Eino Keskitalo

I find the "it can't be improved" angle weird.. well, different from mine I guess. To me the point is almost never to "improve" on the original. The best NES or C64 soundtracks for example are perfect as they are already. You get inspired & do your own version, that's all. --Eino

Lively Town from Shining Force 2 is a great, great piece of music: I've sworn off from starting new tracks this year so I'm just leaving that as a suggestion. --Eino

The instrumentation is very cool. A bass instrument wouldn't hurt. Mixing wise, I know it's a rough take but the ukulele and especially the bassy percussion thing are much louder and all the flutes and stuff you'd really like to hear are way there in the background. Looking forward to hearing updates! --Eino

All my tracks sound better with that insane radio compression SMD has. And I really don't want to do that myself! Arrrgh! --Eino

Plenty of melody actually.. don't know how it plays in-game though, I only have the OST. --Eino

Thanks for all the great feedback, folks! I'm planning to polish up my tune at some point. There's a lot to work on, and you're all giving me lots of great pointers. I listened to the tracks via the Sega Mixer Drive, it was great fun. I gave some comments on the IRC channel so I'm pulling some of those here. Maybe a little harsher than all the kind constructive comments you other people have given here. No offense meant; I was glad to hear each of the pieces. Tuberz: 23:09 < Keskitalo> really liking how this piece is going, incidentally 23:11 < Keskitalo> I don't know the sources, but - assuming they're both prominent - they're really well integrated 23:11 < Keskitalo> mm nice bass Sterlign Otiz: 23:13 < Keskitalo> I like the sound and the minimalism, there's a warped feeling to this 23:14 < Keskitalo> obviously not very high level skill, but some cool musical ideas Garpocalypse vs DusK: 23:21 < Keskitalo> Hmm.. Garpo's piece was cool but felt like it kind of lacked the lead instrument, Dusk's was cool but the sequencing was mechanical and the partwriting was kind of static.. the backing didin't adjust to melody, it's like there should've been chord changes at points but weren't TheGuitahHeroe: 23:22 < Keskitalo> Oh right, this is my match up right 23:23 < Keskitalo> I'm like "cool song, sounds kidn of familiar" 23:23 < Keskitalo> not my tune, but since it's the same sources -> duhhh 23:24 < Keskitalo> I wish I had been paying attention earlier during TGH's piece, I didn't listen to how Death Egg was used, but the Bridge Zone was really well used I thought 23:28 < Keskitalo> yeah, TGH's much better produced BrothaDom: 23:59 < Keskitalo> I like the vocals, the backing is a mess frankly (to elaborate: I really dug the vocals, but all the backing is really out of key) theshaggyfreak: 00:03 < Keskitalo> Hmm, this is likely to be a touch pick, I like this a lot but Flexstyle's is going to be good I bet 00:03 < Keskitalo> tough pick I mean 00:04 < Keskitalo> that was a bit short I guess though? Chernabogue: 00:47 < Keskitalo> nice electronic bass in the instrumentation 00:47 < Keskitalo> I always like fusiony stuff Sorry for not commenting everything. --Eino

Excellent post. Some comments about comparison to film music: I just happen to be reading some film history, and the book I'm reading notes (with quotes from filmmakers of the time) that music in (mainstream) films very quickly settled into the formula of emphasizing the on-screen action, suggesting what the audience should feel etc. The alternative would be to consider music/sound as its own element, the soundtrack could comment or challenge the other elements. Now I was thinking in terms of VGM, the earlier music often has a character of its own and is much more of its own element in the game, like you mentioned, perhaps even in discord to the on-screen action. This adds a layer of its own to the game. So I would argue, the older VGM is actually deeper in terms of what it adds to the game, and also stands better on its own. I hope you get what I mean, because I have trouble of expressing this in English. I actually personally find Terraria's soundtrack quite memorable & remixable, though I guess I agree it doesn't have much melody. It still has plenty of hooks though! Personally I do remix new VGM (WIPS in my signature are 3/4 from newer games), but it tends to be the kind of VGM that is very old-school. --Eino

I'll make a note, I was actually thinking along the same lines so it's great that you mentioned it! --Eino

I've made a wip thread for "Katumus". It's updated, I think I've checked all the crits I got here including repetitive drums and leads. --Eino

edit: submitted on 2014-09-19 Here's a rearrangement from the second round of Final Fantasy Crystal Clash competition. It mixes together with .DL: https://www.dropbox.com/s/za4vu51xxg99r7y/eino_keskitalo_-_katumus-20140915-fc2.mp3?dl=0 (2014-09-15) Should be finished. -- old -- Stream (older wip): https://soundcloud.com/eino-keskitalo/eino-keskitalo-katumus I think it's nearing completion. Let me know if anything sticks out! Thanks already to all who gave great comments on the compo thread, especially Chimpazilla and Riversound. --Eino

Man, I don't want to look like the bad guy, grabbing Brandon's hard-earned pay.. Donating it to OCR actually sounds great to me! I agree with the outcome (as you can tell by the vote), Tuberz did a great job throughout and I really liked his piece in the final. Good job d00d I think I got to the finals a little easier, my first two rounds the other competitor didn't manage to turn in a full track (though Hakŝtock dropped out?) I'm amazed I won Chernabogue, he did really great pieces in the compo, I love the consistent style in all of them. It was great to get to the finals, that's the best since you get to make the maximum amount of pieces. (: I tried to do something different each round and I think I succeeded: a vocal piece, a chip/trance tune, a pop rock instrumental, and some electronic slightly trackeresque mush.. well I think that was far enough from the second piece to count as different. I also think my SZRC piece is also different, an adult rock.. well, pretty close to Luja but still. That looks to be my only SZRC round, which is actually good since I'm pretty burnt out now. I plan to finish all four of my pieces, though that'll likely take some time. I usually work on pieces slowly over vast periods of time, so the quick pace of the compos is a great challenge to me. I actually resolved to stop making new pieces this year and make 2014 the year of finishing and submitting mixes to OCR. (: I think Katumus (the chip trance thing) is pretty close to finished, I got such great feedback from y'all and was inspired to do a bunch of work on it already. Great compo as far as I'm concerned, I got a lot done and had a lot of fun. I wish I had more time to give feedback but just didn't. Thanks to everyone & especially Brandon for running this finalfantastic competition! --Eino

I struck a chord by accident which made the whole arrangement take the adult rock route.. my creative advisor calls it "ZZ Top meets punk.. in a bad way" Glad to hear that! Here's the title: http://translate.google.com/#auto/en/sininen%20siili%20sillalla --Eino

Sorry, I couldn't work that into my flow that fast.. if there's a next round for me, perhaps then? edit: oh yeah, subbed my piece --Eino

I'm working.. I should've asked Brandon for a solo, dammit. It's been just a bit too hectic for me. (I think I keep whining in every post so I'll stop that now.) --Eino

I've got a decent chunk done, and the direction the piece took is quite interesting. It's going to be unpolished, but right now I'd really like some sleep you know.. --Eino

Listening right now on Sega Mixer Drive, pretty cool! --Eino

Well, I had a moment to sit down with the guitar & the sources. I sort-of-learned them, and I have the general structure in my head. But I didn't manage to really fit them together, though I have an approach in mind. I really, really hope I don't end up with another sleepless night to produce a piece, which is what I did for all of my FFCC entries, which is really, really taxing. OTOH, it's a lot of fun doing it! --Eino

Personally, I think the question was very good. I enjoy reading my peers reflecting on their own processes. There are insights I get I wouldn't otherwise. Likewise, I find it's good to try to summarize and put into words some of the thoughts I've had on my own process. Again, there are insights I get I wouldn't otherwise - even though it's just me. This is hardly a waste of time. It would be different if I wasn't also making music, but of course we all do that already. --Eino

Yeah shut up stop posting on the forum about making music. All the time! --Eino

I've scheduled some time on my calendar for this. --Eino

It's a jooooourneeyyyy, maaaannnn.. and I enjoyed the journey, me! I felt it reprised themes and stuff enough to feel cohesive throughout. The finale didn't feel conclusive though. The chip sounds could've been introduced earlier too. Also there was also a section that was a bit meandering in the writing, wasn't feeling that 100%. Overall I liked the piece very much and I really appreciate the ambitiousness of the arrangement! I would have thought the usage of Lenna's theme in my arrangement to be obvious (of course, it's obvious to me...), but Lulu's theme is less prominent. From Lulu's the descending plucked background string from the source plays almost throughout on the violin to the right, though it's adjusted to major key. The other prominent part is the lead from the B part playing over the second "verse". The organ also plays the first few bars of the A part melody here and there, but it's pretty buried (and again shifted into major key). The mix is pretty messy (I didn't have the time for a separate mixing phase and I also crammed the piece quite full of stuff), and the writing is often clumsy, especially when trying to move the harmony in the B part of Lenna's theme. I should learn me some theory and stuff.. I focused on the Lenna's theme since I felt I've pretty much had enough of Lulu's already. --Eino

Good luck! Hope you bat it out of the park. My daughter (who is three) really liked your Sonic-esque album cover. She insisted on watching the KS video. She expected gameplay footage, though.. --Eino

So, how's this project going? Gario also mentioned wanting to get more active, how's that going? With ambient back in business, the Workshop is on the brink of a glorious new era ... --Eino

Good to see you back, ambient! --Eino

I was thinking of asking you for a guitar solo, Brandon! I'll try to get the skeleton of the track down ASAP. --Eino