This week I spoke with Jamie Brown, Mixcraft user and avid World of Warcraft player, to discuss his award–winning song, Pally Pete.  Fresh off his 3rd place win in an international song–writing contest hosted by gaming company Blizzard, Jamie describes Mixcraft as "Brilliant!"
 
Q. Could you give a brief bio about your interests, activities, etc?
A. I am married and have three kids, so my time is pretty precious.  I still find time to lead worship, write music, record, and play video games.  The video game I play almost exclusively is World of Warcraft.
 
Q. What were the contest rules?
A. The rules were fairly simple.  The song just had to be about one of Blizzard’s games, and it could not contain ANY copyrighted material, including sounds from the game itself.   The most difficult requirement was that the song had to be under 2 minutes, or they would not accept the entry.  I finished recording the guitar and most of the vocals when I suddenly realized I was at 2:11.  I panicked, thinking I would have to start all over.  Then I found a way in Mixcraft to simply speed up the song without affecting the pitch.  Brilliant!
 
Q. Tell me about the game and your process for inspiration.
A. World of Warcraft is quite an amazing feat in the video gaming world.  Nearly 12 million people fighting legions of monsters together, forming guilds, helping each other learn the game, and having a blast along the way, is just such a great experience.  So to be able to combine my first passion, music, with a game that I absolutely love was a real privilege.  And then to place 3rd was just surreal.  I plan to make more music about the game, and I am determined to take 1st next year.
 
Q. How long did it take you to create Pally Pete in Mixcraft?
A. A couple days to write it (with the help of my kids), and a couple nights to record it.  Mixcraft didn’t crash ONCE on me.  That was a first for me, especially after switching from Sonar Producer.  I went all acoustic for this one.  I had to create several voices to get the "HEYs" to sound like a whole group of guys all yelling HEY! together.  That was great fun.  My wife was probably wondering what in the world I was yelling at.  But that’s what I love about virtual tracks.  Just keep recording voice after voice until you have the desired effect.
 
Q. Any new songs you're creating in Mixcraft?
A. Yes, I’m working on some new stuff right now.  Not quite done writing, but I’ve started a couple new songs, and I’m having a great time with some of the MIDI sounds, so we’ll see how all that works out.  I’m excited to post my songs on Mixcraftlive.com so I can get feedback and also contribute to other artists.
 
Congratulations Jamie, we look forward to hearing more from you in the future!  Listen to Pally Pete by clicking here!