October 2022 Q&A

Transcript

Hi Moonbeams and welcome to October 2022's Q&A. First things first, let's start with the elephant in the room. Why has content been so sparse in October this year? Well a lot of you already know the reason, which is that on October 1st I moved to a new home.

I only moved about 5-10 minutes away from where I was previously. The reason is I wanted a little bit bigger of a place and I was also able to get a good deal on the rent. They wanted to raise the rent on my previous home and I was able to negotiate a lower rent price for this place than what they wanted to make my rent at the old place.

So pay less than I was going to have to pay plus get a bigger place. Awesome! Well the problem was when I moved in here, the property manager, there were just a few things I'd ask for.

I'd ask for a shrub that was overhanging in the garage to be pruned back. I'd ask for some broken door stops to be replaced. There was a washing machine here already and I asked for that to be removed because I already have one.

And I asked, and this is the most important, I asked for the place to be professionally deep cleaned. And I was assured it would all be done. Well, apparently the place got a very, very superficial, like the most superficial of superficial cleans.

Someone came and vacuumed most of the carpet. They skipped the stairs entirely. And then the property manager came through and she greenlit the whole thing.

She's like, yeah, it looks great. Well, it was far from great. There was rust on stainless steel.

There was filthy wire shelving all over the place. Like I didn't want to put my food on the wire shelving in the pantry. I didn't want to put my clothes up in the closet.

It was so bad. I own a carpet shampoo. I started shampooing the carpets and the water was just coming out black.

I mean, it was disgusting. There was just a whole, I mean, marks on the walls and all sorts of the brackets that held up the wire shelving in the pantry were broken like a lot of them. So I couldn't have even put food on those shelves because it would just like broken the one remaining clip, holding the thing up, you know, the one remaining clip out of three that are supposed to be there.

And so, and I work a full time job in addition to, you know, responsibilities with family and community and friends and recording and, you know, and just trying to live a normal life. And so after I moved in here, it was, you know, I moved in on a Saturday and it was right back to work on Monday. And I have been cleaning like a fiend as much as I possibly can.

And the major fires have been put out. There is some work that still needs to be done on the oven, which looks like a grease bomb went off in there, but I managed to get most of it clean. I still got to do the top and the back of it.

And that's really the only major fire that still remains to be put out. And then it's just a matter of continuing to unpack. I mean, I wasn't even able to unpack a lot of things for a long time because the storage spaces were all just atrocious and it was bad enough.

The situation was bad enough. I got the maintenance guys out here to fix some stuff, including, for example, in my refrigerator, one of the crisper drawers. It's supposed to have a glass top that serves as the bottom shelf of the fridge.

Well, that glass top was missing. And the property manager told me that she had accidentally broken it while she was cleaning the fridge. And it's like, and you didn't think maybe you needed to get on that and get that replaced? Because part of the guarantee from the landlord is that I have working appliances in good condition.

And there was also one of the bins that goes on the door of the fridge. They're adjustable, they're removable. There were supposed to be four, there were only three.

It's like, I'm missing a whole shelf and a bin for the fridge. So I don't even have all the space I need to put my food. And so, anyway, I got the maintenance guys over here and they were talking to me.

And apparently I was maybe the fifth or sixth tenant who'd had problems with this property manager. And it was bad enough. I think that the experience of my move was the final straw for the property management company because they let her go.

And while I am sorry to see anyone lose their job, I didn't specifically demand that she be terminated or anything. But, and while I'm sorry to see anyone lose their employment, she definitely was not doing her job. And it sounds like it was the final straw.

I was the fifth or sixth who'd had problems with her. So anyway, it took a while to get everything set up and to get my recording space set up. And the, where I'm recording now is the closet in one of the extra bedrooms.

One of the extra bedrooms here has become my office. And I'm in the closet of that room. It's a much smaller closet than the one that I used to record in.

So we're going to see how this works. I've got acoustic paneling up on the walls. I've got some clothing in here that I don't wear frequently.

And I have a fleece blanket hanging over the inside of the door here. So in the comments, why don't you weigh in? Let me know what you think of the sound quality.

Hopefully it's not going to be too different from where I was recording previously. I know that was really a great setup for home recording. So please let me know what you think of the sound quality in here.

The most recent public audio, the stalker one, I did not record on in my recording space. I was actually out of town on a business trip last week. And I recorded that one on my phone in a hotel room.

So, but you know, it worked out because I was like, well, you know, it's going to sound like it's, you know, on the phone and, hey, it was on the phone. And I did add a phone filter to it in Nectar 3, you know, and drop that down to a low level to really kind of amplify the phone effect. But in any event, this is the first time I'm recording something that you're going to hear.

I actually recorded the next courtship series entry in here before my business trip, but I haven't finished editing it yet. So this is the first thing you're going to hear that was recorded in the new space. So please in the comments, go in there or shoot me messages through the Patreon platform or on discord if you're on there.

But let me know what you think of the sound quality. And if I need to tweak it a little bit to try to get some, I feel like there's a little bit more echo or a little bit more reverb here in this space than there was in the old one. I don't know if it's a problem, so please let me know.

Anyway, on to the questions. Jake Willen starts out. She says, Hey there, I was listening to one of your early Q&A's recently where someone asked about your strengths and weaknesses.

You mentioned that self-confidence, especially with your voice was a weakness. Now that you've been doing voice work for a while, would you say that has gotten better? If it has gotten better, do you still consider it a weakness? And then there's a very sweet compliment here.

Let me read this. Oh, this is very sweet. Thank you.

Thank you so much. I really appreciate this. And I really appreciate the script that you wrote and sent me and the patience that you had with how long it took me to fill it.

And I'm glad you liked the final result there. But thank you for this very sweet feedback. Answering your question, yes and no, in terms of whether it's gotten better.

Yes, I have more confidence that my voice is soothing, that it's pleasant to listen to. I think that I do a pretty good job of doing my voice acting. I actually received some compliments from another voice artist recently, Safe in Her Arms Audio, who I did a collab with last month.

She was convinced that I do voice acting professionally and was very very pleasantly surprised to find out that I'm 100% amateur recording in my home studio. And I've never done any other voice acting work apart from this. The last acting experience I had was theater stuff in high school.

Anyway, so I've gotten a lot more confident in my voice and in my ability as a voice actor. That said, I'm always a little bit intimidated when I sit down and there's just a little bit of jitters. And you wouldn't think that that would really be a problem since I'm recording in the privacy of my home and I can just delete anything that I don't like.

But yeah, I do get some nervous jitters anytime I'm going to sit down and record. Yamakun says, hey Matt, congrats on the new house and I hope you're doing well. One, what is your favorite candy? Right now mine is the Pink Mini Starburst.

I am very partial to peanut M&Ms, very partial to Sour Patch Kids. I like Red Vines. I like Dark Chocolate.

There's a lot of really good candy that I like and there's this one that I got from the vending machines at work. I call it Spanish candy. It's these long, well, Cativa, the reason I call it Spanish candy is because it says right on the package.

It's a Haribo product, but it says made in Spain. And Cativa, who is my partner in audio creation, I asked her about it because she lives in Spain. And she said, oh yeah, that's a thing we have there called Lenguas, which means tongues.

And she's not had the specific Haribo ones that I found at work, but apparently it's something they sell at their little convenience stores they got there. And they're sour and they're yummy. And so I really, really like quote unquote Spanish candy.

In terms of favorite candy, favorite one candy, I'm going to cheat a little bit and not give you a specific type of candy, but a flavor. I love green apple candy. Love it.

Love it. Love it. Number two, do you like any cop shows like NCIS, NYPD Blue, or Law and Order? You know, I've been known to watch some Law and Order in my day.

I really like, I don't know, I don't know, but I really like the show Person of Interest and the show Burn Notice, both of which deal with ex-special ops guys who investigate stuff and help people out. And so those are kind of cop because it's, you know, they may not be like the literal cops, but, you know, it's good guys going after bad guys kind of thing. So I dig those quite a bit.

And always, you know, the TV show Cops is a hit and just watch the lowest common denominator get into trouble with the law. Sorry if any of you have been featured as, you know, a potential suspect or perpetrator on Cops. I'm not trying to throw shade there.

Just saying, it seems like there's a lot of folks that show up on that show that you're like, well, yeah, no wonder you have problems with the cops. Like no, nobody out the time of night you are doing the kind of thing you're doing is ever up to any good. So, you know, I'm sure you got into this fistfight in the street, minding your own business.

Absolutely. So number three, did you like the newest Batman movie? Do you think Robert did a good job? I did like it.

It was a little bit longer than I would have wanted it to be. Although I was really surprised to find out it was about the same length as Batman Begins, if I recall correctly, which I love and didn't have any issues with. Maybe it was the pacing of the new one that threw me off a little bit.

I thought Robert Pattinson did a really good job. I was not expecting that from him. I have not seen any of the Twilight movies.

They just didn't interest me. But, you know, I think he kind of got typecast in a lot of people's minds as being, what's his name? Oh, the vampire.

I don't know. I don't watch Twilight. Don't read it.

Don't care. Whichever the vampire, his character is. And you're going to tell me, Thomas, I know.

But I think that a lot of people in their mind, that was who he was. And it was really, I thought he did a really good job. I don't know.

I guess as a vampire, he probably brooded a lot. I don't know. And you have to brood as Batman.

So maybe it's just kind of porting over a lot of the same qualities from his character in Twilight. I don't know. You'll have to tell me what you think.

For what is your favorite style of house, like Victorian, modern or rustic? I really don't have a personal favorite in terms of those things. Definitely.

I grew up in a contemporary suburban home that was built in the in the 1980s. The home I live in now was built in the 90s. And my last one was built in the early 2000s or mid 2000s.

And just kind of the contemporary suburban house is what I've spent most of my life in and comfortable with. And, you know, as long as I can make it cozy, that's what I'm after. Luna Castro asks, do you like horror movies? If so, what is the best Halloween slash horror movie you have ever watched? I do like them, even though they scare the living crap out of me.

Probably the best one I've ever watched. I'm going to cheat here and go with a series on Netflix. Mike Flanagan is just one hell of an incredible director.

And he also did The Haunting of Bly Manor, which was also legit haunting, just like Hill House was very different, very different pacing, tone, premise. And he also did Midnight Mass, which was also legit haunting, just like Hill House was very different, very different pacing, tone, premise. And he also did Midnight Mass, which is about vampires.

And first off, the man is not afraid to have a really slow developing story with a lot of dialogue. And I think he's just really an outstandingly talented director. And if you haven't watched The Haunting of Hill House, watch it, but be prepared to be spooked.

It's pretty scary, at least to me. And I'm a wimp. Most recent one I watched was a French one on Netflix called Marianne.

It's eight episodes. And that was about a witch. And it was also quite spooky.

Caroline asks, what's the hardest thing you've had to build? Well, a few years ago, I built a shed. And bought the it was a kit that I bought from Costco.

But when I say kit, it was lumber, it was all already cut to the right lengths, and angles. But apart from that, I mean, it was a construction project, I had to frame the thing, I had to build it from the ground up, and I had to roof it and paint it. And it was it was a real project.

What song is stuck in your head right now? No song is stuck in my head right now. And I would like to keep it that way.

I have a problem with songs getting stuck in my head. And when they get in there, I can have a really, really difficult time getting them out. And then what type of what type of exercise do you like to do? I like to lift.

And I like to do the stair climber a lot. And I just noticed on these questions, I thought that Jake will end stuff was right. It was first, it turns out it started me out at the bottom.

There are ones above there. So let's go up to the top here. Simp Nation says, Hey, Matt, I hope things are going well for you.

I was wondering, what is your favorite audio you've made? Mine is slow dancing by the candlelight, an old one, but it puts me at ease when it is when things get stressful. I have several audios that I'm pretty proud of.

Drop my phone. There it is. Okay.

I have several audios that I'm very proud of. One second. One second.

What is happening here? Okay. So my, I have several that I'm very proud of.

Probably the one I'm most proud of for technical reasons and audio effect reasons is the dragon one. What's that one called? So far, so good.

So far, so good. As far as other ones, you know, I really like the slow dancing by candlelight. I really like that one.

I think it's one of my favorites. Gosh, I have to think. I really like the slow dancing by the candlelight.

The will you marry me one? I thought I did a good job with that. I'm pretty proud of that.

Yeah. I've made a lot of audios, haven't I? I mean, nowhere near the number that Cardlin has made, but I've made a lot.

I have to go back through and look at them and try to go down. Well, not try, just go down memory lane a little bit. And then one more question.

Can you tell us an embarrassing Halloween story? I really don't have any embarrassing Halloween stories, but I can tell you an embarrassing story from close to Halloween. One time when I was in high school, I went on a date, a double date.

And for some reason, because we were high school students, we decided it'd be really funny to go toilet paper someone's house. And we chose this kid that actually lived directly across the street from my house. And in.