ambinate
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Posts posted by ambinate
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I've only been writing music seriously for a little while now, and I haven't taken on any big projects yet, so I can't really offer much in the same context as what you're talking about. But I will say that I definitely feel some of the same frustrations when it comes to writing and comparing my work to others' work.
More importantly, though, I gotta say I've been keeping up with "Perchance to Dream" since you first posted it here a few weeks ago and I've always really liked it. I'm really impressed by the writing and I don't think you need to worry so much about the transitions, because to my ears it has a very natural flow. I think it's a great ambient track and I actually listen to it pretty regularly. My one issue with the newest version you posted in this thread is with the new percussion that shows up around 2:10 - I find it a bit too distracting in comparison to what you had in version 3 (I think? The file I have from the first time you posted it has 3 at the end of the title). There's one drum hit in particular that's repeated often that sounds off to me - I don't know what the actual instrument is, but the closest comparison I could make is a snare drum with the snare off, and it's panned left. But maybe that's just me; it's your call. "Espers" sounds great, too.
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Thanks a lot for the help, again. I haven't been able to work on getting the bass sound I want for the past few days, but I should be able to this week. My synthesizer knowledge is pretty basic so I haven't done much with LFO's yet but I'll experiment with pulse width modulation, it sounds really cool and like it might do the trick.
On a much more stupid note - I looked back through some of the presets and soundfonts I was using again and realized that most of the basses were already pitchshifted down an octave or 2, which explains why they were breaking up when I played below (what I thought was) C2, hahaha. I dunno why I didn't think of that before, but it made me feel really dumb.
Thanks again for all the responses.
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Ah, man, I hate to be a dick and ruin this unanimous vote you've got going, but I actually really dug the way that airy synth/sample stopped and started in the original, while the beat kept going and didn't stop. I thought it was a really cool effect, and to my ears, it already sounded intentional without the changes you made in the newer version. It's your call, though.
Either way, I think this is a great remix of a track I really love. I really like how you incorporate different parts of the original's textures at different times; it keeps it grounded in the source without just rehashing it, which is rad. The bass line reminds me of "Guilty Conscience" by Eminem and Dr. Dre, haha - I dunno if that's intentional or not, but either way, I think it works really well and sets up a nice groove for the song. I think this is definitely worth submitting, and I'd love to see it on the site.
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Hahaha, that's rad. This is sort of ironic (embarassing?), actually, 'cause a while ago I started doing a metal remix of the same song from Chrono Cross (http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11469 or just http://www.tindeck.com/listen/wfgl, for a shameless plug). I guess now I don't have to because Linkin Park took care of it and sold a few million copies of it.
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I think this is an awesome thread, and I'm really digging reading through it. I'd seen the Ocarina musical analysis for the first time earlier this year and had a great time reading that, too; it was really interesting. I hope what I'm about to post isn't seen as an attempted hijack, haha. I don't really have an analysis to offer, but I have a question (sort of) that I'd like to maybe get some feedback on from a musical theory standpoint.
One thing I've been wondering about recently is how composers evoke a certain quality in their music that's sort of ethereal and has a certain subtlety to it. It comes up a lot in ambient and other, similar music. One example of what I'm talking about in a video game soundtrack is something like the Galaxy Map music from Mass Effect (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-19bl4_SDfI). Outside of the video game world, I think almost all of BT's album This Binary Universe does this, too (like here:
).Whenever I write, I always end up writing chord progressions and melodies that are much more distinctly set in a certain emotion and have much more pronounced tension/release and cadences. But in the type of stuff I've been listening to, the pieces don't have the same sense of forward momentum or the same, clearly labeled emotional quality - it's a lot more subtle. The pieces don't feel as compelled to move to a certain, conclusive tonic chord or anything like that as you would normally encounter in popular music, for example.
What I'm wondering, I guess, is what is going on in these types of situations from a musical standpoint? What types of chord progressions, inversions and chord changes are being used? Or is it something else entirely? I'd really like to better understand how to analyze or even write this kind of music. Thanks a lot - sorry for being so wordy, haha.
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Ah, I see what you're saying about the samples. I'll have to try out applying some filters and see how that works out, thanks a lot.
I dunno about the synth stuff, though. Just as one example, here's a rough version of a song I was working on a few weeks ago:
http://www.tindeck.com/listen/foyw
I made the bass with a pretty simple sine wave patch, but for whatever reason, it doesn't really sound very distinct, and once more instruments are added in, it just loses most of its presence in the mix and there isn't really an audible bassline anymore. The lowest notes are sort of iffy throughout, too (and if I'm listening on anything other than my headphones, the bass is hard to detect). Some of this probably has to do with equalizing and mixing, I'm sure (which I didn't do a whole lot of), but I'm assuming some of it just has to do with a crappy bass sound, right? Is there anything I can do to improve the bass sounds I'm getting?
Thanks again!
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Both of these look pretty rad just because Monkey Island is awesome and I'm a big fan, but one thing is bugging me - did they get a new voice actor for Guybrush? He sounds different in the Tales trailer.
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You're looking for a musical bass sound?
Or are you looking for a bass woosh/hit effect?
Musical bass sound, for basslines and such.
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I'm looking for a little help on how to get good bass sounds that are just sort of smooth and plain. A lot of the samples and soundfonts I find online are a little too quirky for what I'm looking for, but whenever I try to make my own basses in something like Synth 1, they end up coming out not so great either. Usually they lack any definition and the notes become really indistinct around the lower octaves (C2-ish and below), and they just start to rumble and boom instead of sound like an actual bass.
Does anyone have any advice or samples/soundfonts in particular they can recommend? Thanks a lot.
(If you need examples of the type of bass sound I'm looking for, just let me know.)
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Ah, thank you much, but I guess I forgot to mention I'm looking for free stuff right now...
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I'm looking for some solid, modern-sounding electronic drums...I'm not sure if that's really a good explanation of what I'm talking about, but it seems like most of the kits and samples I find online are either based on old drum machines or acoustic kits. Both of which are cool, but not what I'm looking for - they don't really sound like what you hear in a lot of contemporary electronica. Unless I'm completely overlooking something with regards to sampling and mixing drum tracks?
Thanks a lot for any help.
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So it's been about 2 years since I posted anything about this mix, and it's been just as long since I actually made any changes to it. But I recently started learning more about MIDI and using soundfonts and Reaper and all that sort of stuff, so today I decided to revisit this old idea and see what I could do with it as far as drums are concerned. Let's just note that I'm not a drummer and so my sense of rhythm and what constitutes a good drum beat are pretty miserable, but it was still a lot of fun.
I put this together pretty quickly just as a sort of test run, so it's still really rough. Also, the guitars still sound like shit. But I'd really appreciate it if you guys gave it a quick listen and let me know what you think and if this is worth pursuing. Thanks a lot!
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Thanks a lot for checking it out, I really appreciate it.
I'm using all free programs right now, so I'm sequencing everything in Reaper and most of the synth sounds were made in DreamStation. The "twinkly star" sound is actually from a free demo of Reaktor that expires at the end of month, haha. I rendered and mixed it in Audacity. Because I'm still so new to this, I haven't figured out which program I want to end up spending money on (FL Studio, Reason, etc.), so I'm trying to learn the basics on free stuff before I commit.
I appreciate the comments on the arrangement, those are some really good points. I'm gonna look into all of that when I go back to work on it later.
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Does anyone know of a decent, free program I can use to edit out stuff like curse words from the vocals of a song? If all goes as planned I should be getting a show on my school's radio station, but curses have to be edited out in order to be played to avoid federal fines and all that.
Thanks a lot.
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I've always been interested in arranging the Kaepora Gaebora song, but I'll be a little strapped for time for a bit, so if I can get my recordings to sound up to par I think a collaboration would be better. But if anyone is interested in doing that one and wants to bounce around some ideas on it with me, let me know.
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That is my favorite track on that album...the choice of instrumentation is just beyond words.
Yeah, it's so powerful and works so well. Plus, it's such a great melody to begin with.
If we could have this rock opera incorporate some metal opera, I could try my hand at arrangement of some stuff...my big issue right now is I'm still learning how to get a good sound for recording rhythm guitar stuff, though.
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Hahaha, that ending threw me for such a loop the first time I heard it. Awesome album, though. If we need inspiration for how to combine rock instruments and classical instruments, there is no better place to look than Day Nine: Playground.
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That sounds very cool, just make sure at the end you reveal that the whole thing was actually an experiment conducted by a computer.
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Take a listen to the Ayreon album "The Human Equation" for a good idea..
Haha, wow, I was going to mention that album in my reply. I didn't know there were any progressive metal fans around here.
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Sweet. Well, I doubt there will be a shortage of guitarists, but in case there is, I'm certainly available.
Drum Programming
in Music Composition & Production
Posted
Sorry for not being any help, but I'm looking for some good guides on the same thing, actually. I can program basic beats but the type of stuff you hear in breakbeat and dnb really goes over my head. If there's any good tutorials out there on making those types of beats, I'd really appreciate it.