SONG NAME: Scenes of an End
NICK: LadyInBlack
NAME: Sanna Korpela
AGE: 23
COUNTRY: Finland
VOCALS BY: Bane

YEARS TRACKING: approximately 4, my memory fails me
INSTRUMENTS PLAYED: Piano, keyboards
WHAT HARDWARE DO YOU USE TO CREATE YOUR MUSIC/SAMPLES? Not counting a microphone for vocals (which I don't even have myself but end up having someone bring one over), nothing except my trusty ol' hunk of junk PC. I track my songs using solely single note samples and do not record them myself. Save for perhaps the odd little sound effect rip from whatever digital source.
WHAT SOFTWARE DO YOU USE TO CREATE YOUR MUSIC/SAMPLES? The bulk of the material is simply tracked using ModPlug Tracker, with a plethora of added VST effects including but not limited to EQ, reverb, WarpVST, compressor, puncher... once the song is finished I write out a wave file and take it to Steinberg's WaveLab for some additional work to finalize it and encode it to MP3 format. Vocals are initially recorded with Creative's basic recorder and then edited in WaveLab as well before planting them into the mod file.
WHY DO YOU ENJOY TRACKING/MAKING MUSIC? It's a creative outlet just like any other. Some write, some paint, others make music... for me it's a way to empty out all the weird shit going on in my head. Could perhaps even call it therapeutic. Another good thing about it is the sense of accomplishment, when you outdo yourself it simply makes you feel good (temporarily). Last and perhaps most importantly, no other form of "art" or sensory entertainment seems to excite me quite like music does. And I simply HAVE to create something one way or another, can't help it.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE GENRE(S) OF MUSIC? I'm a melody freak, so that is usually the requirement... it can be a simple piano ballad, a folk drinking tune or outright death metal. I tend to lean towards various styles of melodic metal, excluding most power metal. Really hard to define. Big no-no's are all forms of rap/hip hop and dance music... the usual MTV material.
WHY IS IT YOUR FAVORITE GENRE OF MUSIC? It's the power of the contrasts. On one hand you have these melodies mostly in minor keys, some astoundingly beautiful and some just simple and effective. And on the other hand you usually have throat-ripping screaming or growling, blastbeating drums and heavy guitars. It makes for a whole that's both aggressive and beautiful at the same time.
WHAT PART OF MAKING MUSIC DO YOU FEEL YOU DO BEST? Definitely not singing! Can't be the sound production area either... and lately I've also come to the conclusion that my lyrics suck more than they used to. So what's left? Perhaps the general composition/arrangement area. I get the occasional moment when I'm proud of some weird song structure transition I come up with.
WHAT PART OF MAKING MUSIC DO YOU FEEL YOU NEED TO IMPROVE ON? General production and sound quality seems to always be lacking... wouldn't hurt to learn how to carry a tune either *hack* *wheeze* *cough*