Welcome to the Void
My name is James, aka Phantom Watcher. I’m a composer of video game music and sound effect designer. You can occasionally catch my on Twitch streaming video games or music composition. I hope you stick around!
Work
Here are some of the projects I've worked on! This will get updated the more I produce.
Music
Sound Design
Bio
Hey there! My name is James aka PhantomWatcher. I stream over on Twitch occasionally and I compose music, sound design, build websites, run social media pages, and many more things.
I found my calling to music at an early age thanks in part to the wonderful teachers I've had throughout my time in school. I began focusing more into the production side of things when I discovered the Recording Workshop in Massieville, Ohio. My time there opened my eyes to a whole other world of music: one focused on the creation of the music we listen to on the radio every single day. Since then, I haven't looked back. I went on to study at Capital University and the rest is history.
Reflection:
8/31/25
TL:DR - I DO NOT CONDONE THE USE OF AI IN ANY PROJECTS GOING FORWARD! It takes away from the soul or passion put into a project and makes the world that much more dull.
Hey there everyone. I just wanted to make it known my thoughts on generative AI in general as this project used AI-generated images and AI-generated video. As someone who is an musician and an artist, I can comfortably say that I have not used any AI generated content since completing this project. I do not think using generative AI in any type of media is healthy for the industry and the world at large. After having worked in multiple different fields since graduating from Capital, I've noticed many different corporations using generative AI in advertisements, video games, social media posts, and completely AI generated music. This has made me conflicted about even have done this project. Seeing all these different major corporations cutting out the human from the creative process just makes me wonder if I will even have a job in the future.
I'm not going to be all doom and gloom about the state of the world, though. After seeing all of this AI in the world, I've made the conscious decision to not use any type of AI in any projects going forward. If I had the funding to commission artists to make these images, I would have done so in a heartbeat. This does not excuse me using them in this project. This project was more of a proof of concept for the physical aspect of having media stored on an NFC card to share with people. I could also go on and on about my thoughts on large language model AI like ChatGPT or whichever language model every single tech company is shoving down our throats, but that could be another post entirely if I choose to make it. I just wanted to get this off of my chest as it's been in the back of my mind since finishing this project. Thank you for reading!
Post #9
02/25/24
It is done. The images have been fully sound designed, the NFC cards have been programmed, and the videos have been uploaded to YouTube. The link to a playlist of all of them are available below. I also have created a document for you all to follow so you can create your own NFC business cards like I have.
Post #8
02/23/24
We are almost finished with the project. I just have to make new videos for the updated sound effects and eventually print the NFC cards I have.
Post #7
02/14/24
I was originally going to post another Google Drive link, but I found out I can directly upload videos here. Here are all the images I have chosen to sound design out of the batch of images made. I hope to turn these into a distributable item with an NFC card. They will be limited run, but they will be physical manifestations of the creatures themselves! I'll keep you all updated on the progress of those. For now, here are the videos! Apologies if the last video doesn't work. YouTube decided that one was a short.
Post #6
02/13/24
I'm back. I have taken the time to grieve my loss. Thank you to those who know me and reached out to me. In terms of progress, I plan to get the rest of the images sound designed and have a video of the images moving done by tomorrow.
Post #5
02/08/24
Hey there. I'm just posting here to say that I've had to slow down on the production of this project because of a death in the family. I will be taking some time to grieve before I can get back to this.
Post #4
02/06/24
So, turns out there are some AI out there that can animate images that you put into them. I wasn't aware of that, so I'm now going to try and add this element to my final results for this project. I'll have a proof of concept here once I figure out how to use it.
Post #3
02/02/24
Here are the images that I have generated! They are linked in a Google Drive here. These were generated with the AI Midjourney and Dall-E 3. I will be picking from four of these images to sound design.
Post #2
01/30/24
We have finished generating the images that I will be using for this project. I will post the images very soon. I just want to run the images with my professor to make sure they have his seal of approval before we start sound designing them!
Post #1
01/16/24
We’ve started our Senior Capstone project. We just got our topic approved yesterday and we’re going to get started here soon. The project? Sound-designing AI-generated images!
Post #10
05/07/24
Apologies for not posting here as often as I should have. I just wanted to say that I have finished my time with Old Hat Productions, but I will still be working with Basic Finch Studios for the next month or so. It's been a blast to work with these guys on the game and I feel like I've grown a lot over these past months. I'm going out and looking for other jobs in the industry. I hope I am able to land something!
Post #9
04/17/24
With the lesser amount of time I'm spending per day on the project, I was worried I wasn't going to get enough hours for the project. I then double checked how many I needed and we're pretty close to hitting it. I'm very excited to continue working on this piece and post it if I am allowed. More to come soon!
Post #8
04/10/24
I think I need a break lol. I've been working about 7 hours a day these past couple of weeks on just this song and I can't seem to get it right. I might need to step back for a moment and take a minute to myself. Try and catch the burnout before it happens.
Post # 7
04/03/24
I have been grinding this song since the last time I posted and we've had some up and downs. The drive to compose is still very strong, but I can't seem to get the feel of what the team wants. I've been through a few revisions and I think I'm finally on the right track.
Post #6
03/27/24
We got assigned a really cool project! I actually get to flex my composition skills a little bit. I was tasked with working on some music for the game Basic Finch Studios is currently working on. I can't disclose anything other than that as the game is still under development. I've been researching other boss themes of a similar nature and I should be able to make something great.
Post #5
03/20/24
An update: We're kind of vibing here at Basic Finch Studios. Everyone here is super chill and I've been asked to scribe some notes here soon for a meeting. Looking forward to that!. Not much else to really report on. Check back in soon!
Post #4
03/14/24
After hard focusing on Basic Finch Studios work for the last week, it's about time I got to finishing the loops I got from Trey. I just got out of the studio now as a matter of fact. The first song's loops have been created and will be sent out later tonight or tomorrow morning. (Probably the latter than the former.) I am still looking for an in-person internship and most of my responses have either been, "We're not accepting interns at this current time," or just a simple no. Still hoping out that I land something!
Post #3
03/06/24
Well, turns out having connections pays off after all. I just landed an internship position at a video game studio called Basic Finch Studios located in Texas in their sound department. From what I read in our conversations, I will also be assisting with other branches, such as marketing and story writing. It's always been a goal of mine to work for a game studio and help produce a video game, so getting that phone call on Sunday was very exciting. I just got out of my second meeting with them and everyone there is wonderful to work with. I cannot wait to continue!
Post #2
02/28/24
Not much has changed to the workflow here. I've been finishing up my classes here at Capital University and I've been looking forward to this break for quite a while. I've been needing the break. We're about halfway through the first song for the producer and I will hopefully get it finished within the coming week. I'm not sure if I am able to post anything related to the project I'm working on, but I will ask and see.
Post #1
02/21/24
Today was the first day working for my internship hours. I am currently working with a producer out of Nashville named Trey Bruce who is having me create some audio loops to later upload. He's given me two songs so far and possibly a third one on the way. I'm still looking for an in-person position at a studio, but I will hopefully hear back from someone hear soon.
Setup
Here's the list of what I use for streaming on Twitch. You can catch me live at the link above.
Microphone: SM7B/HyperX Quadcast S
Interface: Scarlett 2i2
Headphones: Audio Technica ATH-M50x
Computer Specs: 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700, 16 GB RAM, GeForce RTX 3070
Capture Card: Elgato HD60S
Contact
Want to know when I go live?
Do I fit the sound of your next project?
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