Harmony
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Posts posted by Harmony
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Don't take the bait max. Google to find a list of VSTs with known compatibility issues with FL, but otherwise it's fine. That being said, SONAR is of course the greatest sequencer ever created and has been since its Cakewalk Pro Audio days. The sunrise that was the release of SONAR 7 signals the dawn of a new era of perfection in workflow, pristine sound quality and unlimited musical possibilitieswhat is fl really not that good?What do you guys use then?
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Thought I'd post this here instead of the review thread
That can be said of a great majority of popular songs with lyrics from any genre. Considering this, I don't see how you can consider the song overly repetitive.[the structure of Cursed Bloodline] basically all boils down to: Intro-Verse-Chorus-Intro-Verse-Chorus-Intro-Solo section-Chorus-Intro
If your major gripe is that the judge's praise of the structure being "very nice" or "brilliant" is undeserved, I can go along with that. The structure, imo, is exactly what I'd expect for this type of song (regardless of genre). No more, no less.THIS SONG IS TOO REPETITIVE and I still can't believe that all the judges praised the structure so much -
Yep, and another excellent resource that will have even more advice is the tweakheadz guide. The forums on that site are good as well, but you may want to read up before posting in there. Sadly, they tend to not be as forgiving for newbish questions :/You've been posting a lot of general how-to threads that I've noticed. I suggest you take a look at this, as it links to various threads and resources that should answer your questions. -
Yeah, that's a good example of what I was mentioning before. There are lots of recordings out there of classic jazz singers like Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald singing multiple versions of a song; some with full lyrics, some with stylized scat singing, and some with a mix of both. The lyrical versions give the songs a certain impact for sure, but the scat versions are no less amazing...just different. "Lady Be Good" as sung by Ella in a scat/lyrics mix is an awesome thingI don't think that lyrics are completely independent of the music they're written for (unless, of course, the lyrics were originally from some other source; people enjoyed the text of Carmina Burana long before Orff), but they're clearly not as integral to the music as the melodies (vocal or instrumental) and harmonies. If that wasn't the case, jazz would've had a lot more trouble as a genre, as much of the music that's considered to be a jazz standard has lyrics which are used at most as a stylistic guide for the instrumental performer in instrumental jazz ensembles.It's a picture of our favorite Liontamer getting undressed for money, then me with fake bling around my neck...Damn, I've been fooled by astoundingly accurate Photoshop again!
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Cool stuff. This is what I would hope to sound like if I decided to start making ambient/minimalist/weedesque music, so I'll keep it in mind for future inspiration. 'Course I'd have to buy a bass...and a tambourine...and a doumbek(?)...or are some of those sampled? I can't tell, which makes this mix that much more satisfying. Everything is weaved together beautifully, I've got nothing but love for the dynamic variety, and nothing but praise for zyko.
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OMG the theme from SPY HUNTER! Man was that game fun. Sadly, I've never heard the source tune for the main mix, but that specific cameo at 1:28-1:42 brought a smile to my face. Loved the other coupla references I caught as well. This mix definitely has that Beetlejuice vibe, but overall it’s just another example of Mazedude awesomeness. Nice work man.
(I ain't never seen Peter Gunn so for me it’ll be the Spy Hunter theme till the day I die!)
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Harmony, Another Soundscape, I gotta turn around and disagree AGAIN. Hahaha. Of course lyrics make us like the music and the human voice IS definitely an instrument used for producing sound and music, but my statement about "lyrics" not being music is all about being able to separate the "lyrics" from the "vocals."
Cool. As long as you agree that the human voice is in fact an instrument and its use in a song is at least in part musical, then we are on the same page. That being said, I put very little emphasis on the meaning of lyrics in general, so "bad" lyrics probably don't affect my opinion of a song the way they most likely would affect yours.
I just joined in after Harmony. Didn't read your posts XDIt's good to know that my words are so charismatic that they inspire others to follow me by faith alone. Hmm...maybe I should start a religion or something
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Yeah, but is it wrong to still like them for nostalgia's sake?
Big Me...Monkey Wrench...Everlong...mmm, I'm gettin' the late 90's warm fuzzies over here.
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It's Halloween!! Candy, ghouls, and goblins aside, today I celebrate the 5th anniversary of the posting of my favorite harpsichord-centered remix! Love it Mike!
3:23-end sounds very familiar to me. Can't place it right now, but if it's not from Tetris, I'd be willing to bet it's VG related in one way or another.
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I downloaded it but I got a ton of adware from a link I accidentally clicked on Megaupload. Definitely try to host it somewhere else.
In anycase, I like what you've done so far. I actually don't have the song with me now to fully review, but from what I recall, I think the biggest thing you can improve would be to work on blending the strings together more smoothly, especially in the intro when they are really exposed. That can be as simple as just having the notes overlap each other for a little while between each chord change. It's actually not that big an issue once the other elements come in, but every little adds to a quality mix.
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Most of these shows weren't exactly what I would call timeless. Let's just let the kids enjoy their derth of entertainment geared towards their generation and culture. I mean, making your kids watch old cartoons is no different from being an English teacher who thinks the only books worth reading are "the Classics." To be sure, some of the old TV shows you saw as a kid are worth watching, but they aren't really inherently superior just because they are old.
True enough.
Actually, from the title I thought this thread was going to be about the loss of old school edutainment programs like Sesame Street, Mr Roger’s and Reading Rainbow. With that in mind, from what I've seen, the shows for today’s kids focus more on the 'tainment' and not as much on the 'edu.' Combine that with what I’m willing to bet is a greater % of kids watching primetime shows like “America’s Next Top Whatever” and “Family Guy,” as opposed to the few age appropriate educational shows that are out there, and you’ve got some pretty crappy programming for younger American kids (education-wise at least). Because of that, I'd probably rather show my kids old shows more so than newer ones because in that sense, I think the older shows actually are inherently better.
But that's not what the thread's about, so yeah.
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The voice is like any other instrument except a million times more advanced in how you can shape the sound. It's the best synth out there and it has as many oscillators as there is people. Too bad some are real hard to tune. Like my voice
Pfft, didn't you know? The digital age didn't just end the need to worry about keeping all those analog synths in tune. The digital age also ended the need to be able to sing in tune.
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No no. I gotta disagree with that, Kanthos. I mean, think about it. Lyrics, ESPECIALLY lyrics sung with death vocals, while might seem to have relevance to the game or the source tune itself, really can't logically have any at all because music is music and words are words and those are two completely different things. You gotta remember that the melody that some lyrics are sung in can be considered music, but the fact that they are words and that those words have meaning just makes it poetry or "good writing" or something like that, not music.
I completely disagree. The human voice is nothing more than an instrument for producing sound, just like a guitar or snare. Therefore vocals are inherently musical. Any additional meaning that you as a listener attach to the sounds created by the human voice can only add to the musicality and impact of the song. I've used the example before but if words were "not music" then I think that many people would find it hard to enjoy songs with lyrics in languages that they don't understand, like Jill's Prayer, or Star Salzman's Pillar of Salt. For that matter, if lyrics only added to the song in a poetic sense, I think death metal would be even less popular than it is now
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I come from the days when we had Ducktales, The Animainiacs, Doug, Rocko's Modern Life, Rescue Rangers, and so many other classics.
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Ughh, I can't stress enough what a bad idea is to plug ANY unbalanced audio source directly into your soundcard. You can blow up your soundcard and maybe damage the rest of your machine as well.
Why would that be the case? Most guitars are unbalanced, as are the inputs of most integrated or consumer-grade soundcards. Unbalanced output into an unbalanced input should be fine. Sure, you will probably pick up hum from the power source and you'll have problems with long cables, but I'm not so sure it will "blow up your soundcard."
Besides, balanced vs unbalanced really isn't the issue when it comes to frying your equipment. It's impedance matching, right? Your consumer grade soundcard will probably be fixed at -10dBV. If you plug in something that's rated at +4dBu out then you may have problems with the signal being too hot (in which case just keep the gain on your guitar/equipment low), but will that actually destroy a soundcard? I've heard stories but I wouldn't say that it's a common problem, especially if you're not trying to do anything too crazy with low-budget cards.
Bottom line for me is that in 5 years of plugging keyboards, guitars, mics and stereo systems into the line input of el cheapo soundcards, I haven't blown anything yet. I've always thought of frying soundcards as something of a myth based loosely on fact. Then again, maybe I've just been lucky
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Could you give me a link to the 1/4"-1/8" mono to stereo converter
The fact that this adapter is so hard to find online probably means that there is a better way to accomplish this, but anyway:
From audiogear.com, this 1/4" female mono to 1/8" male stereo should get the job done. Although it is really overpriced, just like anything else that has to do with Monster cables.
Looking at my old rig, I actually didn't have a single adapter doing the job. It was accomplished using a 1/4" mono to 1/8" mono, into a 1/8" mono to 1/8" stereo (the title of the product is wrong but the product description is right). That's a lot cheaper than the first option.
Also, I just tested a 1/4" stereo to 1/8" stereo on my laptop's integrated sound card and it worked fine. That was not the case when using the SoundBlaster Live card though, so I guess what connection is required depends somewhat on the card. Best advice is to experiment. Also keep in mind that it may have nothing to do with the connection. I don't use Audacity so I can't give specific advice, but make sure you have a track all set up to receive input from your line-in and make sure your line-in doesn't have it's recording volume muted (which you can check from the control panel if you're using Windows)
for some reason my guitar doesn't sustain very well through the computer. It's like the preamp isn't that good. Anyways, use audacity noise filter works like a charm for my integrated SndCrd.Hmm. Might also have to do with your gain settings. I find that turning the guitar's gain to its max and setting the soundcard gain as low as possible gives me the best results with a SoundBlaster Live.
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I knew you would ask that and I knew I wouldn't have an answer, because before I typed that advice I searched online and couldn't find a good link (even at Radio Shack). I'm heading home from work now though, and I'll look at my setup and try to remember where I got mine from. They exist though! I swear!
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Anyway, I'll probably buy a 66 key midi controller now. A good one goes for, what, $250-400?
Nah, you should be able to do better than that. For $170 the M-Audio Keystation61 is a pretty popular 61-key controller that will get the job done with semi-weighted keys and your standard pitch-bend mod wheel combo. The only reason I see to get anything more fancy is if you'd like to have external controls for some of the effects and VST parameters you'll be using. That would be nice if you were planning on doing lots of electronica, or if you want the ladies/fellows/undefineds to be impressed by all the shiny buttons, but for orchestral composing I'm not so sure the extra controls would benefit you all that much. Even if you do go for more controls, the M-Audio Oxygen61 is the same price! You lose the semi-weighted keys but since you're not trained as a pianist, that most likely won't bother you.
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I've taught myself to play leads; truly playing piano, as a musician, in my mind requires the ability to play a supporting part on one's left hand and a melody on one's right. I really can't do that too well at all, so I instead refer to myself as "keyboard player" instead of a "piano player"
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Do I need some PCI or is it possible just to record throught my soundcard?
PCI is just a type of connection for additional cards. Do you mean that your current soundcard is integrated into your mother board and you're wondering if you need an additional sound card? If that is the case, your onboard soundcard is fine and you probably won't need an additional card. When you record you'll probably get a lot of hum (from other components in your system and the electrical current that powers them) and hiss (from the low quality preamps in the soundcard) but you should be able to get decent results with some work. A better soundcard will give you a better quality signal with less work.
Since you said you have an amp, I'm assuming you have an electric (or an acoustic electric) guitar, so alls you gotta do is plug the output of that into the line-in of your soundcard. You could also use the mic input of your soundcard, but you'll probably get a quieter and potentially noisier signal. Your guitar most likely outputs a mono signal, which can be a problem since your line-in/mic jack is probably stereo. When I recorded with that type of setup, if I didn't convert the mono guitar signal to stereo first using a 1/4"-1/8" mono to stereo converter (Radio Shack has them), I got no sound. Take that with a grain of salt because I really can't explain why that happens.
You could also, and potentially more effectively, just use a mic to either mic the guitar itself or the amp. Just plug the mic into the mic input of the soundcard and record away.
a jackstik (of course)Silly question maybe, but...what's a jackstik?
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ummm i feelz like this iz not remix material.
Sounds remixed to me :/
T0sH, hopefully when you finish this one you'll fill out the mix a little more. Get a ride over those drums for example, throw some more instruments in, add some hand percussion. Mario music always begs for a conga or bongos or a cow-bell or something...especially if the mix is to be described as "fun." Might want to vary things up a little more too. Change up the lead from time to time in the overworld theme, change keys or tempo in the underworld theme, and add some more of those sound FX.
3:14-end was slick. I actually didn't catch what it was a remix of until the 3rd listen or so, but nice work. Make the rest of the mix that cool and you're good.
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All good advice by a:b, but I'm of the opinion that for beginners a keyboard is an excellent and almost necessary investment. In learning about music I think you will find that the keys will make the music learning curve a lot less steep, they will help you build an intuitive knowledge of what notes sound good together, and all of that info will be more quickly absorbed because you are able to associate the sounds with tactile and visual cues...something that the piano roll of your typical sequencer doesn't do that great a job of.
88 keys is overkill for beginners, 61 is great, and 41 is the minimum if you would like to begin to learn to play piano. djpretzel, and I'm sure many other people on this site, have taught themselves how to play piano, so with a reasonably sized controller and time, you can do the same. 25 keys is fine, but don't expect to get any better at the piano.
Unless it's just really your thing, I'd hold off on the self-taught formal music theory until you get a little more experience. At it's core, music is about enjoyment. That's it. In my first adventures in computer music, I threw all of the music theory I knew out the window and had a blast programming "Frere Jaques." Start out simple and fun, move on to complex and deep.
Great equipment doesn't hurt, but experience and creativity are the only real tools necessary to make 'good' music.
that's my 2 cents anyway.
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Does anyone know how to pitchbend a soundfont more than 2-semitones using SFZ (in SONAR, if it matters)? There's no option for pitch bend range that I see in the interface. I've also tried setting the "pitch bend range" continuous controller (CC 6) to different values at the beginning of my midi track...no dice.
Any ideas?
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Glad DJP mentioned the duduk in the writeup, cuz after hearing its skillfully executed hauntingly tribal vibe, I'm placing it on my created-for-the-purposes-of-this-review "woodwinds to watch" list.
The entire last segment (4:20-end) ooohhh....so nice. Like Shaun said, chills. Nice work Rich.
OCR01317 - Castlevania II "Cursed Bloodline"
in ReMix Reviews & Comments
Posted