Paul Levasseur

So basically, you have to be a hardass business person or you get fleeced? I've scored some animations for free through school but I don't know how many dues must be paid before getting $$$s becomes a requirement. For me, I could only slave for so many hours before some sort of payment had to be guaranteed. How do you go about networking?

Those guitars sound enormous. Awesome!!

This is a good thing. The DKC soundtrack is awesome!

Ok, so let's look at your music here. You have the G F# Fnatural E bassline section as an introduction. It's roughly a G chord, D65 chord, G42, C6 progression that happens 4 times. That's your introduction. Lets label this A Then you have. C, D, G6, Eminor, C, D, C64, G. A nice catchy melody as well. Lets label this B Then we have A again with a melody. Let's label this A' So you have A B A' What can you do? There are a lot of options but let's kind of keep it simple here. What are you going for and what sort of a sound do you want? Any ideas? Do you want the tune to loop like in a videogame? Or do you want a definitive end? My first suggestion is to do something like bring back B. You can repeat it verbatim or better yet, why not make it slightly different? So A (Intruduction)B A' (A with melody) B (write this) If I was to write a second B section or a B' I'd use the chords C, D, G6, Eminor, C, D, C64, Em for a deceptive ending right on the downbeat. Then I'd continue the E as a bassline for a measure or two. This is a transition that can go a number of ways. options 1) Transpose the opening part to the key of A instead of G and put a solo over top. Then you could go into B again and transition at the end back to G and loop the piece. 2) Go into a bridge (New contrasting section in E) Then from there you'd go back into B twice (Do some variations for fun) and then you could end the piece. 3) Use the bassline on E to walk down maybe with a riff to C and go back into B again. This is a great way to do an ending. 4) You could walk the bassline down to C and do a bridge in D major or D minor. So I'm suggesting something that is similar to a song form although I have plenty of other ideas as well. So far. A B A' This is what you have. A typical song would continue with B or B' followed by a bridge C, and then back to B and B would happen twice. so A B A' B C B B Or A B A' B A'' (solo in new key) C bridge B B Or A B A' B C Bsolo B' Just some ideas to get you thinking. Experiment and see what works. See what you like. I hope this is helpful.

Love this. Everything there is to like about Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana! You definitely have a lot of talent. Is it enjoyable working on indie projects? I've been too busy studying music and taking care of my family to try and getting any work scoring games. I'd like to in the future though.

This is rad. Very epic!! The synth melodies are cool but a bit sparse with what you have going on elsewhere. Perhaps some harmonies or accents in a few key places will add additional intensity. Love this! The beginning is so cool!

I think the guitar tone is perfect for an RPG Battle Theme. I had to write something in this style for a film I scored and I miced up my Peavey Rage 158 and played through that. My high end tube amps just didn't sound 'right' for the genre! If I was to suggest anything (since this is a work in progress), think about adding some rhythm shots near the beginning. Listen to some Motoi Sakuraba and perhaps some Dream Theater. The Bass Bass Snare, Bass Bass Snare drum pattern gets a bit old. Just refine the drum part to add intensity. Think spice, not unnecessary complexity. I think it's great, just trying to help

This is rad. Very atmospheric. Sounds like Final Fantasy Prelude meets Donkey Kong Country Aquatic Ambience!

Really nice! I really like lydian. The track sounds very upbeat and like spring. Try a world map theme next. Would be interested to hear something orchestral.

This is rad. Great work!

Rad. Thanks dude! Here is another project I worked on this year. The idea was to go with something slapstick / VGM inspired. You'll probably like the chase music and the faux Playstation era battle music!! http://vimeo.com/64788018

Jaxo, send me a PM. I'll just make your parents scan and send me a consent form and we'll be good to go. Oh, here is another film I just finished. For this film, I had to go with a similar 'feel' to 'moonrise kingdom' by Alexandre Desplat. I eventually ended up doing my own thing for the film score, but the challenge with this project was that the score needed to sound like it was composed and then the animation was fit around it. It is an almost continual build of music with one break so I had to spend countless skype and facebook sessions with the animator as we both collaborated to time everything up perfectly. I did many rewrites / adjustments on this project but the result was worth it. For the score, I used mainly the East West Quantum Leap Symphony Orchestra Gold for the orchestral sounds as well as one track from Garritan Personal Orchestra sound library. The guitar. I didn't have access to another sound library with a guitar and during the course of composing, the guitar part went from being playable to being not really playable at all so I had to get the computer to do it! I moved the Garritan VSTi DLL file to my Cubase VST plugin folder. I felt like such a nerd getting Garritan to load in cubase as well as finale. The singing is me and my two friends each taking multiple takes of the vocal line. I used a Shure SM57 and an AT2035. Three baritones can sound like a male chorus! My brother mixed everything which was necessary with such an ambitious project. Full orchestra and male chorus is a formidable force, even if half of it is synth. I credit the high quality EWQLSO samples for maintaining such great clarity. The chanting part was my friend Sam's creation. I wrote out the rhythm I wanted for it and he made up the 'language' for it. He also voiced the whole thing. Super talented guy! One thing I'm realizing is that my habit of writing in finale and then producing everything in cubase afterwords is incredibly time consuming. I would have saved myself many hours had I simply started the project in the sequencer. I don't know about you guys, but I can't wait until sequencers have a very usable and intuitive notation interface. I don't mind editing midi control data in list edit but I prefer to actually see the pitches and rhythms I am notating. http://vimeo.com/sprogis/ragen There is one more film in the pipe currently which was super fun. I had to emulate the JRPG style battle music for one cue which was really rad. I miced up a Peavey Rage 158 with a Sure SM57 and got that wonderful 'midi guitar tone' with a real instrument! It was so perfect **GRIN** If I'm allowed, I'll post it when it is done.

No problem. Hopefully I'll have another film to share in a couple of months

Thanks so much. Those projects were super fun to work on and I'm working on scoring another short animation right now. It's shaping up into a great film so I'm really excited for the final results. This one will have a choir for part of the score!!

Hi Everyone, I'm FINALLY finished studying composition in university right now. I'd like to quickly share a couple of few film scores I did as part of the composition program there. The course is called 'composing for film' and we partner with animators at Sheridan College in Oakville Ontario. The first one is called Scrap Metal and it is set in post apocalyptic New York. http://vimeo.com/23246965 The second is called Night Light and you may have seen it already. http://vimeo.com/41219207 Ragen https://vimeo.com/63661616 Ballin' http://vimeo.com/64788018 I am also working on a research project as part of my degree requirements. I am specifically soliciting for gamers to send me their original compositions for academic purposes only. I posted a recruitment thread in the appropriate forum but I do not know that I articulated myself clearly. Anyway, have a look and see if you are interested. The more the merrier!!! If interested, read that thread for specific instructions on how to proceed. http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=42600

Hi Everyone, my name is Paul Levasseur and I am currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Music Composition at the University of Toronto. I am also a gamer and I have contributed to OCReMiX in the past. http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01737/ When I was in my early 20s I would spend hours playing videogames and the music became a part of me. I found myself coming up with RPG-esque melodies and I began to try to turn them into music tracks. During my undergrad, I happened to take a music appreciation course which totally changed my life direction, sending me into music school, but it was VGM that started it all. Part of my degree requirement is to devote year three to a research project and I thought that videogame music would be the perfect topic. I'm particularly interested in how videogame music ignites the fires of creativity in gamers, just as it did for me, and how the original compositions YOU create are influenced by the Videogame Composer giants such as Uematsu, Mitsuda, etc. In short, I am wanting to determine how VGM has made you want to be a composer, and I'm doing this for science! Inclusions: If you consider yourself a gamer and play more than 20 hours of videogames a week or have played games for 20+ hours per week in the past and you write original music, then I want to hear from you. I'm particularly interested in gamers who were driven to compose because VGM is so awesome. You must be age 18 or older to participate. Requirements: If you wish to participate in this study do not respond in this thread. Instead please PM me with the words 'Research Project' in the subject line and I will respond with a brief Questionairre which will determine your eligibility to participate in this study. If you qualify, I'll send you a brief Survey through surveymonkey (which includes an 'Informed Consent' document) that you can fill out if you wish to participate following the initial application process. I will also send the Informed Consent Document via PM so that you have a copy on hand. Feel free to print it. The 'Informed Consent' will provide you with important contact information and it will make you aware of the rights you have while participating in this study. Please only answer the questions that you are comfortable answering. You can leave any other questions blank. **Note** you will not be asked to provide any personally identifiable information and you can choose to be referred to by your name, internet handle, or to remain anonymous. (No pun intended). Since the survey only deals with information that pertains to your listening experiences with VGM, all statistical information will be general.