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Thirdkoopa   Members

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  1. Like
    Thirdkoopa reacted to prophetik music in Chronopolis: Music Inspired by Chrono Cross - History   
    i'll be sending out update requests again fairly soon. still trucking along =)
  2. Like
    Thirdkoopa got a reaction from Gario in Lufia II: Of Gods and Men   
    hey I'm still going to submit you something cool gario and we'll see how it goes

    :]
  3. Like
    Thirdkoopa got a reaction from Reinhold Hoffmann in How about an Fighting Game Music & Art Tribute?   
    I'm down yo. Fantastic artists! Maybe I'll sign up to brush up my art skills...
  4. Like
    Thirdkoopa reacted to classic_gamer_76 in Lylat System CLEAR: A Star Fox Tribute Album   
    Listened to them all... MANY times each ^^
    @Etzaen -- Love the intro and outro as well as that "Mega Man Zero" vibe the whole track has. Still, I think you should try and mess around with the Pitch and Mod Wheels to try and make your leads more colorful (especially during the bridge section). The last part also feels like it's screaming for a bombastic solo (I can clearly see the distortion guitar you introduced in the bridge re-appear here for that purpose). I don't know if you want to go electronic or acoustic with the drums, but I feel like your track could benefit from a bit/lots more variations depending on your choice. Other than that, it's pretty awesome and I'm glad Star Fox 2 is having the recognition it deserves -- can't wait to listen to the final version
    @Thirdkoopa -- With this one, I can clearly see myself in a bar in the 30s, enjoying a drink while the jazz band is jammin' in the background (I can almost tell what it smells like in there). It's a bit too repetitive for me to just sit down and focus on the listen, but it definitely serves its purpose as a ambient piece. I wish the drummer could add more variety in his performance (it's pretty boring there... especially for a jazzy stuff). I also think some instruments are played too loud a few time but it also adds to that "live performance" charm the piece has. Not being my favorite style of jazz, I can't really go deeper with my critique... but it clearly isn't bad at all.
    @Siolfor the Jackal -- Now, THAT'S what I'm talking about! Some good ol' metal to wake you up and remind you that everything isn't all nice and easy in a Star Fox game  Aggressive rhythm guitars, a drummer who hates to be bored and synths for more sound variety -- a damn good recipe  I'd personally add a Pad/Synth Strings for the intro to play chords and give more of an Epic Progressive Rock feel to it before altering them a bit at 0:14 to make sure it evolves along with the track. I'd probably be nice to re-introduce the Pad at the 1:50 part (or a portion of it) for coherence but maybe it'll be too much synths at the same time -- since we also have a Synth Lead here too. Then comes the bridge -- LOVE it! Yet another track I look forward to listen to when complete!
    In the end, I really like how -- with these three tracks -- we keep getting an idea of how much variety the album is gonna have. Keep up the great work, guys!
  5. Like
    Thirdkoopa got a reaction from The Nikanoru in Lylat System CLEAR: A Star Fox Tribute Album   
    i think at this rate i'm going to have a finished product in the summer

    we're going faster than i expected
  6. Like
    Thirdkoopa reacted to JohnStacy in I would like some advice.   
    EDIT: Please don't say "Move somewhere else."  I can't do that for another year at the earliest.

    I live in a small town outside of Amarillo, Texas called Canyon.  For reference, Amarillo has about 200,000 people, canyon has about 30,000, so it's not that big compared to say Houston, LA, New York or any other large city like that, but it is big enough to have 4 high schools, a professional symphony orchestra and choir, a 4-year state university, and other things like that.  However, the music scene is also the size you would expect from a city this size.  Due to being in Texas, country, Tejano, and pop music are king, meaning that even if the quality isn't that good, people will eat it up just because it's the music they are used to hearing.  There is a slightly smaller rock scene, which is still very popular, but jazz, which is my area of performance is very small.
    Because of this, there are a few small jazz ensembles that play around the area for private parties and bars, I'm in one of them, and the other is pretty well established in the area.  I am thinking of leaving the group I'm in, but am hesitant.
    This group is virtually the only performance opportunity I get currently.  The gigs I get with this group are nice and can pay one or two bills, but I am worried about staying with this group.  For one, the leader is, let's say in a different place than he used to be, and has a history that has yet to follow him here, and if it does follow him I'm worried that the association will kill my professional reputation.  For another, the group is very disorganized.  The biggest part is that we aren't a specific type of band.  In one 4 hour gig, we will play some Frank Sinatra, some 1950s Jamaican pop music, some American pop music from the 2010s and later, some 1940s swing, some Beatles, etc.  The problem with this is that although we are a jazz instrumentation (piano, bass, guitar, drums, 4 wind instruments, and a singer), we play all these different styles on the same set, and most of it doesn't work because we aren't a rock band playing music in rock style, or a world music band playing music from around the world, we're a jazz band modeled after the swing bands of the 1940s trying to play all those styles in their original forms with no arrangement (basically trying to take these genres and literally shove them into a shape that they don't fit).  We don't generally have rehearsals, just show up at the gigs and play, using chord sheets which just have the chords of the music.  No words, no melody, no nothing.  Which, despite the fact that the 2 "leader" wind players (myself and a saxophone) are adept jazz musicians and the other two are less experienced (one is a community college student and the other is a Mariachi player who can somewhat do jazz), it ends up that we have 4 people just noodling and playing random stuff that sounds too busy.  Any attempts at using written out arrangements have failed due to the singer changing them enough that they can't be used anymore during performance, so most of the time it's like...okay we know what key we're in, but other than that it's a complete wildcard what will actually happen in performance.  This has led to many performances that to somebody who knows anything about music sound horrible and are an embarrassment, but since we play to crowds of people who literally don't know anything about music, they're like..."wow this sounds amazing."  Ex members of this band, including one of the founding members actually can't get hired on their own at the venues we've played in because of the reputation they've gotten from the group, which is bad because for some of them, music is one of their main sources of income and their market is shrinking.
    I have tried to start my own group, doing a more specialized kind of thing, where we do something like Postmodern Jukebox, but I can't get good musicians without paying them, and I can't get hired to play anywhere because the places have never heard the band perform, and because of that it's a cycle that is really hard to break.  As I am now I can't afford to pay them without a place hiring the group and paying the group, which is how a lot of things work around here to begin with.  For the most part, people think they want jazz, but then when actual jazz is playing, they ignore it or are annoyed by it (which is a consistent thing with the band I'm in now), but when we do pop stuff from today, even if it sounds bad, suddenly people are like..."wow this band is really good and I want to dance to this."  Which is great.  They like that kind of music.  I am not the kind of musician that does that.  I'm not a guitar player, and don't have time to learn guitar well enough to produce a quality performance on it due to going to school and having a job full time.
    I also feel like I'm not being pushed at all.  I'm not getting any kind of challenge, nor do I have to think to play these gigs.  There's very little musical reward because the performances aren't good, there is no arrangement value, and most of the time I can literally play whatever I want and nobody will notice.
    The OCRemix community is about as big as the town of Canyon where I currently live.  What do you think I should do?  Should I leave the group and try to form my own group again, basically biding my time until I move away from this area in a year?  Or should I just power through it and just deal with any reputation problems that come from association with the group leader and name?  I'm a little hesitant because although the performance experience is not rewarding, challenging, or otherwise worth it at all, I'm scared to go a whole year without any performance opportunities.

    Thank you for reading this.
     
  7. Like
    Thirdkoopa reacted to The Nikanoru in I would like some advice.   
    A musician once told me that 'the only problem I have with working with other musicians is working with other musicians.'
    From my own experience, I have found that like dating, finding musicians of like mind and drive is like looking for a soul mate - it's not something that you can just go out and get, it just sort of happens, usually due to opportunity and circumstance. Being in a smaller town certainly doesn't help either; less musicians means less opportunity to meet new musicians. That being said, if you are determined to make this happen in the live scene in this town, then you're probably going to have to put up with some of the ... shall we say idiosyncrasies of other musicians in your area.
    IMO, starting your own band/group sounds like the way to go, but would you consider being a little less specific with your genre? This is probably why your other band was all over the place musically; everyone wanting to play different things leading to chaos on the set list and no one motivated to fix mistakes on songs they don't care about. As leader, at least you control the message of the band overall; you may find yourself playing boring, easy stuff for some of your mates, but you might find more people willing to 'play ball' that way. Plus, if you are playing to the audience, then it has to be music the audience wants to hear. If they don't like what they are hearing, start looking for what they ARE listening to - perhaps you can find some sort of compromise.
    You also strike me as someone who takes their musical skill and performance very seriously. In my experience in the local scene, most musicians go on stage to have fun, not improve performance; that's what practice is for. If you aren't feeling challenged by what's on the sheet music, why not focus on your improv/soloing skill? Or perhaps some more elaboration on the fills? I've had some of the most fun ever on stage just jamming to some random four-chord progression and everyone getting a turn noodling over top of it. Amazing some of the music that comes from it too! Or, you could try writing some of your own music, or changing your parts a bit to give you a bit more of a challenge or...
    Long and short (TL;DR version): If you're gonna stay in the town, you gotta work with what you got. OCR has taught me to embrace the diversity of musicians, no matter where they are at - maybe the folks in your area are just looking for the right pitch (also no pun intended).
    I hope this has helped in some way. Good luck, @JohnStacy - if all else fails, there's always collabs on OCR!
  8. Like
    Thirdkoopa reacted to MindWanderer in [RvK] [2017] Round 3: Squad vs. Squad Battle Block 1   
    Battle to the Grave: This is full of seriously clashing notes.  Timing seems out of sync in a lot of places, too--part of this is due to a lead with a really slow attack, which is really obvious with some of the quick notes that never get the chance to fully form.  I'm having a hard time picking out Mercury's theme, but that's not surprising given that what I can hear of Spectre Knight's theme is greatly distorted. The Siege of Venus: Pretty slick concept here to start off with.  The jazz works better than after Wandering Travelers starts, though--it tries to be big band, but it's a small band.  Panning is also unbalanced--it makes sense to have instruments have a "place" in the audio space, but that can become an issue when all the instruments playing at a particular time at a particular frequency range are on one side.  The arrangement was just Venus->Wandering Travelers, no integration between them, and even the genre changed. Four Against One, Sounds like Fun: Interesting take on Wandering Travelers, focusing on the late part of the song.  Arrangement is pretty good, mostly the usual production issues here--balance, overcompression--which are secondary concerns for this compo and can always be fixed given time.
  9. Like
  10. Like
    Thirdkoopa got a reaction from Jorito in [RvK] [2017] Round 1: Squad vs. Squad Battle Block 1   
    Oh man, all of them were really good. Age & Alchemist sounds really funky (particularly because of the medley stuff, but really, needed mixing work), For Hope and Shovelry just sounded really good, The Wanderer... Man Gario, I'd love to see you finish this sometime. And Boulders Wreck Rapiers was fantastic.
  11. Like
    Thirdkoopa got a reaction from prophetik music in Chronopolis: Music Inspired by Chrono Cross - History   
    hope you don't forget me for dragon god cause i'll have a WIP that doesn't sound badly sampled/short sometime this week
  12. Like
    Thirdkoopa reacted to Jorito in Secret of Mana: Resonance of the Pure Land - History   
    Another quick update... "Into the Thick of It" has been claimed by @Thirdkoopa, who sent us a 5 minute long WIP in the blink of an eye. Welcome aboard!
  13. Like
    Thirdkoopa reacted to Sbeast in Super Mario Galaxy Album   
    Since Super Mario Galaxy was originally released on November 1st 2007, perhaps we should aim for November 1st 2017 as the release date?
    I've added the next deadline as March 1st 2017, hopefully everyone should have at least a basic WIP by then.
    If anyone has any suggestions/questions, feel free to say!
  14. Like
    Thirdkoopa reacted to DarkeSword in Robots vs. Knights   
    We have a logo.

    Sigs are coming soon. They'll be customized down to the squad, not the remixer.
  15. Like
    Thirdkoopa reacted to DarkeSword in Robots vs. Knights   
    Folks, here's some advice related to combining two sources together that I wrote in a different thread.
     
  16. Like
    Thirdkoopa reacted to SirCorn in Lylat System CLEAR: A Star Fox Tribute Album   
    I've got tenor/alto saxophones, clarinet, trumpet, Native American flutes/ocarinas, electric bass, electric and acoustic guitar, mandolin, tin whistle, harmonicas, a trombone, a french horn, banjo, keyboards, etc... Lots of stuff at varying levels of skill on my part. Could get creative and make something weird or isolate a few instruments I'm proficient at (sax/guitars/tin whistle/mandolin) and make something a little more comprehensive. Just let me know if you want any!
  17. Like
    Thirdkoopa got a reaction from SirCorn in Lylat System CLEAR: A Star Fox Tribute Album   
    which ones? and awesome!
  18. Like
    Thirdkoopa got a reaction from TheChargingRhino in Lylat System CLEAR: A Star Fox Tribute Album   
    Definitely! Depending on who's interested and can give me good quality, I could make this arrangement much larger in an ez. Sheet music is how I typically get things done for games, lol.
  19. Like
    Thirdkoopa reacted to DarkeSword in Robots vs. Knights   
    Hey, sorry. Stuff is busy on my end. I think we're going to get this started in January after MAGFest.
  20. Like
    Thirdkoopa reacted to The Nikanoru in Lylat System CLEAR: A Star Fox Tribute Album   
    Thanks, Thirdkoopa! Anyone else need some horn from @JohnStacy for their tracks?
    ----
    @Starphoenix has given me an update of Cyber Attack using the feedback he got. Sounding better all the time!
    @Thirdkoopa has given me permission to post his WIP, Contemplating the End (working title). This is a very interesting slow jazz take on Area 6 ... brimming with performer potential!
    @classic_gamer_76 and @TheChargingRhino have sent me another WIP of Records 1 including some work by @Pichu's Dad. Sounds great, love the variety of instrument leads here!
    Check them out, let us know what you think!
     
  21. Like
    Thirdkoopa got a reaction from TheChargingRhino in Lylat System CLEAR: A Star Fox Tribute Album   
    Area 6. I don't know how nobody has taken that yet.
  22. Like
    Thirdkoopa got a reaction from The Nikanoru in Lylat System CLEAR: A Star Fox Tribute Album   
    Area 6. I don't know how nobody has taken that yet.
  23. Like
    Thirdkoopa got a reaction from DS394 in Lylat System CLEAR: A Star Fox Tribute Album   
    Area 6. I don't know how nobody has taken that yet.
  24. Like
    Thirdkoopa reacted to dannthr in What makes video game developers pay for music?   
    The biggest mistake a dev can make is concealing their budget from the person they're entrusting with their audio vision.  Unfortunately, a lot of devs "shop around."  Treat yourself with some respect but be objective and sincere about what price will yield your best results.
    You can't deliver a killer soundtrack if you're on your third week of revisions for a single minute loop and you're now realizing that you're getting paid about 3 bucks an hour to write it.
    Think about your skill level, be honest in your evaluation of how well produced/professionally produced your music is (as honest as possible) and come up with an optimistic fee, be open to negotiation and maintain a firm minimum.  If you have no credits, then money is probably not your primary objective for the work, that's important to evaluate as well.  I definitely charged low when I was starting out, never charged as low as $100/min, but low.  I had my minimums and sometimes that meant it didn't work out.  Sometimes that meant the dude who was charging $50/min got the job, but they almost always SOUND like it too.  I knew a guy who was trapped in $50/min, couldn't seem to work his way out, kept getting gigs by low-balling and then he grew a customer base of cheap devs looking for the bottom line.

    He was not happy with the work he did and he had to do a high volume to maintain a steady income, so he burnt up all his creative juices just trying to churn out 40-60 minutes a month just to pay the bills.
    Most importantly: NEVER, EVER POST YOUR RATES ANYWHERE--JUST DON'T DO IT.

    All rate discussions should be kept private in undisclosed email conversations with your client.  The client will want you to disclose a rate immediately, but you cannot honestly estimate a rate if you do not know what kind of music you'll be writing, what the scope or duration of the project is, whether your client is expecting any live musicians, what KIND of production they're expecting from you, etc., etc., etc.

    It's not about holding something back from the dev, it's about being honest about what rate will yield your best results.
  25. Like
    Thirdkoopa got a reaction from DarkeSword in Robots vs. Knights   
    I'm game. I heard compo's are like, the best way to improve thanks to you lovely people at the PAX West panel, so I'll give it a shot.
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