Nutritious

New version: http://nutritious3.googlepages.com/FF4-IntoTheDarkness_3.mp3 -Cut out last 90 seconds or so of the song and rewrote it, taking the song down by a minute total. I think this was a good thing to avoid the repetition in the themes. -Changed melody at 2:40 to expand more on main theme rather than repeat it -New ending, much softer and better resolved IMO Questions: -There are two variations on the main theme that play back to back (2:24 and 2:40). I can't decide if it's good how they are, or if I should switch their places. I'm leaning towards keeping them as is since I like the crescendo leading into 2:24 and it's my favorite part of the piece. What do you guys think? -Some of low brass notes leading into the 2:24 theme (starting around 2:20 or so) are kind of bothering me. I'm not sure if I wrote them incorrectly or something is clashing. I've listened to the brass and strings separately and they sound fine, but together something's not quite clicking. Someone with good ears please comment. -I do all of my mixing on headphones, which doesn't necessarily mean it sounds good on different setups. Anyone with some decent monitors that could take a listen? Or anyone at all with a good production ear that could comment? Thanks Like Tensi mentioned, it'll be a while since it's part of the SM64 project, which has a ways to go.

Voted Sorry I haven't been able to get involved lately, guys. Schedule's pretty tight now and I just have enough "music time" to get a few other things done.

Yeah, agreed on the criticism here, esp at 3:15. That's the point I'm still the least happy with so far. I might be able to tweak it, but if not, might just scrap those last two sections come up with an entire new ending.

New Version, same link Added yet more content Worked on last minute and a half of it, I'm liking it a bit more, but still needs work. Probably getting closer to submission time.

Updated Quite a bit more content in this version than previous. I'm not happy with the last minute or so of the song, so I'll be working on that. Also, there are a couple weak transitions that need some help.

Thanks for the feedback avaris . Yeah, you've got me nailed down a bit on these types of slow, quiet intros. It's just what I hear with this type of OST. As far as your suggestions, I'm having a little trouble pinning down what you're talking about cause I don't think the time markings you gave are matching up with Winamp/Fl Studio. Could you maybe be more specific, instrument-wise? Oh, and near the end (1:34 on my player), that section isn't going to be following the previous section in the finished piece. I'll be adding some additional stuff in between (still have some source to work with), which is why there's no transition or anything. Lish Fish said, I wish it was ewqlso . Actually I'll be getting the silver bundle very soon. As far as counterpoint, the way I understand it is it's not just playing chords to harmonize, but an actual melody-type link that compliments the main melody of the song. Yeah, I've got some notes in the last section of the song that are purposefully slightly dissonant to give it kinda of ahh... a mysterious feel? Don't know, I just like how it sounds. Mr. guitar here is too generous And yeah, all the instruments used here are free samples/soundfonts. Squidfont orchestral, cadenza strings, some *cough* fl studio default string samples - all layered together.

Hey guys, here's an orchestral rendition I've been working on for Into the Darkness (mist cave) from FF4: EDIT: Updated link http://nutritious3.googlepages.com/FF4-IntoTheDarkness_3.mp3 Still have a lot of work to do on it. There will be several more sections that come before the last string section at the end of this WIP, which is why it's a bit jarring.

I'm only casually familiar with a few Pendulum songs, but I'm really getting into this track. Keep it up man! Flesh it out more and bring it back. Sorry I don't have any suggestions for you, it's just a genre outside of what I make.

Lethal Lava Land sub'd and accepted . Now we just gotta get the rest of the tracks going. Looks that way, though I guess Pocket would give the official word. He's kinda sporadically on here.

Enough money to buy EWQLSO silver... which I've actually got now. Just hoping that the bundle will drop down to the silver price range again so I can get XP for no additional charge .

Congrats on your first (solo) post, Fish. I've been a fan of this song since the first time I heard it on the album. Solid work all around and good dynamics/transitions. Definitely a keeper.

I'm really liking the layout of these lists now. It's a lot easier to tell what you're looking at and provides a lot more information to the casual viewer instead of having to search/click around for it.

As long as it's sequenceable, I'll take it

Might want to fix the first link, vgmusic doesn't like direct linking. Anyway, here are my thoughts: I can see where this has improved a lot from the previous version you submitted. I'm not too crazy about this intro, I think it needs something more interesting than a simple bass line and very exposed four on the floor kick. You need a hook here, something to get the listener's attention. If you're going for a DJ-friendly intro, I guess I can understand this type of intro, but I still think it's overly simplistic. The sounds themselves aren't bad I think. Definitely had some interesting (in a good way) synths used here - especially compared to the last version you did. Yeah, drums are lacking the punch to push through this mix - they need some compression to compensate. I'm not really feeling the hihat sound or the pattern it plays starting about a quarter of the way in. I'm definitely no expert on this type of genre, but if you're going for a 4 kick dance beat, you need more presence in both the kick and hat to establish the base for the song. I think your bass freqs are a bit muddy on the low end. It's especially noticable during the breakdown about halfway through. Might need a cleaner bass synth. The build-up after the breakdown needs a lot of work I think - rather than just adding back some elements that were present before. Also, the second iteration of the main theme needs some additional variation so it's not just a re-hashing of the first time around, but rather something fresh for the listener. Hope this helps.

Whoah, Pocket's back! Glad to see more wips up. Pretty close to full WIP coverage now. Oh, and Metallic Mario has a wip in there too, so you can update that one on the front page.

Very cool use of synths and orchestra! But where's the rest of the song? I feel like this is one long build up and I keep waiting for the main chorus and later sections of the OST to come in and they never do. I'd say, bring in the other parts of the OST towards the middle of the track and wait to revisit the bowed strings and stabs from the intro section until later in the song.

Updated: EDIT: Links removed, sorry -More content -Some better balancing -Integrated some of the Main Theme into there. I didn't plan it originally, but it fit well during the quieter section.

Seeing my love for the music of FFIV, I figured it's about time I start on a mix: EDIT: Links removed, sorry So far it's just the intro and the first iteration of the chorus. Basically, I'm going for epic/cinematic orchestral style. Feedback & critiques welcome. P.S. Yeah, I know the trumpet sample isn't so hot. Getting a new orchestral library soon that should take care of that)

You've been posting some nice stuff lately, Greg, and this is no exception. I think I hear what Zirc's talking about on the bass note - it seems to descend one or two half-steps and it sounds a little strange. Easy fix though. Very nice.

Wow Might be interesting to see if it stays up on his myspace page for long.

Any way to get it to just link to the writeup? EDIT: Ahh nevermind, link does just that, but the streaming arrow streams from ocmirror

Well, this sounds to me like something that would've made it on the site back around 2002 or so. This genre isn't really my strength, but I'll try to break down a few thoughts: -It doesn't really have an intro per se, instead it just goes into the song with the lead synth and backing synths sans drums (if you don't include the very tiny hihat click) -Drums come in at :12 with a very basic beat pattern and generic sounding clap sound. Jumping around in the song, it sounds like there's little/no variation on the beat throughout the rest of the track. You need to work on making more interesting patterns, builds, and fills. Also, the samples themselves could use some work. You can try to get some better quality samples, layer stuff, process them more - anything to make it more interesting. Definitely get some compression on the drums too, give them some punch. -I'm hearing a lot of phasing on the synths, esp the lead. Not a bad effect for some leads, but IMO it needs to be more subtle. -Main gripe here: there's no real hook to this song. If you jump around the song, most of it basically sounds the same with the exception of a bit of a subtractive breakdown at 1:52. The synths don't really change a whole lot thoroughout the song and there's not a whole lot of dynamic contract going on. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a bad song. I just beleive constructive criticism is a lot more important than praise (you can get plenty of that in the Review forum once it's posted). It's definitely not a bad early track, just needs work to get it above the bar: work on your beats, dynamics, transitions, and synth useage. Hope this helps.

Pretty quick turn-around from the label I'd say. Keep us updated if they send anything else. Listening to the song, it seems like it'd be pretty simple to change around the melody at least a little bit to make it an original piece. Judging by the name of the song, though, it sounds like he wants someone to figure out what it's from, but perhaps didn't consider the repercussions.

Due to popular demand </sarcasm>, link updated Edit: Also added another version with a longer ending section

While Chrono Trigger might be "mainstream music" and easily recognizable for the gaming music community, a track from an snes video game probably isn't going to be recognized by most regular listeners. With that in mind, I guess it can't be too surprising that something like this goes by relatively unnoticed.