Extending the Year of Sinnoh? (Patreon)

Hey Patrons! I’ve got a big decision coming up regarding the channel, and I’d like your opinion if you’ve got the time. 

I am currently considering expanding the length of the Year of Sinnoh. The vision of the Year of Sinnoh album is to create the best Pokémon Diamond, Pearl & Platinum tribute project that I can in the most complete scope possible. My goal is not to arrange every song from the soundtrack - rather, it is to arrange enough of the soundtrack to complete an album that, in the end, tells a complete story of the Sinnoh region. This means that I’d like to arrange all the significant battle themes and area themes in the Sinnoh region and include them in the album. As of now, the Year of Sinnoh is set to release on September 8th 2020. However, looking at all the tracks that I have yet to complete to tell the story as well as I’d like, I am considering extend my self-imposed deadline to the end of 2020 to allow more time for myself to finish and perfect them. 

Another reason I’m currently looking to extend my own deadline is my current living situation. I am currently living in a one-bedroom apartment in Boston, the same place I was when I was attending Berklee. Unfortunately, I can only make music during certain hours in this apartment, and even with clarifying to my neighbors the hours that I’m going to be playing during the day, there’s still a psychological weight that enters my head of my neighbors having to listen to me record saxophone parts over and over again, haha. For this reason, I’ve been considering moving back home to my parent’s house in the Seattle area. Making this move during the time of a global pandemic would be inconvenient, but I see no better option moving forward for me - it’ll enable me to be able to create music much more freely, and also end the struggles of isolation that I feel being here in my apartment by myself during these times. This factors greatly into the Year of Sinnoh timeline: If I stick to my original date of September 8th for release, I’ll have to submit all my tracks for distribution by August 8th. It wouldn’t make sense for me to move across the country and set up all my gear before that August 8th deadline. However, if I choose to release December-ish, that pushes back the submission date to November-ish, which would enable me to complete my cross-country move sooner, which I think would be best for my health and happiness, as well as my parents. 

I should acknowledge some of the negatives of extending the Year of Sinnoh deadline: First and foremost, this project is called the Year of Sinnoh, and while some people have misinterpreted what that Year meant, the intention was to do as much as I could within that time frame, and force myself to release an end product - something I struggle with sometimes, especially with projects as large as a scope as this one. Additionally, I do worry that it could upset people who have been waiting for me to cover non-Sinnoh music for a while, but this isn’t a huge concern of mine. I also do worry that even with this extension, I wouldn’t be able to get enough of the music done that I would like, and the extension would sort of be in vain. 

After writing this and considering my options, I think the best move for my personal health and for the quality of the end product would be to extend my deadline and complete my move sooner than I planned. I’m curious to hear what you guys have to say about this choice, and perhaps highlight any benefits / drawbacks that I haven’t thought of as of yet. 

Thanks for reading this, all!