DarkDjinn

I think overall you're probably going in the right direction. What I would suggest is to pick an instrument and start learning how to play (if you don't already play one) and I think that will help you a lot to get a feel for how to make music more emotive. I listened through a few of your songs and I get that overall old school video game feel. Also, I didn't listen to every song, but you seem to have a lot of staccato sounding tunes - it would be good to practice more sustained notes and chords and build on top of those. Just like anything, more practice = getting better. Keep it up!

This is nice! I haven't seen Frozen yet, but I like what you've got going on here. Those strings sound great - are you playing them or is that sampled? Some of it sounds sampled and some sounds real...Looking forward to hearing this when you add the vocals. And my wife just came into the room while I was listening to it - she does massage therapy, and she said this would be nice to do massages to

Holy crap, I can't wait for everyone to hear what I've been working on

It is weird, but I actually thought about Super Mario RPG and the battle with Culex which used the FFII/IV boss theme - and then it didn't seem as weird anymore. Of course, that might not be the reason for choosing the FFIX battle theme at all...

Could I have my username changed to "Brad Charles" please? I'm trying to make all of my names consistent. Thanks in advance. edit: Thanks for the quick response!

Wow, I really like this. It reminds me a lot of some of the songs from the Mana series. Going to go listen to your other stuff now, keep it up!

This is certainly something I have never heard before. Thumbs up for originality - the amount of VG references in that song made my head spin haha. I was trying to catch all of them. Also enjoyed watching the clip of your live performance on Youtube, you seem to be a great entertainer. Keep it up man!

I checked a couple of tracks out on Bandcamp...I really like this, I'm going to finish listening to all of it later. Metal and video games are two of my favorite things, and I think I really like having them both together. Great work!

This is less about getting started, but can help keep you on track - I am working on my first remix right now, and it's going well. But I have someone that keeps listening to it as I make more progress on the rough demo of it. I'm finding it very helpful to have feedback throughout the creative process instead of just at the end.

The title of the thread says the main idea here: I want to assemble a group of musicians in the Baltimore/DC area to play video game arrangements and even some original works. Prog rock/metal, with a heavy emphasis on melody - that's what I have in mind. The first act that I think of is Liquid Tension Experiment (although I'm certainly no John Petrucci by a longshot. I'm sure that goes without saying for just about anybody). And that's really all I've got for this idea. Anybody else in this area have an interest in something like this?

Hey, thanks to both of you. Posting under Recruit & Collaborate makes more sense.

So before I post what I'd actually like to post, I want to ask a question, open to anyone who can point me in the right direction - I'd like to post a thread to see if there's interest in my area in forming a VG music oriented band, would "Community" be an appropriate place to post this?

Garpocalypse, thanks so much for all the stuff you included, especially the EQ tips. I'll check into everything when I get home and hopefully find something useful from the links you suggested.

I agree with that. I actually never use effects on rhythm tracks, just because it makes a messy sound. Thanks for the tips.

Good morning everyone, I'm looking for anyone that could help me in achieving a better guitar tone for remixes, especially someone that has used the same or similar equipment that I am currently using. That equipment is: -Fender Modern Player Jaguar (with Fender MP90 pickups) -Line 6 UX1 Toneport -Garageband Some of the problem might be the fact that I don't know much about mixing tracks and whatnot, so what sounds good to me doesn't always sound good to others. I tend to also overlook that aspect in favor of the composition, especially with my own compositions, and that's another personal negative. I have the problem of always wanting to up the mids and not have quite as much bass, because it seems to me that with more midrange, the tone cuts through the mix better - and turning down the bass seems to make my tone less muddy. However, that also means that the tone tends to be somewehat weak. Anyone have any quick tips (or even not quick tips) for improving on that? I can provide an example if requested - I just don't want to post a link to a song in here, just in case I'm not allowed to do that in this particular section. Thanks in advance!

Hey, that's pretty good stuff. Simple, but makes me think of my long gone big gray Gameboy. It probably sounds similar to a lot of games on Gameboy but makes me think of Dragon Warrior Monsters. I spent a lot of time playing that one. Good stuff, keep it up!

Spacey! It makes me think of certain parts of Super Mario Galaxy, but probably because I just played through it recently.

I would love to do Fight Against Smithy. I am already imagining this as a more uptempo rock oriented theme ala Battle with Gilgamesh from FF5. I have a couple of recent original songs I've worked on. http://www.reverbnation.com/bradcharles Hope to hear back soon!

http://www.reverbnation.com/bradcharles/song/18462484-boss-battle UPDATE: I know I listed it as finished but I couldn't help it, had to tweak a few things. Made the brass/wind parts louder, added in chimes and celesta, lowered volume on lead guitars, raised volume on drums. Sounds a lot better now, hopefully everyone else will agree. By the way - over 1600 views for this post and only 6 plays on the song? What's up with that people? Metal/rock boss battle theme, along the lines of Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, that kind of thing. I welcome any comments on this, because I've been working hard on it all week! I had an old version that I completely scrapped and redid as this new version, and I think it turned out great. Orchestra parts written in Finale and used Miroslav Philharmonik for those samples. Guitars/bass recorded using a Line 6 UX1 and PODFarm. Drums made with EZDrummer. Used a Fender Modern Player Jaguar and a Fender Standard Jazz Bass.

Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate the earlier tips, I certainly took them into consideration when doing this version of the song. About the multiple threads - I'll keep that in mind. I don't know how to change the other one to say "Finished" after I originally made it say "Work-in-Progress" though, so that's why I made a new one. My first time using forums is when I joined this site about a month ago, so I'm still learning that stuff. I'll try to figure it out. Thanks again!

Thanks! I saw you just posted something, I'll check it out and let you know what I think once I get a chance.

FInally finished this RPG battle theme/random encounter theme. It took me a while to figure out how to get the intro to stand out, ended up using a string section and oboe and it gave it a weird effect that I ended up liking a lot. I consider it finished but I definitely welcome any feedback or constructive criticism (especially regarding my guitar recording technique). Recorded in Garageband. Guitar/bass recorded using a Line 6 UX1 and PODFarm. Drums created in EZDrummer. Strings/oboe written in Finale 2012, and had a friend run the oboe part through Miroslav. http://www.reverbnation.com/bradcharles/song/18348561-rpg-battle-theme

Here's an updated (still unfinished) version of this song. Substantial changes. Still not happy with the guitar tone. Using a Line 6 Toneport UX1 and PODFarm. Anyone have any suggestions, especially with the guitars? http://www.reverbnation.com/bradcharles/song/18268134-rpg-battle-theme-version-2

Thanks for the tips - what specifically sounds muffled/distant? Is it the guitar? I could always use tips on mixing, I'm not very good at it.

I'm new to the world of remixing and I'm looking for some things to work on. I've been a longtime fan of the site, and a long(er)time fan of video games, especially RPGs. Naturally, a lot of my favorite music from those RPGs has already been remixed, and I'd like to try something new, something I'm not as familiar with. Therefore, I welcome anyone to directly request a remix from me, so that I can a) get some practice doing remixes and b)give myself a good direction to go I don't have much online at the moment but here's a couple of places to hear what I've worked on so far. http://www.youtube.com/neverendinghill - This is my Youtube channel, and I have a couple of (very old) rock songs of mine posted here, as well as a simple guitar cover of Frog's Theme from Chrono Trigger http://www.facebook.com/bradcharlesmusic - And on my Facebook (rather through Reverbnation) I have an original "Random Battle" song that I recently recorded - I would also welcome any feedback/criticism on that tune so that I can improve it and re-record it later. Thanks in advance!