator and also keep up with the tools that are rapidly changing before our eyes.

I’ll say one last thing. I am a graphic designer and I love it. Also, graphic design is dead. At least, it’s dead in the sense that we used to know it. On top of that, it died again when AI rolled up in here. The whole point is that the game is changing and it will behoove anyone in the industry to recognize that.

Another post is coming where I talk about my YouTube channel and how I am keeping my video and audio editing skills sharp (or in some cases improving them). Also, with the assist of AI. For now, here are a tiny handful of images that I randomly generated using Midjourney. I just grabbed the first few I saw so this is the tip of the digital iceberg.

AI Is Here. Are You Prepared?

Hello, oh wait, one moment…

Ok, I have someone that wishes to speak.

[ChatGPT has entered the chat]

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been gaining more attention in recent years, and it’s no wonder why. AI has the potential to revolutionize many industries, from healthcare to transportation, and it can make our lives easier and more efficient. However, many people are still hesitant about embracing AI and its capabilities. They may be worried about losing jobs or being replaced by machines. But the truth is, AI is not something to be feared. Instead, it should be embraced and coexisted with harmoniously.

There Are Endless Possibilities - Midjourney
There Are Endless Possibilities – Midjourney

Humans and AI can work together to achieve great things. Humans have the ability to think creatively and make decisions based on emotions and intuition, while AI can process vast amounts of data and identify patterns that humans might miss. By combining these strengths, we can make better decisions and solve problems more efficiently.

Moreover, AI can also help us in our personal lives, such as in personal assistant apps, they can help us schedule our day, remind us of important tasks, and even entertain us. With the help of AI, we can save time and energy, and use it to focus on more important things.

It’s important to note that AI is not a magic wand that can solve all our problems. It can only do what it’s been programmed to do and it’s still in the developing stage, so it’s important that we use it responsibly and ethically. We should also make sure that everyone has access to the benefits of AI, regardless of their socio-economic status.

In conclusion, AI is not something to be feared but embraced. It has the potential to make our lives easier and more efficient. By working together, humans and AI can achieve great things. It’s important that we use AI responsibly and ethically, and make sure everyone has access to its benefits. Together, we can create a better future for all.

[ChatGPT has left the chat]

Hello, human here. ChatGPT wrote that entire blog post based on some prompts I gave to it. It isn’t perfect for sure but this is what’s coming. AI should be used to our advantage and not seen as a threat.

For example in Graphic Design, we can use AI to help give us inspiration or ideas. A single prompt can get our creative wheels turning in our heads. The image you see up above was generated in Midjourney using the simple prompt of “There Are Endless Possibilities.” The sky is the limit from there on out.

Are you ready? You had better be because this is a genie out of the bottle that came out of a Pandora’s Box. It’s here and it’s never going away. Prepare yourself.

Building Something

This isn’t exactly art. At least not in the traditional sense. Also, I didn’t build so much as I used the existing framework. Used as a means to make a comfortable, climate controlled box to live in. We need to convert this space for our oldest son to live in temporarily. I don’t have a lot of “before” photos, nor, “after” photos either. I do have a good side by side of the transformation though. Behold!

 

I’ve since added a ceiling fan as the only source of light is the lamp you see which is magical because there’s no cord. The air conditioner is also magical. In that it’s extremely quiet to the point of barely noticing it. That said, by the time it was move-in-ready, the weather had already cooled off. So, now he’s got heaters in there. Womp womp!

 

Paper to Digital #2

I am still experimenting with the best way to show my work from start to finish. Narration? Music? Sped up footage? All of the above? I’m trying it all out and I should land on a style that works. I’ll also take feedback into account as well.

This is similar to the previous Art In Motion installment but it’s a little less talky and the piece is more organic looking. Either way, I digress. Without further ado, here is A Strange Flower.

 

Design Challenge #2

We all hate those ads. You know the ones? “Doctors hate this one trick!” Yeah, those ads. This is my 10 minute anti-clickbait ad that drives people to get actual help. Mind you, I have no affiliation with the organization that the link goes to. I just wanted to find a real non-profit that specializes in mental health and life stuff.

The design is a hot mess but it’s a play on the insanely annoying ads that apparently seem to get lots of clicks. So, it’s an attempt to beat them at their own game. Hey, if this random design gets even one more the help they need, then I’ll consider that a success. For now, enjoy this… whatever it is.

Seriously if you need any help with mental health this might be a good place to start.