bustatunez

Omega-ditto on the MXL-990. I strongly recommend getting the 990/991 combo deal though; for $20 more you get a pencil condenser mic that not only sounds great on its own for instrumentals, but works brilliantly well in conjunction with the 990: http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/MXL-MXL-990MXL-991-Recording-Microphone-Package?sku=273166 Each of them on their own sounds significantly better than what you'd expect for the price. But use them both at the same time (and on different channels if possible so you can control the mixing... or just hard pan 100% L / R and use a stereo VST if you can't record multichannel) and you'll get a brilliant tone with accurate mids, rich bass and clear highs. 990 has a good overall sound but the 991 adds more clarity and hype to the highs and bass. I can't recommend them enough - 992/993 pair for $199 is another good choice if you can front the extra cash.

Jawsome. Love the chordal part you bring in at 1:08 and a few other times throughout, totally fits with the metal but brings a new angle on the original.

Not much left to say really! I had an awesome time and wanna thank all the organizers and staff yet again, I go to plenty of game conferences and conventions but MAG is far and away the best. Thanks again to Jay, Brandon, Taucer, and Alexis for making up the best band ever (we *literally* have to take that show on the road, or at least submit some recordings). And ditto for Prophet, ToN, and everyone else who was in our 7/8+5/8 Xenogears attempt Seriously every time I go to these meetups it makes me just wanna put everything aside and finally finish some mixes (because I temporarily become an uberfanboy ), hopefully that'll actually happen this time. UNTIL THEN >: ( )

Nice job guys! I like the dynamics especially, how it doesn't stay at one intensity the whole time but switches things up a bit.

I thought I heard someone say something about arranging a DKC-2 track? That might be a cool idea to get the horn section in on it - a quick and dirty jazz-style arrangement with a written-out head, some solos, ending. Any recommendations for tracks that might work for? I'd be down for Dreams^2 if you need jazzy keys (not sure the flutes would necessarily fit in as much, unless you wanted a jazzy solo somewhere) ((I wonder how many times I can use the word jazz in one post))

Whoa someone else who plays tenor recorder?? Most people have never even *seen* them, rock on! I'm bringing my tenor and soprano recorders, and flute. I'm a huge Xenogears Creid fan too - lemme know if anyone wants chord sheets or anything from that. Also, a quick glance makes it seem like we got ourselves quite a horn section too! (sax, trombone and I think I saw someone with a trumpet.. Rama?) If any of the brassists has requests, I can write up some quick horn arrangements that the rest of the band can improv over, kinda like as the head of a jazz tune. FYI I'm all for prior preparation, at least in the form of "list of songs" or perhaps even as general as soundtracks. That we can listen more closely to them in the next few weeks and at least be on the same page, then let creativity flow from there.

*I*, will be the the one, to bring about, your, demise... (ie. I'm going to MAG but need a room :3 ) ((speaking of which, I should probably start working on a new fake-CD))

I wouldn't say it's muddy/cluttered at all really, if anything it's kind of the opposite - there's a lot of harshness but nothing to balance it, so it kind of becomes extremely fatiguing on the ears very quickly, especially early on. It is a big relief once the bass drum finally comes in at :57 to get some sonic variety (and introduce a new unheard frequency range), but by that time it's been biting at the same frequencies for so long that it's hard to believe the song is going anywhere. That and the amount of repetition, while it's okay conceptually, in this case nothing is really being added or changed each time and so it kind of reinforces the lack of forward motion.

hey man, cool track! nice melody, production, form, chord progression. It's actually quite memorable, which is tough to do in any musical style really. What's up with the ending, though? I'm not sure I really "get" it, the track seems serious and straightforward up until the end, but the slowdown effect seems ironic in a way that isn't really warranted by the rest of the song.

i dig the progression and sounds in general, but i feel like you could Hollywoodize it up a bit more, if you know what I mean. Here's some suggestions for that - - the beat's cool, but you could switch it up more at certain points, add a few more standout hits (eg. orchestral cymbal+bassdrum hits/rolls, timpani rolls, etc.) to offset new sections. at 1:00 you take out the 4x4 kick to emphasize those orchestral sforzandos, but the rest of the beat stays the same; you could add a new rhythmic layer to the beat that stands out somehow, I'm thinking of hipassed electronic blips that introduce sporadic 32nd-note offbeats (which btw is a huge component of harry gregson-williams' composition style, unexpected 32nds) - you could also use some kind of a harsh lead/bass sometimes, again 1:00 is a good moment for switching things up. if you did it there it could be antiphonal to the orchestra sfz's (ie. you'd have it play when they're not playing, as kind of a "response") - the synth orchestra sounds aren't getting enough expression love as I think you want. strings sustains just kinda sit there instead of really moving, instead they should have natural-sounding cresc/dim throughout. I always say you should think in terms of individual players and how they'd feel playing your music, rather than a big amorphous section. The hits at 1:00 could use more meat too: you can layer in some lower, harsher brass stabs, emphasize the string hits more (can you EQ the staccs to be slightly brighter? wide band around 6k). That and I kind of disagree with having brasses play sustains at the very beginning, it sounds more like something you'd want strings to do at that moment. since you repeat the phrase again, you could try having just strings the first time, put brasses in for the second time but with more expression so they stand out more. in general it seems like lots of individual instruments are blending too much, instead of carving out a space for themselves (so it'd be up to using EQ to figure out who gets priority in certain frequency bands). - the moment at 1:36 where you stop the drum beat could be a very beautiful transition if you offset it more; more interesting pad sounds, atmospheric sounds, some kind of an interesting swell to get into that section, etc. (...I guess "hollywoodizing" just means taking all of your ideas and amplifying them, beating people over the head with it )

hey man, before dismissing the music as "incomparable" , there's a few things you can do. first off, i didn't really get too much of a sense of progression in this track - it seemed to start with one idea, go into something unrelated at 0:15, riff on that idea for a while but without much of a sense of forward motion, and then go into another unrelated moment at 1:16. the problem is that you aren't letting listeners know where they "are" in the song, and instead they get jostled around in unrelated ideas that don't seem to connect or progress on their own. someone should be able to hear your song, then after it ends they should be able to remember something significant about it (a catchy melody, rhythm, harmonic progression, emotional feel, etc). so what i'd recommend is for you to actually start off small, thinking of just a one measure phrase, and attempting to write a piece where everything is in some way connected to the phrase... yet still "moves" somewhere. production-wise, you have some interesting sounds but I think you could use an actual bass instrument once the guitars kick in at 0:27. that and you could also at that point bring in a real drum kit in addition to the percussive electronic blips you have going, to emphasize the transition and again help with a sense that this is all going somewhere. thanks for posting!

Hey guys, just spreading the word to check it out. It's pretty sweet!! (And I'm not just saying that cuz they paid me!)

I started a Lost World thing that I showed to bahamuacer, if that's okay with everyone. I could help on the collab too - flute, piano, n00b guitar, MIDI strings/orchestration, djembe.

I personally agree, but, please stop talking.

That's okay, you still got to meet Connor! (the world's cutest bear) ^__________________________^ Btw, it was of course totally friggen awesome meeting up with everyone, especially the 'new' folks I hadn't met in previous meetups. I actually didn't end up jamming much at all just cuz there were so many people to hang out with, maybe next year that can change...

For those who missed their MAG panel, or who want to experience it on something a bit better than a 12" screen 50ft away with audio coming through a guitar amp: http://elmway.leftyfilms.com/staff/magfestraw2.wmv Just for kicks, I uploaded my music for it too: http://www.sendspace.com/file/2uat7d Have fun ^________________________________^

Sounds like a plan! BTW RFB, I was thinking of you when I recorded these -

foreman of the noobfactory ohhh snap

Hey guys, glad you enjoyed it! I unearthed some mp3s of the game pastiche-music I wrote too, if you're interested - http://www.rogetmusic.com/Controls/early_PSX.mp3 http://www.rogetmusic.com/Controls/early_SNES.mp3 http://www.rogetmusic.com/Controls/early_NES.mp3

I just found this on youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR-ZaqvUWQ0 Teaser segment for a film I scored a year ago, about a frustrated video game reviewer who unwillingly becomes a detective in a case involving a famous game developer. I thought you guys would especially enjoy the intro sequence, it pays homage to classic Zelda games and I wrote some music that hearkens back to early eras of game music. (actually, as the nightmare goes on, the game music pastiches get older and older, from PSX to SNES to NES style.. but it's tough to hear with youtube putting everything in mono)

Hey guys, sorry I'm so late to this thread (I perked up when I heard "big black sexiness" mentioned) I'll be bringing my flute (concert fl in C), and my laptop with an ext. interface, and a dynamic mic (not terrible but not great). The interface is a UA-4fx, so it's got guitar, MIDI, and powered-mic inputs, as well as tons of onboard effects (chorus, drive, delay, pitchshift, reverb, etc.). Unfortunately I wouldn't really want either the lappy/interface or the flute being used when I'm not around, though. Not quite sure why anyone would wanna use my flute anyways {insert american pie joke here} Actually I did kinda have this one idea on #ocr for us to also do some unplugged stuff, separate from jamspace... maybe at a hotel room or afterhours or something. Just sort of for the folks who play instruments that aren't amped or superloud, and wanna jam acoustic without having to blast over tons of background. I'm thinking wind instruments, hand drums, acoustic guitars, etc. Anyone with idears can post here, catch us on #ocr, PM, whatever... Just a thought.

It just feels so good to see them spreading again

anyway http://www.getdistorted.com/ for around $20 (15 euros) you can get one of the best distorted powerchords libs out there as an instant download. they also have two distorted rhythm loop collections that are definitely worth checking out, and extremely affordable (3 euros). also comes with some nice FX patches too, and is generally very playable and easy to mix; KT2 and Giga3 formats

hey guys! you can put me down as a maybe, I'll be moving to san francisco around then though and so I'm still just not 100% sure how much longer I'll be on the east coast. which kinda reminds me to take myself off the magfest list...

Hah awesome, my friend Carsten's doing sound design for that game. I helped him out with some random stuff here and there too; SFX though, not music. (I agree though, Raphael's music tracks are pretty slammin)