Welcome! I’m Mike Mason, and this is the home of my music, videos, and creative projects—including a few that are still taking shape.
If you’ve arrived through one of my channels, a piece of music, or a project I’ve shared, you’ve probably seen one part of what I do. This site brings those pieces together. It’s a place to explore what I make and follow the ideas that connect it all.
For this first post, I thought I’d open the door and show you around.
Start with the music
Music is at the heart of the studio. I release it as Midnight Willow and Liminal Dusk, each with its own sound and atmosphere.
Midnight Willow is the piano-forward side: ambient and neoclassical music with melody at the center and a quieter atmosphere around it. It’s music for reflection and solitary listening, whether you’re giving it your full attention or letting it accompany a slow evening.
Liminal Dusk leans further into atmosphere. It’s minimal, textural, and spacious—less about a melody taking the lead and more about creating a quiet space for your mind to settle, with layers of sound that ease you into sleep or help you unwind. You’ll also hear that music in some of my channels, including a few select tracks from Midnight Willow where appropriate.
They’re distinct corners of the same musical world. If you’d like to listen, the Music page is a good starting point. You’ll find links to explore each artist, and Bandcamp is my preferred way for listeners to support the music directly.
Find somewhere to settle in
The Channels page brings together the video side of the studio. Much of it is built around relaxation, sleep, and focus, but each channel approaches those things differently.
PatioScapes offers calming scenic views and natural sound design: somewhere to settle in while you work, unwind, or rest.
DreamScapes Sanctuary takes a more surreal route, with sleep-friendly storytelling through impossible landscapes, liminal spaces, and dream logic.
I’m also exploring other channel concepts for sleep and relaxation, bringing together music, imagery, and sound to create new places to visit and unwind.
Then there’s The Creator’s Workbench. I’d like it to become a place to share the process behind the work: music production, 3D art, world-building, cartography, storytelling, and game development.
Step up to the Workbench
The Workbench (TCW) is where I will be sharing my projects as they take shape. Some involve code; others explore tabletop games (and potentially video games) or world-building that may eventually span several formats.
Among them are Solarverse, an interactive gallery of fantasy planets that I’m also exploring as the basis for a game, and HexCraft, a tool for creating hex-grid tabletop maps for TTRPG enthusiasts. I’m also developing tabletop game ideas, from dungeon-crawling adventures to card games.
These projects are works in progress. The Workbench offers a glimpse of what I’m exploring, building, and refining, and it will evolve alongside the work. Some projects may be shelved, while others move forward. If something catches your eye, I’d love to hear from you. Your support and encouragement can help a project move forward when it might otherwise be set aside. Questions and ideas are always welcome!
A small doorway into the engineering side
By day, I’m a full-stack software engineer. That work has its own home at dev.mikemason.studio, where you can explore my professional experience and some experimental tools.
There’s overlap—especially when code becomes a way to make something creative—but the two sites have different purposes. This one is the studio. The other is my engineering portfolio.
What this blog is for
The site gives the work a home. This blog gives me room to talk about it.
I plan to share the stories behind music and videos, updates from projects in progress, and closer looks at the tools and decisions involved in making them. Sometimes that may be a release announcement. Other times, it may be a walkthrough, an experiment, or something I learned along the way.
You don’t need to follow every part of it. If you’re here for the music, start there. If atmospheric videos are more your thing, explore the channels. If you like maps, games, and the making of imaginary worlds, pull up a chair at the Workbench.
Thanks for stopping by. I’m glad you’re here.
P.S. There are a few little surprises tucked around the site. Take your time, look a little closer, and see what you stumble across—not everything reveals itself right away.