Game Score Fanfare

Hello! YouTube are threatening to revoke partnership (monetisation) from channels that don't post regularly, so I figured it's time for a little update post.

I've been kept very busy with family and work! This year I decided I want to focus less on single projects that I pour all my time into, and instead just do a little bit more of everything. I've been streaming over on Twitch — I'm mitto_fanfare there, currently playing Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. I'm also now the primary video editor over at ‪@8bitMusicTheory‬!

In general I have been feeling less interested in making video essays. They require monumental amounts of work, and the platform isn't built in a way that makes such content very sustainable. But my passion still very much lies in online video, and I'm constantly thinking about how I can convert my personal brand of essay - thoughtful, emotional, and personal - into other forms of video. That doesn't mean I won't ever post here again! I still have essay ideas, and maybe I'll figure out something that I think would work really well as an evolution of GSF. When I say I want to do more of everything, that includes this channel!

For more regular updates, you can find me over on Twitter at mittopotahis. Hopefully I will see you there, or around here soon!


P.S. Triangle Strategy GOTY.

3 years ago | [YT] | 137

Game Score Fanfare

Hi all! I've started a new channel for thoughtful videos about music. It's called Mitto and the Fanfare. Here's the newest video, about High Violet by The National. Longer explanation below.

You may remember about 18 months ago I tried to introduce new types of videos to the channel. There were 3 videos about albums instead of video game music. I called the series "Teen Dream".

It was kinda a disaster, but not in the way you'd imagine. The videos did well - two of them are the top two performing on the channel from the past two years! But subscribers were not into them. I misjudged what you all might want from the channel, and that's on me. You'll notice these videos have been removed from the channel and are now on the new one.

What this mistake did was essentially kill the channel. When subscribers don't watch your videos, the YouTube algorithm stops showing the videos and recommending them to others. Things had been on a downward trend for years, but this accelerated things. Now when I make a video and game music that should do well, it flops worse than ever.

It's been stressful trying to revive the channel within the limited spare time I have, to no success. But making videos is how I find my creative fulfillment.

So I need to take a bit of an emotional and mental break from Game Score Fanfare. I still have lots of great ideas for the channel that I'd love to see through, but at the moment it's not really possible.

I've been piling up video ideas about albums for years and I need to get them out of my head. It's been really liberating not worrying about numbers going up and just creating for me.

If you are here because of those Teen Dream videos, or you just wanna watch whatever I make, then I will see you over at Mitto and the Fanfare! I'm also active on Twitter (mittopotahis) and have been streaming my foray into Final Fantasy XIV over on Twitch (mitto_fanfare). So even though the channel is taking a bit of a hiatus, the content machine is still very much churning.

But if I don't see you in any of those other places, I will see you when I am able to devote the space and energy to something here. I hope that's sooner rather than later.


Mitto.

4 years ago | [YT] | 34

Game Score Fanfare

Waiting for a new video? You're in luck! I got to contribute to this cool collaboration by ‪@Chariot_Rider‬ with a bunch of other great channels. We each picked a game to send out into space for aliens to discover. Give it a watch!

4 years ago | [YT] | 10

Game Score Fanfare

The Breath Mints.

4 years ago | [YT] | 20

Game Score Fanfare

Hello! I released a new video about the music of Streets of Rage the other day, but it totally bombed. YouTube tells me it's because a significant portion of my subscribers aren't watching it, so I was just wondering why!

4 years ago | [YT] | 39

Game Score Fanfare

Women pioneered video game music.

4 years ago | [YT] | 74

Game Score Fanfare

Would you like to see some shorts (1 minute videos) from me about video game music?

4 years ago | [YT] | 44

Game Score Fanfare

I've been needing an excuse to make one of these.

It's been, uhh... six months since my last video!? How did that happen? I've been busy working, suffering from creative burnout, and preparing to become a father which is definitely the coolest thing to ever happen to me. She's due in April!

But I have a thousand different scripts in the works right now and I've got a couples weeks off work, so I'm planning on uploading at least one for you. Surprise!

Which video on game music would you like to see most? If you want to see anything else that isn't on the list, comment down below! I hear there's another Bravely Default game out next month.

4 years ago | [YT] | 73

Game Score Fanfare

Hello! I had a lot of comments on my new video (linked below) regarding the name of the channel and what that means. It's time for an honest explanation as to what's going on.


For the uninitiated, I changed the channel name from "Game Score Fanfare" to just "Fanfare" in January to reflect the widening of scope that videos would be taking. It's now back to the original name.

To be honest, the new name never sat comfortably with me. I liked GSF! I liked that you could kinda tell what the channel was about just by its name. You couldn't do that with Fanfare. When people referred to the channel as Fanfare it just didn't feel right.


The bigger issue though is that I was constantly re-assessing why I made the decision I did and realised it may not have been the correct or fair decision.

I wanted to make Teen Dream because I felt trapped. I get this huge imposter syndrome making GSF, thinking that people view me as some kind of authority on video game music when I actually know very little about it - it's just a nice overlap of my interests and I do my research. I also get an inferiority complex with my lack of education in music theory, production, video game design, anything to do with the process of making VGM. So I wanted to morph the channel into something I was more comfortable with, that more accurately reflected who I was, and the most obvious way to do that was to introduce videos about albums I love.

Making TD videos has been incredibly liberating and I am super proud of all three of them so far. It's been so helpful making videos about a domain I feel much more at home in. But I've also been having this feeling that it's a bit disloyal to the channel to focus on them. I've realised that I don't want to make videos that maybe you might like; I want to make videos that excite you! 

Making TD has revealed to me that I've been approaching GSF in the wrong way. I've been trying to make GSF videos that other people would make, not that I would make. I've realised I can still lean into my strengths while making content about VGM. I can still make the content I want to make and you want to watch.


So this is a new season for GSF. My next video is going to be indicative of the content moving forward, its about Streets of Rage and the history of House music. I haven't felt this excited working on a video in a long time, it finally feels like I've figured out the direction the channel needs to go.

So that's why I changed the channel name back to Game Score Fanfare. Because I wanted to reinstate my commitment to making the kind of videos that you came here for. I'm sorry for the confusing mess!


As for what this means for other content: You will of course still get classic GSF episodes that focus more on story whenever that inspiration pops up. Teen Dream is still gonna happen whenever I feel like it, after Streets of Rage I have an idea about a certain besworded pop queen, but it's no longer the focus of this year. That felt unfair. 

As for Warriors of Leitmotif, I haven't forgotten about it! I just have so many other exciting ideas that I want to explore now. I still intend on finishing that series, you'll probably get the next episode in a few months. I don't want to fill the channel with pure Final Fantasy.

Speaking of which, you can check out the new video about Final Fantasy VII Remake below! I hope this post clears up things and has you excited for the future of the channel, because I definitely am. Thanks for sticking with me through this tumultuous time - many people didn't, but you did and that means a lot to me.



Mitto.

5 years ago (edited) | [YT] | 136

Game Score Fanfare

I had the honour of appearing in this wonderfully heartwarming video by ‪@LeonardoDaSidci‬ to talk about nostalgia and Final Fantasy VII Remake alongside some of my favourite creators. Give it a watch and hopefully it will tide you over until my own FF7 Remake video, dropping very soon!

5 years ago | [YT] | 26