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Chimpazilla

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Posts posted by Chimpazilla

  1. Great thread I think. I'm trying to come up with an example of a great game that doesn't disparage women (or exclude them completely)... and it's really difficult... but as I'm typing this, Zelda is in my upper right corner... Zelda games are my favorite... she isn't oversexualized, she's beautiful though, and while she doesn't appear too often throughout the games, she has an undeniably powerful and important role!

  2. I think those two themes go brilliantly together! They flow easily one to the other, nicely done. It still needs work, more filling out but so far so good, and nice sounds. I like the improv in part 2, and at some points the bass is more pronounced which I like. I think at some point you could start bringing in the second half of the kaepora theme, at least once or twice. Keep going please!

  3. Thanks very much Rozo for those eq settings to try, I will certainly try that out. Also gonna experiment with some other piano vsti's. Somehow I will get that piano sounding good! And wow, what a cool idea, never heard of taiko but it looks amazing! Explosions... hhhmmm not sure about that! But definitely some more interest will be added to the intro (and throughout). Thanks for the cool suggestions!

  4. Thank you so much Rozo, and everyone, for the helpful crits! Gonna work on the issues of adding some midrange instrumentation, and the drums. Will check out Zircon's tutorial on that.

    Are there particular areas that need more midrange more than others? I know the Dark World bridge has been mentioned, anywhere else? What parts are OK as is?

    Maybe I'll work the Beast Ganon break out completely. Will experiment.

    I thought the piano sounded pretty good... clearly my ears are not well enough developed... could you describe the "terrible" for me? Give me that "aha" moment, please!

    Can someone recommend orchestral samples that may work better? A piano you like? A flute that sounds real? I've used Miroslav Orchestral samples... are there better ones that don't cost thousands of dollars? Or, can you recommend specific treatments for specific instruments? I'd sure appreciate this specific advice, as I'm a little lost here... (or, a lot lost here) I want to try all I can with the samples, before resorting to (gulp) re-doing it with all synths...

    I really REALLY want to make this song good. Thanks again.

  5. And who doesn't love Ganon? I know I do. But what would it sound like if Ganon... (yikes...) prevailed???

    "For the Love of Ganon"

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Briefly, the story for this song:

    Intro - Link enters Ganon's castle and begins to ascend the spiral staircase. His heart beats louder and louder as he realizes this will be no easy fight!

    Verse #1 - We meet Ganon. He begins to speak, giving his explanation of his evil plan, his hatred, his cursed sword and how he plans to blot out the light forever.

    Verse #2 - Ganon is finished talking. Now he stands tall. He is evil, but man is he dignified. He paces slowly toward Link.

    Break - Ganon now shows his full ugliness. He growls... unsheaths his blade. All seems lost...

    Bridge - But wait... maybe there is hope! Maybe Link can take on this challenge! Maybe there are health hearts around, or a fairy in a pot! Maybe Ganon is not so bad after all!

    Transition - The horror of Ganon's plan sinks in... this is going to be a bad fight... it is getting darker... Ganon laughs as the first lightning ball comes flying!

    Verse #3 - Lightning everywhere! Ganon is laughing! His cape is flying in the wind! Link struggles to keep up the fight...

    Finale - The fight is ending... Link is losing... Ganon's evil plan prevails... low heart warning... Ganon laughing... very sad...

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Constructive criticism is requested and appreciated!

    Here are the sources for this song:

    intro: Ganon Castle OoT

    verses: Hyrule Castle LttP

    break:

    bridge:

    transition: Hyrule Castle LttP (from 0:55 to 1:10)

    ending: (four songs layered)

    Hyrule Castle

    (from 1:02 to 1:18 )

    :

    Special thanks to two dear friends:

    Dubsteppy bass solo performed by Liam (itsclipping), thanks friend!

    Dubsteppy drum pattern performed by David (anterroir). Thank you so very much for being my mentor, cheerleader, mixing coach/helper, advisor, and great friend!

  6. Better! A bit groovier... but I'm not sure I like that tom pattern? It's like it isn't sure what kind of groove it is going for... tried tapping my feet to it, but they got confused! Maybe if you added a regular kick drum at a straight (or nearly so) 4/4, the tom pattern would be a cool accent instead of an un-followable pattern, make sense? Please try that. Keep the kick mellow, though.

    Also I think the drums drop out completely a bit too often, leave something in there during those breaks, even just a hi hat pattern so the song remains continuous. OK so the break starting at 2:00 should be drumless, at least the first tiny bit.

    The discordant break from 1:00 to 1:19 is NOT working for me at all... some seriously wonky harmonies there!

    And your drums got off the beat at 1:29.

    And the background piano needs some writing or timing variation, it's still too static. Except the ending piano, that's pretty good.

    But the leads are gorgeous, and that background sitar-y thing, love it. Really nice soundscape here. Please keep working on this, I like it!!!

    edit: also, put some breathing breaks in the flute, no one can play that whole section in one go without asphyxiating! :-)

  7. I LOVE the melodies!!! What a great way to honor some underloved music! Very mellow and nice! TP is my favorite Zelda game!

    But... the background grooves/arps are way too static and they get old... piano and other synths are too perfect and need some velocity/writing variation... too plunky and repetitive... drums are too soft and also need variation. This could really go somewhere I think, just needs a bit more groove.

    Also bring the leads up front a little more. Looking forward to the next version.

  8. Hey Jim!

    Nice first attempt! My first observation is that the drums aren't actually keeping time with the melody. I would do as other suggested, and make a very simple drum pattern with kick, snare and hat, and paste it over the entire song, for now. Use this simple pattern to get the synth melody timing right. Then, once that is sounding right, add another element, maybe another synth playing a counter-melody, or a bell accent or something. And you just add from there. Later, you can add more drum elements, and more patterns, but start with the basic one as a backbone for your song. At least this is what I do.

    Is there a bassline there? If so I either couldn't hear it or it also doesn't match the melody timing.

    I think you have the right idea about using the source, then progressing into your solo-ish variation, this is good. But just start by matching up drums, bass and melody, then see where it takes you. :smile:

  9. You took out the drum breakdown that was starting at the end of the other version... I liked that soooo much and was hoping for more... was hoping for alternations of drum breaks and deep wubs.

    I really like this (love the source tune too)... love the dubstep and the contrast as I mentioned... but it is way too repetitive. How about at least incorporating the other part of the tune? At least once? And at least one original theme somewhere would really make it.

    The lead is too plain.

    The farty sound just sucks, sorry.

    I think the coins are fine and not overdone imo.

    Please vary and make this more interesting!!!

  10. I like this. The intro is way too long though, and needs more interest and variation. The farty sound has GOT to GO. I like the drop, and the contrast, very skrillex. The drop needs to come sooner, or at least a pre-drop dirty teaser. (couple of filtered wubs maybe) I can't wait to hear where this is going next, it starts to get interesting and then stops!

    Also: I like the chiptuney lead but it could be more interesting, less vanilla. Add some effects or change it somehow. Same with the other synths, just a little more interest will make a big difference. Judges hate vanilla synths. ;-)

  11. Damn you Sony. See what you've done to us?

    So basically it's going to boil down to which libraries hold the most appeal to you and your son. If you don't care about PS3 games, the PS2 will give you access to the PS2 and PS1 libraries. If you don't care about PS2 games, the PS3 will cover PS3 and PS1.

    Or you could try to find a fully backwards compatible PS3 and have access to everything.

    My apologies to Chimpazilla if we've made you go cross-eyed.

    Geez... 8O

  12. He's quite cool. He's got an ear for music already, I let him play our upright piano or my keyboard fairly often. He loves percussion too: at church, he'll stare at the drummer the whole time. I took him to a music store a couple weeks ago while my wife was shopping, and he had the greatest afternoon ever playing with all the instruments. He's even smart enough to hit congas with one hand on each. He's making up for being born in the car on the half-mile drive to the hospital :)

    That's great, he will definitely be a "cool kid!" :) And wow that's crazy about being born in the car on such a short trip to the hospital, sounds like a real go-getter! Great story!

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