On August 1st, 2017, I released my first song, Velino. It was made in GarageBand, in my 8th grade homeroom period on a school-issued iPad. I was both proud of and dissatisfied with the piece, which is melancholy yet uplifting at the same time. Wanting to show my work into the world for others to hear, I published it to YouTube, paired with a hastily made Minecraft screenshot, which faces downwards because my computer wasn't powerful enough to render distant chunks to form a more cinematic image. Five years later, I'm still proud of Velino. Of the 72 songs I've published to date, it's the only one for which I've lost the original song file.

Released exactly five years after Velino, Attempt Two commemorates those five years of growth and change. I've developed a lot as a musician and a person: I've changed my username from GizmoDude8128 to the more elegant Gizmote, I've transitioned from composing on GarageBand and a smattering of other DAWs to using Ableton Live, and I've learned a lot more about music. This album features tracks I started as early as 2018, as well as new ones that represent my current style and abilities. Velino was among the songs I compiled into my very first album, titled Attempt One. Likewise, this album is titled Attempt Two, representing that while I've improved, I've still got a lot to learn about making music. Enjoy!



Music created by Gizmote on Ableton Live 10.
Cover art by 8th, who can be found at twitter.com/8thyK .
If you think my music is worth money, you can buy the highest-quality digital download of this album from gizmote.bandcamp.com/album/attempt-two

Hi, I'm Gizmote (he/they)! I like music so much that I started making some myself. I started making music in 2017 under the name GizmoDude8128 and have been releasing songs frequently ever since! My music tends to fit in genres such as electronic, EDM, ambient, and chiptune, but I've also done a bit of orchestral, techno, and synthwave. My two biggest releases are Songs To Spacewalk To and Bright, both released in 2020, the revenue from which is donated to the Arbor Day Foundation! My biggest inspirations include C418 and Waterflame, as well as dozens of other artists. As of 2022, I have released over 70 songs, and I plan on making more creative works as long as I can! Thanks for listening.

Find my music on other platforms: linktr.ee/gizmodude8128
If you like the things I do, feel free to join my Discord server: discord.gg/ZMsryev
For licensing info, please visit tinyurl.com/GizmoteLicensing


Track descriptions:

Bus Ride is a song I started in 2018. During that time, I would often compose songs on GarageBand during school bus rides. It was spare moments like these that I'd notate the melodies I had just come up with. After all, if I didn't record them immediately, I would forget them and they'd be lost forever! I tried to stick to the old Gizmote musical style when making this song, that being stacking melodic parts on top of each other, each using simple default instruments. I'm happy with this, as I think it's genuinely how I might've finished the original song four or five years ago.

The Troll of the Dice OST is a song I made for — wait for it — Troll of the Dice. That was the game BenBonk and I made in 48 hours for the 2022 GMTK Game Jam. This song was an exercise in composing video game music that had meaningfully contrasting sections, something I've struggled with in the past. In the intro section, I forced myself to slow down and not always put the emphasis on a catchy melody. I'm proud of this song and the game we made!
You can play Troll of the Dice here: benbonk.itch.io/troll-of-the-dice

The Dice Factory OST is a song that I made for the 2022 GMTK game jam. While I put most of my game jamming effort into Troll of the Dice, I also contributed music to a friend group's game. While the game didn't come together in time, I was still proud of the music, so I turned what had been a 50-second loop into a full song. Enjoy!

The Mirror Medusa OST is the third song on this album which I made for a game jam. In the game, you play as a creature similar to Medusa, but whatever you look at turns into mirrors instead of stone. The problem is, if you spy yourself in a mirror, you turn into a mirror too! We didn't have enough time to turn it into a full game, but I still think it's a great concept.
You can play the game here: rockcrafts.itch.io/mirror-medusa

Late Nite Gruv is a groovy song I started late at night. It's groovy all right, but if you listen to the final minute, it's just repetition and layering of melodies that previously played! Why did I do that, you ask? Yes, there's something interesting to be gained in listening to combinations of previously disparate melodies, but ultimately I did that because the song sounds too short otherwise. These are the kinds of questions I have to ask myself as a composer: Is the song better as it is here, or is its quality diffused in this version? What do you think?

Astroquest is a song I made for a game the people in my university's game developer club was making. This was intended as its opening theme, something epic and space-y to match the space-themed game. Unfortunately, my laptop broke before I could finish the song, and the game developers finished the game before my laptop got back from being repaired, so it wasn't included in the game. Still, I finished it up for this album. Enjoy!

Dagne of Karrnath is a song I made for my friend BabyBlueSquid and their D&D character Dagne. Making an epic orchestral song allowed me to test out some new stuff, including ProjectSAM's fantastic Free Orchestra plugin. Every 6 months since December 2018, I've hosted an Art Swap on a community Discord server, and beginning in 2020, my submission was always a song! My previous songs Wyatt's Theme, Burger Boogie, Cyan Coral, and Salt Rock were all made for these events. I'm so glad to be part of such a vibrant and creative community!

Octurne is a charming piano song. My friend started a project called Octave October in which they made a song every single day in October. I briefly attempted it and made this song and two others that month, but I was too busy with other things, so this song is the only one good enough to share. It's not really a nocturne, I just wanted to get an "oct" pun in there somewhere, because I made this song on October 8th, inspired by my friend's Octave October challenge. By the way, that who did Octave October? That's 8thy, the person who made this album's cover art as well as some of my previous ones. Thanks Catie!

Valcrow is a song I made for my friend Val. She commissioned me to make a song for her Twitch livestreams, and I came up with this song, which exclusively uses samples from CrowsCrowsCrows' The Club sample pack. Creating this song was an exercise in working with a limited but charming and whimsical set of sounds, and trying to hit a vibe that's very difficult to describe. The name Valcrow is a pun on "Velcro", the "Crows" sample pack, and of course, my good friend Val herself.
Check out Val's streams here: www.twitch.tv/valuminumbandit

Pizzicato Grotto is a song I started around 2019. The pizzicato melody is the main feature, and while I replaced everything else from the original song file when I transferred it to Ableton, I couldn't find a pizzicato sample or instrument as good as the one from GarageBand. I think in 2019 I was aiming for a C418-esque journey, but when I revisited it I turned it into more of the possible soundtrack for a forest section in a video game.