AngelCityOutlaw

If you haven't noticed, it's typically the people who haven't succeeded that act like it's not that hard to make a living at this music thing as long as you play the game right. I've honestly heard far more cautionary tales from people who've been successful than from those who haven't.

Not always true. I don't want to derail this into another cynical thread but I feel that the realities of making a living with music should never be denied. There can and are often things aside from "yourself" that can stand in the way of the goal of making a living as a composer. Ranking in at number 1 would be simple business: You can make a living (hopefully) at a 9-5 job because it is a regular schedule that pays you per hour and there are usually unions and shit that make sure you get paid. Unless you get fired, quit or something, that income will be there for you. This kind of deal only works for composers who work in-house and can't demand ridiculous amounts of money like the famous freelancers. All other freelancers have to fight for scraps. Number 2 would be location. I'm from Canada. Let's say I wanted to be a film composer instead of a video game composer. Great, now I'm screwed because they don't make major films in Canada; they just do location shooting here sometimes. I would have to move to the USA if I stood any chance at all and good luck getting a work visa when all you want to do is make music. Actually, good luck getting a work visa to the USA regardless. Not to mention that major film work that pays the big bucks is slim to none and there are just a handful of composers in that field who have the market cornered. 3. Luck. Every gig I've done had luck play a substantial part in it regardless of my networking or anything else. Luck is always a factor. At the end of the day, what does it really matter if you're making a living at music or not when in this day and age we can all tour, release albums and make music for indie games? Thought we were in this because we love music? Just as you said, try to get a day job that is relevant to music somehow. Working at Wal Mart your whole life hoping that one day you'll make big bucks consistently in a field not exactly known for paying well on average is a far shittier life than having a day job that pays well and you enjoy doing and being the rockstar/composer/producer in your off time.

Any tuning higher than drop z is unacceptable.

That's a good quote. Tastes will inevitably change though. As I've gotten better over the years with the music theory and actual writing aspect of music (I'll probably always be shit at production) I've realized that the more I learn and the better I get the more I hate some music I used to love. Like, a lot of bands I used to love when I was first starting out; I can't stand a lot of their music when I listen to it now because I realize it was actually poorly composed. Just like how a lot of music genres I always thought I hated, like electronic music, I now love the shit out of them.

In my opinion, you are probably the most under-rated mixer on this site. Like, how does this have no comments on the forums? This track is epic! A sense of urgency, yet relaxed at the same time. Love the drums as always. Someday, we gotta collab like I was sayin' =D

There are 16 year olds on this site and elsewhere who know their shit better than a lot of 40 year old "musicians" do. The singer/guitarist here was just 14 when this was recorded.

I have long fantasized of an OCR Batman album. I'd totally love a shot at doing a remix for it, though.

Basically, this album is OCR's "Black Album". It's actually really good, but everyone will hate on it and call it a "sell-out" just because it was different. I, however, just hate it because it's MegaMan.

Paying money for music!? What an absurd concept. Everyone knows that everything people work so hard to create like music, art, movies or software should just be given away like candy.

I unfortunately had to bail midway through. So I didn't get to hear the tracks from bloodlines No worries, Halloween just a few days away. What I have heard so far was badass as hell though.

I was born ready

Thought it was at 5 EST?

This song by Paul Oakenfold may be up your alley.

So I did buy Dark Souls. Haven't had much time to play it, but so far it seems pretty good.

I don't remember.

ESP/LTD, Ibanez, Jackson, Caparison, BC Rich and Dean are pretty much the go-to guitars for metal. For the love of the metal gods, just don't spend a fortune unless you're rich. I would just go to the nearest guitar store and try out a bunch of the brands (and more) that I mentioned. Quick rant about guitarists: I know so many people who have spent in the range of 10,000 on just a guitar and amp head because they're convinced they need a custom made Caparison and Engl Invader tube amp to sound good when they don't even know what a "scale" is half the time. That kind of gear is made for like, the pros that play 200 shows a year with sponsorships and corporate backing. With the kind of money that these people spend on just two items, you could get a decent guitar, amp sims, virtual instruments, recording software and even still have some cash left over for professional re-amping, mixing and mastering. The cost of some guitars and amps are enough to pay for a music education for christ sake. Basically, people, especially metalheads and sales people, will probably recommend you all this high end shit you don't really need. Stick with the cheaper, but quality instruments unless you really have nothing better to spend the cash on.

Man, This gave me such an awesome idea to do this electronic/metal remix of "Flower Power" and I was trying it out with the song and it would totally work but there's like, no good acapellas Also, your track still sounds epic as hell to me.

I've played all the Devil May Cry games, but I think the last time I played 3 was...when it was new. I remember it was pretty hard; never beat it. Perhaps I will pick that up. Hmm, local EBGames has that for 20 bucks. I've heard many tales of that game. I might pick that one up as well.

Thanks for listening Kristina. I have no plans to do anything more with it though

Would the track "Emperor Breath" from F Zero GX qualify as a boss battle theme? It plays when you race one on one with the villain and it only plays during that part of the game.

Holy shit That's badass