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Battletoads (the NES version at least) was a pretty damn good looking and good sounding game for its time. Of course we have David Wise, and incredible composer in his own right, to thank for the sound. I wanted to share this because this video has David Wise talking about the process of how the Battletoads music had to be recorded, and the limitations he faced when composing music for the NES (such as how many notes David was limited to). And you also get to see him playing some Battletoads music on the piano at the end

Man, I worked on m mix until 4 am yesterday. a power failure messed up my project file and the VST states were all reset when I reloaded it so I had to redo every patch from scratch again. Pretty shity but at least the mix is coming along well, gotta say this one will be pretty dirty.

I just wanted to let everyone know that the music is complete and will be sent off for mastering sometime this week or next! Art is almost all in as well! Release date soon!

I still think you need to look into 1) multithreaded processing (you haven't addressed whether or not you've tried that fix), and 2) a better drive for your large sample banks. If it's the latter, switching DAWs will not help. Maybe try the demo of another DAW and see what happens? The issues you're describing are just not matching up with my experience in FL Studio, though. Yes, of course I've had to deal with pops and such before, but I've never seen it ignore multiple cores. Something's gotta be up.

@Wiesty Very psyched, of course. I haven't been chiming in lately because my second daughter is going to be born like, tomorrow, and things have been pretty crazy. Please make sure we discuss logistics & schedule before any release date is announced. And if we've got some sort of short trailer, or just a quick audio demo we can play, for the upcoming MAGFest panel.... let's do it

WHAT IS A VOTE? A MISERABLE PILE OF SECRETS

@DarkeSword You can put me down for Pokken Tournament.

Just finished my entry! Feeling good about it!

No worries! I just was making sure. Dracula isnt such a bad guy!

Brilliant source

I'll definitely (see: probably) be doing something for this. I was preoccupied with some original stuff last MnP, but I should have the time now. Also, awesome source.

And another update! https://app.box.com/s/3ermd5aan5fo0r5jc366z6u308mrinn2 - I used a funky snare groove at 1:17 to give the drums more variety. - Added some stops/kicks at 2:20 before the theme comes in again, (not so sure about that one). - wrote a new bassline for the piano solo.

This is pure opinion, based off of observations. So keep that in mind as you prep your flamethrowers... Metal and Rock are still doing just fine... outside of America. It's thriving with bands like Powerwolf, Orden Ogan, Accept, Edguy, Nightwish, and the many other bands that fall under various "power," "thrash," "symphonic," etc. monikers from other countries. The problem is, that in America, unless a given foreign band has been around for a good while, or comes to the U.S. a lot, many of those bands don't have the name recognition to carry them around in the U.S. and garner them attention (outside of labels like Napalm Records at least). Sure, there are bands like Iron Maiden, AD/DC and Accept that get noticed when they come to the U.S., but they don't really draw in droves of new fans. Instead, they get by mostly with those who have been listening to them for years (or decades). Now granted, we 'muricans have a few of our own Rock and Metal bands. Metallica, KISS, Megadeth, Van Halen, Anthrax, Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper and others who do well when they tour. But they're familiar names that draw in the same fans again and again, while slowly pulling in new ones. And though it may not seem like it, these bands are still inspiring people to join the Rock 'N Roll fray. YouTube's copious amount of young electric guitar players shows that the idea of being a rocker is still out there, but you have to remember that the term "rock star" isn't just about playing Rock or Metal. It's the idea of being on stage, in front of thousands of people that are watching you perform, hearing you sing/speak, and getting whatever message you're putting forth. And while there are new faces coming into the world of Rock and Metal, more faces seem to be headed into other genres to find that "rock star" life. There has to be a reason for this, right? A cause of some kind that's making certain genres more attractive to young musicians. Well, think about it. We live in a world of "I want it NOW!" People expect instant results, and want to put in as little effort as they can get away with. With that in mind, here's a quick question. What genres generally require you to be able to play an instrument? Country, Rock/Metal, Classical, Folk, and their ilk that involves guitars, drums, pianos, violins, flutes, various brass instruments, etc. What genres generally don't require this? Pop, Rap, the various slices of Electronica, etc., as what you write musically can be done electronically. It's become pretty easy to write out a few beats on a DAW, put some lyrics to them (or just go instrumental), and then put it out there. Yes, you still need a sense of timing, rhythm, rhyming, harmonies and so forth, but you don't have to know how to play a real-life keyboard, guitar, violin, drum set, or anything to create a complete song in that second group of genres. The sheer number of programs that are out there nowadays that allow this to be done is insane. As a result, that second group of genres I listed leave the proverbial door open more, so you've got more people trying to step through that door instead of trying to invest the time in learning to play an instrument that you have to hold and touch. I know what you're thinking, and yes, I know that sounds a touch mean and simplistic. But it's also the generalized truth. I'm a living example of it. I can't play any physical instrument to a degree that I'd be able to perform live on a stage, but that doesn't mean I don't have ideas, or the ability to look up what the limitations are on a given instrument so I can represent it more realistically. My remixes over the years show this growth, and my upcoming album will as well. I can't play live, but I can do research and compose, and that's where genres like Rap, Pop, R&B, Electronica and them are more open to people like me. Hell, piano and classical music (my main areas) are fast approaching the same openness now thanks to very realistic VSTs and sample sets, but they still have expected limits that need to be taken into consideration in terms of what the real instrument can and can't do. Pop, Rap, Electronica and them don't have that caveat. Is this a good thing? I don't know, to be honest. It could result in a huge flood of mediocrity and shit, with droves of forgettable, horrid albums and songs. But then again, being able to play an instrument live never stopped that from happening, did it? Lots of other bands came and went over the last 50 years alone that no one knows about, or even remembers these days (assuming anyone did back then). So yeah. To me, the "rock star" isn't going extinct, it's changing because the music industry, and what it takes to make music, is changing. We still have people wanting the so-called rock star life, but "rock star" isn't about Rock or Metal. Never was. It was just a term to attach to the idea of commanding an audience and getting lots of cash, which can be done in pretty much all genres. Elton John did it, so did Liberace, Kenny Rogers, The Pointer Sisters, and many others. But the older genres of Rock, Country, Classical, and those genres have steep learning curves that extend over many years thanks to their greater need to learn to play real instruments, where as Rap, Pop, R&B, Electronica and them have less intimidating learning curves that make people think it can be conquered in less time. So, given the "I want it NOW!" mentality and short attention spans that exist in the world today, more new artists are going that second group of genres. Some will make it because they have a real talent in them despite the lack of live playing skills, and others will fade away without being noticed because they're as generic and uninteresting as can be. Hopefully, I wont fall into the latter group Edit: Smoothed out a few thoughts.

As someone who thought rock was dead in 2002 and had a renaissance in 2009 (and left me literally imprinted with an unswerving loyalty to a few folk metal bands) I honestly doubt it's dying out at all. I bet it's just that people are experiencing some sort of collective mental fatigue. I had the same thing when Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica, Pantera, and a bunch of others didn't do it for me anymore. To put it simply. Rock and metal is a drug. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-25/study-finds-heavy-metal-reduces-anger-depression/6571820 Much like caffeine, alcohol and anything else of the legal or less than legal nature, you begin to grow a tolerance to the effect it has on you which greatly limits your enjoyment of it. There is good news however! Take a break, listen to/learn a couple of different styles and it will come back in full.

Rock music has always had the issue of evolving through heaviness. We've now hit that point where its reached its full potential on that scale imo. At least within the realms of being commercially viable. The reason bands like Nickelback get hated on is because they are not innovating the style in any way, but its radio ready and easy so we get subjected to it. Its stuff we've heard before. Its boring. When Led Zeppelin came out, they were innovating. Metallica were the first mainstream thrash metal band and brought a new ferocious speed and sharpness to rock/metal, but notice that it wasn't until the black album they hit their commercial peak. They had to dumb down to appeal to the full on masses, at least in terms of commercialism. I feel like bands like Pendulum are keeping rock alive in some form but its obviously starting to die out cause honestly? We've heard everything now, the only way forward is through fusion styles and rock is such a purist thing that some people won't even accept that. Rock can only go so far and now, anything new would probably not be deemed commercial enough to make an impact. Anything commercial enough, we've heard 20-30 years ago at this point, or its just a repackaged "heavier version" of something we've heard before.

The entire structure of the music industry has been in upheaval the past 15 years or so. Music as a culture used to be much, much more heavily curated by a handful of very influential tastemakers, simply thanks to the technological status quo imposing limitations on reaching audiences. That's why all those old musicians have been propped up as untouchable legends. The market is so fragmented in its nature today that there is no real economic incentive to invest in the same magnitude as they used. Rock acts today can very much thrive within their own insulated scenes, and consumers have the means of keeping up at their own initiative online. It's all just part of the greater misconception of today's music industry since we are collectively still projecting an outdated paradigm which has in reality not been relevant for many years. But since this particular paradigm was simply a fact of life over the course of several generations, it's easy to think that's just how it's always meant to be.