Eino Keskitalo

Hey, cool to see an update on this. I can't listen to it right now but will do so later. --Eino

Hehe, a little patience.. It's only been a day. Anyway, I've thought it's been cool to see you post so many pieces, it shows you're really working on music. I haven't listened to this one yet but I will. --Eino

I'll be downloading the show. I'm eager for the project's release and glad how fast it progressed. Looking forward for the interview! --Eino

Gario said what I'd have wanted to say about using midis. If you like it the way you are doing (i.e. 4/4 - which I support doing if it's your vision), just say so, don't say stuff like "it's the only way" and "only the authors could get it right", it sounds unnecessarily defensive. A defensive mindset keeps you from getting the best out of feedback. I know, I've done that myself, still do, and trying to accept feedback without having my claws come out is often quite painful. It doesn't mean you have to lose yourself either - feedback can help you realize why you are doing the things you are doing, why you like them etc. You can say "ok, I want to make this work in 4/4 'cause I think it would sound great, there's some potential there." Or you may come to the conclusion that you'll need to explore the different meters more thoroughly. Whichever's the honest approach, following it will lead to the best personal musical development. I'm starting to sound kinda new-agey so I'll stop here. --Eino

Length itself hardly would, it's just has to be good and consistent and avoid having "length for length's sake". A technical concern is OCR's size limit, which means lower kbps for the MP3 compression i.e. ending up with lower audio quality. --Eino

I'm playing this right now and definitely digging the soundtrack. (And the game in general.) Yeah, would love to hear some mixes. --Eino

Thanks for the explanations, zircon Info/lore on the sets was cool to read, too. --Eino

I like the mood you set with the intro! Your whole sound gives a different feel to the original, so that's good. I agree with SnappleMan, don't think that a straight ahead beat is the only way here.. you'll learn a lot of new things. I think doing half-time beat and implying the odd rhythms with accents is a great idea and probably fun to try out too! At least the first part can be counted as an uneven number of fast 4/4 bars I think. I don't think 4/4 is necessarily that problematic (although the rhythm is a key component of the source), but right now regardless of what source you're using the rhythm and beat feel very even. I mean it's a breakbeat beat! Going wild with the rhythm should be part of the package. For the harmonies, I'm not doing a side-by-side comparison, but the transition to the second part (after 00:30) feels uncomfortable and the b-part has some wonky-sounding notes. (warning: rambling ahead) Having to rely on midis sucks because you're at midi maker's mercy when it comes to mistakes. Yet it's no use blaming them (not saying you are), as the end result is the mixer's responsibility in any case. It's definitely a challenging source.. --Eino

Those sounds you've replaced the synths from the first part after the intro - exceptionally delicious. --Eino

The short original is haunting, I really like it. While this version's arrangement is fairly strong, it suffers somewhat from not departing from the source, which hurts as the source is just 30 seconds long. I love that bass, who wouldn't! The lead synths sound kind of lazy to me. The basic sounds is pretty nice, but they sound very static. Need more processing, more variation, especially as the melody repeats so much throughout the piece. There's a little solo in the middle, and a harmony to the lead towards the end - these are very nice, even though more could've been done. Nice little trills in the melodies though! Apart from lead repetition, the structure works pretty nicely. I might keep this! --Eino

Haha, FFMQ indeed! Criminally short, totally lacking in bass department and aged samples. However, I think the samples are used quite well and the combination is interesting. I thought towards the end the string chords started feeling a bit messy - perhaps bleeding into each other with the reverb. The last cello note came up in the mix a bit too much, a bit nasty. Place this piece carefully in your playlist and you'll have a nice intro to another piece. --Eino

Quirky and groovy! The sounds are very nice, only the mixing/processing shows the age. Slightly repetitive, but regardless, it's making me move, it's good! --Eino

Very nice melodic piece. The piano performance is a bit jittery but not much so. There's a few piano chords that felt a bit clashy, f.e. at 00:53 and 01:00. The intro is a bit cluttered, I wonder if it really needed anything more than the piano. I like the subtlety of the strings in the beginning after the intro, the figure is a nice (and non-obvious) backdrop for the piano melody. I gotta agree the strings get a little overpowering as it goes on. Still, not too bad. It's somewhat saccharine but I'd say there's enough of a bittersweet feel to keep the whole in check. Still worth checking out! --Eino

Great source, and good take on it too. Guitar playing is very good, and I also like the way you use the clap sound with the drums. Now, you really need to expand this. One thing that comes to my mind is that the energy level as it is now is in the same gear throughout. This can sound great (especially if you do some daring variations on the arrangement side (with harmonies, countermelodies, etc)), but you may also want to consider to build it up and blow it through the roof at some kind of a climax. I do like the style here. Good work so far - I hope you keep going! --Eino

Great right from the start. Seriously, I expected this to be good and it's kind of ridiculous that you know when you hear the first drum hit.. I didn't actually expect such a snare sound! Great sounds overall, very balanced and pleasant to listen to. --Eino

Sounds great! Finally got around listening to the Impact: Steel demos too, I thought it was a great concept and the demos sound very good. I need enlightenment: what does "deep sampling" mean in this context? --Eino

I'm guessing the business aspects are the bits that need the most work/etc. --Eino

On the contrary, they make a great mix even greater. (I know you didn't mean this but still. =) ) --Eino

That looked pretty funny, I laughed a couple of times. Good voice acting! Also, congrats! --Eino

Hehe, that would SO segue nicely to a little cameo of the Chrono Trigger main theme. I have to admit I don't have any recollection of this piece, so can't say it was a favourite from the soundtrack. But I can definitely imagine a rocking ReMix made out of it. --Eino

Alright, finally got my first wip crits in! jmr, I want to hear your wip, put it up on the KNGI boards. TheHands, I like your Dungeon Explorer WIP so I'm glad to hear from you as well. --Eino

Here's a handy YouTube link as well: Good source imho. It's a great little rocking tune - emphasis on little, so it really requires some expansion. --Eino

I'll have to say I really like the toms in the part where the piano plays the little two-note melody (00:48 onwards and before the solo). You could try to make them 8th note later to be more groovalicious (just an idea to try out if you like). I agree some of the tom fills are placed strangely, bar 12 instead of 16 which would sound more natural. I'm all for strange stuff but it's a bit flow-breaking and not working really well. Might be because they're slightly loud/stand out in the mix. --Eino

Good work there, doing that wasn't detrimental to the relaxed feel of the show, which I also enjoy. Damn, Declaration of War rocked. --Eino

Heh, I'm listening to NGI#114, don't know what's different, but the guitar tone doesn't bother me at all now. I'm still not loving it, but it's definitely not that "absence" thing I was talking about earlier. Those "little things" are more clear as well.. I probably listened on some bad headphone setup over at the university last time. Verdict recalled, sounding great. Sounded really uplifting in the show, too! A cool moment. --Eino