DarkDjinn

This sounds pretty good. I don't have any real criticism of it, can't wait to see where you go with it though One of the most recognizable tunes out of any Final Fantasy, in my opinion.

The most emotion ever witnessed in something Donkey Kong related. This is great

Thanks killjoy! That Warpig 90 sounds amazing. Unfortunately they cost about twice as much as other pickups but from the sound, it might be worth it. I'm going to look more into these, I really like this a lot. Thanks again

These are in no particular order... Ni No Kuni - PS3 I've historically been a fan of turn-based RPG's and that's what I was expecting. I was wrong though, and the battle system was a bit frustrating at first, mostly because I actually have to pay attention while playing this. After I got used to it, it was amazing and I played it every chance I got. My kids are still humming the world map and battle themes every day randomly and driving my wife crazy. Anybody that can recommend something similar to this - please do, I'll buy it immediately. Dark Souls - PS3 Hard. Spooky. And I love games in which grinding makes it easier. Didn't beat it, but had lots of fun playing this last year. Looking forward to the sequel this year and I think I'll make a concerted effort to see it through to the end. Super Mario Galaxy - Wii Behind the curve, as usual. I never can afford games when they first come out, but this was a fun game that made use of the Wii's motion controller. I avoided playing Wii games because I just hated the motion controller aspect but this was a lot of fun and a good addition to the Mario lineup.

So I bought this amazing Fender guitar, a Modern Player Jaguar, for something like $400 in the last half of 2013. Great for the price. And at the time I bought it, the pickups in it, which are Fender copies of soapbar P90s called BP90, were great. But they're not exactly what I want anymore. I want to put some soapbar sized humbuckers in it. I've found some that DiMarzio makes, like the P90 Super Distortion, but I can't find any good videos demonstrating a more modern rock or metal distorted tone. Anybody have experience with these or have any suggestions for replacement pickups that might be what I'm looking for?

I'm no photographer at all (my wife is totally into it) but your photography is nice! I like "Little Boat" a lot.

I actually don't like the clock in the beginning. It gets overbearing very quickly. I'm a huge fan of Chrono Trigger though, so I'm glad you're doing this song. I'm not an expert on this style of music that you're going for in your remix, but it seems like it needs SOMETHING to fill it out more. Some more parts going on to flesh out the melody. I second the comment below that you should add some original parts or some variations of the melody. I look forward to seeing how this one develops!

This is gonna be neat. REAL neat. Hopefully some more people get on board soon. I totally didn't post this just to bump the thread, either.

For what my opinion is worth, I give timaeus's guide a thumbs up. Followed some of the tips included in this guide for guitars and drums in the last song I finished and it was a great improvement over my pretty much non-existent mixing skills

I'm probably going to go for the Gold version, mostly because of the cost difference. I don't think at this point it will make that much of a difference for me with the mic positions. They have that Composers' bundle that looks pretty sweet and definitely a better deal than buying them individually. That would be another good thing if it would be easier on my computer to get the Gold version as opposed to Diamond.

Yeah Garageband is not as bad as I thought when I first started using it, but not as good as I'd like it to be. Logic seems to be the (dare I say logical? nope, not saying it) best choice for a move from Garageband. I told myself when I finish the couple of WIPs I have, I'll upgrade. I guess what I'm going to do at this point is: 1. Upgrade the RAM 2. See about getting an SSD on which to store samples 3. Buy the EastWest libraries I wanted 4. Be happy with or cry about the results Thanks everyone for the tips. If anyone else has anything useful I'm definitely glad to listen

My goal is to be able to do orchestral pieces, which I realize would be more demanding that just using some instruments here and there in my rock pieces. And the only problem I've run into with my current is that Garageband sometimes tells me I have too many instruments going on at once (only using Miroslav Philharmonik, SampleTank, and EZDrummer) and won't play the song. Usually fixed by trying once or twice more until it decides to work.

I haven't bought it yet so I don't know. I just looked around on forums to find info from people that use it and that seems to be the consensus. My knowledge of computer hardware is relatively limited so that doesn't help either. I'll probably look into doing what Flexstyle said and getting that SSD, since I'm gonna want that even if I get a new computer.

Thanks a lot for that! Of course I love hearing that I might NOT have to spend 1-2K on a new computer I've only got 4GB right now but it wouldn't cost too much to upgrade all the way to 16GB so I might just do that anyway. So you have no problem with load times, anything like that? I'm just super paranoid that I'm going to buy this software and then my iMac is going to be like "NOPE!"

I did some searching around the forum this morning and I don't see exactly what I'm looking for, or maybe I just don't understand enough about computers to know it if I see it. That being said, if anyone can redirect me to a thread that might help, please feel free. I just want to make sure my questions are answered in a way that I can understand So I really like the East West Hollywood (insert orchestral section here) series, and some of the other products by East West. However, I'm currently using an iMac mid 2011 that can only be upgraded to 16GB of RAM, and everything I read says that 16GB is not going to be enough for the best operation of that software. Therefore, I'm looking at buying a PC. Can't go with the Mac Pro, it's just too expensive for me. I feel like I can get similar power from a PC for a lot less and I'm not loyal enough to either to care. I guess as a starting point, I want it to have 32GB of RAM or have the capacity for it, and that's about all I've got so far. I would like suggestions for where to start - whether that's buying something off the shelf, or buying a custom PC. I just want it to be able to run this software well and handle the recording that I would do (guitar, voice, horns). Thanks in advance!

Any update on my potential claim of Fusion Dragon?

Thanks for the tips, Gario. I will experiment with that kind of stuff. I play guitar and trumpet, and I was in the band in high school but that was about 8 years ago, and I haven't had any more music training since then. My point is, I definitely need to listen and see how different instruments sound individually and together, then I can hopefully recreate them like you were saying. I'll look for attack and release controls in Philharmonik. I didn't see that stuff yesterday but I sometimes miss very obvious things. And this part of the remix starts from 0:17 in the source track if you check it out here: . I changed the time signature because I imagined the bigger part of the remix being kind of a waltz. It may end up not being a good idea, they can't all be Thanks again!

Bumping this since I got no comments. I'm really looking to improve my use of software instruments. Usually my tunes are carried by my guitar playing but I want to be able to complete a song without putting a guitar in it. Philharmonik doesn't seem to be an EXTREMELY good VST. I hope to get East West Hollywood (insert orchestral section here) but I really want to get more practice with what I have before I drop a couple grand on software. Not talking production values really, but does anyone have any pointers on how to make software instruments sound more realistic?

This is nice. I do think it is a bit tinny sounding, could benefit from some more low end. What VSTs are you using in this? They sound good

I removed the files from Dropbox so they're not accessible anymore, sorry. I submitted this for (hopeful) acceptance on the site and since it's part of a project, I wanted to try to keep it under wraps from this point forward. Thanks to everyone who gave feedback!

This is cool, and not just saying that because you're shredding that keytar. Ok, maybe it's like 80% because of the keytar itself. Seriously though, it does feel like stage from an old Sonic game, although I guess that's what you were going for in the first place. Actually now that I think about of it, it vaguely reminds me of the soundtrack from TMNT: The Arcade Game on NES. Maybe a thought for your next musical adventure?

Hey there! I'd like to claim Fusion Dragon. I'll PM you with some samples of my work since I'm not posted, hopefully you'll like what you hear. Thanks!

That sounds good with me on both accounts. I just decided recently not to use my real name if I can help it but I guess for something like that it would be fine. I'll PM you my email address so you can send me the track if you feel like it.

Well, I'm no saxophonist, but I'm a trumpet player willing to play for free I don't have any recordings of me playing, but If you would even be a LITTLE interested, you could send me the tune and I'd see what I could do with it. If you decide you don't like it, then that's cool too.

Ok so I think now I've finally gotten this to where I want it. Going to solicit any last feedback with this version before marking it up for mod review. I listened through it and I don't hear anything bad or anything that I want to change but hopefully I'm not missing some minor detail. https://www.dropbox.com/s/a9h5091pavexgde/Chill%20Out%2C%20Smithy%20011014.mp3