Master Mi

Pretty cool and realistic articulations for the electric guitar. )) Don't know if it's the sampled guitar, the tone or the hall that sounds a bit tinny (like a can-like preset - got one of those can presets in some of my VSTIs, too). It's also possible to make the guitar less thin (more powerful) without taking away the wide echoing room effects - just reduce the reverb a bit and use a stronger ping pong delay effect instead until you have a thick, strong and also wide, reverberating, room-filling guitar sound. I'd also leave out some of the overlappings of the guitar notes that sound a bit out of shape - like those ones at 1:32 (sometimes it's more than enough if just the overlapping hall/delay of the consecutive notes makes the tonal interference instead of whole overlapping notes - depending on which notes are overlapping). Besides these few things it's a really nice reinterpretation of the track. From where do you have got these nice ride/cymbal sounds you can hear pretty well in the beginning of the track? Are these samples from Shreddage Drums?

Sounds like a layered but not too complex pad soundscape to me. I'm sure you could get pretty close results even with free VSTIs like DSK ChoirZ and some external reverb 'n' delay plugins and some movements/automations in the stereo panorama.

No big news in da house. But since I deleted my track just by accident on Youtube I reuploaded it with some changes in the sound quality, a much wider stereo panorama and a few changes in the VSTI & synthesizer settings for a fuller and cleaner sound. Maybe check it out - it's still version 1.2 (only edited the post).

Meanwhile I've worked on an update of this soundtrack. All the changes I've made you can find in the description of the Youtube upload. Here's the version 1.1 of my remix: >>> >>> https://clyp.it/vht55ihs

I'd buy MIDI-Controller and VSTIs/synthesizer separately. If the expensive keyboard with the expensive synthesizers crashes (and it might be just a glass of spilled water that kills your ultimate all-in-one-solution in a second) you can't use anything of it. No working keyboard - no working synths - no happy composer. If just your MIDI-Controller is broken you can still use all the collected VSTIs, synthesizers and plugins in your DAW and just buy a new MIDI-Controller if you can't repair it. And maybe your preferences change over the time - maybe you want drum pads directly on your MIDI keyboard oder weighted keys with hammer mechanisms. Would be pretty expensive if you buy those hardware improvements along the line of new keyboards with integrated synthesizers. I've got a pretty nice MIDI keyboard all-in-one solution with my M-Audio Oxygen 49 MK IV >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee8bzs3fYbE It has just synth action keys (I actually really like 'em since I got used to them) and no aftertouch function - but I really get along with it. If I need some aftertouch I can do it with an automation by overdubbing the track with my MIDI controller and the MIDI learn function on the VSTIs and synthesizers in my DAW pretty easily. You can program and edit lots of functions of this keyboard - for example the sensitivity of the keys and drum pads or the functions of transport console, buttons and controllers. And you have lots of buttons, controllers and modulators there.

Maybe the idea with the synth instead of the piano is not bad at all - at least I tried some synths that would fit pretty well. But I'll also try to make the piano stuff more realistic - a good classic instrument for a good classic game wouldn't be too bad either. --------- Does somebody have the problem with the delay at the piano part as well? According to my headphones I can't hear a problem with the delay there - but maybe you have better headphones to filter out some annoying stuff much better than I can do with my ones. Which kind of headphones do you use, Rozovian? --------- The bass part before the drums is just the previous synth bass that goes over into a clean power guitar bass as a little prelude for the following heavy guitar part. Thanks for the hint with the drums - I'll work on this. What exactly is a down beat hit (you mean bass drum?) and an optional hit (snare or hi-hat?) in this case? Or is your beat code just about the bass drums? --------- For my guitar part I use following VSTi and VST stuff: - for the bass guitar stuff: "Vita Power Guitar" >>> http://www.magix.com/int/hidden-extras/additional-instruments/2015/ - for the rhythmic guitar stuff: "Vita Century Guitars" (just look for Century Guitars at the same link as for the Power Guitar above) - for the lead guitar stuff: an own preset for an electric guitar from "Independence Pro Library" (just listen to the second demo track of "Acoustic & Electric Guitars" after clicking on the speaker symbol there for listening to one of the clean electric guitars) >>> http://www.magix-audio.com/ie/independence/libraries/#productMenu With this as a base I use a VST-Plugin called "Vandal: Virtual bass and guitar amplifier" with a self-made preset on it >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRalAVOvxd4 I really like that one - you can build nearly any kind of guitar sounds with the complex functions of Vandal in connection with a real electric guitar or a good clean electric guitar VSTi with lots of articulations/key switch functions as a basis.

Hm, that's a strange thing. I can't really hear a too reverby sound in the orchestral drum section - and even the VSTI parameters don't show a too big hall effect. The wetness is about 40 % and the hall time (or let's call it the hall size of the room) is just 4 seconds. I can't even hear a too much reverb there if I play each section as a solo. Somebody else who has the same impression by listening to it that this is too reverby? Maybe the different headphones are the main cause for the different perception - I've got some of the Panasonic RP-HX550 series >>> https://www.amazon.de/Panasonic-RP-HX550-Street-Kopfhörer-schwarz/dp/B00FG5H6II/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1494161177&sr=8-12&keywords=panasonic+kopfhörer In my vision for creating this part I was thinking of some of the islanders praying and drumming for Mike's sake along his courageous and dangerous journey - some kind of a powerful spiritual support from far away. ---------- The rhythmic strings in this section are already "spiccato" - that's nearly the same like the general term "staccato" (I guess, spiccato = staccato for strings). Maybe they are interfering with the legato strings in this section - although they have a different setting in the panorama. But somehow I like this how they sound together. ---------- The steel drums are actually no real steel drums - it's a special preset for my vintage organ which sounds quite similar. And I tried different velocity curves there - but for this VSTI the "Ayers Rock" velocity curve with slightly randomized velocity of the neighboring note simply sounded best there. If I go too semicircular in the velocity there you won't hear too much of this in the whole soundtrack anymore. Unfortunately I don't have a real/realistic acoustic steeldrum for this one. But at least I have some steeldrum synths where I could use a different velocity curve (pretty much semicircular) that actually don't sound that bad as I thought. ---------- At the moment I want to take all my time for fixing things and trying out new stuff for my tracks. It's just my 4th or 5th year (as far as I remember I began somewhere in 2013 or 2014) of getting into music from ground zero and creating soundtracks. And I'm still learning lots of new stuff every month just by reading, seeing, hearing or simply trying out new things. So, at the moment it's really okay for me to improve continuously over considering my tracks as being finished. ))

Thanks for the encouraging feedback. Though I'm really satisfied with the track at the moment I'll wait with subbing. I'm sure my skills in creating music will improve even more within the next years - but at the moment I can really enjoy this level. The funny thing with the strings in the intro is that I had tried some much more realistic samples of strings, but I didn't like it (maybe the better samples sounded much too formal for such an easy, tropical melody, but maybe I have not added enough reverb and delay). As I remember I tried some synths as well but they were too artificial and too spacy - they didn't fit the other acoustic instruments. So I used the average "golden medium string samples". But yeah - I could work on the notes of the chords and make them longer or a bit more interlocked. And which toms you mean with "like making the tom part feel tighter and less reverb-y" - the orchestral drums towards the end or the toms in the drum kits before? According to my loudness & peak metering in my DAW I have a free headroom of about 6 dB between the 0 dB mark and the highest signal peaks in the track. So, I guess I could easily increase the master volume up to further 5 dB for the OCRemix upload version without using any compressors/limiters. But for my personal uploads I'll stick with the EBU R-128 loudness standards because it's much easier to keep a certain loudness level for all my tracks without reducing the dynamic range, limiting peaks or making unnecessary changes in the sample or sound quality.

Thanks for the review. I guess I'll keep working on the track - especially at the piano stuff, maybe at the drums and maybe at the ending (although I thought the fade-out was fitting pretty well in this track). Besides - which piano parts exactly do you mean with odd - the very first notes or some parts afterwards? And would you say through the perception via your headphones that there's too much reverb and delay is going on in the prefatory piano section?

Thanks for the hints on Bandcamp and Instaud - I'll check these out soon. )) PS: I've just read on Bandcamp that you can only upload covers if you got the permission of the artist who made the original - so, how to handle it with video game remixes? >>> https://bandcamp.com/terms_of_use ---------------------------------------------------- For the controversy about the audio quality of Soundcloud vs. Youtube I would say that Soundcloud was a bit better than Youtube in the past. But at the moment Soundcloud seems to be even worse than Youtube. Check out my latest Star Tropics remix. 1) Youtube version (loaded as WAV into Windows Movie Maker, exportes as a WMV with just 192 kbps (max) audio quality and uploaded on Youtube) >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGhY2cxDv5Q 2) Soundcloud version (uploaded as a 320 kbps mp3 file on Soundcloud - but sounds as compressed and tuned down as the WAV file I had uploaded there before - you'll hear the big difference in the undefined cymbal sounds - sounds worse than in the Youtube version and much worse than in my uncompressed project file) >>> https://soundcloud.com/master-mi/star-tropics-the-fire-of-the-southern-cross-master-mi-remix I don't know why Soundcloud sucks this much in these days - but I guess it's about the financial interests behind the platform that is going to destroy the original concept.

After a long time I've finally made a pretty huge update of this remix. Better check out the Youtube version (... somehow it has a slightly better audio quality than the Soundcloud version and in addition to that it contains a video with some of my very own in-game scenes from my very own walthrough). Informations about the changes I've made in this remix update you can find in the descprition of the upload for Youtube. Here's version 1.4 of my Dungeon Theme remix "The Fire Of The Southern Cross": >>> >>> https://clyp.it/ggch1nth

Yo, dudes. I'm looking for a free online platform where you can upload and stream (in the best case an unlimited amount of) high quality audio (and maybe video) files with 256 or 320 kbps audio quality. I'm just a little frustrated that popular platforms like youtube and even soundcloud only support up to 128 kbps audio quality for streaming. Pisses me radically off - 'cause I'm working on a music project with lots of good sounding cymbals (at least in the uncompressed project file) and you really hear the difference after soundcloud has transcoded the lovely hi-fi quality to their degraded 128 kbps audio stuff. Does somebody know some secretly overlooked platforms for high quality audio uploads out there? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Besides - somebody gave me a good tip with the audio streaming platform "Clyp": >>> https://clyp.it/ There you can upload (and download) tracks with about 100 MB per file in the free account - obviously no upload limit and streaming with at least 320 kbps audio bitrate. A really good source - spartan design but really functional and useful.

So, finally I've made a huge update for this remix. I've written some new notes for a preluding piano part, I've created a pretty nice rock part for the final and at last I've made a video with my own gameplay scenes for the German NES version of Maniac Mansion. More information about all the other changes in this version and backgrounds of the remix you can find in the description of the upload for Youtube. Enjoy - here's version 1.1: >>> >>> https://clyp.it/y0v1j0f1

Thx for the feedback, Rozovian dude. )) Haha, guess I like the Dealbreaker Style in this case. I really don't like such lowercased exceptions in headlines while other words you regularly write lowercased are capitalized there. I have seen this style at many other mp3 titles and just adopted it - pretty uniform and easy to memorize. No problem if you change the upper and lower case of the title to your standards later on. According to my perception and music equipment I think the loudness of the drums is quite okay (maybe 0,5 to 1 dB I can go up with these - but not more). In a rather melodic rock ballad like this I prefer some kind of "integrating drums" that support, but not predominate the melody. When it comes to the overall loudness of the track I'm really in love with the mastering standards of EBU R 128 which allow more than enough headroom for uncompressed and full dynamic range of the tracks which are all at one loudness level. So, for my own uploads I'll keep it this way - but as a version for OCRemix (when the track is good enough and really finished someday) I could easily export it with a loudness that is about 6 dB higher than now (without any kind of dymanic compression). This should be around your average loudness standards in OCRemix. Hm, the strumming sound at 2:30 - yeah, you're right. The velocity goes a little bit over the edge there - guess I'll will fix it in the final version and check the whole strumming section completely as a solo played track once again. For the piano part I think I'll leave it as it is. The side noise in the higher piano section might be part of the piano itself and it rises recogniceably at a certain level of reverberation/wetness. For my perception it's not even an annoying side noise. Somehow it goes really well with the video where glass breaks into many shards. Thanks for the detailed feedback. I'll keep working on this track and especially on the performance of some instruments in the future.

Got a nice update of the track - further informations of the changes in this version you can find in the description of the upload for Youtube. Let me know how you like this version 1.2: >>> >>> https://clyp.it/vx2pp4xy