I remember walking on a long sidewalk across Long Beach, listening to music, when I finally admitted to myself that I wanted to become a music maker. It felt euphoric, and I wasted no time proudly proclaiming to friends and family, much to their surprise, that this would be my new pursuit. Having just completed the MSSA (Microsoft Software and Systems Academy) course, with the intention of transitioning out of the Marines as a Software Engineer, it probably seemed as if I was lost in the sauce (true). But identity can be hard to refine, especially when the world around you is constantly changing. I can look back to when I was a kid, reading Maximum PC issues and learning batch to make text-based adventure games, and appreciate that I wanted to develop software as a career. Plus, it also just happens to make close to six-figure salary entry level. While I was in the Marines, though, I got a reality check on what a career actually looks like. In short, my desire to program didn't meet the demand required of programmers today. Also, music is cool! Wouldn't it be cool to get to make a living from that? (Spoiler: there's a lot of nuance there too). I'll write more about this somewhere else, but at this moment, I was really excited to explore this path more.

Once the high wore off, I started to have a lot of questions. "How do I actually get started? What do I do next?" It was hard to make sense of what my goals would be, but I had enough to get started. Years earlier, I danced around the idea of making electronic music, which led to me getting a MIDI keyboard (think of a piano game controller/computer input device), and that came with a free version of Ableton Live. I didn't take the idea further then, but was able to benefit from that attempt now. Here, I present to you the earliest project I have saved.

At the time, I remember being kinda frustrated and upset at how difficult it was to accurately express what I wanted to at my level. Looking back, though, it's funny hearing my early work and thinking about how stressed I was. I wish I had tried to express in writing what I wanted to accomplish, but I remember a lot of it was me looking through different presets in stock Ableton and in the free plugins Native Instruments offers. Totally valid way to just dip your feet in the water and experiment. Perhaps after a little over a month and a half of doing this, I would have a real banger on my hands?

Not quite lol. I will say this project has a clear tone that's conveyed, but it doesn't have a lot of depth and development. What I couldn't see through frustration then is how important it was to continue trying to express myself. The more I opened up the software and put in effort, the easier it became to get thoughts out of my head. Have a look at this project about two weeks later.

This was a significant point in my journey, as I could accurately say I was proud of something I created. If you are not familiar with Drum and Bass as an electronic music genre, you gotta check it out! Back in 2015, as a freshman/sophomore in high school, I was dancing along to Monstercat artists like Bustre, Feint, and Rameses B. I also gotta shout out Liquicity for showcasing some awesome talent. As I continued making music, I started to piece together more and more of myself. I realized that the music I loved years ago had planted the seeds that eventually grew into my drive to create music, despite initially being disregarded instead of nurtured. In addition, I was starting to make real progress in developing my ideas. You'll notice that even though it's still a small musical loop, I gave each section more space and created change over time.

In this time frame, I decided to enroll in college online for Music Production with Full Sail University while continuing to pursue a career developing software. Mid-January of 2023, I landed my first job after the Marines. Moving out of my parents' house again for bigger plans, I stopped my habit of making short music loops in Ableton. This is the last project I have saved from this era.

I wanted to share these early projects of mine because of their imperfections. And, in combination with my other work, to show a timeline of growth as authentically as I can. If I could go back and give myself advice, I would say to try and remember to have fun! To live life in the present instead of viewing everything as a necessary grind to be more capable tomorrow. There was no way to shortcut my mistakes and different phases of life, and I hope to showcase some of those as I continue to upload different projects leading up to where I am now. Thanks for reading and checking out my work! I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.

Check out the next project in the timeline here! (Nothing here yet, standby)

Have any comments, questions, or just want to chat? Email me at jackson.h.nordberg@outlook.com