Moseph

This is a really cool source. I'm probably going to go the orchestra route with it. I think the part at 0:28 could be made to sound something like Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man with interesting results. Also, submissions to past People's ReMix Competitions, if you want to check out some of my other stuff that doesn't show up on ThaSauce: Zanzibar Hamster (Metal Gear) Fat Man Meets Magic Turtle (Mario Kart 64) Odious Blue Chemicals (Live-A-Live) (I'm actually in the process of reprogramming the Mario Kart one with VSL instruments instead of Reason for possible OCR submission.)

I have a Schenkerian analysis of the Mario theme that might provide fun times. I'll maybe type it up and post it if I get a chance.

No real problems in the bass that jump out to me, although I'm listening on headphones and not speakers. I'm not hearing much kick drum, though. Bringing out the kick will also help the bass to sit better in the mix. Maybe bring the lead instrument down by 3 or 4 dB from 0:07 to 0:28 or EQ the lead so it includes more frequencies in the 500-800hz range -- it feels really treble-y when it's on its own, although it's okay after the other instruments come in at 0:28.

Leaving in or slightly boosting the 1000hz-2000hz range in the bass may give you a more defined attack and could potentially help with melodic definition.

Really? I almost like Third more than Dummy. Yes, the whole album is guitar/synth- based rather than tape sample- based, but I don't think that's a bad thing. In the new instrumental context, as in the old one, they still do things that conventional wisdom says you aren't "supposed" to do, like sustaining at length a single obnoxious synth timbre (We Carry On), deliberately abusing the machine-gun repeating sample effect (Machine Gun), and using a guitar track that sounds like a bad take on a cheap instrument (The Rip). The non-conventional production values are still there. To me, though, the thing that really makes Portishead so much better than other trip-hop groups is the strong song-writing, which is just as present on Third as on Dummy.

http://www.nihavent.net/index_en.html Still in beta and doesn't import/export MIDI, but has all the notation basics. Are you looking for software to actually create sheet music, or do you just want sheet music that you can read on the computer? If the latter ... http://www.imslp.org/

I am unreasonably excited about this.

I'm in the process of putting together a basic music theory guide with emphasis on composition for the Guides & Tutorials subforum, although it will probably be a while before it's in a readable state. I think it would be nice to have something on the site that could be modified in response to questions, and I may have to teach music theory in the future, so the guide would give me a way to develop my ideas from a teaching perspective. Is this a project that people are interested in? (i.e. Bug me to continue with it if you're interested.) Here's a rough draft of the introduction: ---------------- What is music theory and why study it? Broadly speaking, one of two things is usually meant by “music theory.” In its primary use, the term refers to the discernment of principles of structure in music. Knowledge of these principles of structure allows us to hear sonic relationships within or between pieces of music and sometimes to predict what events may occur in a piece before they actually happen. (Note that this is about listening to music and not about composing.) Used more loosely, the term may also include pedagogical prescriptions intended to teach composition or improvisation. As manifested in the first definition, music theory is concerned with analysis of music, the process of abstracting discrete elements from music and describing how these elements relate to one another. Analysis may be carried out by following a set procedure (such as labeling chords with Roman numerals), or it may be done in a more ad hoc fashion. The second definition applies these elemental relationships to the act of composition rather than to that of listening. The goal of this application is to teach composers the effects of various types of musical relationships. Typically, this type of instruction teaches a relatively narrow collection of idioms that constitutes a particular style of music. If you take an undergraduate music theory course, for example, you will be taught the idioms of 18th- and 19th-century classical music. If you study with a speed metal drummer, you'll learn a different set of idioms. It is unfortunate that these idioms are typically referred to as rules, because this reference implies a moral obligation on the composer's part. A lot of beginning composers seem to be morbidly preoccupied with whether or not their music makes sense under some particular theory of music (I was, at least). Remember, though: things that may be frowned upon under one system may be an integral part of another. Classical theory, for example, prohibits parallel fifths because they give too much unity to what should be two separate musical lines. The distinct sound of power chords, however, comes from parallel fifths. One more example: a curious aspect of set theory, which is often used to analyze atonal music (more on this later), is that it views major and minor chords --- the building blocks of tonal music --- as essentially the same type of harmony. And so forth. My point is this: if your music makes sense under a given set of rules, there will always be other sets of rules under which it is incoherent. If that's the case, why would a composer bother with rules at all? It's because theoretical rules provide simple ways to achieve particular musical goals. If you want independent lines, don't write parallel fifths. If you want the sound of power chords (even in, say, a string quartet), then do write parallel fifths. If you have no idea what your goal is, however, rules will be of little use to you. Slavishly following the cookbook without even knowing what you're making is not a good way to cook, and slavishly following a set of rules without thinking about what sort of music these rules will produce is not a good way to write music. When some beginners complain that studying music theory has restrained their creativity, it is because they have replaced experimentation with rules that may not even produce a result they actually want. Experimentation, which is not necessarily goal-oriented, often produces wonderful and unexpected results. Inexpertly and unthinkingly applied rules, however, produce mediocre music with nothing wonderful in it. The former will sometimes sound good; the latter, rarely. It's no wonder some people claim that they're better off without music theory. To summarize: your overarching vision for the music you write should determine what, if any, rules you follow. Your vision should not be determined by an arbitrary set of rules.

I'm signed up, I'm just not in the first post yet. I need to think of a source to submit, too.

I'll never buy another EA title. I'll stick with Steam, which doesn't allow me to buy or sell used games at all. o wait

Like Arcana said, if you do want to do the live stuff first and don't want to play it to a click track, there should be some kind of tap-to-tempo feature that will let you define a tempo after recording by inputting a beat with a MIDI controller that follows what you recorded. I just used this in Sonar (not very intuitive, but it works) to sync a MIDI file with a video of me conducting the music. I recorded a tempo map that followed the conducting.

A lot of times when editing two audio clips together, there will be something about my edit point that just doesn't seem right. I often discover that the thing that doesn't seem right is actually a natural part of one of the clips and not an artifact from my edits.

You should be able to set up a tempo map in your DAW so that the click track will follow the tempo changes. After that, you should be able to record as usual.

If you want sheet music to make arranging it easier, IMSLP has a piano score.

SimTunes was awesome. It's been years and years since I've thought about that program.

The Monty Python intro music (The Liberty Bell March) is by Sousa and is out of copyright. Wikipedia has an old out-of-copyright recording of the piece that sounds like Monty Python. Use that instead of an actual Monty Python sample, or find another public domain recording, or just arrange the tune yourself. (In fact, according to Wikipedia, the piece's public domain -- and thus royalty-free -- status was one of the reasons Monty Python chose it.) EDIT: As a tangentially related point, this means that Earthbound's sampling is only illegal if they used an actual clip from Monty Python, and if the Python recording of it is copyrighted. Hard to confirm, given how unintelligible the sample is.

Turn off the fill durations and trim durations options. The shortcuts for those, at least in Sonar 6, are F and M in the staff view. You can also tell it to beam rests in the layout settings (L) which may make complicated rhythms less obnoxious to read.

Sonar can be recolored (e.g. this site). Doesn't fix the layout, though.

They price it prohibitively high so voice-chat won't be spammed by Thomas the Tank Engine fans.

I imagine a lot of them are illegal, but like Vagrance mentioned, circumstances do vary somewhat from case to case. I have a folder of Imogen Heap vocals that I got from a remix contest sitting on my hard drive. I think in downloading them I agreed not to use them in anything besides remixes for the contest, or not commercially, or something like that. It was a while ago and and my memory's a little hazy.

For legit remixes that actually have the original artist's permission, the tracks are provided to the remixer by the original artist. And then most likely leaked on the internet where they're used by anyone who happens to find them.

Also, for what it's worth, I like the VSL (post-Kontakt) sampler more than PLAY.

Using VSL SE Plus: I layer different articulations for a given instrument when I need to simulate both the first and second player playing unison. VSL actually has sample packs that give you the true second player, but I can't afford 'em. An analog amp sim can make things sound a little warmer.

I don't know about the SP, but the original GBA had a screen adjustment screw hidden under the back label. Do some googling and see what you come up with. EDIT: Most relevant thing I found with a quick search: http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080403121540AAQQUPa