Bowlerhat

Just write. It's as simple as that. It's not necessarily gonna be good. It might even be bad. But I can promise you one thing. It'll be better than nothing. As the kind  people above me already mentioned, a deadline or competition helps, because it forces you to write. But that's just an accelerator. A push to get the ball rolling. In my opinion a musician should be able to start writing, even when he or she doesn't have to. I try to write some music every day. Most of the time I erase or edit it the day after, because I didn't like it. Sometimes it's the start of a great new song with lots of potential. There's no telling beforehand. Also, it's those bad songs you write that you learn from the most. So, every failure is an investment for your next great song. It's an exciting process. But, when you don't write anything because you're afraid it won't be good or because you don't have any inspiration, then all you'll have is a blank sheet of paper. And no one learns anything from a blank sheet of paper. 

Right. This is Scoring 101. Melody is often inappropriate in many dramatic contexts.
But I have two things to say:
1) Just because you can get by in the career by playing some Omnisphere presets or a piano + harp doesn't mean it's the only way to do it. It's certainly the minimum effort way to do it, sure. Subtlety doesn't have to be simplistic, it can still be creative and designed according to thematic sound identity, and a huge sign of a good score is how good its subtle parts are with respect to the rest of it.
2) There's way more to composition than melody. Like, way more. Melody is actually one of the simplest/most exploitative mechanisms in composition; it's everything else that's really advanced/complicated. And sure, you can argue that stuff is unnecessary to get by, too. But I find the discussion on how to "get by" kind of bland and unnecessary. I guess it's worth observing for those who aren't really in the know, but personally I'd never give advice to someone to settle as a "low-hanging fruit" composer, so to speak. Their careers never really go anywhere. No, they don't have to be Bach. But the great thing about creative work is that there isn't some ridiculous dichotomy where everyone is either a super-smart academic fugue composer or someone who plays some drones. There's a lot of in between talent, you know, and that's a perfectly okay place to aim for.  I'm not asking people to be the next John Williams, I'm just asking them to put some thought into their work.

Yes! Me and Black_Doom have been discussing this topic and we definitely want to get the album released this year, preferably with all the claimed tracks. We have 2 check-in deadlines and a final final final deadline that we have to meet if we are to release this year. Here they are:
July 31st - first check-in deadline September 18th - second check-in deadline October 30th - final deadline, finished track ready Expect to be reminded by me or BD around these deadlines, and make sure to let us know of progress and/or issues
Here's the first reminder: @GaMeBoX @evktalo @zykO @Audiocolor @Chernabogue @WillRock @DusK @wildfire @Lucasonic @Tuberz McGee @generaloffensive @Bowlerhat @jnWake, your first update is due July 31st. If you can send your updates to both me and Black_Doom that'd be much appreciated

There's a lot of speculation running along the line that this game comes after Wind Waker. Not surprising, really, since there's a fair bit of circumstantial evidence supporting it. But let's back up a bit.
The "Calamity Ganon". We don't know much about it, really, but consider its name carefully: 'Ganon'. Pretty much anyone that knows about the Zelda games will know that name. We've seen it in the early games up to and including Ocarina of Time, and it's always been associated with a dark monster of some kind. But then in that game, we're presented with a new name: 'Ganondorf', associated with a person, not a monster. And then we find out the two are the same – Ganondorf becomes Ganon. Simple enough, but here's the interesting bit. Take a look at the official timeline:
Wiki page
Direct link to picture
There's three timelines splitting from Ocarina of Time: One where Link stops Ganondorf as a child, leading to Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess, one where Link defeats Ganon as a child and seals Ganondorf away, leading to Wind Waker, and one where Link is defeated by Ganon, leading to A Link to the Past and, notably, the original Zelda and Zelda 2.
Notice something? Following Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf returns in the timelines of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker, while it is -Ganon- that returns in the timeline of A Link to the Past and the original Zelda and Zelda 2 because Link was defeated after Ganondorf transformed into Ganon. Ganon is, as far as I'm aware, never mentioned in the Twilight Princess and Wind Waker timelines since Ganon either never existed or never made an impact as Ganon in those two timelines where he is defeated. The flip side is that Ganondorf is never mentioned as Ganondorf in the A Link to the Past timeline, since his impact is most notable in history as Ganon.
And now here we are with this new game, where -Ganon- is mentioned, not Ganondorf. This would suggest that this game is in the A Link to the Past timeline, as the name "Ganon" should not be known in the other two timelines unless something drastic happened that we're not privy to yet.
In addition, the current final games in the A Link to the Past timeline are the original Zelda and Zelda 2, which fall into the Era of Decline, referring to the Kingdom of Hyrule if I recall correctly. Considering that, from what we've seen of this new game, Hyrule is now virtually gone; this may suggest that this game comes after those original games.
What's in a name...
 
So two notes:
1. "What about the Koroks?" — The Koroks are the Kokiri from Ocarina of Time, and they reverted to their Korok states in Wind Waker due to the state of the world. Kokiri are also mentioned in other games, I believe. It wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that the same reversion happens at some point in the other timelines; perhaps they revert when a strong society or something around them ceases to exist (for instance, Hyrule).
2. "What about the rock salt in the mountain?" — Perhaps another Great Flood happened in the LttP timeline. Or perhaps new mountains were lifted up somehow, bringing low-lying, previously underwater ground up with it – this game appears to have more mountains in it than I remember existing in Hyrule previously. Regardless, there are ways for it to find its way up there. It's good evidence for being after Wind Waker, but it is far from conclusive.
 
Anyway, that's it for my thoughts at the moment.

If you want to write a remix for OCR, I suggest not using a MIDI, because here's the thing: that's not your work. The transcription and sequencing was done by someone else. Plus by using the MIDI, you're essentially circumventing the entire sequencing process. There's a lot more to sequencing than the notes; there's velocity, timing, and everything that goes into creating expressive lines.
If you want to be a composer/arranger, you have to train your ear. You have to get better at figuring things out by listening to them. The way to do this is to practice. Ear training is incredibly important. How are you supposed to write anything original if you can't translate what you hear in your head to your DAW?
If you use an existing MIDI, are we gonna know? Maybe, maybe not. We've figured it out before.
I've always been a proponent of ear training and doing things by ear. MIDIs are a helpful tool when you're starting out but they quickly become shortcuts, crutches, and ultimately hinderances to your artistic growth.

The funny thing about music is that everyone approaches it differently. A lot of people in the music industry don't really have the koalafications for writing music, and yet they still make money with it. Other people actually have a lot of knowledge about their field, but they don't manage to make enough money to feed themselves. 
You say you have all the tools to compose, but I personally find that a bit of an odd thing to say. All you need to compose is your mind. And if you also want to pass it along to other people you might need a pencil and some paper as well. In the current time and age that could also mean you've got sibelius, or finale or an account on Noteflight. 
But, in the current time and age it could also mean you've got a recording device and a piano, and you're composing your own piano compositions. 
It could also mean you've downloaded fruity loops, and are making some beats.
Or maybe you bought a guitar and are now singing your own songs at the local pub every Friday night. 
Naturally ,it could also be something entirely else...
Now, to come back to your original question, it greatly depends on the kind of music you want to compose. 
If you want to compose orchestral pieces, and have them played by real orchestra's, then I'd definitely say that grades matter. Because having a teacher who has experience with such things is crucial to such a complicated and time-consuming project. Schools that teach such things also have the connections and facilities to have your yet to be made orchestral pieces played, which is, as mentioned before, a must for starting composers. 
On the other hand, if you make your orchestral pieces yourself, in some kind of Daw and a midi keyboard, then you don't really need to have your pieces played, as you kind of play them yourself. It's the same with self played piano pieces, sing and songwriter love songs and generally everything that doesn't require other people to get the sound you want. But... it's quite complicated to determine if you need to follow some kind of education in order to make such music. Besides music being a very subjective and personal thing, it is still somewhat possible to see if music is 'good' or not. Some people do not have any education in music, and yet produce some very cool stuff. Other people do not have any education in music, and produce some very uncool stuff. It depends on the person. And, as I mentioned earlier, your music doesn't have to be 'good' in order to make money out of it. 
Something however which is kind of certain, is that, if you follow an education in music, it really improves your music. So, if you're not sure if you're a musical genius, and you want to make 'good' music, then I'd say that grades matter. Because that allows you to follow an education in music. Which doesn't immediately mean that you have to compose orchestral pieces. There are lots of music educations focused on electronic music, pop music, rock music and other such things.
If you're already confident that the music you're composing is sure to sell well, and you know how get it to the general public, then you don't really need a teacher or a certificate or anything else school related. But, even then there is a difference between thinking that you're making 'good' music and actually making 'good' music. And the people who can tell the difference between those two things and help you in crossing that bridge are music teachers, working at conservatories and music schools. 

eval
Something about the drums doesn't sit right with me. Could be a combination of distance to microphone, the reverb of the room, the panning/mic placement, and any number of other factors. Maybe it's a performance thing. I'm not sure. So I'm being really helpful here.
Seems like this is recorded as if heard from the position of an audience member. Sounds fine on speakers, but not as good on headphones. This is a very subjective thing, because someone who enjoys the sense of being on location might not have a problem with this. So, more subjective, super-helpful feedback.
I'm not a big fan of the audience participation here. I don't terribly mind some cheering and clapping, but when it becomes distinct words, and/or too loud, it bothers me. As does the use of the original source in here. It makes sense for the performance, but I don't like it. But I don't have to. Again, subjective criticisms.
More relevant, more to the point, I'm a bit worried about the source usage. The structure is basically source (in samba) -> soloing section -> source (ipad solo) -> repeat of theme -> end. It's probably fine, but I'm hoping there's some source bits in the soloing section that I'm just too obtuse to hear, since that would alleviate most of my source-related issues. The structure is rather conservative, but I don't think that's enough to reject it.
The performance is fine. It's got groove. I'm not well enough versed in the genre and live performances to tell beyond that I don't have any particular problems with it. It's enjoyable and I can't easily come up with anything to complain about when it comes to performance, so at the very least, it's okay.
On the production side, there's my aforementioned aversion to "on location"-type recordings, and I think a different placement of mics and instruments would yield a better recording. I think I'd prefer the drums centered and possibly a bit closer to the mic, and the rest of the band placed at the appropriate distance based on instrument levels and prominence in the arrangement. But that's subjective. It's a bit reverb-y and the audience noise is rather loud, but I don't think that's enough to reject the track.
It's difficult to say whether it's a pass or a rejection. There's plenty of good stuff here, like the genre adaptation itself and afaict the performance. There's nothing that makes me say "easy no" or anything like that. Most of my crits are subjective, and I'm struggling to draw a line between what's my personal taste and an ocr-wide standard. My assessment is that it could very well pass, although it's not my kind of track. What's important is that you're happy with it, and I don't see why you shouldn't be. Sub it. If it's a no, it's a no with better feedback than I can provide, and if it's a yes... then it's a yes. And I'm leaning towards the latter. Nice work, y'all.

" When replying to recruitment threads, be courteous. Don't criticize the recruiter for starting an album project for a game that you don't like, or for a game that already had an album project previously, or for any other reason. If there's a fangame/remake project, don't be that guy that always starts talking about cease & desist letters. If someone is posting a job listing or interested in commissioning work, don't use their recruitment thread as your own personal soapbox to rant about the nature of for-hire work. Basically, if you don't have something nice or helpful (in the "I'd like to help you" sense) to say, don't post. "
- Recruit & Collaborate Forum Guidelines 
 
If you had better reading comprehension you'd realize I was going out of my way not to directly insult those that are dependent on using loops. Moreover, if I didn't state my preferences then it's possible that someone could have tried to make songs for me, only for me to not use them. Regardless of how much effort he put in (real or perceived) , the fact that he wasted his time remains unchanged. 
Sorry, but someone like you isn't capable of getting a rise out of me. I'm making a hentai game. Of course I already anticipated getting comments like your's.
There are no stolen sprites, tracing, plagiarism, etc. in my game. Everything is original. It would be nice to get a 2nd composer, but his compositions would need to be held to the same standard.  That simply can't be achieved with a song made mostly or entirely from loops. No matter the end result, it's just not what I'm looking for. I am unable to dumb it down any further, so I hope you can understand what I'm trying to explain to you.
Please refer to the forum guidelines (for the first time?) before considering posting a reply. With post counts so high, there should be no excuse for your behavior, right? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Alarm bells are sounding in my head.
You're looking to be a middleman where other people provide effort and content and surrender all creative licensing to you under the premise that you would forward youtube advertising revenue to the song creator in the future. This could be enticing if you had a channel that already has a massive following because if you don't then we could just post content to our own youtube channels and the search algorithms would return the same viewing numbers but we retain control.
To give up your own creative licensing is a massive loss of control, It actually is something I do but I am remunerated through large session fees per day if I record for an artist. Some incentivization would definitely be needed because we're all capable here of doing anything you could provide at a technical level.

Oh much improvement over the first one!
I love that cafe music feel to this. Personally I like it, I love the arrangement. I dont know if its possible, if the trumpet or the instruments that carry the main melody could be louder. Maybe thats the result of your 3rd trumpet missing lol
 
So did you play along with the ipod track?

Don't forget the important of a good set of monitors or cans (though preferably monitors) for mixing. You want a good transparent set that you've spent many hours on and can trust. I found this to be the #1 thing that improved my mixes. 

I'm curious, how're you missing a half of a trumpet?
I really enjoy the arrangement. While it's not something I've written for, I remember liking the big bands at my local jazz festival years ago, and this brings back fond memories of those festivals. I really enjoy the combination of samba and big band, and it really does lend itself well for the source track. As I posted on Soundcloud, I love the buildup together with the percussion line. I was waiting for there to be more of an "oomph" right before the percussion dropped out, but I still like it.
As for recording, are you planning on a studio/studio-esque recording, or more of a live recording? If it's the former, the book, Modern Music Recording by David Miles Huber and Robert E. Runstein may be helpful, especially for understanding recording placement. For brass, they recommend placing mics slightly off-center and a foot away from the bell, and trombones can often share a mic between two players, again a foot away and slightly off to the side to avoid picking up wind.
If it is live, you might be able to get a hold of The Runaway Five, who arranged "Big-Band Battlefield", and see what they have to say, as their work was evaluated and passed by the judges.
Again, I really enjoyed this arrangement of Angel Island, and while I didn't grow up with old-school Sonic like other members here, I'm glad you reminded me of the good times of going to the jazz festival with my family. Thanks for sharing!

Is it possible that VGM is cyclic in nature, perhaps it's strongest asset is not conducive to what others would listen for in a stand alone song? I listen for the blend of the game with the music, If I was interested in only stand alone music to remix ( or just produce), I wouldn't be here. I love the synthesis of two feelings, musical satisfaction and nostalgia, both have requirements that need to be fulfilled, sometimes at the cost of the other, but that's the balancing game we play, isn't it? 
 

Ok, so I'm EXTREMELY HAPPY to announce some very important updates!!
I've finally found a co-director! Welcome, Jorito I've found an appropriate title for this project! We'll also have a finished track with the same title soon And I'm proud to announce that now there's a visual artist on board! Odai agreed to create artwork for this album So, that's it

Ditto the Neblix & Garpocalypse posts.
I think that the digital and information age, with regards to music, is both a blessing and a curse. A wealth of information and tutorials are readily available to us, but so too is bad information and if you're not very experienced with something, bad advice with artistic word-choice can sound like really good advice. I can honestly say, this is what held me back with mixing for so long until recently. I think my more recent mixes are turning out way better than before and exactly as I imagine them. The key really was not thinking about EQs and all of that stuff so much, it was in making the best arrangement and composition decisions I can. 
The reason for this is because when you see "mixing tutorials" or read in a magazine some sort of interview or tips, they never talk about this kind of thing. It's assumed for them and it doesn't make a good article or video. They're always talking about cutting/boosting frequencies, compressing this or that and that one, super-duper secret plugin that just adds "something" (nothing) to the mix! If they just told you "make sure your arrangement and composition are really good and you won't have to do too much else", they wouldn't have a whole lot to talk about. It makes it sound like any collection of sounds, arranged any way you want, will sound good if you just use the right settings. Sadly, it just doesn't work like that as I've come to learn the hard way.
To the starry-eyed beginner or a listener, great music seems to happen as if by magic and the keys beneath your fingers or the software on your computer are the tomes that cast the spell. It'd be terribly boring and break the illusion if they told you about all the theory they know, ear-training they've done, studying music by long-dead guys with funny white wigs and made that mix sound better by just changing the voicing of that Cm7 chord. 

echoing for truth.
I support the way you think as long as you keep in mind that music's digital revolution dramatically upped the standards that people expect from the art.  You can either make an effort to do it right and learn from it or ignore the warnings and end up wasting your time. 
On the other hand if you make an effort to demonstrate your interest in composition and use it to get to know your teachers better it WILL most likely benefit you academically and socially as well as give you access to experience you would have to painfully learn yourself.  Not saying that you can't learn it all yourself but if you choose to go that route it will take more time to learn the same things.  
Mixing comes last after correct calls have been made earlier in the chain.  It's called post-production for a reason. It doesn't fix anything but it does make an arrangement more of what it already is.  To "practice" mixing with incomplete poorly recorded music that's missing parts of the spectrum is not really going to benefit you in any way.  
Just to talk about your bass concerns, we're not talking about changing the instrumentation you have.  Just adding what is obviously missing. A bass part doesn't have to be an independent part. It can be used to give depth to the instruments that you designate to dominate the lower mid range such as a piano or guitar. The way you are going you are neglecting a solid 1/5th of the audible sound spectrum(and the glue between rhythm and harmony) which is not a great call arrangement wise. Also note that 80hz-280hz is the BASS range.  It's called the Bass range and not the CELLO range for a reason.  Bass frequencies are filled by bass lines. Bass lines are played by basses, not cellos.  Cellos play lines but they are called cello lines. Don't make the same mistake that many do.
have fun while being a music major and use the time well!
 
 

I can tell you from experience, you are chasing a methodology that doesn't work.
If you can not employ good composition, the mix will not sound good. An unbalanced and/or empty composition is an unbalanced and/or empty production. Trying to mix a poor composition is an ineffective way to learn how to mix. You can not just put effects on things and expect them to fill the gaps the composition left open. If you omit bass, you are omitting the rhythmic harmonic foundation of the composition. You're also leaving an entire flank of the frequency spectrum empty.
Furthermore, an ideally recorded performance doesn't actually need any mixing, just some touching up and enhancements to taste. The recording quality of your parts is very, very messy. As others have noted, there are a lot of room reflections and there's no clarity. You don't have to have other people play your parts, but you do need to record the parts properly. Minimize reflections, and place the mics where the tone of the instrument is maximized. You can look up tips for each instrument online.
If you want to just improve your mixing without worrying about composition, you should use pre-existing recordings. You can download unmixed, multi-track sessions (zip with wave files) from here. There are many genres to choose from.

If you are currently at a conservatory that's great because you'll have access to the people you need for free (don't even offer to pay them, it sounds cruel but everyone should be jumping to have as many experiences as possible.  If they try to ask for money ditch them immediately and go with someone else)
First off, take your arrangement to your theory teacher, orchestra director, or a teacher with professional composing experience.  They were all trained in proper orchestration and will give you some ideas on how to fill out your arrangement with instruments that fit what you are trying to accomplish.  
Conservatory pianos can vary a lot in tuning.   Where I went we only kept the grand on stage in any sort of performance or recording ready tuning, the class room grands were the next option which weren't tuned as quite as often, then we had the practice room pianos which were (ALLEGEDLY)tuned once a year (though that was debatable) and were usually way off since they received the most play. If you are going to do something like this with live players it would help a lot to get everyone to tune to the same piano you used before recording their parts, or see if you can get everyone together to use the stage and its grand when it's open.  The latter would be the preferred option if you can get everyone together at once for a large block of recording time. If everyone knows there parts well enough you could even ask the recording students to volunteer and help mic and record the hall and get it all done in one go.   Keep in mind that before you take this step your arrangement must be a complete idea and the players must know their parts otherwise you are just going to annoy the people who spent considerable amounts of time setting everything up for you.
Two things you could do to help the players would be to use your DAW and come up with a transcription of what you want that you could play for them.  you could also replace (temporarily) the hand percussion track with samples if you have access to them and give that to your players to record against.  Really, just about anything to get them to focus and play with each other(and have it sound that way on tape) at this point would be good because the wip is all over the place performance wise.  
Arrangement wise, outside of it being a minute long with an abrupt ending, there is no bass part.  sooo that would be the first issue to fix then go from there.
Hope this helps!

Hmm, I didn't really pay attention to the tuning, so thanks for pointing that out. There's at least 10 grand piano's at our conservatory so I'm quite I can find one with a decent tuning, as I've never tuned a piano by myself before. And if I can't find it I'll try that pitch shifting.
 
Ah, yes. I forgot to mention that. I properly micced the piano on my first recording which mysteriously vanished, and because I didn't have much time at my second recording I just quickly placed the microphone next to the piano. So, yeah... Normally it sounds better. Do the rest of the instruments sound fine or do I need to find another way to record those? 
 
I just used the reverb thingies that's standard on Logic and with with what sounds the best. Not sure if that's the best way, though. 
Hmm, yeah. So I'll improve the tuning and the recordings itself, do some EQ-ing, and see if it's better. Was there any problem with the voicings, choice of instruments, harmonies, or any other compositional related thing? Because if that's the case then I'll need to change that before all the before mentioned things. 
 
And thanks for all the help!! All of you people are awesome!! 

I'm curious as to the mic setup you have.  Are you able to provide a picture?  The piano mics sound too far away and are capturing a lot of the room reflections which are probably a significant part of your problems outside of the playing itself.  Watch a few YT videos on mic'ing pianos and move the mics closer if you can.  If it's a grand as you stated above make sure it's open and stick one of your mics as close to the strings as you can. 
Are you using any external reverb plugins? If you are eventually going for a Soule-esque reverb layering (which would be cheaper than mic'ing the entire hall) you need to start with the closest mic setup possible then use your reverb plugins to simulate mid and far mics and mix all of them together. For now, try taking them off, if you are using them, and see if you can just use some light EQ'ing to get the sound you want from the mic's you have.  Just to echo Nebeblebix and the others there's a lot here that needs to be addressed and even flawless mixing won't fix it all.  

Well first of all, things sound very out of tune. What's the tuning status and reference frequency (A4) of that piano? Has it been maintained at all? If it's not possible, I recommend trying slight pitch shifting until things jive better.
Frequency clash from things being out of tune render things muddy as well, because things that usually just get absorbed into the same note/frequency are adjacent and dissonant (if I play A on a flute and C D A on a piano, the A's should vibrate at the same frequency and thus be perceived as basically one note, otherwise it's two separate microtones). Do that with ensemble harmonies, and you're bound for a mess.
 
 
Very eye-opening, and a reminder that the best solutions to our problems can be the simplest ones.

I don't give rules, I give advice.

Really, just any chord with really low notes (e.g. roughly bass/sub bass range) will sound bad---the frequencies will clash. For instance, you might expect a major third interval in the midrange (500~5000 Hz, let's say) to sound good, and it should. Start moving that diad down an octave and listen to how the harmonics play along. The respective harmonics for each note would overlap more and more at lower frequencies, so they clash more and more easily the lower you go, until it just sounds like mush. That's why I wouldn't suggest that you write chords on very low notes. On the other hand, fourths and fifths can still sound decent on very low notes, and octaves still play pretty well at low notes.

Agreed on voicing your ensembles correctly makes a big difference.  Here is a video that will show a super simple technique with just some panning and HP LP filters that are on any stock EQ:
 

I could be way off the mark, because you're in fact not sharing the music in question (you're asking an IT guy to troubleshoot your laptop without letting him see your laptop).
Would be better if we could actually see what you are doing to tell you what's wrong with it.