Darren Schwinghamer

This definitely has the same feel as Satie's Gymnopédie. It kind of sounds like an improvisation to it which in my opinion is a wonderful quality for piano music. Great job!

Hi there everybody! I tend to pop in to OcRemix every now and then looking for help/suggestions for my compositions or (beginner) remixes, and this is no different! http://soundcloud.com/darren-schwinghamer/sand-capital Here is my take on a tribal/desert town theme. When I hear it I think of a small village in the desert or a jungle that would be heard in a game like those of the Zelda or (early) Final Fantasy franchises. Could definitely apply to other games or genres, I'm just not as familiar with them. Please let me know what you think, there are some areas where I'm somewhat iffy about, but I'd like to hear other people's opinions. Much appreciated!

Hmmm... I have decisions to make (electric guitar or fl studio? ) Well I suppose there's no rush really, I could save up! One quick question, the Soundfont player included, what exactly does it do? Is there no other way to play soundfont files in fruity loops, I'm still kind of confused over the difference between samples and VSTs. I know what you mean by the instruments sounding too fake, I'm going to see if there's anything I can do to make them sound better with my limitations. Would you happen to have any ideas on how I can get a better sound? As for the complement on the arrangement, thank you very much!

Thanks for the feedback chimp! I know what you mean about it sounding fake, recording the real deal would be such a hassle for me at the moment (fellow musicians at school are all booked with exams like me) I'm thinking about getting the Producer's edition, but is the signature edition really that much better? Are those Vsts necessary in reality? Or are they just like the others only more user friendly maybe? Either way, I sent my final version in to the comp and I'm pretty pleased with it except for one note of the clarinet where the velocity is way too low (only noticed when listening to it off the web). Oh well

Well I just submitted mine too! I had fun doing this for the past week, I hope I have time to participate again soon

I think it's really nice, especially the recorded version where it was much more musical than the previous version. I'm just curious if the shift in sound quality at 1:06 in the recorded version was intentional or if something happened, because it really did stand out in a not so good way. Just found it odd. I'm definitely able to look past it because your mix is really quite nice, the two sources really compliment each other here.

Hey all, I decided to enter the PRC competition this week (first time I do this) because I really liked the source chosen from Phoenix Wright. I like orchestral music mostly so I thought I'd have some fun arranging it like that. I haven't remixed before so please bear with me if things don't sound good. I'm looking for advice on production and mastering as well as any other advice you might have. One thing that irritates me a bit is the brass section. It doesn't sound very brassy to me. I'm using FLstudio the fruity edition so I am somewhat limited in things I can or can't do with this particular DAW. http://soundcloud.com/darren-schwinghamer/reminder-of-a-requiem-ver1-5 Thanks for taking the time to give it a listen. Edits: http://soundcloud.com/darren-schwinghamer/reminder-of-a-requiem-2-0 I added some new sections and decided to include Police Cell-Jailer's Elegy in it as well for the variety. It might be hard to spot though... I'm pretty happy with the arrangement now, but I want it to sound better so that's where I need criticism (while if there is any criticism in other areas, don't be shy to let me know because I want to know! ) Latest version here, tried to make the instruments sound less fake. And I changed the name to Crazed Reminiscence in Jail. http://soundcloud.com/darren-schwinghamer/crazed-reminiscence-in-jail

One day is short, especially since I'm pretty new, I realized that there's still things I want to add to it to embelish it and make it just overall better. I wasn't sure if you were allowed or not to post in the Post your remix section of the forum since it's a competition, but now that that's cleared up I'll definitely make use of it Bundeslang. Thank you! And zero, you should make a bonus one too.

When can I download this gem?

So I'm pretty new to remixing and I don't know too much. I've been on the forum for close to a year but it's fair to say I went incognito for several months (school occupied me big time). Anyhow I took a stab at this just to see what I could come up with because I listened to the source and I really liked it. It's mysterious. I was just wondering if those guidelines really are the only ones. Can the mix be in any genre? And how do you know if you're sticking too much to the source or if you're going too far away from it? I've already done my mix (spent the afternoon and evening doing it) but I want to make sure it qualifies. I can't wait to see what people come up with for this!

Absolutely stunning! Magnificent, so Debussy! I'm not familiar with the source track, but I can tell this is an impressive piece on the compositional and technical side. Congradulations!

I really liked it a lot. I'm not sure if the link you have posted in the first post has been updated, but that's the one I listened to. Musically, I really enjoyed it. The intro that fades in and then ends abruptly kind of sounds weird in my opinion. I have trouble deciding if I would include it or not. If you like it, then please keep it there, it's your music. Technically... I'm not enjoying the synth that comes in at :56. Something about the attack bothers me. Looking forward to hearing an updated version!

Thank you, I definitely agree with your idea of echoing the clock ticking. I do find it's too silent between the ticks. As for the intertwining, I was originally trying to do that, but found that changing the tempo of pieces so that they are at the same tempo ruins the pitches more than I can bear (using Audacity in any case). Thank you very much for the quick response!

Hello all, School has started and I'm now in a Music Technology class (basics of sound recording, and using programs such as Audacity and Pro Tools later on in the semester). I had an assignment to pick several source tracks that share a theme and edit them together into one piece. This is not a ReMix, it's a mashup (and I know this is a ReMixing website) of Final Fantasy music (my theme!). http://soundcloud.com/darren-schwinghamer/eternal-fantasy-1 I'm just hoping I can get some feedback on the transitions and effects used to make it sound interesting. Thanks a lot! Darren

So.. is this still happening? School has started again, which means I've got access to a "professional" recording studio-ish place, which means a clear recording. I'm definitely still down for this.

Hey, I finished my first "real" piece of music. I took a couple weeks to forget about it so I could come back to it and see what I liked and what I disliked. I made the changes I found necessary to it and this is the final version of Elektronovic. Let me know what you think please. All comments, be it brief or detailed, are appreciated. http://soundcloud.com/darren-schwinghamer/elektronovic Thanks a lot!

I've just listened to the first track, and I've gotta say that I really enjoyed it. Somehow it reminded me of Ratatat (which I think is great, since I love Ratatat). I look forward to listening to the rest of the EP, and your future creations.

I have to agree about the kick. Needs to be more apparent! Otherwise, it's great!

Here's my third version... Still need lots of help for mixing and effects. I can tell that its horrible sounding right now. Anyways, have a listen and let me know what you think could be done to improve it.

I agree that the chances of using baroque style music in video games is well close to none I would assume... However, baroque is where harmonies started, so understanding the basic harmonies from baroque style music (as well as counterpoint) could be really useful when you think about it... 3/8 notes? That's a dotted quarter note right? xD I'm just trying to make sure I understand lol.

For the whole -_____- part (lol I love that face) I get what you mean and I'm going to try to vary it. You do mean in general right? Not just the melodies right? Eesh, for contemporary video game music. I know that some universities are doing it.. straight from wikipedia: Video game music education Video game music has become part of the curriculum of traditional schools and universities.[16] Berklee College of Music, Yale University, New York University and the New England Conservatory all feature or are adding game music to their curricula. Game sound & music design has also been part of the curriculum since 2003 at the Utrecht School of the Arts (Faculty of Art, Media and Technology). Training seminars such as GameSoundCon also feature classes in how to compose video game music.[17] Extracurricular organizations devoted to the performance of video game music are being established in tandem to these additions to the curriculum. The University of Maryland Gamer Symphony Orchestra performs self-arranged video game music and the Video Game Orchestra is a semiprofessional outgrowth of students from the Berklee College of Music and other Boston-area schools. The establishment of these groups is also occurring at the secondary level.[18] The school I go to leads me straight into McGill University, I don't know if there are any videogame related classes though. I did tell my music literature (basically history of music) teacher about video game music and how it's important in today's society, so I convinced her (by making her listen to a live performance of One-Winged Angel) to give at least one class on it probably at the end of my fourth semester. Correct me if I am wrong, video game music really depends on the game. Whatever vision the audio director has for the game's audio is what matters. If you can't work with that vision and make it come true, I don't think you have a job. That's why going through the basics of music composition is really advantageous when it comes to proper composition. You'll just have greater knowledge of what can be done and what has worked, that you hopefully won't run out of tricks to keep your music fresh. Hopefully that all made sense lol. P.S. It's techno

I like the overall mix, it stays true to its sources (maybe a bit too much?), and I found it enjoyable to listen to When you repeated the Mako Reactor theme louder, it was too loud imo (it hurt my ears, then again I just woke up lol). Maybe tone that down a tiny bit. Otherwise I like it.

I completely agree with you about the drums, it's on my to do list, don't worry (or do worry, maybe I still won't get it right). I'll see what the reverb does to the lead, if it does in fact sound better, it'll probably be a keeper. Now what do you mean by fake sounding? Low quality (as in the sounds of the synths)? Do you think it needs to be humanized a lot more? I'll play around with the synth I used for most of this to try and get the perfect sound which I hadn't done before, as I understand it more and more. When you say harder snap to the snare, do you mean it needs a sharper attack? Higher overall velocity? Thanks a lot for the feedback

I'm good with that mentality, I mean it makes sense and there's nothing wrong with that.

Sorry for the double post, but here's my updated version of Elektronovic. Still needs work, I find the drums feel weak now, so I have some balancing to do I think. I'm aware I haven't changed the arp, I'll get there eventually lol. Used multiple effects with the mixer (first time ever understanding it in the slightest) Would love some more thoughts on this! Responses motivate me to make it better and to not give up! So thank you