JILost

How so? What might be a better title?

I've been working on this on and off (mostly off) since I first conceived it back in 2007 or so. (Yes, I'm lazy.) http://soundcloud.com/jesse-ingram/jilost-castlevania-bloody To do: * put the organ solo from Dracula X/Rondo of Blood right where the mix "ends" currently, complete with guitar solo over top and original chords following * follow that up with the prologue/epilogue version from Legacy of Darkness for the "big finish" * modify the guitar work in the first solo section to sound a little more like a real guitar player might do it (more variation in note length, more pitch bends/hammer-ons/pull-offs, etc.) * change the drums in the section immediately following the first solo to match those in the intro to the Bloodlines/Haunted Castle version rather than the current lifeless ride cymbal from Dawn of Sorrow * clean up the mixing/balance issues (been struggling with this since I first started) Three questions: 1. Given it's meant to be "complete", are anyone's favorite element(s) of some game version missing? 2. Is the arrangement pretty solid as it is (once I finish the To Do) or should I do more with it? 3. Once I finish the To Do, would this meet OCR standards? (I'm not as worried about this one, as I plan to release it on my own regardless; I'm just curious about releasing it here, too.) And finally: Yes, it will sound a bit "MIDI-ish." That was the idea. I figured if Konami could get away with releasing an entire series of albums containing Konami remixes done solely with the SC-8850, an ambitious fan can certainly get away with releasing a few SC-8850 Konami remixes of his own (and possibly even doing better than Konami themselves), right?

I'm working on two separate-but-related projects lately. 1. An "RPG's Greatest Hits 1985-1996" mix CD, containing the best songs from RPG's on the NES, SNES, Gameboy, Genesis, or anything from that era that sounds "chippy." This is meant to fit on a single physical CD, used for long trips/waits/whatever and to burn for anyone interested. The track order will resemble the order in which the songs might come in a real game (Title/Intro themes mostly at the beginning, Ending/Staff music mostly at the end, etc.). 2. Form a band tentatively called "The Energy Breakers" and use the above as a sort of "musical storyboard", writing an original soundtrack to a fictional RPG, not necessarily specifically from that era (so better-than-SNES sounds can be used) but in that basic composition style. This thread is obviously recruiting for #2. THE PREMISE The gameplay and plot are not necessarily set in stone at the moment, but I imagine the gameplay to be like a cross between Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger -- or perhaps simply Chrono Trigger without the main overworld map. As you'll gather from the tracklist to #1 (below), there is some vague idea of plot structure, but I'm keeping it simple, as I presume the details will be changed and thought out more thoroughly as the project progresses. The basic idea so far: title screen, gameplay demo (a la Chrono Trigger), prologue, opening dungeon, boss battle, true beginning of the story (see: Lufia for the basic progression of the beginning), town -> overworld area -> dungeon -> boss -> cutscene -> rinse and repeat formula for a few levels, climactic "suspicion" cutscene followed by "friend becomes the antagonist" cutscene (see: GOLBEZ CLAD IN DARK), fake final dungeon and final boss confrontation, possibly fake ending, "OH NOES HES NOT DED WUT DO WE DOOO" cutscene, final town, final overworld area, final dungeon, final boss and final boss final form (see: Seiken Densetsu 3 for multiple boss forms), real ending, staff roll, epilogue. There may be more cutscenes, character themes, more than 4 or so dungeons, miniboss music, etc. etc. added as the project develops and more detail is needed; this is just a rough draft to provide a track order for #1 that makes sense. I do NOT plan on making an actual game to utilize this soundtrack, RPGMaker or otherwise. If someone is inspired during or after the project to make one, be my guest. Likewise, if it helps the musicians to pretend it's going to be in a game, feel free to pretend. Use the original contexts of the songs from #1 as examples of how the contexts in the game would look if necessary. (I.E. Search for "Phantasy Start 4 Ending Part 2" on Youtube to see how I imagine the Staff Roll, etc.) WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR Specifically, I'm seeking: * other musicians to help compose the songs, either collaboratively or on a song-by-song basis * someone with a slightly better recording setup than mine (my sound card has issues sometimes and I don't have anything like Kontakt or Cubase, just Sonar, Reason, and SoundForge) * someone to do cover art and art for any "booklet" we end up deciding to have * a guitar player decent at playing and composing melodic leads and solos; rhythm would be nice as well but that depends more on how the composition turns out * someone with a good VST, synth, or sample library that sounds a lot like (or at least equal calibur to) games like Chrono Cross, Suikoden 4, or the Secret of Mana: Genesis arranged album I would like the game to have several different styles to its music and contain elements of its various composers' styles while still having a reasonably consistent feel, like Breath of Fire does. Different people can bring different benefits to the table (me with my distinct Sound Canvas style, another who's proficient in Reason, another who plays guitar, etc.) while all working together as a "band" to create an album fit for a real, commercial game. The "sound" I'm shooting for is something original and a bit Rock-oriented, but compositionally still soft and Classical-oriented at times, the way Final Fantasy 6 or Phantasy Star 3 are. Sound-wise, I tend to draw inspiration from Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy 4, 6, and 7, Suikoden 4, Secret of Mana Genesis (the arranged album), and possibly even stretching as far as something like Castlevania: Lament of Innocence for the later parts of the game. Elements of 90s-era sounds (SNES-sounding instruments, FM tones, square waves, etc.) are allowed and encouraged (in combination with other instrumentation or not) as long as the song in question still sounds like it's coming from the same game as the rest of the album - though I would prefer not to have such "chip" elements in EVERY song. (This isn't for a Gameboy Advance game, after all.) Remixes and arrangements of tracks in #1 are acceptable but discouraged. (Anyone providing one, however, IS encouraged to submit to OCR and gain the project some exposure.) Allusions, references, "pastiches", and re-imaginings, however, are encouraged, but in limited numbers. (This is supposed to be a NEW game, not Final Fantasy XXV-2 or Legend of Redundium.) THE PAYMENT PLAN At the moment, this project will have to be pro bono. Selling the completed album or not will be decided once the project is near completion. THE TRACKLIST The information in parenthesis is where the song would fit into our game, not where it fit into its original game. 1. Final Fantasy - Prelude (Title Screen) 2. Dragon Warrior 3 - Overture (Demo Reel) 3. Breath of Fire - Starting the Journey ~Breath of Fire~ (Opening Cutscene/Dungeon) 4. Lufia - The Final Duel (Opening Battle) 5. Secret of Mana - Angel's Fear (Exposition Cutscene) 6. Final Fantasy - Prologue (Opening Credits) 7. Star Ocean - Calm Time (Home Village) 8. Ys 3 - Winged Boy (Overworld Area 1) 9. Seiken Densetsu 3 - Nuclear Fusion (Battle 1) 10. Earthbound - Onett (Town 1) 11. Final Fantasy 6 - Tina (Overworld Area 2) 12. Ys PC-88 - First Step Toward Wars (Dungeon 1) 13. Phantasy Star II - Rise or Fall (Boss) 14. Final Fantasy - Victory 15. Energy Breaker - The Sky's Brilliance (Plot Cutscene) 16. Phantasy Star III - World Map (Party of 5) (Overworld Area 3) 17. Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest - Last Castle (Dungeon 2) 18. Secret of Evermore - Title / Staff Roll (Plot Cutscene 2) 19. Chrono Trigger - Chrono Trigger (Main Villian Cutscene) 20. Super Mario RPG - Weapons Factory (Final Dungeon 1) 21. Chrono Trigger - Black Omen (Main Villian Cutscene 2) 22. Final Fantasy 5 - Clash on the Big Bridge (Decisive Battle) 23. Terranigma - Ever Green (Overworld Area 4) 24. Energy Breaker - The Fortune Teller's Guidance (Plot Cutscene 3) 25. Lufia 2 - The Savior of Those on Earth (Final Dungeon 2) 26. Ys PC-88 - The Last Moment of the Dark (Final Dungeon 3) 27. Chrono Trigger - Final Battle (Final Battle) 28. Live A Live - Live Over Again (Ending) 29. Phantasy Star 4 - Staff Roll (Staff Roll) 30. Lufia 2 - Priphea Flowers (Epilogue) Though this tracklist is for #1 and isn't too flexible, as the project develops, if a better "example track" is found for a given situation, or x composer(s) decides to ignore the tracklist all together, we can "go with the flow" and do whatever works toward a better end result. The tracklist is a guide and a reference, not a blueprint - and, don't forget, is a separate project in the first place. If you have any questions, ask. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you have a private question. If you want to chat via IM, Facebook, or IRC, shoot me a PM first so I'll know a) who you are and that I need to open up the appropriate software. (I tend to keep my IM software closed unless I have a reason to open it.)

I make a lot of projects with the intent of encoding them to ADX -- a looping digital audio format used in dozens of console games. My remix of Bloody Tears is among these, so the arrangement itself is simple at this point. It loops nicely, so the ADX version is "finished", but I'd like to flesh out the arrangement a little more for a non-looping version so I can submit it here. The arrangement itself is sort of meant to be an "ultimate" version, taking elements from many different games' versions of the song while still bringing some new elements of style and "feel". The only things conspicuously absent that I wish weren't are the bassline from Castlevania 4 and Dracula X's organ solo (still need to work on getting a good organ sound). Bloody Tears MP3 Note that this, my Vampire Killer arrangement, and many others are part of a project I'm working on. I would like to sequence, hopefully for video games, for a living, so I'm making an album of video game remixes. They're all done with the same synth and intentionally stay fairly close to the source material in spirit (VK sounded like it was from a Castlevania remake, according to one listener, for example), but add new elements and sounds and are all badassed up; if you've heard the "MIDI Power Pro" arrangements from Symphony of the Night, my aim is almost exactly that album, but not specific to SotN (or even Castlevania), and with much more liberty taken as far as giving things my own "sound".

Hey, thanks for all the constructive feedback. I was expecting something a lot more critical ("It doesn't sound realistic enough", "The arrangement is too simple and repetitive", etc....I guess I've gotten too used to certain other snobby remix groups) and am incredibly flattered that you say my sequencing shows so much talent. XZero: Yes, a fade is unfitting for this arrangement, especially where the fade is currently placed. The remix is currently only 50% length; I faded just for the sake of avoiding the MP3 suddenly dropping off. The current structure is: (1) Intro (2) remixed Vampire Killer (3) remixed Stalker (CV1 stage 2, also appears in certain VK arrangements as a "bridge" of sorts) (4) ending of VK from Rondo of Blood/Dracula X Chronicles (5) slightly different remix of VK, ended abruptly by fade What I plan to do is have (5) be a bit like (2) but arranged a little more like the source, then have Wicked Child instead of Stalker, then go back into the Rondo stuff but different, then end/loop back to the beginning. Might throw in a solo or something rather than do the Rondo stuff again, or have a solo and then the Rondo stuff again. Haven't gotten there yet. The bass stands out so much so its melody can be heard distinctly, but I do agree that perhaps some low end could be dropped off the EQ, or maybe some of the reverb could be taken off the bass's MIDI channel. The opposite problem is true with the guitar -- it isn't distinct -enough-. Both can be fixed easily enough. Rozovian: It is certainly no MSGS, that's for sure. The SC-8850 (one of the Roland Sound Canvas series of synths) is a "classic" pro MIDI synth though, so some may recognize its sound (many Konami MIDI albums use it, for example, as well as Thunder Force V and probably lots of other games) and still think it sounds cheap. I'm glad to see I'm wrong in assuming that. I do agree that, despite my style being very different from the game's, the "feel" of the arrangement still bears a lot of resemblance to that of the source, and I think that's the little creative boost I feel it's missing. The unfortunate part is I really like the arrangement and don't want to change it too much now, haha. Oh well, I'll figure something out, I guess.

Hi. This is my first time posting here, though I've been sequencing and arranging for years. There have been 39,580,298 arrangements of "Vampire Killer" to date, but I thought I'd try to tackle it, too. I've made every effort to make this arrangement sound as full and "professional" as possible while still sounding like it came out of an SC-8850 (Hence, it "sounds like MIDI". Yes, it's on purpose.). I've also made every effort to make the style as distinctive as possible so it's not just another retread; I wanted to do something different with it. I'm very aware that the mixing and mastering aren't great at the moment and there are still things I need to adjust with the arrangement itself (like the key change near the end); this is just a rough "proof of concept" sketch of what's been in my head for weeks. I'm mostly posting here to get feedback on just how distinctive I've made it, how well someone other than me thinks it works in the style I've chosen, whether it sounds "too much like the original" minus the last 20 seconds or so (which sound that way intentionally), and that sort of thing. Vampire Killer MP3