Kat

This. This so much. It may have followed every trope in the book to the letter, but it did it well. Aside from this, I'd also point to Way of the Samurai for PS2 Also Tales of Maj'eyal, a roguelike. It's free to download or can be bought on Steam to support the dev. Tons of creative classes and skill tree branches. You can be a time-manipulating mage and effectively tear the fabric of time through your meddling to the point where things around you are exploding and/or teleporting. Depending on how you build your character, that could be a good thing or a terrible thing. isn't that enough? Includes a classic "Roguelike" mode with permadeath, an Adventure mode(limited revives) or an Exploration mode for those who just want to enjoy the awesome story and lore.

I've never been a huge Primus fan, but this entire album is brilliant.

Just a mouse. You're the first person to point out the oddity of my name vs avatar, though.

Whoa hey, ad hominem! Don't diss the mouse! As for that last bit, I guess it depends on the who. Someone really good with huge, creative arrangements probably wouldn't be looking to collab in the first place(barring recording for solos and the like), so that's sort of a moot point. But since you want it to be really really good and (probably) the opening piece? Yeah, I would agree I'm not suitable(alone or in a collab) for that. I assumed it was going to be a closing piece. If I get any ideas for less important pieces in the near future, I'll throw a WIP together and send it your way as an audition, if that works.

I'd love to do something with Overture, but only if I can find someone to collaborate with, as on my own I know I'm not up to the task. I'm not terribly good at huge arrangements and tend to be very conservative. Of course, if conservative is fine you can check out my Soundcloud. In particular, this arrangement of an Ecco the Dolphin song is probably one of my better arrangements(though the mixing is sort of muddy). But even if that were fine I'd still prefer a collab for quality.

The biggest advantage Cubase has, in my opinion, is that it just doesn't crash. It's a solid, stable and trusted DAW and it's that way for a reason. If there's a problem with Cubase, it's most likely a problem with something you did rather than the software itself. It was also considered one of the best DAWs when it came to recording and working with recorded audio, but that gap has been considerably shortened lately. As I haven't used the latest version I can't really say how it holds up in that area. On the flipside, as I mentioned earlier you'll be paying to upgrade each time a new version is released, but these are generally significant updates. Back on topic, I agree with Flexstyle that something else has to be going on. I haven't had any such problems with FL Studio that couldn't be solved with a couple minor setting changes. If your PC works great outside of FL Studio, that doesn't necessarily incriminate FL Studio. Trying out another DAW's demo first is probably the best thing to do, rather than assuming FL is the issue.

The palm mutes still bug me sometimes, but that's just like, my opinion man. Otherwise I can hear the guitar coming through a lot better now. Removing some of the lower end certainly cleaned it up a bit. Now that I think about it, it reminds me of the Dual Mix on Youtube, but with more of an orchestral focus. Sounding really good!

I'll definitely (see: probably) be doing something for this. I was preoccupied with some original stuff last MnP, but I should have the time now. Also, awesome source.

Maybe it's just my monitors, but It felt like the guitar was too quiet, too far into the background and drowned out by some of the orchestral elements. It doesn't have to be overwhelming, but I felt like it could have been just a bit louder. It also sounded like you made gratuitous use of palm mutes, and while that isn't always a bad thing it just didn't sound right to me. One other thing(that's really more of a personal preference thing) is the percussion that comes in around 1:20. It felt like it should have had more "boom" before transitioning into the softer part of the song. But overall I really like it. It's well done and an enjoyable listen.

I'm positive it can handle the larger projects. I have 16GB of RAM and a quad core i7, and I often have 10+ tracks running Kontakt and large orchestral samples, and that's pretty small on the orchestral scale. My current project is using a cool 4.3GB with no issues(and a lot still to add), and I've had other larger projects run with few issues.

Personally, I suggest Cubase. In the years I've used it I don't think I've ever had any problems with it. The biggest issue you'll have is having to pay for updates. For example, if you have Cubase Pro 8 and want to update to 8.5(the latest version)? That'll be $50. I'm still using Cubase 5, so for me it would be more like $300. The entry level version of Cubase, 'Elements', is $99 and probably superior to FL Studio's 'Fruity Edition'(also $99). I would mess around with FL Studio before jumping the gun and switching DAWs though. I use it regularly, as Cubase 5 doesn't always meet my needs and is often relegated to recording duty. Try upping your buffer length and maybe using ASIO drivers and see if that helps. I'd hold off on switching until you're absolutely sure, as learning the ins and outs of a new DAW can really mess with the creative process.

A friend asked me if I'd throw something together for a little game project he's working on - specifically for some sort of opening scene or moment. I'm not too clear on the details yet, but he wanted something "rock" and "slightly cheesy". This is the result.

That's good to hear. It just sounded out of place to me, but that could be because the previous mix had a very prominent sax presence. I tried out a couple other instruments - A solo trumpet fit in just perfect, but I lack a solid trumpet lead that can be as lively as I'd like. I also gave the violin a shot, but it didn't feel right at all no matter how alive I made it sound. This is probably because I'm used the violin solo leading into a sax solo. It's probably the reverb. I think I have a little bit more on the percussion than the rest of the orchestra. I'm not surprised that it's a bit too loud though. I'm still getting used to these monitors, and I'm starting to realize that certain elements(percussion being one of those, and the general bass range being another) sound a fair bit quieter than they actually are. The reverb isn't as pronounced either, so I've had a bad tendency to use too much. Regarding the volume, I'll probably back the rest of the orchestra down during that segment. One thing I've learned on the mixing front is that it's usually better to cut back when a certain element needs a volume boost.

Bumping this up again. I've done another revision. Percussion has been touched up, and the intro has had a slight change. Instead of a timpani roll I opted for a march-style percussion intro. The ending is still a bit sour and I haven't put much work into it yet, but I'm aware it needs work. There's still some humanizing that needs to be done. Some parts have been altered or adjusted a bit, but I'm still looking for feedback on the track as a whole, and on a couple specific issues: 1) The overall mixing. It sounds "ok" to me(as in, not particularly overwhelming in any area), but I'm still a terrible judge of mixing quality. I do recognize a few parts that are a tad too quiet or loud, but I could use a second opinion here. 2) The saxophone solo. I know it's somewhat common for a saxophone to be present solely for a solo segment, but It still sounds a bit odd to me. Any opinions or recommendations here? https://soundcloud.com/katallen-12/redux-rhythm-of-my-soul

Side note, you might want to look at the voting deadline as well. It's an awesome mix, but I don't think we need a whole year to vote!

Bumping this back up again. I sat down today and did a bit of re-imagining and touching up. I was using a lot of generic samples(and not using them particularly well), and I've (tried) to make the mixing a bit more pleasant this time around. The progression is pretty much exactly the same, but the mood of the song has changed just a tad. There's still a ton of work to do. A lot of clutter was removed, and I'll be focusing on mixing and mastering it(I suck at that) as a smaller scale orchestral track. I'm still actively working on it, but I feel comfortable enough with it to update this and ask for feedback, if anyone is willing. Side note: I'm also still touching up the previous version, because I'm quite fond of it. https://soundcloud.com/katallen-12/redux-rhythm-of-my-soul

Goddamn, the music in this game continues to amaze me.

That's odd. On my monitors, mixing headphones and listening headphones I could hear the guitar pretty clearly. I'll definitely take a look at that though. It wasn't supposed to be filled to the brim with energy, though. Rather, I was going for something a little slower, more deliberate and a bit heavier than the source. The drum mixing does need some work - I'm not that good with mixing as a whole and I was going for a powerful kick and backbeat. Speaking of the drums and violing, they sound that way because I sort of lazied out on this version. I stuck with the violin's default reverb while the drum kit had a separate plugin. Trying out a few different reverb options now and trying to mix everything a bit better, but I think that and their overall loudness compared to the rest of the instruments played a major part in this. As far as the trumpets go, that was a combination of lazy sequencing and Kontakt's default trumpet plugings. I sort of layered a few different octaves and counter melodies together to make it a bit less obvious, but yeah. It still needs some work. I got a few new plugins for the holidays and I'll see what I can do.

None of it was recorded live. It was all sequenced within the DAW. Not sure about the body myself, though. It was intended to feel a bit empty at the beginning(and the reprisal at the end), and is overall a bit lightweight.

This started as a MNP entry, but changed the mood quite a bit more than I'd originally intended. I'm throwing it here in hopes of getting some feedback on what could be improved and where I could take the track from here. https://soundcloud.com/katallen-12/f-zero-sapphire-smash

I am so glad I opted to work that 6th day last week. Now I'll just be spending overtime money and not "probably could have gone towards bills" money.

I'd recommend it just to see the consequences (or lack thereof) of joining the side that's usually portrayed as evil in FO4. It was actually pretty satisfying, seeing the long term results and what happens at the conclusion of the story. I'm not sure if I'd do it again - partially because there were some dire implications, but mostly because I already know what happens and would want to see what else could have happened instead. I'd go a bit more in depth and be less vague about it, but without knowing how far along the main story you are there are far too many potential spoilers.

I tried to do that but eventually the plot forced me to pick one, or at least seemed to railroad me into it. I didn't try everything though. I ended up siding with the Institute. For science. Not gonna spoil how that turned out.

I dunno, I kind of like it that way. You may have out leveled it, but it's still a huge monster and it's still a huge threat. It happens to me occasionally and it makes me think about engaging things. It's silly how they'd do that in a mission that early, though. And grats on completing Chapter 6. I'm at 7 now, but I haven't started it yet. I went out and explored 30% of Oblivia with some of the other NPCs and leveled quite a bit. Now I need to play catch-up with Elma and Lin, or they'll probably be useless.