Hey friends,

It's been such a long time since I updated anything on Newgrounds.  7 years ago I was making the top ten lists of the audio page and began working on my iTunes album, while I romantized moving to California to start over somewhere else.  A lot of things have happened since, and I'm grateful I had the motiviation from this community to push myself into a new direction with my life.

7 years have given me so many wins, challenges, mistakes and new experiences with people I never would of expected to meet or befriend.  I released my album to the world, focused on building a solid career for my own stability, and married my best friend last May.  None of this would of happened if I hadn't created my newgrounds account and started uploading my music.  It was here that I started to figure out who I actually was, and all of you had a hand in helping me with your feedback and supportive messages throughout the years.

I've slowed down with music lately, and some of you have been regularly reminding me not to ever stop producing.  I'm sad to say that while I haven't stopped writing, I won't be uploading anything to Newgrounds anymore.  You can blame it on me getting older, but I don't feel like I'm a part of this community anymore and don't have the time I used to for participating in competitions or community projects.  I also, frankly, feel like Newgrounds is filled with content that just doesn't connect with me in the slightest bit anymore.  Turning 31 does that to you I suppose.

For anyone who still wants some kind of connection to me, follow me on soundcloud.com/reasoner.  I'll continue to post music there throughout the years, as long as they keep the domain up :P.  For all of the fans here, THANK YOU for every single review, message and vote you gave to my songs.  I am eternally grateful for the time I was given here.

-Ryan

Hey Everyone,

I've gotten a few very flattering, yet slightly depressing messages to my email about my departure from Newgrounds. I can assure everyone who still visits this page that I haven't left NG, and I have no intention of doing so at this point. Newgrounds is where I first found my musical voice, and I'd be a total idiot if I simply abandoned the platform that has connected me to hundreds and hundreds of people who truly appreciate the music I like writing. It's been a fun ride so far!

On that note, check out a few of my new tracks below:

Fu Midaji
West Cliff
Seabright

As always, thanks for listening :)
-Ryan

It's been so long since I've updated this page. I feel like newgrounds and its users that used to listen to me have moved on lol, but I'm hopeful that some of you guys decided to stick around. I always enjoy hearing from you, even if I'm not the best at replying.

So what's been going on with me anyway? Life has really changed in so many ways for me since I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area over 3 years ago. I've taken on a couple of promotions at my day job, and have been in the best relationship of my iife with an awesome lady I met a year and half ago. Scary crap right? Yeah....you could say that if you'd like. Or call me a jerk for putting music on the side for as long as I have....that's cool too playa :P My point, is that life has been great, but a little too busy for me to spend quality time with my love for writing music.

That being said, please check out a couple of my new tracks I've posted here!

Seabright

One More Castle

I've been getting more and more into mobile music apps, and they've helped me with these last two tracks tremendously. Seriously, with the amount of commuting I do now, I wouldn't of been able to come up with these latest songs without the help of my ipad and phone. It's crazy how awesome technology continues to push musicians creativity!

That's all I've got for now. I thank everyone whose been following me all these years. Please check me out on Facebook for more regular updates and song previews before I'm finished with them ;)

-Ryan

Check out my first ever music video, produced by Zeedox and JAZZA!

Buy my album on iTunes here

Windrunner15 has produced a compelling video on the reality of cyber bullying in high schools these days. I consider myself fortunate that texting and social media wasn't a reality when I was in high school. We had barely started using cell phones, and the bullies I dealt with growing up were much more direct with their insults.

Windrunner has used my music in some really creative ways here, so please check out the link and vote for his submission!

"One Text" The Great American No Bull Challenge

Check out my first ever music video, produced by Zeedox and JAZZA!

Buy my album on iTunes here

You can also buy the album directly at CD Baby

Once upon a time (2 years ago), I had an idea for a piece of music I wanted to write. I'd been living in California for a good 6 months, and was anxious to try and produce something that was deeper than the simple melodic songs I'd put up here.

That piece of music as become one of my favorite tracks. Seriously, I play it anytime I've had a crappy day at work. I titled the song "Chasing Comets In My Garage", which was a tribute to my memories as a boy playing with my Shetland Sheepdog Comet. As I grew up and started spending late nights playing around with loops, synth lines and piano melodies, he would curl up by my feet and listen to my endless attempts to sound "cool" amongst my high school friends. Comet finally passed away over a year ago after living for over 16 years. He was my best friend as a kid.

Around July of 2010 I had this crazy idea to somehow get a Newgrounds animator interested in doing a music video for me. I put out a plea here, asking anyone who had any interest to message me. Within 24 hours, Zeedox had taken the bait. I sent him my basic story idea, which revolved around a boy waking up Christmas Eve night from a series of shooting Comets outside his window, and went out on an epic space adventure with his favorite superhero. Greg instantly shot me back a fully scripted storyboard, and began working on background art and character concepts. It was an absolute trip...let me tell yah :)

We were shooting for a Christmas 2010 release, but Greg got wrapped up in a couple of other VERY AWESOME AND IMPORTANT projects. We put Project Comet aside and I got lost in my day job for the next year. About a month ago however, I was totally taken off guard to find out that Greg was back at work on the project and had gotten the epic help of JAZZA to work on all of the characters.

COMET is finished, and I couldn't be more excited right now. It's one of the coolest things I've ever been a part of, and Jazza/Zeedox deserve more respect and props from me then I could probably ever give them for their hard work. I hope you guys enjoy it, cause it's been so much fun to watch it get this far.

Cheers,
-Ryan

BUY Reasoner's Debut Album!

Hey Gang,

It seems like it's been ages since I put up a real post here. I still get a bit giddy seeing people purchase my album half a year after its release. You guys are awesome as usual.

My music has been extremely slow to produce these days, as I'm sure everyone has noticed. I've lost much of my drive when I first moved here (California) and the day job that I have now, has taken up some of my free time. Bills and Rent will always be due and as a result, my creative side has diminished.

I have no doubt it'll come back at some point though. It always does :) But for now, I hope you enjoy the album, the stuff on here, and check back from time to time. I'm still around....adulthood has just kept me out of the spotlight for a good long while.

-Ryan

"Prologue" has sold over 300 copies so far! I'd really like to thank all of you who decided to make the purchase right now. It's been great getting all the comments and support from all of you and only fuels my decision to keep pursuing future projects like this. Thanks you guys!!!!!!

BUY Reasoner's Debut Album!

BUY Reasoner's Debut Album!

*I'm putting out a new discussion once a week that goes over the inspiration and method for writing each track of "Prologue". I appreciate everyone whose already gone and bought this. Thanks a million!*

DON'T SLEEP

I never could think of any particularly memorable title for this song. I started it as just a piano improv that I was recording while talking to a friend online. Kind of what I usually do in the evening after a long, stressful day at work, but this one started to take off and have a life of its own. I stopped recording at some point and considered just adding some strings and calling it a day. But halfway through the recording, I started adding a steady tempo and instantly the mood changed. It goes from a solemn, introspective interlude into a driving, saddened plunge into anxiety.... complete with a fade out into distortion.

For those of you who don't know me, I tend to suffer from a sometimes severe case of anxiety. It's most noticable to myself at night when I'm attempting to sleep, and so the simple title of this song represents the troubled times I can have trying to have a peaceful 8 hours of rest. Plain and simple :)

-Ryan

"Prologue" on iTunes
"Prologue" on Amazon
"Prologue" on eMusic

BUY Reasoner's Debut Album!

*I'm putting out a new discussion once a week that goes over the inspiration and method for writing each track of "Prologue". I appreciate everyone whose already gone and bought this. Thanks a million!*

OVERTURE

"Overture" was an absolute nightmare to figure out. It had originally started out as a piano-centric piece and had been sitting on my hard drive unfinished for months while I worked on other ideas. I just couldn't figure out what in the world I was going to do with it. It had a grand, stringed intro complete with marimbas, strings, and all sorts of instruments that were all just competing with each other to have the spot light. In a word.....horrific. I knew I was just trying to hard to start the album off with a bang, and had ended up writing an epic piece of crap....so I ditched it.

About a month before I was set to finish the album, I pulled the track back up to chuckle at how ridiculous it sounded. That's when I realized it HAD to be the opening song. I spent a good two days at that point writing an ambient, mellow opening to it and cutting out all of the orchestral junk I had tried to throw in...minus the strings and the piano. Bingo. It was exactly what I wanted to hear.

This track was meant to give you, the listener, an opening glimpse at the kind of music I like to write. It's uplifting, otherworldly at times, but take you back home by the end of it to something that's trying to comfort you for the rest of the journey. I still smile sometimes when I listen to it at just how ridiculous it used to sound. Thankfully...you didn't hear that version ;)

-Ryan

"Prologue" on iTunes
"Prologue" on Amazon
"Prologue" on eMusic

Morning Everyone!

I'm happy to report that after over a year of pulling my hair out, "Prologue" is now available on the iTunes Music Store. You can purchase it by clicking on the link below, or by simply doing a search on "reasoner" from your search bar

"Prologue" on iTunes

For those of you who aren't a fan of iTunes, the album can also be purchased right now at Amazon MP3 and cdbaby.com! By buying it through CDBaby, you'll also be helping your favorite musician out by giving me a larger cut of the profits :)

"Prologue" on CDbaby.com
"Prologue" on Amazon

There's many other music stores that this will eventually become a part of..such as Napster, Rhapsody, Last.fm, EMusic, and Myspace Music. I'll do my best to update people who wish to check it out through one of those other stores once it becomes available.

Lastly, I'd like to again thank everyone who has been following me here through the years. It's been a great ride so far and I plan on continuing to release material for free here, as well as try to expand into other potentially profitable music venues. You guys rock!

-Ryan :)