FM

That could be because it's in 5/4! I think I know what you mean, and even though it sounds perfectly ordinary to me, it must just be because I've been listening to it for 2 years. Dijn, I'm absolutley terrible at titles. I called the older ones Spiritual Stone of Fire, since that's sort of what's going on in the game at this point. But I'm not too happy with that title - if anyone has some suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them.

so, anyone?

That's fun. Makes me miss pep band

For those interested, the next part is here: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?p=218064#post218064

http://zas.illemonati.com/Ocarina%20of%20Time%20Suite_%20Part%203.mp3 I started writing this nearly two years ago, and though most of my stuff from way back then totally sucks, I've actually always been happy with the bulk of this particular arrangement. I've tried to finish a full fledged version of it no less than three times over the two years, and if you ever have heard one of the earlier versions, you'll be able to get a sense of how far my production values have come. Anyway, this is the "sequel" to a mix that's posted on the site, called Prelude. My intention is to cover all of Ocarina of Time's OST, so long as the song in question can survive the transition to orchestral, and to do so in a way that is sort of cohesive and neat sounding. I've written the next two parts, as well as Part 2 (which naturally goes in between Part 1 on the site and Part 3, which you're looking at right now), so at this point it's only a matter of sequencing, applying the sounds and mastering - which is actually the hardest part for me. Anyway, I look forward to your feedback, thanks.

I most heartily agree with what Kanjika said about Kontakt 2

Garritan has some advantages, and I think as an aid to composing it might be better than EWQLSO Silver. But in terms of sound, I prefer Silver immensley. You have to ask yourself what you want - are you going to want to use the sounds to help to give you a more accurate idea of sound of the ensemble you're writing for? Garritan might be a better bet. Even with EWQLSO, I still usually write with general midi and then apply the samples afterwards using Cubase and Kontakt. I find that there are only a handful of samples that are really useful "out of the box" - the rest take tweaking. But if you're willing to spend the time, and care mainly about the final sound, I think Silver would be a better bet. There's also the issue of the ensemble you're writing for. The entire EWQLSO line was designed for the sound of a very large ensemble, wheras Garritan naturally lends itself to smaller ensembles. Both can be bent to do the opposite, but it does tend to show in the demos that are avalible.

I also use SAM Trumpets, and I fill out the rest of the brass with the excellent SAM solo sections, which is a great tool if you can't afford the whole package. In terms of free or cheap stuff, it's a desert though. Sil's right about brass sampling being great, but if you aren't willing to pay money, it's a different story entirely - free brass is way behind the free strings and free woodwinds that are around. Last I checked, Project SAM had a free demo of it's Solo Sections library, which, if you tweak around in Kontakt or Giga Studio, gives some great results. If you ever heard my (pretty awful) Kefka in Brass remix, which as far as I know was the only remix anyone's ever made entirely for marching brass, then you've heard the free Project Sam samples. I didn't know what the hell I was doing at the time, but in terms of pure sample quality, it still beat the snot out of any free soundfonts I heard. That's provided that you have Kontakt or Giga studio - and Kontakt comes with a selection of VSL instruments, which includes a pretty decent brass section. If you don't have either of those.... good luck to ya. You can get away with Florestan French Horns, but it's best to keep your trumpet and trombone writing to the bare minimum. If you are willing to pay, I personally think Kontakt 2 is one of the best audio products you can ever buy, if you're a student. I think the student price is $180? It's one hell of a sampler, and it comes with sounds that are as good as any of the $2000+ keyboard workstations that I've tried. Particularly in the orchestral department (although it won't be as good as a dedicated library). I've also used the EWQLSO Silver brass, which I've found prett decent, and much better than what's in the Garritan demos. But neither come anywhere near SAM.

I Write everything in Sibelius and send it off to Cubase SL, where I tweak the velocities and mod wheel stuff, apply samples, and export.

I've written the next 4, but producing them is the hard part. Expect it reasonably soon though!

For anyone Curious, Trapezoid these days goes by the name of "Lemon Demon," and is widely known for his original song The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny. You can check him out at www.lemondemon.com As for the mix, I've never played Monkey Island, but I totally dig it.

The general consensus I've read seems to be that the Opus series can't touch QLSO when it comes to making that big Hollywood sound, but VSL is a much more diverse tool, and if you're into writing music for solo instruments, small ensembles, and less "in your face' types of orchestral music, VSL gives you a much greater degree of flexibility and control. But the trumpets suck, and the horns are mediocre. I'd augment them with Sam Brass, if you've got the cash.

I've got a PSR, and I'm in the market for selling one - for a reason. It's served me okay, I guess, but I've never been satisfied with it. I can think of a bazillion things that I'd rather have spent the $500 on. If you want a controller, you can pick up a great Studiologic weighted 88 key for less than $300 on ebay. A million times better than the 61 plastic action keys on the PSR (unless those ultra-light touch keys are your thing). If you want a great sequencer, Cubase SL is amazing, and goes for $240 at Academic Superstore (you have to be a student, but the savings are worth borrowing a friend's student ID if you aren't). If you want much better sounds than the PSR ones, get Kontakt II, something like 8GB of great sounds, and as a bonus feature (not really), you get the best software sampler out there around this pricerange ($175 at Academic Superstore).

And it's not just any course either - it's an interactive version of the famous "Principles of Orchestration" with audio examples and stuff. Check it out: http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=77

Well, I'm sure something dedicated might be better, but I don't really want to pay more than $60-70 for a preamp or interface. Would there still be anything better?

So I've been looking separatley for an audio interface for my SM57, and also for a small desktop MIDI controller a la the Oxygen 8. And I found the lovely M-Audio Ozone, which is basically an Oxygen 8 with a USB audio interface built in. Is this my dream come true? Or should I look into buying them separatley? Ozone's can be found for about $80 on ebay, which seems like a great value considering what you get. But if their audio capabilities suck, I'd rather pass and get a Fast Track or an Audio Buddy.

Any other advice?

So I've got an SM57 - or rather, I will, once it ships in the next few days. But I don't know anything about Microphones, or ports, or all that, so I'm not sure what to do next. I've got a Mac G5, it's got an Audio Line-In port and an Optical Digital-In port, and maybe some other things as well. So from my understanding, I'd have to get something that converts the XLR to one of these kind of ports (something along the lines of 1/8th? - but I don't know what that means, or the differentiation between male and female and all that), or I could get a USB or firewire interface, but I'd prefer not to spend more than $50-60 (although M-Audio FastTracks can be found on ebay for about this much). What should I do next?

I PMd Claudo about this and it still hasn't been changed. Anyone else I should talk to?

heh, my "Author's Comment" and bio were written by someone else, without anyone asking me. maybe it'd be better just to remove the link? or clarify that it isn't me writing? I know that you guys gave me plenty of warning in regards to writing one of those things, and it's totally my fault that I didn't (I never really had time, but I'll still try to get around to it), but I would have at least appreciated it if you would have run this ghost written version by me, since it contains a few things that aren't true. also, my arrangement doesn't have any of the Battle With Magus (as far as I know?) - just Marle's theme, the main battle theme, and a small hint of the Lavos theme.

Thank you everyone. It's a dream come true to finally get an arrangement posted here.

FYI, Lucca's arrival also uses the Battle music and a very small portion of Magus's theme.

Sorry I've been so slow Compy, I didn't expect to have to do another revision, and so I'm caught behind again. I'll try to have it done tomorrow.

^Same.

Hey, I uploaded mine.