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mickomoo

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Posts posted by mickomoo

    how much exp to the next lvl?

    in Music Composition & Production

    Posted

    Hey, thank you guys for the quick feedback, I sincerely appreciate that!

    Timing. Some samples have a long attack. Either cut the attack (sample start parameter, or cut it manually in the sample itself (on a copy of it)) or move the notes back so they play earlier and their attacks line up better with other instruments. (also what Tensei said)

    Dynamics. Orchestral musc is all about dynamics, and most music benefits a lot from having softer and louder passages. Even within notes themselves you can build or break down a passage just by how loud a note is. When you're faking a performance, a human player, don't forget that human performers tend to change the pressure of sustained notes. Whether we're talking brass or woodwinds (or organ).

    Some of my instruments have key switches, would that be sufficient enough to humanize the timing and dynamics?

    Mixing. The more the tracks bleed into each others' space in the frequency range, the more muddy it sounds. Decide which instruments you need up front, which ones can be further back, and use reverb and EQ accordingly. Write and eq the instruments you have so they all have their own place in the frequency range. Don't indiscriminately boost the bass' lows or the hihat's highs.

    I'm reading on mixing but I'm still having trouble assessing how much EQ lead instruments need, and what low end instruments need. Frequency spectrum analysis programs would help? I'm thinking at the very least I can prevent instruments from sharing the same ranges.

    When you have corrected the things already mentioned (structure, timing, dynamics, and ear-training/listening) THEN worry about upgrading your gear. I made that mistake when I was starting out, and it set me back because I wasn't paying attention to the fundamental skills I needed to build.

    I was thinking newer instruments would help me out with either my timing or mixing, lol. I at the very least wanted to get a trumpet and some other brass.

    how much exp to the next lvl?

    in Music Composition & Production

    Posted

    Sorry for the lame RPG joke, but it's early and I'm too tired to think of another title. So anyways, I've been composing and playing around for about a year, maybe a year and a half and I have about 16-20 "compositions." On paper, it seems like these would be solid pieces, but for some reason my execution seems off or something. I'm working on remixes of video game music (wips are in the remix section) but they don't really sound good at all and I can't completely tell what's wrong. I know that I have trouble with timing, I'm working on that, but it seems like I might have other problems as well, I'm just having difficulty assessing where to work on.

    Below are my best recordings/compositions, could you give me tips or any common problems these might have:

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    I'm know my other recordings have issues too, but if I look at problems that might have occurred in my "better" songs, I'm assuming it'd at least give me a starting point to assess areas of improvement for most of my songs.

    Young Composers?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Are any of you familiar with this site? It's a music community dedicated to critiquing original competitions, connecting musicians, and helping them keep up with public competitions and stuff. I found it very interesting, but apparently they've now just started their own video game composition competition. It's a monthly challenge, I think the first challenge is remixing the music to the first level of master blaster

    http://forum.youngcomposers.com/t29657/blaster-master-level-1/

    Super Mario Land 2- Wario's Castle

    in Post Your Game ReMixes!

    Posted

    Oh boy, I really wanna make my debut at using something from the sticky topics... I'm excited \@/ Let's go!

    Well, those are my thoughts on it. It was fun ^_^

    Aww, lol you used OC standards I'm such a noob though lol. If you want though, I did finish this.
    ARRANGEMENT / INTERPRETATION

    [X] Too liberal - not enough connections to the source (too much original writing)

    Yeah I know, the intro was pretty long and stuff... if I complete the rest of the song and it was close to the original would it still have too much original writing? I used the chords from the chord progression to write the intro. In the original recording it was much shorter though.
    PRODUCTION

    [X] Low-quality samples (especially not liking that trumpet)

    [X] Generic/cliche sound choices (really, that trumpet's weird! Timpani's pretty dull, too)

    Yeah idk what to do about this, the trumpet especially. A lot of these samples are from Komplete 6, yeah and idk if I can mix well enough to bring out the best of these sounds. But what do you mean by generic though?
    PERFORMANCE

    [X] Timing not tight enough (strings sound lost during the track)

    STRUCTURE

    [X] Lacks coherence overall (no "flow". Strings seem to play something, but they just don't resolve. After some time, I thought the song was all about that running snare, and that change-up in the middle makes me think that the track lacks a direction)

    [X] Not enough changes in sounds (eg. static texture, not dynamic enough. Snare, trumpet, strings and timpani definitely need more articulations)

    [X] Too repetitive (overall, the track needs some more variation in its structure. And that timpani on the ending plays too much, with a robotic sequencing, it just gets boring)

    The strings in the intro were kind of an afterthought, and the intro itself does meander onwards. I'm thinking of reducing it to 30 seconds. As for the snare, the percussion transition didn't work well?
    But still, I think this is a very cool interpretation. I love that haunting pace, and there's some elements in your track that I dig - CRASH! TISH! BOOM! -. I like your organ, and that choir just needs to articulate.

    Keep it up! :D

    The choir needs to articulate? Like it needs more air?

    Epic Soundtrack

    in Music Composition & Production

    Posted

    Yeah I wanna write orchestral scores too. I just started writing music about a year ago, so we'll see where I go lol. Honestly right now though I don't have a definitive style I just write very dark music apparently:

    http://tindeck.com/listen/mwdc

    http://tindeck.com/listen/rnro

    What, all the cool kids were doing it >_>

    THIS.IS.WIN! I cried when it suddenly ended =/

    Resurrecting an old thread here, but I see no point starting a new one.

    Any recommendations for epic movie soundtracks that blend orchestral and synth? I'm not looking for something like Chariots of Fire where the entire soundtrack (or at least, what I remember of it) is synth-driven pop music, but something more like Inception or The A-Team where the synth is more ambient and abstract, or even something that's predominantly synth textures. Ideas?

    Zack Hemsey comes to mind but you already said inception... that's funny. I listen to orchestral music daily... I can't remember anything right now though. If I remember something I'll let you know. There're probably a lot of members here that do that though to say the least.

    Edit: the bleach soundtrack, and many shonen soundtracks for that matter. They're not great examples but I could lead you to a track or two if you want

    panning?

    in Music Composition & Production

    Posted

    I don't quite understand the purpose of panning. I'm still trying to learn how to mix in general, and while I've experimented with using EQ, reverb, compression, ect in my songs, I've never panned. Is it terrible to have everything centered? How do you determined if something should be moved to the left or right?

    Super Mario Land 2- Wario's Castle

    in Post Your Game ReMixes!

    Posted

    stats.png

    This is really a wip... I know it has huge timing issues towards the middle which is why I'm starting over again, also I'm planning on changing the drum pattern up a bit. But I mostly wanted to see how the transition to the actual song worked, first and foremost. Second, how do the instruments sound? Lastly, any ideas on what I can do with the bassline, in the song it's just one note, but it's not giving me a lot of flexibility, you think it'd be possible to make a totally new bassline? I don't even know would would compliment the melody.

    for those of you unfamiliar with the source

    Edit: I uploaded the newer recording, but the bassline is missing from the main part of the song

    super metroid- lower brinstar

    in Post Your Game ReMixes!

    Posted

    stats.png

    I posted this earlier in the year, though I've only made a few changes lately, namely mixing and quantizing issues. For now I'm just going to consider this a "cover" of the song since I can think of how to make it longer. But I wanted to ask, how do the instruments sound, as well as the composition itself. I've been breaking my back to improving my composing... and that damn trumpet lol

    need composing advice

    in Music Composition & Production

    Posted

    music is honestly experimentation, especially if you're not some uber classical composer. Well at least for me... >_<

    Anyways it helps to think of complimentary scales... or in my case notes. You mentioned f being played, move the pattern or a similar patter to D or A as those notes are in a cord with F, if you're also feeling bold, you can try a pattern with a sharp or flat. Or you could loop what you have and have another instruments play chords or a counter point, or have another instrument play the melody and a new instrument do something else... there's really no limit to what you can do just experiment. Every song I've written this far was quite nearly an accident... mostly

    Do you think your musical instrument matches your personality?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    He lent money to be paid back with interest over an extended period of time?

    Yes...yes, precisely >_<

    i think you mean trombones.

    Actually we only had one trombone player in our band and he was quiet, real quiet unless he was with friends. Well one and a half... this dude from drum line randomly started learning trombone too and sometimes played and he was very out going.

    Your music has nothing to do with the topic of this thread. :P It asks how the instrument you play relates to your personality.

    True, but that would actually be another interesting topic lol

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