I registered Metzae.net a decade ago right after adopting the screen name Metzae. Since then, it has grown into a large network of websites that cover everything from photos to politics to profanity. It is one of the most unique websites I’ve ever created and is full of things to discover. Some of them are obvious and some are intentionally hard to find. Though the website doesn’t follow the schemes of most other websites (especially since the evolution of social networks), it does have a specific purpose. It is digital art, a virtual exhibit and experiment all in one. If you decide to look through it, there’s only one thing I can tell you: look closer.

As of today, over 5,000 people have downloaded Symphoniacal just using the accredited and peer-reviewed Mininova community. Since it was added to this site, it has become one of the most downloaded non-commercial projects on the internet, and it is impossible to calculate just how many times it has been downloaded outside of Mininova. So, a big thank you to Mininova and a huge thank you to all the people sharing and seeding it over these past couple years.

Since Twitter is enjoying it’s fifteen minutes, now is probably a good time to get in on the action.  Please follow Symphoniacal on Twitter.  I promise there won’t be many updates.  In fact, the only updates will be the same ones you see on this site, so you can keep up with everything without having to check here.  It’s not that I don’t want you to come back, it’s just not necessary.

twitter.com/symphoniacal

Adobe Audition has been glitchy, my computer has been bitchy, and life has been…well…life. So, for over a year now I haven’t been able to touch Symphoniacal. But after figuring out the conflict that was constantly rebooting my computer (Audition doesn’t like Microsoft Intellipoint) and making enough room on my hard drive, I’ve finally begun working on the next version. As I’m typing this, Brian Tyler’s score for “Eagle Eye” is pounding through my headphones, taking its rightful place among the other powerful sounds. It’s so intense that I’m having a little trouble thinking of what to type. More than anything, I wanted anyone who’s paying attention to know that Symphoniacal 8.0 is in the beginning stages. I’m not sure when it’ll be ready, but I’m already to version 7.2 and some major changes are starting to take place.

I’ve never really set any goals or expectations for Symphoniacal except that I wanted it to be an enjoyable and complex musical experience. Other than that, I’ve tried to stick to a free-form way of working on it. But I have recently set up two major goals, and they will change a lot about the piece. Though one of the two goals is going to be a secret, you can be a part of the other!

As of this post, the current version is 6.4, and I’m working on 6.5 right now. It’ll be a while before I release it (paying the bills is more important), but I’m aiming to release 7.0 with a significant restructuring of the middle section and a host of new music from new and/or unpublished artists. If you would like to have one of your songs incorporated into Symphoniacal, send me an MP3 or two (or however many you want) and I play around with it. You will always get credit for your work.

The tracks that are likely to be included if they…

• are very dark or very powerful. Everything in Symphoniacal is intended to bring out an emotional response.  If it is creepy, intense, haunting, shocking, or otherwise emotive, I want to include it!
• are your original work. If you would like to recommend an artist or composer, I would love to know about them.  But only submit music that you created yourself.

The tracks that are likely to be excluded if they…

• have an unrealistic, clearly synthesized sound. I tend to skip or cover up very good soundtracks because of the nature of the instruments being used.  I know it’s limiting, but I get pulled out of the music when I hear a cheesy synthesizer.  If the song would’ve sounded better plugged into a keyboard made since the early 90′s, I just wonder why it wasn’t.  I know there are plenty of keyboards (and even fake orchestras) in Symphoniacal, but they can be used correctly.  For example, I played trumpet for a long time, so the unnatural brass sound bothers the hell out of me.  If the sound is attempting to be unique rather than trying to simulate the sound of a brass ensemble, that’s fine.

It’s official: Symphoniacal has so many friends on MySpace that they’ve allowed me to stop approving them. That’s right, I’ve approved ten thousand profiles. Oy. Still, it’s great to know that so many people are paying attention.

Though we already have a group on Facebook called Symphoniacal Fans, I just discovered that I could create a profile for it instead.

If you have a Facebook account, please visit the official Symphoniacal profile and click the “Become a Fan” button. Be one of the first people to join!

Finally passed the 6,000 mark, which is humbling. Hello to all my new friends. )

I also created a Facebook group for Symphoniacal fans. If you don’t have Facebook, I highly recommend it.

That’s all for now…have a safe and happy New Years!

The friends keep piling up and so do the downloads! Mostly thanks to shameless self-promotion and BitTorrent, Symphoniacal has started to spread through the internet like a dark and beautiful virus. Infection rate appears to be quite high. Symptoms include increased heart rate, elevated mood levels, dizziness, dry mouth, and increased feelings of paranoia and/or euphoria.

Mininova.org has added Symphoniacal to their content distribution list. From now on, if you want to download it, this would be the best way. There are plenty of seeds and it is verified by the Mininova community. To view and download Symphoniacal directly from their torrent list, click here.

If you’ve never heard Symphoniacal all the way through, there has never been a better time to give it a listen. Even if you have heard it before, it’d be worth it to listen again. I’ve changed, added, and deleted so much that many sections are completely different, and now it’s a whole new monster.

I’ve put a lot of time, energy, love, and obsession into this project over the past few years, and I hope you enjoy the hell out of it.

Go to the download page right now to get Symphoniacal!

Please use BitTorrent (if you can) to help save bandwidth. If you don’t know what BitTorrent is or you can’t use it on your computer, don’t worry…you can always download the file the old school way.

It seems like every time I sign on there are a hundred new friends. I am surprised by the response so far, and I am looking forward to releasing the next version. This profile is now the third most popular site I have behind my Stewart/Colbert 2008 and Colbert/Stewart 2008 profiles, both of which have been online since late 2006. At this rate, though, the Symphoniacal profile will pass the Colbert profile sometime next month and then the Stewart profile in another month or two. That is, of course, assuming the trend continues… ::crossesw fikn ghers

(Sorry. I can’t type very well with my fingers crossed.)

Anyway, enough of that! If you have MySpace but you aren’t a friend yet, why not add Symphoniacal to your friends list right now?

Hello to all my new MySpace friends!

I’m saying that because more than 90% of this profile’s friends are new as of the past couple weeks.

And it’s good timing, too, because version 7.0 is almost here!  It will be a very different version, so keep your eyes (and ears) open for that.  If you are a BitTorrent junkie, you can download version 6.9 right now.  Just search TorrentScan.com for “Symphoniacal” and you’ll find it.

Did you know that my Symphoniacal profile is now more popular than my Barack Obama profile?  As of today, it has over 3,000 friends, and it’s not showing any signs of slowing.  The Obama profile has just over 3,000 friends already, but it took several months to reach that point.  The Symphoniacal profile had only about 350 friends a couple weeks ago!  This is all boring statistical stuff, but I wanted to share since I know a few of you are interested.

Again, thanks for being a friend of Symphoniacal.

Okay, so I’m closing in on the big 7.0 release, which will be the last one until I can find more time to work on it (or if some great music just falls into my lap). I’ve been re-working large sections, and this is a very different version. I’ve stuck to a few themes, updated a few songs, deleted a few duplicates, and moved at least a dozen songs around. But 6.9 in particular just got a cool upgrade, and it’s the namesake of this version.

I finally got the soundtracks for “28 Days Later” and “28 Weeks Later” and they are juuuuust creepy as hell. I’m not sure I’ll use the main theme unless I can find a place for it, but instead, I’ve found (at least) five places where I put bits of it for ambiance, intensity, or to otherwise enhance what’s already there. If I can find a few more places to put some of it without it becoming too obvious, I’m definitely going to do it. This particular method, of using many parts of the same thing through Symphoniacal, is a relatively novel addition. Until now, I’ve only occasionally used more than one or two pieces from the same movie, video game, or television show (except for Star Wars). But the overall sound and fuh-reaky nature of John Murphy’s score is just too perfect for this project.

Other than adding the 28 * Later soundtracks, I had to remove a couple tracks to make room for the massive shuffling of music I did this version. Fortunately, I’ve always felt like some of them were filler that had long since lost their usefulness, and others were duplicate versions of the same series of music. These changes are going to ensure that 7.0 is a completely unique version from any before, so even if you’ve already heard it, you should consider upgrading when it comes out.

• added: “Outbreak”, “Tammy Kills Her Dad”, “Crowd Breaks Out”, “The Beginning”, “Rage”, and “Code Red” by John Murphy from 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later
• removed: “Immortals Battle” by Tyler Bates from 300 – there’s another track from the same movie just a minute after this one, and I changed the entire section anyway
• removed: “Cylons Fire” by Bear McCreary from Battlestar Galactica – I have a better track in mind from McCreary, that genius…

There are major changes taking place and I’m getting really excited about them. Though there is plenty of work left to do before I can release version 7, I am now much closer to the big release. With a set length, a halfway point, lots of good music, and a couple of large goals in mind, this one is shaping up to be my favorite version ever.

Since the last release (version 6.4), I’ve added the following songs…

• a genuine, completely unedited audio recording of the Huygens probe as it plunged into the atmosphere of Io
• “Decepticons” by Steve Jablonsky from Transformers
• “Heeding the Call” by Bear McCreary from Battlestar Galactica
• “Brain Bug” by Basil Poledouris from Starship Troopers
• “The Floating Fat Man (The Baron)” by Toto from Dune
• Alien’s theme by David Arnold from Independence Day

Stay tuned because I’m working like crazy and big things are coming soon!

Though the title of this version is about Beethoven, there were no songs added by him on this one. It’s called this because I recently discovered that the 74-minute CD was (allegedly) made that length because the execs at Sony were obsessed with Beethoven’s 9th symphony.

Consequently, I have had to rearrange several large sections, add several songs, and (unfortunately) delete a couple. The good thing is that the song has a distinctive halfway point (which has been there for a long time) but this time it’s actually at the halfway point. If you listen carefully at 37 minutes, you’ll hear the moment when it happens. It was something I’ve been planning for a looong time, but only now is it starting to come together. Of course, there are a lot of wrinkles to iron out, so I’ve got a lot of work to do before I’m happy releasing it.

Added “Heeding the Call” by Bear McCreary from Battlestar Galactica. If you’ve been keeping up with the show (don’t worry, I’m not giving spoilers), this is the music from the last few minutes of the third season. You know, the moment where four main characters suddenly walk into the same room…? Yeah, I’ve gotta add that moment to Symphoniacal.

Also, I added a track from the show “Heroes,” though it may be a while before I’m happy with it. The problem is that there hasn’t been an actual soundtrack released, so we can just gather moments extracted from the show while it’s playing. Don’t worry, I’ll get my hands on something…

So, I just noticed that this profile now has 2,000 friends. I don’t have a speech prepared (fortunately) but I just wanted to take this opportunity to say: woo-hoo!

And since I have you here, I might as well give you an update. I’ve started working on a drastic change to the piece. I’ve never been particular about the length, and at one time I even cut it down a bit out of fear that it would become this never-ending thing that I couldn’t do anything with. After a brief bit of research I’ve decided that it’s best to keep it at 74 minutes so it’ll be the exact size of a traditional CD. I have my reasons and they’re pretty geeky, but basically it means that the entire piece is now several minutes longer. I’ve already got several new songs in place and now I’m re-working several sections.

I’ll shut up now. Thanks again for being a friend. )

So, I made a decision to do a major shift and now there are several songs added, a couple songs removed, and large chunks being moved around. This is the first step towards releasing version 7.0, which will be a significant change from any before it. The whole thing is now exactly 74 minutes long, several minutes longer than any previous version. Of course, longer doesn’t necessarily mean better, so I’m not planning on releasing any future versions until I’m ready for version 7.

Interesting thing to point out…by shear coincidence, I added a whole section that is currently called “Villians” with some of my favorite bad guy themes. Notice the version number? I swear it was an accident. I know some people are thinking, “Ooh…like the devil,” and some are thinking, “Ooh…like order 66 that Palpatine gave,” and still others are thinking, “Huh? I don’t get it.” There’s really nothing to get, honestly. It’s just a coincidence! ;o)

I upgraded from Adobe Audition 1.5 to 3.0 and decided to spend this version updating little problems and tweaking things that always bother me. Most listeners won’t notice a difference, and that is kind of the point. If I can clean up these little problems and you not notice, I’m doing exactly what I want. There are a few things I do want to point out, though…

• I mixed “The Kraken” around a little to give it more meaning at the end. “The Beginning of the End” (the second-to-last track) now starts off with a nice momentum it didn’t have before, all because it’s a different section of the same song. The trick now is getting other things in there that continue the momentum and highlight my favorite antagonists…

Added: “Ocean Whispers” from Pirates of the Caribbean by Klaus Badelt – Just felt like it fit nicely and gave it a little more darkness without adding too much melody to the intro.

Added: “The End of Our Island” from Dinosaur by James Newton Howard – This is the moment near the beginning of the film when the mating ritual of the lemurs is broken up by the sudden presence of strange lights that start falling from the sky. Then a gigantic ball of fire (the meteor that killed the dinosaurs) suddenly appears and then disappears on the other side of the horizon. There is a small pause as the animals watch this strange, silent spectacle for a moment, and then…

Added: “Vespera” by Libera – I stumbled upon this randomly and was haunted by the sound of it. I love it when I know exactly where a piece belongs as soon as I hear it. Doesn’t happen often, but sometimes you just know it.

Added: extra crowd effects during Hitler’s speech – I wanted his creepy cadence in there because everyone in the world knows what that idiot sounded like, but I didn’t want to make it too prominent. And the crowd this time is an angry mob, which you can interpret as you wish.

Added: a few extra cricket, water, frog, and other ambient effects to “Elbamohtafnu” – this is the beginning of the second half, and it comes straight out of Lord of the Rings, so I thought I’d give the listener a little extra to work with. Plus, it’s after one of the loudest and most intense sections of the entire piece, so it helps bring the listener back down a bit.

Added: the alien’s theme from Independence Day by David Arnold – I just love this soundtrack, and this theme is one of the coolest and yet least played pieces in the soundtrack genre. This was one of the first soundtracks that eventually led to my inspiration for Symphoniacal, and yet it took this long for it to get in here…

All of our download links have been offline and the site has been shut down twice since Nov 14th due to a server crash. Please try again now. The site is back up again and I’m uploading the music as you read this message. As Han Solo would say, “It’s not my fault!”

I made a mistake and saved over the session file, and it set me back a few versions. So, using the MP3 I had of the most recent version, I went back through and had to approximate it. In the process of doing so, I inevitably found several little things I wanted to polish. This version probably only sounds different from 6.3 to me because I’m so intimately aware of every second of this piece. I’m only releasing it because I can, really. I could’ve called it version 6.3 and no one would ever know the difference. That’s the problem with being obsessive, I guess…

Construction has officially begun! It will be the place where Symphoniacal performances can be heard, (and eventually seen). If you have a Second Life installed, click here to visit. If you don’t have Second Life, you should join right now. It’s free, amazingly cool, and it’s only about a 40MB download. My name is Metzae Singh.

I would go through a list of all the changes, but that’d be superfluous considering I’ve started developing a detailed listening guide. Just know that there is a new version, and if you haven’t experienced Symphoniacal, now is a good time to do it.

For those who are curious, however, the most important (and serious) moments from the Star Wars movies are now in order at various points. These moments include:

• when Darth Maul reveals himself to the Jedi
• when Mace Windu and Yoda are discussing the potential threat of more Sith at Qui-Gon’s funeral
• when Anakin reveals a hint of his dark side to Padmé by insisting that the Republic needs a single leader (a.k.a. dictator)
• when Anakin’s mother dies in his arms and he slaughters an entire village of Tuskens
• when Anakin leads an assault on the Jedi temple, killing every one of them (including the children)
• when Luke Skywalker comes home to find his only family murdered and charred
• when Vader reveals to Luke that he is his father after slicing his hand off
• when Darth Vader finally reverts back to Anakin Skywalker and kills Emperor Palpatine

I was obsessed for about a week, and this is the result. I have made some significant changes, and (of course) there are some things I feel need improving, but it’s here and available for your listening pleasure. It is only an upgrade from 6.1 to 6.2, but I could’ve considered it a version 7 for all the changes I made.

Listen to (or download) the latest version right now!

Here is a list of all the changes:

• added “Waking the Sleeping Giant” by Cris Velasco from the God of War II to “Bringer of War” – My hope is to create an entirely new version of Gustav Holst’s “Mars, Bringer of War” to this piece. There are a million versions of the same music, and I wanted to give it my own spin.
• added part of “Revenge of the Sith” to a handful of sections – I’m trying out a few things and seeing which ones I like the most. The first appearance mixed serendipitously well, so I’m leaving it for now.
• added “Enlightenment” by Jeremy and Julian Soule from Supreme Commander to “Evey Reborn”
• added “Immortals Battle” by Tyler Bates from 300 to “The Middle Passage”
• added “No Mercy” by Tyler Bates from 300 to “No Mercy, My Suite” – The name of this chapter has changed because the content has changed significantly. Though I love Cristophe Beck’s music from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the section was a little too uplifting for that point in the piece.
• added Richard Burton’s performance of the prologue from Jeff Wayne’s version of “War of the Worlds” to “They Came, But Not in Peace”
• added John Travolta talking about Hollywood from the movie “Swordfish” to “Sans Glimmer” – This isn’t Travolta worship in any form, but more of a commentary on the next piece of music that follows what he says about Hollywood. The music that follows what he says is from “Black Hawk Down,” a very realistic and gritty movie about modern warfare.
• added “Into the Trap” by John Williams from “Return of the Jedi” – This may or may not stay here. I don’t want there to be too much of one thing from any movie or composer (except, of course, Hans Zimmer), but I like it a lot right now.
• added “Peters Does His Worst” to the end of “Sleepy Hollow” – The section you hear is the moment when Dr. Peters opens the vial that contains the supervirus that will eventually kill most of the people on the planet.
• added the alien’s theme by David Arnold from Independence Day to “The Beginning of the End”
• added “The End Begins” by Gerard K. Marino from God of War II to “The Beginning of the End”

After almost losing all my data in a hard drive crash–

Back your important files up RIGHT NOW! I’ll wait until you get back…

Got them backed up? Good. Anyway, I finally got to work a little more and now have added a few new sections, which completely bypasses version 6.0, not that anyone would notice. ;o)

I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner, but at least now it’s done. I’m expecting this to be a great way to connect with people who would enjoy Symphoniacal.

Thanks for visiting…seriously.

Added:

• “The Craziest Mess I’ve Ever Seen” by Steve Jablonski from The Island
• “Corynorhinus” by Hans Zimmer from Batman Begins

Added:

• “Final Battle” by Alan Silvestri from Van Helsing

Added:

• “Swords Crossed” by Klaus Badelt from Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl

Added:

• “The Katra Ritual” by James Horner from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Added:

• “Babylon” by Jeff Beal from Carnivale
• “Cylons Fire” by Richard Gibbs from Battlestar Galactica
• “Governments Should Be Afraid of Their People” by Dario Marianelli from V for Vendetta

Added:

• “Tocatta and Fugue in D minor” by Vanessa Mae

Added:

• “1969: Main Title” by David Arnold from Independence Day
• “1969: We Came in Peace” by David Arnold from Independence Day
• “Checkmate” by David Arnold from Independence Day
• Suite from “Hush” by Christophe Beck from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• “Strength and Honor” by Hans Zimmer from Gladiator
• “The Kraken” by Hans Zimmer from Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest
• “…to Die For” by Hans Zimmer from The Lion King

Added:

• “Beyond Rangoon” by Hans Zimmer from Beyond Rangoon
• “Firestorm” by David Arnold from Independence Day
• “Main Theme” by Hans Zimmer from The Contender

Added:

• “Chant” by Hans Zimmer from Black Hawk Down
• “Dies Mercurii I Martius” by Hans Zimmer from The Da Vinci Code
• “Strength and Honor” by Hans Zimmer from Gladiator
• “Main Theme” by Hans Zimmer from Tears of the Sun

Added:

• “Apocalypse” by Jesper Kyd from Hitman

Added:

• audio from “God is in the rain” scene in V for Vendetta
• “Nexus Energy Ribbon” by Dennis McCarthy from Star Trek VII: Generations
• audio file: “Battle: Swords, Axes, and Horses”
• audio file: “Medieval Battle”

Added:

• “One Ring to Rule Them All” by Howard Shore from Lord of the Ring: Return of the King
• Aldous Huxley speaking about psilocybin and LSD

Woo-hoo!

That’s all I really have to say.