Probably my longest song ever (mostly due to the slow tempo of 90 bpm).

This project kinda started all from one synth preset I found in FLEX: Crystal Castles. It's the first synth you hear in the song and it stays throughout the entire song. I was really attracted to its eerie and spectral sound. Building upon that, I added some violins to play some chords followed along by a chrono SFX (which is apparently the sound from something called a chronometer watch?), a snare, and a bass guitar which follows a stuttered descending pattern throughout the entire song (I really just made it one pattern and copied it over and over again).

Then we here the first instance of the electric guitar; it plays a prominent melody that is emblematic of all the previous instruments building up to this point. The electric guitar projects the tone that the quiet and distance violins, basses, and synths were whispering about. It only lasts for a small portion of the song, but it highlights the main themes presented in the song. Its melody will be recalled later on in the song.

Promptly after the electric guitar, we get to hear some pads called Communicate Trees which is also from FLEX. It serves as a nice transition to the next part which contains the music box part. I confess, I originally was going to record and sample my own tiny music box, but I just so happen to find a music box preset and chose the more convenient option. Maybe in the future I will record more samples made by myself.

Finally, the electric guitar returns playing an octave lower than it did earlier along with another preset from FLEX called Dark Resonance (you see a pattern of me over relying on FLEX?). They play a similar melody to the first one however there are some changes that shift towards a more sentimental tone, especially when they leap up and down sixths (right around the 4:15 mark). The lead and bass often voice cross and overlap with each other in this section which you typically want to avoid in music composition. But. I. Don't. Care. In my opinion, it sounds really, really good when they overlap, as if they were two figures who settled their conflict to confront an even more paramount challenge. This easily earns my favorite part of the song. However, that's just my interpretation. Feel free to make up your own.

At the very end, I just slowly faded out everything using a filter. It ends off with a very satisfying guitar pick scratch which I really appreciate that I added it.

I guess this also wraps up my comments on this song. Like Descension (which you should totally check out btw), this song has been in my files for like over 2 months which I only recently finalized it. I was originally going to work on the song even more such as adding SFX and adjusting the mixing, but I realized it's infinitely better for me to move on and focus forward future stuff instead of dwelling in the past. Life is too short for regrets or hesitation. But this is going to be my second last song for a while. Kinda ironic for a song titled "Where It Begins". The reason for the name is because the song marked the point where I became dedicated to making these songs which I really enjoy. Sadly, that has to wait until next year.

If you read this far, you get an extra sneaky preview for the final song this year that I'm releasing very soon. One of my proudest works! https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/project/5863676