About

About Me

My name is Timmie, but online I go by DDRKirby(ISQ)! You can use he/she/him/her pronouns to refer to me -- both sets are fine. I'm most well known for my music and games, but I have an assortment of other random hobbies as well, many of which are featured here on this site. I'm a programmer by trade, but pretty much everything you see here on this site is independent work I've done just for fun!

You can also see my "Profile" for more links, stats, and other random info.

About This Site

This is the 3rd incarnation of "DDRKirby(ISQ)'s Site o' Stuff", intended to be the central home base for info on everything that I do and links to my other sites and pages. It's also the first version that I've coded up myself, using html, css, and jquery! The site is currently hosted on Amazon S3, with domain name registration through Google Domains.

The mission of this site is to be chock-full of content and to provide you with a place where you can explore and learn about new things. I'd like it to serve as a herald back to a bygone era of the internet where websites were more about providing raw content and writing rather than just a bunch of pretty designs surrounding an echo chamber where "what's hot" permeates the media channels. Websites should be like homes, I feel like...they should tell stories and keep you company! So make yourself comfortable, and have fun!

Contact

If you have a personal question, want to give some general feedback, find an issue with the site, or just want to say hi, feel free to shoot me an email at ddrkirby@gmail.com!

You can also say hi to me on Twitter or via Facebook, if you'd like.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I download your music?

All of my officially-released music is available for download at my Bandcamp site.

Can I use your music for my video/stream/game/other project?

Probably! Please click here for my Music Licensing and Commissions form!

I want you to write music for my project. Do you do music commissions?

Sometimes! This is handled through the same form as above, so click here to use that.

How did you come up with your alias and what the heck does "ISQ" mean?

As you can probably guess, "DDRKirby" came naturally from putting DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) together with Kirby, from the Kirby games. Kirby was by far my favorite video game character while I was growing up and I still fondly remember doodling all sorts of Kirby-related drawings and adventures as a child. As for DDR, it made a big impact on me when I was first introduced to it in the way that it blended together two of my favorite things -- video games and music! Believe it or not, that was actually the first time that I ever got into non-chiptune music as well...

So I had "DDRKirby" which seemed cool enough, but I was worried that it wasn't going to be globally unique -- I really wanted an alias that no one else would share, so that I could be searched for uniquely. (Indeed, back in the day there was another search hit for DDRKirby that rivaled mine) Keep in mind that I had no idea at that time what kind of internet clout or reputation I would eventually achieve through my music, games, etc. -- I figured I was just going to be some random nobody with a few small webpages to themself.

And that's where "ISQ" came in! The true origin of "ISQ" is that it actually stands for "Io Squad", which is a old crossover fanfic universe originally designed by my brother. But since that's not exactly the most relevant thing anymore, "ISQ" has basically just become those three random letters at the end of my alias that makes it unique (hence, the parentheses). I'll have to admit it's not the best alias, but it's the one I've got and I'm hanging onto it!

How do you make your music?

My DAW of choice is FL Studio and 99% of my music is made in FL. My workhorse synth is FL's simple yet amazing built-in 3xOsc synth, though of course I have a toolkit of other VSTs and instruments that I use as well. I have some formal training in music and composition, but when I'm producing I mostly just do things by ear and via intuition/practice. For a better picture of how I compose, check out my "making of" videos on YouTube, where you can watch my process on video!

How do you make your games?

I currently use Godot Engine for most of my games, though I have some older projects developed using Unity and well as some legacy games that were built using older frameworks (RIP Flash...).

Do you have any advice for aspiring composers and/or game programmers?

For composers:

First, try to find a DAW or other program that works for you and the music you want to make. This could be anything from FL Studio, Reason, Cubase, Ableton Live, Reaper, all the way down to the opposite end of the spectrum with FamiTracker, LSDJ, Renoise, Modplug Tracker, etc. Some of these programs are free; others have fully-functional demos that you can try out. Try to explore the interface and see if it makes sense for you. Play with the built-in synths. Explore the included demo songs.

Next, learn your way around the program. What do all the knobs do? What are the different instruments and effects? A great way to do this is to explore the included demo projects and see how they work.

Finally, have fun and start practicing! Once you're past the beginning phases, one thing that can help immensely is to get into the habit of practicing regularly. My own production skills were forged mainly over a couple of years doing One Hour Compo, so I can vouch for the effectiveness of regular practice.

If you're a more experienced producer who needs some advice, feel free to ask me personally. =)

For game programmers:

It's mostly the same thing, to be honest. First select a language and framework that you both like and that fits your needs. Do your research! There are so many different ways to make games nowadays, some of which don't even require "coding"! Godot, GameMaker, Construct, RPGMaker, Unity, HaxeFlixel, HaxePunk, Love2D, FlashPunk, Flixel, SDL, the list goes on and on...

All the usual advice about making games applies. (Make small games, work to your strengths and limitations, etc.) A lot of people will mention that you should make your first few games extremely small. I think that is excellent advice if you plan on completing those games 100%, but to be perfectly honest, you should probably just work on whatever gets you motivated to learn even if you don't finish it. You will learn a lot along the way; there's no way to get everything right the first time.