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

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aiming to release 7.0 with a significant restructuring of the middle section and a host of new music from new and/or unpublished artists.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.

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.

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.

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. )

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!”

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 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.

Woo-hoo!

That’s all I really have to say.