Spc1st

Well, have you tried Ubuntu Studios? It's not exactly a DAW in that it's actually a collection of various media creation software bundled into a Ubuntu build (supposedly optimized to run them).

Don't think I'll have time to update this weekend, but can I get some comments on the last WIP, please?

Certainly sounds amazing as anything from Project Sam so far. Unfortunately, the price tag is a rather too much for me as a hobby purchase, but it definitely sounds like a worthwhile purchase investment for pros.

Here's another update, which mostly extended both Ilia's and Midna's sections. I'm not completely happy with the latter, however, as it turned out a bit too abstract. But it'll do for now until I can come up with something better ;P.

Not too bad of a start I think, but it feels like you could do more with it. The acid bass thing you got going on sounds pretty cool, and the drums are pretty solid too. The lead, however, feels kind of tame in comparison - right now I don't think it matches the energy levels of the other instruments very well. Also, some of the transitions feel kind of abrupt - like when the bassline drops, and also when the breakbeat drums start (the first hit sounds like it's partially chopped off). In terms of arrangement, there's certainly room for expansion. I don't remember this theme very well, but it probably wouldn't hurt to do add more variation to the lead part for the second half or so of the piece. The transitions could use more variations too - there's too much of the sudden drop out and quick fade-in type, for lack of a better term. Ending could probably use a bit more work as well.

I'm rather enjoying this mix, though it may be due to a personal preference for more minimal electronic music . I also kind of enjoy the more laid back mixing of instruments - it's a nice refresher from all the up-in-your-face approach that's all too prevalent. That said, there are a few recommendations I like to make. First of all, the introduction feels just a bit too long before it starts get going (ie, when the drums come in). I think you should either add a tad bit more content during that section, or cut a few bars out so that it sounds more balanced with the flow of change coming in afterward. The slowly fading in pad thing was really cool, but after that part the music starts sounding a bit muddled. It's due to some of the instruments being similar spectrally and playing around the same range with similar figurations. The section starting about 3:15 sounds cleaner, probably because the bass isn't playing sustained notes. Ending section is fine too as it's lightweight. I'd try spreading out the instruments a bit more panoramically and/or reducing the reverb a bit more on some of instruments, and see if that makes it sound any clearer. Overall, though, I'm really liking how this sounds - good stuff .

Rather original sounding interpretation for this theme, but I'm generally digging the feel. The mix feels very dry though, or at least kind of stuffy. I'd advise maybe adding a bit more reverb (at least on the lead instrument and chords) to spread things out a bit more naturally. Also, the sampled lavos screech or whatever that is starts to get annoying really quick - I'd advise you to try adding more variation in it (such as different panning positions and filter settings), or just omit it all together after the intro). The instrumentation feels alright in general, though there are a few problem spots. For one, piano that comes in about half-way feels kind of off, especially when you start pan sweeping it during it's solo section - it just has rather unnatural feel with the dry mixing and lack of humanization. Also, dueo to the lack of pad instruments, so the more exposed sections really sound empty - this you can probably fix just by adding some more reverb though. I don't really have much problems with the other musical aspects. If I had to nitpick, I'd say probably the chord choices in the last section could be better - it may be better in this case to to stick closer to the original. Oh, and try to do something about that abrupt ending too. All in all, though, I rather enjoyed it. Feels rough around the edges as it is right now, but mostly it the production aspects. Shouldn't take too much more work to polish everything off, so keep it up!

I'm glad you liked the changes in general - to tell you the truth, even I thought it might have been a bit too out there hehe. I started adding some automation to the piece as you may noticed, so hopefully that'll make instruments (particular the lead ones) sound a bit more natural. But in terms of balance, there are still problem spots (for one, the choir still needs some work, as you noted). It's definitely apparent that the melodic sections are kind of weak right now, though I'm a bit tentative about expanding on them too much as I still have another section or two to go (so the section at the end isn't going to be the ending just yet ). I don't want to inflate the length of this piece too much, and if I do end up focusing on the melodies too much, it may be a better idea to just do seperate mixes of them. I'm still trying to find the right balance now. The transitions for the newer parts thing do probably still needs some more work, though I'd rather not work on them too much if I can get away with it . Oh, and I actually did mess up at the end - the whistle thing is out of tune as I forgot to pitch bend it back up after the beginning. Should be fixed in the next version though. Well, I turned off the EQ for the choir in this release, so I think it clashes a bit less. The preset had an EQ added on to give it more of a "sizzling" effect, but that ended up making higher registers started sounding too stringy. Also, I've drop the top voice down an octave, which may or may not sound better. In any case, I probably won't be able to actually procure any new choir samples (unless perhaps you can recommend me some decent free ones?), though I don't mind the quality of the sound right now too much. What do you mean by "envelope-controlled volume modulation via lfo"? I don't think I've explicitly heard of this technique before. I tried to add some volume swells and drops for an extra bit of humanization, but I'm certainly interested if there's a better way. I finally noticed the dragging in Midna's section, and had to start the notes about a half-beat early to get it better synced. The instrument is proving really troublesome to work with, but I really do like the dark, breathy quality of it. The structure is really a bit of a mess, but I think I'm starting to get a better idea of how I want it to be. I'll elaborate a bit more in the general comments at the end. I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "emdley-itis," but I'll assume it probably means a really botched attempt at medley writing. General comments: You might have noticed the new bridging sections I've added in the beginning and before the reprisal of the of the "Intro" section. Basically, I've used those spots to inject some melodic/motific interplay and variation to hopefully help the overall piece sound a bit more coherant (thematically, at the very least). The main themes used in the piece are "Ilia's Theme," "Midna's Theme," "Agitha's Castle," and "Reencounter with Zelda" (the latter two are only mostly hinted at so far, though the section I'm working on will be focusing on the "Agitha's Castle"). Heck, you can almost look at is as a "Princesses Suite" or something (though I guess technically Ilia really isn't princess) - heck, I even have four seperate wind instruments so far to represent them almost in a character fashion. The bridging themes used are "Intro" for one, and also the more coherant part from "History of the Goddesses." Oh, and this started off as a request of sorts, so that's why these specific themes were chosen. I think I'm going to try to keep the character themes fairly similar to the original in terms of atmosphere. This means I might have to change up Ilia's section, as it's a bit too melancholic or at least heavy in tone. It's a bit of a shame as that section is probably the best (self-contained) one so far, but it may work better in the end, at least in terms of overall coherance. This is how I see these themes so far, but feel free to suggest better characteristics. 1. Ilia's theme: Calm and peaceful. 2. Midna's Theme: Lamentful and cynical. 3. Agitha's Theme: Playful and carefree. 4. Zelda's Theme: Nostalgic, tinged with a bit of melacholy - one could even claim that it has certain fatalistic pathos to it, thinking about the series as a whole. I think I'm going to also try to keep the current pace overlaying more and more melodies - directly so in during the main sections, and collage-like during the bridging sections. Don't know how well this will work out, but it'll be pretty darn neat if it goes through nicely.

Very helpful comments here, guys - there's lots of stuff I want elaborate on, but I'll drop this update here and ask more later in an edit or something. For now, let's just say I inadvertantly taken this piece into a somewhat different direction, for better or for worse.

I have to say I'm a bit surprised to see you attempting a remix of a piece is far from being officially released. Anyways, what you have sounds pretty solid, but I think the main problem is that it's too similar to the original in terms of style (fast paced suspense piece). Then again, if the other sections deviate enough, it might not be a big issue. Hard to say at this point, but definitely keep at it at.

Alright, well I've added a few more changes: Tried playing around with re-articulating the melodies (which worked well for the first melody, though not so well with the second); redone the drums for the second section, so it should be quite as cheesy; also, started sketching out the next bridging section (basically the second half of the intro theme, so it can also count as a sort of recap section). Thing that are obviously missing are continuous controller stuff, and the mixing is pretty rough at this point too.

Mmm, yeah the effects were a bit tacked on. I was trying to sort of emulate the effects usage in the soundtrack, but came up pretty short on that end. I'll probably end up getting rid of a lot them by the end. So all in all you still think this works well as a montage/medley? I'm a still a bit unsure about the pacing in this piece, mostly that it feels a bit too slow-paced overall. Maybe I should concentrate more on the melodies than the other aspects for conciseness. Thanks for the comments in any case though; I'm glad you found it to be quite enjoyable.

Wow, really ace remix, this is. I don't remember the ICO soundtrack that well, but this is certainly an interesting departure from it - really nice work with the glitched-out beats and other IDM-ish elements. Only thing that sort of bothered me was the really sharp gating you used around 1:45, which felt a bit too disorienting in my opinion. And the ending was a bit abrupt - I kind expected a lingering pad to re-emerge from the decaying reverbs of the final notes to slowly ease us out. Anyhow, great job with this piece. I hope to hear more from you in the future!

I was working on this Zelda montage/remix of a couple of themes from the Twilight Princess, but it's not going quite the way I want it to (and I still have another theme or two to inject). I'm playing with the idea of taking a section or two from this and expanding it into a it's own piece, or just continuing as is. Anyways, I just wanted to post this here so you guys can maybe help me figure out what works well and what doesn't in what I have so far. Here's the link. Edit: Latest WIP

I agree with most of what's said here, though I didn't actually mind too much the drum samples and the "wrong" chords. One thing that slightly bothered me was the marcato string ostinato chords that are used - it kind of sounds out of place to me, since this piece is otherwise very fluid in nature. The string chord sort of contradicts that feel... well it might just be a personal feeling though; it's definitely not enough to ruin the piece for me. Good job.