BloomingLate

So I've been away from the site for a while (see this post) and now I'm here to share a short piece I recently managed to finish to satisfaction. It is called Theme from a Dream and features the piano, cello, viola and two flutes for a brief but beautiful run through a theme that I came up with after waking up from a dream a long time ago. Many, many years ago I had this dream with a very moving, adventure game-esque quality to it. Think Zelda. When I woke up from it I was sad that the story was over. As I tried to re-play the dream and add to the story in my head I came up with this theme that has stuck with me ever since. I am thrilled to have finally put it to music after maybe two decades! A second part is still in the making. That'll be more epic, movie-soundtrack like in 6/8 time. Find the finished version here: https://metapop.com/blooming-late/tracks/theme-from-a-dream-part-i/269406 I've also used it as background music in this recent video, featuring my latest Fall/Autumn pictures. The video is dedicated to the memory of my late grandfather, who died last month after a long battle against cancer. Unfortunately I was not able to show him the pictures before his death... Enjoy the music and the pictures! --René

That's good to know. My friend was wondering if maybe I was trying to "force" the song to fit the theory, which may make theory seem questionable. I guess I'm trying to teach him that theory is good and that a basic understanding is profitable and desirable. I see! I hadn't considered that this could be the case for the modes. I'm learning from the book "Harmony in Context" by Miguel A. Roig-Francoli, which does mention the modes, but doesn't go in depth on them. So I'll have to find another source to get into the specifics on those. I don't have too much experience with 7th chords yet either so I'll take a closer look into those as well. By the way: Since B-Dorian can be considered a mode of A-Major, does the song get the A-Major signature (with three sharps) or the B-Minor signature (two sharps) and the final sharp marked as an accidental wherever it occurs? Do you have to somehow tell the performer (on the sheet music) that the song is in this or that mode? Thanks for your suggestions!

Last year a friend and I started having regular phone conversations to talk about our musical progress and to provide each other with feedback. My friend likes to write songs and plays the guitar, but he's not exactly trained in music theory. So lately I've been putting my training to practice on his melodies. I'm trying to find the right harmony to go with his melody, which leads to the following issue: The song begins and ends on B, and the opening measure outlines the B-minor chord in the melody. So I'm thinking: this song is in B-minor. I learned the difference between natural, harmonic and melodic minor (and when to use what), and that the most usual variant to use for the harmony is the harmonic minor (with its raised 7th degree.) However, several things are occurring in this song. For one thing: the best chords that go with it are from the natural minor, not the harmonic minor. Furthermore, the chorus has a raised 6th degree that doesn't seem "accidental". It goes well with an E-major chord, that doesn't belong to either the natural or the harmonic minor. If I treat the song as being in Dorian mode, I have all the chords I need and don't have to "borrow" or switch between minor variants. Could it be that my inexperienced friend "accidentally" wrote something in Dorian mode? Since the song is very short, I can only go by this simple verse and chorus. The way the song is structured now, there is never really a tight resolution in the form of a dominant-tonic cadence. Could a VII (major) or v (minor) resolving to the tonic be a legitimate way to end a minor / Dorian song? Right now, ending on the chorus would leave us with a IV - i resolution. Ending on the verse gives us VII - i. Random side note: when playing around with Shadow's Theme from FFVI, I came across the same situation with the raised 6th degree. Could that theme also be in Dorian mode or am I completely missing something?

Thanks for the update! It looks like my submission got rejected indeed, but I'm not taking it as hard as I expected I would. The feedback is very respectful and thorough. I actually feel motivated to go back to the track and improve it. So thanks guys! It looks like I was thinking of Evaluators rather than Judges, but perhaps the Evaluators list can use an update as well. It is in this thread: https://ocremix.org/community/topic/42695-what-is-evaluation-and-when-do-i-use-it/ . Anyway, maybe a Meet the Judges post can be nice to have too. I'll leave it up to you guys.

Good to hear (Sorry for the late reply) Can we get an update on the "Currently in the Judging Process" post? The last update is from a while ago now. Also: I have to say, it is a bit painful that the judging process can be so slow. I understand that this is all on a voluntary basis and that there's lots of entries to work through. Nevertheless, I think I've been waiting for almost a year now to get my submission judged and at this point it will probably be extra painful to have it rejected. Since it has been so long, going back to it to work out potential issues raised in feedback will be tricky. And wouldn't want to have to wait another year after re-submission. Side question: is the "meet the judges" post currently up to date?

They're clean stems without effects alright. The zipped file is actually a lot smaller, so this shouldn't be a problem. I'm sending you a PM with the download link. It will expire after a week so don't wait too long to grab it. Good luck!

I'm setting this to "Ready for Review". I'd like an Evaluator to comment on whether they think this remix has a chance to be accepted by the Judges. Latest version that I'd like to submit:

We can do that I've prepared the stems for you but they total around 600 MB, which seems like an awful lot. They're all 16 bit WAV. Should we go ahead with that or do I need different settings? Uploading this will probably take ages :P

Hi Judges This site has been around for quite some time. Judges / other staff have probably come and gone while going through all kinds of stages of life since. My question is: how "healthy" is the current "administration". Are you guys still managing? Is judging and maintaining the site still do-able? Are you guys still happy? That there's still new remixes coming out is probably a good sign. Are there any particular needs right now for the site and to keep the judging process running smoothly? Thanks to everyone who's involved for their contribution!

I'm glad to hear that This part (the final tweaking stage) is usually the part where I get discouraged and give up, haha. Okay, I rendered one more version with some of those high frequencies cut here and there. The effect seems subtle to me, but perhaps it did improve it if only a little :) As for the guitar: I use a plugin that has two options: stereo mode and doubling mode. I already had it set to the latter so it has the effect that you're describing (blending two different takes on the same pattern). I had set the channel to full stereo width to make it sound as good as it does. Not doing that significantly weakens the sound. Upon closer listening, it turns out that in mono mode (on the master) the guitar doesn't completely disappear. It makes no difference if I go for stereo mode or doubling mode in the plugin. So I figure I leave it as it is, since you're supposed to listen to it in stereo (or would that be a lazy and very noobish attitude to have?) Finally, I added some compression to the acoustic guitar and compensated by decreasing its volume. This lets more of the details through at the right moments which I think is an improvement. The overall balance has remained the same, I think. By "keys" do you mean the higher pitched ostinato pattern? It already has reverb and delay on it. I guess they get lost in the mix a little. I'm personally not too bothered by it, but I slightly boosted them anyway. See if you think this is better. Here is the updated version for comparison: Metapop link Thanks again for you input :)

Okay, I've applied some of your suggestions and swapped out the bass for a less subby one. I tested and mixed on the headphones that are more bass sensitive as well as on my speakers. I'm pleased with the results for now but I'd like your take on it. As far as I can tell the kick now comes through more clearly without being obnoxious. The snare was boosted a little. The bass is far less intrusive but takes more of a back seat, which in this case is more desirable to me. Listening on my speakers I found that the shaker was standing out too much so I toned that down a bit. Here is the updated version for you to compare with: https://metapop.com/blooming-late/tracks/heavenly-marshmellows-34bayou-boogie34-38-34stickerbush-symphony34-from-dkc2/195248 (this one on my MetaPop profile, seeing how that allows me to change files, while SoundCloud doesn't.) Somewhat important discovery: since the acoustic guitar is fully stereo separated it completely disappears on mono devices. Taking it out of stereo separation means a host of new mixing problems. Can I get away with not supporting mono-devices or is that big no-no? :P

Thanks for your positive and helpful feedback Perox! That's interesting that you mentioned the bass. On one set of headphones that I used I felt the same: that the bass (which happens to be very subby) was overpowering. Using a different set of headphones the bass was actually almost inaudible! So now I'm not sure which headphones to trust. It definitely clashes with the kick that is rather subby. Perhaps I should consider a different kick or bass (or both) If you have any ideas for how to overcome this headphones issue (perhaps visual cues to go by in my DAW) I will gladly dive back in and make those suggested improvements.

Thanks for your additional input Those are very interesting examples too. A little further in in the first video sounded very Metroid-y to me! I had no idea idea this kind of music was out there, outside of video games. I just figured VGM composers were doing their own thing. It never occurred to me that they might have been influenced by what was going on around them. Come to think of it, I have heard of JM Jarre before. I think my wife has some trance remix of his Oxygene 10 *checks* *confirms* I was born in 1985 so most of this stuff was happening before I arrived at the scene and became musically aware. It is striking how different modern music sounds compared to back then!

UPDATE JULY 17th Latest version with slight mix tweaks. Bass gets its own little climax at the end of the transition / buildup so it doesn't feel like it just keeps hanging there. DESCRIPTION I decided to come back to a remix project that I never really finished to satisfaction. I shared an earlier version here on OCR and now I'd like to share the updated version. This remix combines two tracks from the Donkey Kong Country 2 soundtrack (SNES): "Bayou Boogie" and "Stickerbush Symphony". Original composer: David Wise. This is an updated version from an earlier attempt, titled "Swamped with Nostalgia" I replaced some instruments and added my own recorded bird song samples. After some problems with mixing I decided to go with a "less is more" approach and cut away samples and instruments to maximize the elements that I like. Newly added is the acoustic guitar chords, created by NI's Session Guitarist, which gives it the flavor I had been looking for but couldn't produce the first time. The transition between the two tracks now does what I wanted it to do all along! The overall structure and most instruments have remained the same. So has difficulty mixing and mastering (I slapped on a Maximus preset and tweaked that a little until it sounded right to me. Then came back the next day with semi-fresh ears to do a final tweak.) Here it is, for your enjoyment. [REMOVED OLD LINK. SEE LATEST ABOVE]

Interesting! Thanks for this! After posting my original post I considered that maybe the sound belongs more to the 80's than the 90's. I don't think I have been exposed much to 80's pop music so its hard for me to judge. I actually knew about Japan (the band) through a trance remix of "Ghosts" (Tenth Planet); it never occurred to me to listen to their other stuff :) I did a quick scan through a "best of" video of Yellow Magic Orchestra that you mentioned. I definitely get that videogame music vibe. VGM sure has developed since those days :P I'll have to check those out later, thanks! Would you concur that the bass / synth sounds in the examples are more 80's than 90's?