BardicKnowledge

There is an online code set for Project: M -- just be sure to grab the appropriate set.

For me, there were a few really big moments: Dipping the (physical, came with the packaging) letter from Dr. J in water to unlock Chapters 6-8 in Startropics. I wish more games did this sort of thing! The day I was able to differentiate between fireball and dragon punch. No fighting game player should let go of that memory imo. Getting Snes9x to work for the first time, and playing through RPGe's translation of Final Fantasy V, Dejap's translation of FFIV, and Neill Cortlett's brilliant translation of Seiken Densetsu 3. If you missed SD3 you need to fix that asap, it is right up there alongside FFVI and Chrono Trigger for me. The transition from 2d to 3d gaming -- Zelda 64 blew my mind. Flipping the castle in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Figuring out how to get the good ending in Chrono Cross after being unsatisfied with how events played out otherwise. "I am....*spins guns*...Shalashaska." Pretty much all of Metal Gear Solid 1 was an incredible experience for me. Lastly: the day I learned how to dupe items in Diablo 1. I played D1 _way_ more than anyone should have, including the Middle Earth mod by Varaya and Khan, which imo remains the best way to play. In modern generations, there have been fewer mind-blowing moments. I'd say my first attempt at playing Left 4 Dead (with combinations of nekofrog, ashamee, big giant circles, and Tom) was up there. So many things to shoot in that game! It felt like Contra in 3d the first time I played it, haha. The first time I tried the Wii (so much promise, so few games that do it well!) felt great also, though it has proven to be a rare game that really makes good use of that technology.

I tried to do that, but Soundcloud asks that only the copyright holder or their agent fill out that form. As a result, I just commented on the track and will leave it to Jimmy to actually report the infringement.

It refers to two major chords (scale degrees 1, 3, and 5 of a standard major scale) a tritone apart. Example: C Major followed by F# Major. Full article by Murphy: http://www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.06.12.2/mto.06.12.2.murphy.html Edit: Even if the theory is beyond you, the examples Murphy cites all have that progression in common, and should be a good starting point for "space" as a musical topic.

Major tritone progressions make me think of space, and I'm not alone, according to Scott Murphy: Murphy, Scott. 2006. “The Major Tritone Progression in Recent Hollywood Science Fiction Films.” Music Theory Online 12/2.

I am loving this game so far, aside from Xbox 360 issues (there's supposed to be a blog up about it tomorrow morning). Currently planning to run Asuka / Julia; might throw in a SF char to create some familiarity, and if that happens, it will likely be Cammy. So tempting to run a Cammy/Lili team -- double spin, double drill! Arek has laid claim to Lili though, so I will hold off for now as we played the same first main in Vanilla SF4, and I don't want to repeat that just yet.

Happy birthday Jill! I hope you're having a good time at GDC...

New Viola combo for fun and psychological warfare: (without orb) 3B AAB 6A+B 2B+KBE 44ABE 2B+KBE (after 3rd hit of 44ABE) AAB 66B 66A+B,B Uses 3 meters, looks incredible, does ~170 damage, and is completely demoralizing.

Liking this faster take on the theme! Your small changes to the rhythm work well, and the piano lead recalls the original even though a lot has changed in the orchestration. The break at 1:50 is good; I'm not as sold on 2:00 when we move into original material. This section really takes us out of the mood of Aerith's Theme. The rest of the piece is such easy listening that the complex section there doesn't seem like it fits to me. On the other hand, the change of pace at 3:10 right at the end is good. I don't think I prefer the arrangement ending with completely solo piano like the original; it's such a fun spin on the song that I think you can do justice to the ending in your own original way also. As far as the soundscape goes, everything fits together pretty well -- good work!

The tempo change works well once we arrive at the finalized, faster tempo -- I'm not as sold on the transition. I feel like the biggest thing this mix needs right now is a counter-melody of some kind. As things currently stand, there just isn't a lot going on. Have you considered adding a layer on top of the material you've currently got? Adding in a longer solo might be a good idea also, though I'd rather have what currently exists filled out more.

Haha, the intro is great. Reminds me of Monkey Island, which is a huge compliment you should like receiving. It picks up right where it should at 0:38 -- this is great to listen to thus far. The bass is a little difficult to pull out compared to melody and drums though -- maybe something to fix in mastering? I read some of the other comments and feel that you may have pulled the bass too far back. Try a middleground and see what happens. The switch of instruments at 1:24 struck me as odd, probably because I was enjoying the winds so much. 1:55's break is a better transition out of the melody imo. This piece really shines whenever you have the flute in the mix. The other stuff is good but that flute is fantastic. The ending without drums brings us down slowly and works very well here. The piece actually comes to a definite conclusion, which is my personal preference for most genres, including this one. Nice work! The capping of the piece with the gulls and atmosphere is also very nice, and ties everything together thematically.

As I listen: Intro sounds super-distorted; even moreso compared to the explosive guitar sound that soon enters. Are you going for a lo-fi feel here? I really like that the tempo has been bumped up a notch, incidentally. I am impressed with your transcription of the inner harmonies here, but am not sure that a straight cover of this works well...hopefully things change up. The lead switch at 1:20 is nice, and the electric guitar here really does a nice job of recalling the NES feel of the original (especially Power Blade et al). The break to the synth lead emphasizes the harmonies discussed earlier for just a second, but I don't hear them when the guitar comes back in. IMO either ditch the synth moments (which are weak compared to how awesome this guitar is) or utilize it underneath the guitar. I like that the repeat of the section originally heard at 1:20 has a few new variants to the melody -- even more deviance from the melody would be just fine here; in fact, I'd consider a slight elongation of this section if you remove the synth moments, allowing you to really open up with guitar before the piece ends. For me the piece really kind of ends at 4:20 when the guitar leaves -- the ending with the synth returning for like two chords only to fade out again doesn't do much for me. Overall: Emphasize those moments you really make the guitar shine. Good stuff here, but it's cluttered by some material clinging too closely to the original.

Typing as I listen: Intro starts at full blast, which is ideal for a song like this. I like how it pulls back slightly (in the leads) when the main melody (as opposed to the intro) begins. I just gave a critique on how an arrangement needed to be filled out. This definitely doesn't have that problem. Even when things aren't full blast 0:58, everything sounds appropriately filled it regarding instrumentation / parts. The second full take of the melody 1:28 works well played slightly straighter -- hoping for a nice solo section following... ...and it doesn't last long enough! At 1:40 I was really looking to hear a full on guitar solo and was let down. It definitely sounds like you have the chops for it and would fill out the arrangement nicely. What you have here is really good, but adding in a nice solo would make it great. The overall soundscape here is very good -- I'm digging both the individual sounds and the way they mesh together nicely to keep us listening along. In short: I am greedy and want more of what you're doing -- a pretty good review, I'd say

The intro build up works great after more instruments come in -- I dunno how I feel about just opening with beats. The melody at 1:20 and 2:03 both work, but I was hoping for a change the second time around. Maybe some sort of stuff to fill in the harmonic gap between the melody and the bass? 2:03 and 2:44 can't be the exact same, and I suspect that they are in this case. Vary things up -- I prefer the final pass through something like this to do something different to make itself memorable. That way, you get listeners who listen to the whole piece again just to hear how awesome your last bit was. The piece felt like it was finished at 3:25 when the break happens. Afterwards, there just isn't much going on, and the slow death doesn't work well for me outside of a DJ set. If that's what this is going to be, great -- otherwise, in my opinion the song needs closure beyond this slow fade that is more boring than anything else. Overall: Needs another part or two (in instrumentation) for repeated sections, whether that is chords added to the bass line or a countermelody dancing around the melody doesn't matter a whole lot, but it can't repeat verbatim as often as it does.

I kinda dig the new rhythmic take on the Song of Storms; however, as Rozovian suggested, you're going to have to justify it somehow to make us really buy into it. I would suggest that this can effectively be done with a more complex percussion track once the drums come in. I would like it more if the end of each iteration had some support for the altered rhythm in the accompaniment generally. The breaks work well and the track is pretty good otherwise. Even though you requested that we don't, by the way, I'm going to make one comment re: your production here. If you really want people to groove out and dance to this, you need a fuller, better cymbal sound. I like the mostly lo-fi sound otherwise, but the end of your break doesn't sell itself as well even from a compositional standpoint because the cymbal sound just isn't doing its job.

If this releases before Guild Wars 2 I will play it endlessly. If not then I might skip it, even though I also enjoyed Torchlight 1 quite a bit.

What you have is good thus far! I'd like to see a more engaging bass line at some point in the mix. I like the added harmonies and melodic variation you have going on in the top voices of the mix. I'm interested to hear how the lead melody and accompanying voice play with each other in terms of rhythm as this mix comes forward. Looking forward to coming back when you have more material to present!

The big issue with the Vita port is the price -- you can get the same game on iOS for one dollar.

I'm a huge fan of how it was used to extend / expand the story of Zero Mission. Cool beans -- why don't we see a similar scenario of how Master Chief was chosen to wear the armor in the first place? I'd also argue that the original GBA sprite does not sexualize her in the way that the 3D model created for Brawl did. It also managed to expand on Samus' character and backstory much more effectively than the entirety of Other M did. Even _most_ of the ending pics (all but the single Zero Suit pic, which forms the basis for 3D ZSS) are much less sexualized than 3D portrayals of suitless Samus: http://metroid-database.com/mzm/endings.php

New record for Dominion: 8:32 to win, 451 points on our side. I was Gangplank, started w/ Zeal, then boots --> TF, Berserker's, done. GP's point control is sick, he is one of the best chars for the gametype.

Not only can you see other people fight, you can text-chat in a lobby with all of the other spectators. It's the best online system ever made for a fighter. XBL: MasterTenor -- hit me up anytime.

This is looking amazing, and it the music really has that ideal level of nostalgia. It's hard to put a finger on it, but the soundtrack clips I've heard really nail the "topic" of the shmup in that you can hear it and just _know_ that it's from a killer shmup. Even the way Eind's voice is mixed helps reinforce the overall topic / aesthetic, it all fits together very well. Keep up the great work! Looking forward to any future vids that get put out there.

^Great looking dungeon! Beyond designing the architecture, what all goes into something like that / what's left? Item and enemy placement, insertion into the world somewhere...what all is involved with finishing something like that?

Woot, I was on this yesterday. Looking forward to hearing some awesome tunes when I get home!

Works for me, Minnesota USA. Nice work!