Ghetto Lee Lewis
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Posts posted by Ghetto Lee Lewis
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I've got a question. I've heard you shouldnt use the instruments that come with FruityLoops... but I can't find anything to match the default C_Kick. I look at all these soundfont sites just trying to find a kick drum like that, all i can find is drum KITS, where each note is a different drum instead of just one drum and different notes. Darn it all... should I just use C_Kick after all?
Also, another question, about tempo changes. I've been able to successfully make tempo changes within a song at least once or twice... but its mostly luck, since I dont know what i'm doing. In fact, can I just get a quick walkthrough of how to change the tempo within a song? Its really confusing...
And I haven't even gotten into the advanced stuff... I'm just barely starting to make a Metroid remix that sucks, and I'm having alot of trouble :/
Also, how can I use .sfARk or whatever they are? Or can i only use sf2?
You can actually make the C_Kick sound really nice if you layer a bunch of them together and add some effects to it. Try adding some distortion and really tweak the parametric equalizer for a start (the effects are really good to learn because they can totally change the sounds of different samples)
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I personally thing hand-clap as percussion is really lame in the wrong context. It all depends really, everything has its place - just maybe not in music.
The hand clap can actually sound really awesome if you add about 50 % reverb and some other effects (try playing with the parametric equalizer A LOT). The default samples really aren't that bad depending what you do with them. It usually takes a lot of playing with envelopes, lfo's and the different VST effects to get them to sound really good.
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ARhgarwjblknasrlwaraW:$@$@^te...
My head... MY HEAD!!!
ow.
meaning you couldn't figure out how to make pads?
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If it's soundfonts you want, go here:
(I'd recommend the "uncompressed section)
The soundfont I've been using for choir has been the "Florestan Choir" soundfont
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I don't know about vocal sounds, but there are ways to make all sorts of neat sounding pads. You can use simsynth to make them, but I prefer 3x oscillator.
To make pads with the 3x oscillator, first select your waveforms. I prefer to use saw waves for all three, but there are variations that can give you different sounds that may sound better. Adjust the tuning either all to zero semitones or all to -12 semitones for each oscillator (so they're all the same). Set the fine tune on one oscillator down to -35 cents, and the fine tune to another to +35 cents. This will give them a very thick sound. If you prefer, you don't have to detune them as much, or even at all. You can leave all 3 at 0 cents, if you prefer.
Now for envelopes:
Under the volume envelop, turn the attack knob slightly up, and the sustain knob all the way up. Make sure the cutoff knob is turned way down. If you want you can turn up the resonance up also (up to halfway is probably good). There, now you have some OK sounding pads.
However, they probably still sound a bit cheesy. You want to add some effects to make them sound a lot richer. For effects, you should add some reverb (the default preset should be fine, although you may want to add more). Also add a flanger effect for some fun. I normally use the "Ultra Fat Chorus" preset so it sounds like it takes up more space (and sounds a lot richer). If you want, you can also add a phaser effect. I'd suggest experimenting with the different phaser presets until you find one that suits you, or you can play around with it yourself to get the effect you want.
Now that you have your sound, you want to make it work. Go to the piano roll view and build your chords and stuff. If you want, you can play around with channel panning in the piano roll. You can also give it some more phasing qualities by going back to the envelopes section of the sample, rigth clicking the "cutoff" knob, and selecting "edit events". Now you can draw a bunch of stuff on the graph to control the sounds cutoff. I'd suggest first selecting from the top left corner, Init events (to put the graph at the current cutoff position), and selecting ("use smooth transitions", or whatever it says). Now you can draw curves on the graph for some cool cutoff effects.
Hope that makes some sense or helps.
Now go out there and make some badass pads.
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Well, I was a bit dissapointed with the reviews this song has received.
I think it's really a great song. It's much slower paced than most of the songs on this site, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. This song conveys sadness, and yet a deep dark intensity, like an ominous dark foreboding on what's to come. This version of the song turns the world map theme into more of a prologue-type theme.
In terms of sampling, arranging, etc., Oceanfire does quite a fantastic job. The samples may not be gigastudio quality, but they are good enough to get the job done. They don't distract from the overall character of the song. The arrangement is technacally close to perfect in terms of harmony, transitioning, etc. It is very cleverly arranged so that it carries a great deal of emotion.
orchestral/electronic music (synths for sound effects and such)
Overall, I really liked it. It's a great change from the usual upbeat music that's posted on this sitel.
9.6/10
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Honestly, I'd like to say that while my Dragon Warrior mix had it's own personality and such, I prefer to listen to this version. I absolutely love how you used the harp. The samples are simply gorgeous, and it was pretty amazing how it all came together. The way Russell uses different combinations of instruments and transitions into different keys and sub-themes gives the whole song a great deal of character.
A brilliant piece of work. An amazing arrangement. Awesome high quality, life-like instruments. It would be hard to believe the author wasn't actually conducting a live orchestra. The mastering was even exceptional. Listening on my studio-quality headphones with the whole surround sound effect was almost like being at live concert. Like almost any well done Romantic era symphony or concerto, this song tells a story, one filled with action, adventure, drama, and sadness. This rendition of the song probably captures more emotion than any 8-bit RPG could possibly hope for.
3 cheers for Mr. Cox. I hope to hear more like this from him in the future.
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I was kind of getting the song to tell a story. The first part, you're kind of walking aimlessly around the forest all scared and stuff. The second part you run into Jason, and he's out for blood. The song ends abruptly cause it never took long to trip and fall and Jason would murdera ya. (if that helps at all; I really made this song like 6 months ago or something, I could of done better probably)
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Congratulations Spekko!! In contrabution to this magnificent achievement, I'm posting my review I wrote on vgmix.com a few weeks ago (also in one take). Of course, the quality of the vgmix.com version would be better because of the higher bitrate. It's barely noticeable though. I'm just glad you posted the whole thing instead of just half of the song like you said you were going to. Well, here is the review in its entirety. Keep in mind, however, even a review such as this can't possibly do justice to this song. This review and others can be found at vgmix.com
http://www.vgmix.com/songview.php?songid=896
One of the best (if not the best) solo piano version of a videogame song I've ever heard. Spekk plays like he's had a lot of Classical training with his playing. He has a style reminiscent of some of the great romantic composers, i.e. Liszt, Chopin, etc. His playing also takes on more modern characteristics of style as well, i.e. impressionism (i.e. Debussy), ragtime (Joplin, Gershwin-ish). However, most of the Romantic-ish composers did very little of actual improvisation. For an improvised arrangement, Spekko's version of this song has amazing structure.
Technique: From rapid octaves and stride playing to two-handed arpeggios, Spekk shows amazing mad skillz at piano playing. He manages to keep a level of excitement and drama throughout the piece.
More about the actual piece. The song begins with ragtime-stride stlyle playing. At about 0:38, the song begins to pick up tempo a bit and maintain a free-er style of playing. Spekk builds up the tone a bit and adds some nice little arpeggios at 0:58. He then takes a lighter approach to the piece, with some very stylish trilling at 1:03. At 1:18, he picks up the heavy tone, building up to an angrier style at 1:40. The angryness drops off at 1:51, however, transitioning to a calmer, but still involved style, with some extended arpeggios at 2:06, but then going into a softer more sensitive, yet more emotional mode of playing, picking up both the volume and intensity at 2:33. However, the piece quiets down again at 2:56, eventually fading to a nice soft ending at 3:14.
The piece is far from over, however, for at 3:17 the main melody starts again with a bit more foreboding intensity than it had originally. At 3:25 the song gets a bit crazier when Spekk begins playing rapid alternating ocataves with the left hand, while the right hand plays brief sections of the melody (with added arpeggios, although still keeping the rhythm in the left hand) to introduce the theme at a more rapid pace at 3:38. That section breaks of at some rapid arpeggios at 3:48 to introduce the second theme, still played rapidly, but with a bit less energy (the left hand playing 2 or 3 octaves higher). This time the right hand fills small sections with trills rather than arpeggios. Probably the most noticeable flaws in Spekko's technique arrive at 3:58, while fumbling with a very small number of notes. However, he doesn't let that slow him down, and continues to build emotion and drama to a brief burst of energy at 4:03, which elapses to a spasmic sort of theme at 4:08, which transitions with more extended arpeggios at 4:14, which levels off at 4:18, with calmer playing of the original theme, yet that keeps a foreboding intensity until it climaxes with arpeggios at 4:44 (that begin a bit spasmically), leading back to a slower, yet louder and more intense rendition of the main melody at 4:47, which builds to a mad octave sub-theme at 5:07, leading to some very long, (it's madness) very rapid arpeggio playingplaying at 5:16 which continues with small sections of part of the melody until 5:36 and drops off into some more quiet playing. At 5:51, a descending melody begins and speeds up to even more mad arpeggios (both hands, up and down, insanity at its best) at 5:53, which drop suddenly at 6:08. Thus begins a very fast, octave-alternating, very interpretive, high-energy rendition of the main melody, which calms down a bit at 6:33, only to begin more rapid descending arpeggios at 6:37. which continue for about 2-3 seconds. Spekk then begins the emotional portion of the melody (with much emotion), which builds until 7:22. The rest of the piece finishes with some quiet playing, and simply winds down for the finish at 7:43
Wonderfully amazing, especially for an improv. piece. 9.6/10. (lack of points due for lack of quality, not played on a grand piano, subtle errors and flaws in technique)
I admit to messing with this song a bit on my own piano, but I couldn't play anywhere near this amazing for this song. Spekkosaurus has got some serious mad skillz.
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Barbie should have been Chuckie's bride.
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Great stuff from someone else from my hometown (Vegas has some talented people it seems). I recognize a couple of those samples from Reason (maybe because I've used some of them), i.e. the hip hop drum sample. This is really good stuff. Downbeat/electronica/ambient. Highly recommended. However, I like some of your original Trance stuff a lot better. I was downloading from you on mp3.com before I realized you were on OCR. If only I didn't suck so bad at Reason. I'll probably just stick to Fruity Loops for Trance. I hope you remix some more for OCR in the future. Keep it up!
~Ghetto Lee Lewis
(stay tuned for my Breath of Fire song when it comes out. It'll should be posted on OC Remix before too long. If not, then follow the link (right click, save target as or paste into address bar)
http://www.angelfire.com/music4/t_diddy/BoF_Save_Your_Game_Club_mix_2002_OC_Remix.mp3
If you wait a few days, it should show up on mp3.com shortly.
note: I don't normally advertise my music with reviews, but I thought you might be interested, seeing as you're from Vegas and all, and into making Trance like I am. Maybe you could offer suggestions for some of my music, or whatever. Keep up the great work!! w00t!!
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w00t!!
I looove the intro. It's so beautiful. The way it builds to something completely different is amazing. The techno part is very dancy, yet atmospheric as well; it's very enjoyable. The little breaks into sub-themes from other stages of Megaman 2 are amazing. Megaman 2 was one of my AlL-tImE-fAvoRiTE NES games, and this tune reminds me of the great times I had with that game.
*applauds
Yay, Starla!!
10/10
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A solid arrangement overall, great intro, good samples. From the excellent introduction, I was expecting a fun happy hardcore piece. However, something quite different came instead. A much more relaxed style of techno came instead. The good qualities were there, but parts of the song seemed a bit too repetitive. The piece was nothing like the high energy, fun, dancy tune I was expecting, but it was still enjoyable to listen to. Recommended for fans of downbeat electronica/techno.
7.8/10
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While it's a great song, the arrangement and structure are incredible, it lacks a bit in terms of atmosphere. Proffesional Trance songs usually make use of a lot of reverb, something this piece seems to lack. I'm sure however, that it would sound much better played in a club or open setting than through a pair of headphones. It was mentioned some of the sounds are "cute". Not really a bad description, since this song comes from Sonic the Hedgehog. I'm sure it's far better than the original, and even captures the mood of the original song. It's still very fun to listen to, however. Lots of variation on the drums are used to keep the piece moving. The arrangement is extra-ordinary. The samples are very good also. However, maybe next time some extra effects can be added to give that extra touch of realism.
Great job!!
8.4/10
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Well, I heard part of this song quite a long time ago I don't know from where. Overall, I think the song's pretty cool. I really liked the style, the instrumentation, and the awesome work on the drums. However, there were some qualities I thought were serious weak points. Many of the notes and chords seemed to be completely wrong. I don't know whether or not it was intended, but I think it would have sounded much better if it were kept closer to the original. That's only the second rendition of the Atma song I've heard. I think Mustin did the other one. Many of these "medley" songs could have easily been expanded into a full length rendition, but they're still cool as a medley. The atma song especially falls into that catagory. I have yet to hear a remix of "The Dreadful Battle" from FF4, which could become a huge sort of production along with the Atma song. I've actually thought of doing it myself. I'm a bit suprised you did Atma and not the other cool battle song. Not that it matters much. The guitar and bass work were both really exceptional, like all the little effects and transitions. I really liked the battle ending with the groove and everything. The only problem I have with medleys is that they may contain many parts that carry potential to evolve into a full blown kick ass song, but instead soon switch to a different melody. Anyways, great work to everyone who participated in this song. You guys really seemed to flow together. I know it can be a serious problem when musicians clash and they can't seem to play anything together, but you guys did an excellent job. As to the arrangement, I think it should have been closer to the original, especially when it comes to playing the right chords and melody. The bass, and especially the drums should be allowed the most freedom when it comes to arranging, unless you decide to do solos and stuff. Hope you guys keep doing more stuff like this in the future.
FRUITY LOOPS 101 - PLEASE direct -ALL- FL questions here
in Music Composition & Production
Posted
That really depends what you want to do with the sine wave oscillator. You can use the sine wave to make portamento lines (for hip hop and stuff), basses (for hip hop, trance, and lots of other stuff), and even pads. If you want to use it for pads, you probably want to refer to the other post I wrote on making pads (like a couple pages before this one). You probably want to tweak the tuning all to the same or an octave apart (when I make basses, I usually turn the high oscillator all the way down from the default setting and it works). Really though, you need to be specific with your questions, because each different kind of oscillator can have multiple uses, and you can blend them together. I like the sine wave because it has a really pure mellow sound. Probably the best thing you can do is experiment and find out how it works.