DZComposer

One Up's source works well with mine. I can't wait to hear the submissions.

Aww, thanks guys. I honestly didn't think I was going to win this one. Also thanks to Bundeslang for editing my vote comment. I'll try to avoid that in the future. I think I have a source in mind, but I need to check on it. I'm also not sure if a MIDI exists for it so we'll see.

I made a comment about my musical taste in my vote that I now kind of wish I hadn't. I don't think it was offensive, but my apologies if it was. I was moving this week and made the vote quickly and without enough thought.

I got mine in.

Wow. I want in on this one big time. Of course the challenge is what do I pick, seeing as there are no restrictions on source.

Hmm... I just may need to give this one a shot. These two almost sound like they could be poly-melodically combined without much alteration.

I got mine in, so there are now two entries! There's an actual competition now!

Thanks, guys. This is exactly the kind of help I was looking for. Looks like I've got some work to do.

Wow, I was a bit skeptical about that. I actually wrote it in Cubase, using the Kontakt 5 library's choir as a mockup instrument. It didn't sound better in Cubase with the K5 really, but I just ran this section through EWQL Symphonic Choirs instead of the K5 and did some quick-and-dirty phrase shaping on it and it almost sounds like a different piece! The shaping really put a damper on the muddiness. http://www.dzcomposer.com/helpfiles/chordhelp.mp3 Now if only I had access to a real choir... I think there are still a few issues I need to iron out, but you are right, it is actually not as bad as I had originally thought! I'm no longer bummed about this piece. Thanks a bunch!

Can you explain that further? I don't necessarily think that minor chords with 7ths or 11th chords sound bad. Also, I'm, not a guitarist so tablature really doesn't help me see things better than standard notation. To clarify, I don't think there is something inherently wrong with those chords on their own. Obviously I made an error in their use, and I'm trying to understand what that error is.

I'm working on a choral work. It's a standard 4-part SATB, which is something I haven't really done a lot of. I have a vision for what I want it to sound like, but I'm having trouble getting there. I like the chords I have chosen when I play them individually, but together they sound like ass and I cannot for the life of me figure out why. I want these smooth chords, a touch of dissonance here and there, but instead of something nice and flowing I get a freaking muddy sounding mess. Obviously something is wrong with the leading and voicing (or perhaps even my choice of chords to begin with). Chord theory has always been one of my weaknesses, and in this case it is preventing me from achieving desired results. Here are four bars of the piece both in score and in MIDI format: GIF: MP3 Mockup: http://www.dzcomposer.com/helpfiles/chordhelp.mp3 MIDI (Don't just listen to this, the MP3 sounds a lot better despite being the same chords): http://www.dzcomposer.com/helpfiles/chordhelp.mid I have a melody in the Soprano, countermelody in the Alto, and the Tenor and Bass harmonize with the soprano. In case you don't recognize it, the source is the Aquas BGM from Star Fox 64. ( ) I'm trying to do a proper choral arrangement of it instead of the terrible parallel 5th-based harmony in the original.Anyone have any suggestions and pointers for working with complex chords?

Hmm... It's been ages since I did a PRC. I think I need to get back into this.

So, I have decided to come back to OCR after a few years of hiatus. Not sure if I will end up submitting this, but I do know that my jazz writing could use some improvement, so the feedback will be valuable regardless. Also, there could be some rules issues given that the original BGM is comprised of a few well-known non-game tunes. The idea is start start off like the original and then change-it-up a little as the song progresses. That said, I'm not really going for a total-conversion here, thus I'm being a little bit conservative (perhaps another reason not to submit this). I'm also hoping the feedback can help me with some writer's block on this as I am currently unsure where I want to go with it from here, though I think I like the idea referencing songs that have a humorous connotation. I have already started down that path with the sax solo... I based the instrumentation off of the Stan Kenton Orchestra: Trumpets Trombones Saxes/Woodwinds Mellophones Guitar Bass Drums Piano Vibraphone Link to original game version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cDDCXPuaUc Link to my WIP: http://dzcomposer.com/betamusic/slotswip002.mp3 One thing for the checklist I know already: [X] Too Quiet I haven't used any compression on this WIP yet(still focusing on the composition), so to keep it from clipping I had to nudge the gain down.

EDIT: Nevermind...

If what you are doing will be write-intensive, then stay away from them. Flash memory can't handle nearly as many writes as a magnetic disk can. Though if you just keep samples on it and only really read off of it, lifespan shouldn't be too much of an issue. I hear the high-end SSDs are great, but the ones I've had experience with (the lower-end ones used in HP laptops) actually underperform the regular-old HDDs. I'd say at this point you're better off spending that kind of money on SAS (serial attached SCSI) drives with RAID (the current enterprise standard for high-performance storage) as you'll get greater capacity and higher-quality for your buck. But adding a decent SAS RAID card to your comp will run you a few hundred bucks on top of HDD costs. Probably enough to make the cost pretty much the same (albeit you get more space and reliability for it).

Plogue has a new product called "Chipsounds" that can do one of the Genesis's chips, the TI SN76489 (which was also used in the ColecoVision). Sadly, the Yamaha YM2151 is absent. It has a lot of 8 bit stuff, including NES. http://www.plogue.com/?page_id=43 Not familiar with chiptunes enough to vouch for the accuracy. It's ARIA-based, which is the sample engine co-created by Plogue and Garritan.

I thought it was strange myself when they discontinued those products. They weren't available for very long either. Maybe a year? I thought I had caught wind of a falling out with NI back when I cruised Garritan's forums (maybe you can go there for answers, the company's owner was an active poster when I was and may still be, as were/are several employees). But, they still offer two Kontakt-based produts, JABB and the Marching Band. One thing with Garritan, though, expect a wait for new things. This is the only thing I do not like about Garritan. Their development cycles are long, and is some cases the products do not end up being worth the wait. Otherywise, they are a great customer-oriented company (notice how they responded to your inquiry on Christmas?).

The new PLAY versions of EWQL products require separate purchase of a dongle. Just so you know. I'm of the frame of mind that companies shouldn't force customers to buy things just to use their products that add no additional value to the product. It's a shame, as EWQL has some nice stuff, but I don't buy from companies that do that shit. Put a dongle int he damn box if you're going to require one. Sheesh...

I primarily use EWQLSO Gold Pro XP for my main orchestral section sounds. I sometimes use GPO4 (Garritan Personal Orchestra, version 4) for solo instruments. Most of my percussion comes from Virtual Drumline 2. For Choirs, I use the old Voices of the Apocalypse library. Organ, I use the organ from Project SAM. Piano, Garritan Authorized Steinway Pro. I'll pull saxes from Garritan Jazz and Big Band or from Garritan Concert and Marching Band, depending on the sound style I want. I'll also grab some euphonium from COMB as well when needed. When I get the money, I want to add the SAM Brass and SAM TrueStrike (No PLAY or dongles like StormDrum) to my arsenal. Most of that will load into Kontakt, the only real exceptions being GPO4 and the Steinway, which uses the Aria sampler developed by Garritan and Plogue. I am particularly fond of a Kontakt script library called SIPS (it stands for Solo Instrument Performance Suite). It creates a very nice legato sound for my brass instruments. http://nilsliberg.se/ksp/scripts/sips/sips.htm

Mod wheel should not affect attack. That's velocity. Unfortunately, I cannot be of further assistance with FL because I do not use it. Only other suggestion I have is hit the manual or post in the FL help board. ( http://ocremix.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=28 )

With GPO velocity is only attack. If you want a harder attack (is that what you mean by "crisp?"), you need more velocity. You need to draw-in mod-wheel values to control dynamics ("loudness"). Higher values = louder. I do not know exactly how this works in FL (I use Cubase), but you should be able to change/add controller lanes under your piano roll to allow you to add MIDICC data to your song. From screenshots, it looks like FL has one lane by default for velocity. I say above the roll the word velocity. Next to it was an arrow pointing down. Drop-menu perhaps? See if that menu will let you select different controllers. EDIT: http://www.suspenlute.com/gpo_in_fl_studio/ It's for an ancient version of GPO, but the basics still apply. If you're using Kontakt Player 2 or ARIA (GPO4), it will look A LOT differnet. They both also support 16 channels, unlike Kontakt Player 1 (shown) which only supported 8. Just be sure to assign the same controllers. They haven't changed. Just make sure you do all of the controllers I mentioned. As I said earlier, you will need to use them to get the most out of GPO.

EDIT: I listened to you demo. How are you using velocity? It sounded to me like there wasn't a lot of attack on the notes. Are you using the sustain pedal for legato? Since this was asked earlier, but the thread grew... From the GPO manual (this is as of GPO4): Basic GPO Control: In GPO, velocity controls attack. Mod wheel is dynamics (it's a little more than just a volume control). Sustain is legato, though GPO4 has an auto legato feature, I found it not as useful as keeping it on manual. NOTE: keyswitch solo strings instead alternate bowstrokes Pitch Bend: Pitch Bend Exception: percussive sounds. They are like normal samples: velocity for dynamics, sustain for sustain, etc. GPO Advanced controls: Auto Variance: CC22 and CC23 (also Vibraphone tremolo level and speed respectively) Portamento/Bass Drum Fundamental/Vibraphone Attack: CC20 Release length: CC21 Vibrato (solo instruments): Channel Aftertouch - intensity; CC17 - frequency Kill pitch bend: CC19 Solo String Trills: CC15 Aggressive Saturation (ag instruments only): CC16 EDIT AGAIN: I think I'll make a new thread for that...

You are trying to achieve a sound the GPO was not designed to produce. GPO was not designed for the film score market, so getting a "hollywood" sound out of it is not an easy task. You won't get the exact sound, but you can get close if you truly milk the library for all of it's features. I still use GPO every now and then, but when I want a more "hollywood" sound, I use EWQLSO Gold. GPO was designed primarily as a "playable" library, and thus the emphasis was on controlling the sound, not sound quality (I'm not saying it sounds bad). Because of this, many things are simulated rather than sampled. To get the best sound out of GPO, you MUST use these features. Are you using the advanced controllers, or are you just sticking with the Mod Wheel, Velocity, and Sustain Pedal? Using the advanced controllers will unlock the full power of the library. Use the overlays. They will make your brass sections fuller. If you don't have it, spend the $50 and upgrade to GPO4 ( http://www.garritan.com/products_gpo4.html ). You'll get a chior and you get some samples from Project SAM to fatten-up the brass. If you want specific tips on specific controllers, I suggest heading over to the official Garritan forums. Great people there. They are willing to help. http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=39 I must say that I love Garritan as a company. Very customer-centered. Not to mention, no dongles. The current versions of EWQL require a seperate purchase of a dongle (which is exactly why I haven't upgraded and still use the older Kontakt versions of EWQLSO)

Oh crap... I cannot believe I missed this one.... *beats self with a shovel*

I have my source selected, and my arrangement started. I am reaching far into obscurity for this one. The score was done by a composer who scored two games total for Nintendo. One of his scores is pretty well-known. The other, not so.