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Right?! That piano is so awesome!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EZAkmJNGteO9CLOF74O6JhNShvK2QKf9/view?usp=drivesdk This is in the early early stages. Like maybe 5% or so done but I wanted to post it as proof of concept I guess on my direction before I really dig into it with all the other instruments and verses to come promise more updates in the future!

Finally got my headphones back so I can more accurately hear what I thought I was hearing. The 1:11 isn't harsh actually. Its just a bit choppy/inconsistent in the velocities. It causes it to sound a jumpy in the dynamics. Just something where you would need to take some time to make it more natural sounding. As far as the static strings, I would need to know what VST you are using. Probably just some time getting more familiar with the mod wheel might do it. For the tempos and stuff, I use pro tools so I cant help with FL studio. However, one thing I've learned is something you alluded to, which is that sometimes just to make it sound good, you need to play to your instruments strengths and less to your composition desires. Now, the better you get at using your program and knowing how to push your VSTs to their limit, the more you can do. But sometimes I've learned that at my current progress, I need to make sacrifices to my artistry in the name of fidelity. However, that doesn't mean you shouldnt keep trying to make it do what you want! Sometimes you can try, mess it up, let someone else listen to it, and they can tell you how to make it do what you want. Regarding the last statement, I think sometimes with VSTs, as I mentioned earlier, if we dont make them do what we want them to do properly, it can make them sound insufficient? Like maybe we need a better quality one. But here, I'm not sure that is the problem. I think the sound here is really interesting and fine for the most part.. maybe some verb here and there to make it sound less dry, but I think mostly they sound a bit stiff and lacking just because they need some more tender loving in FL studio. That being said, I know you put a lot of work into this and it is probably a lot off work to go back in and try and tidy things up more. Regardless, I'm no expert. I have my struggles as well! I hope though maybe I provided some perspective. Would love to know the vsts you use tho

Lol you are too kind. I don't know much Metroid music so I wouldn't have been able to connect!

I'm not really familiar with the source material and my headphones I use for mixing need a new cable so I'll have to stay light on those comments while I await it's delivery haha. Anywho, let's see here! Love that opening little run with the piano and it's cool that it comes back later. The strings sound a little lifeless here. I think they could use some editing to give them a bit more flow and energy. For now they just sound kinda static. The instrumentation coming in around 1:11 sounds kinda harsh to me. As if whatever sample is being used wasn't playing nice when you tried to get it to do a schwartzando type effect. I hate when that happens to me and maybe that is what happened here? What an odd little synth! I like it. Really weird and almost goofy but comes across as kinda sinister! Super cool in the beginning. I think some of the tempo changes come across as a bit harsh here and there. I really suck at that stuff so idk how to help. Maybe fiddle with the algorithm you use to get it to slow down? Also something is telling me with the cool little synth, it would be nice to have some other more modern, gritty or even kinda ghasyly synthy sounds toward the end when that motif comes back. Just to give it some more grit or something. Could even use some double reed instruments playing in their lower register possibly? For some reason Symphony of Psalms comes to mind hmm... Anyway, this was very neat. I liked the track composition wise but I think from a production standpoint it could use some more tender loving. Like I'm not even sure vst quality is a problem here? I think you can hide that behind that piano and some of the interesting motifs. I just think sometimes the sequencing doesn't do them any favors. But, that is okay in my book and doesn't detract from the amount of work you put it. Thanks for the listen~

Dude right? I'm at this point like...so what if TWO of my songs may sound similar? But at the same time I want each of my songs to be their own little butterfly ugh. And yet also at the same time, I want to establish a sound that is my own. Why do we do these things to ourselves lol?

So I guess the premise to this inquiry came from my recent works on this soon to be submission So, as you can see, I haven't even gotten a review let alone a submission, but I find that not only did I like what I did, I feel like I found a sound I can resonate with to the point where I could do it again. So I started working on a different song from FFVII and a lot of the same sound ideas came to mind and similar approach composition wise. Part of me is like...is this me finding a style/a musical voice? Or is this just me being unoriginal/lacking inspiration? I'm sure whatever else comes out will be its own thing but it would still be atmospheric, combining different orchestral/cinematic aspects together. It's very perplexing to me. Until now I never really locked into a single style in my head. I guess some examples being these three songs I think simple and atmospheric with vocals is kind of my thing when I take a closer look at the compositions...hmm. Anyway, what do you guys think of this process? Do you try to run away when you see yourself getting locked into a sound? Do you try and shake it off or do you take it as "your sound?"

Thank you for the feedback! I really do appreciate that. I enjoyed going through and experimenting. Probably the problem ended up being I had so much I wanted to do, tryi g to stuff things into the soundstage and without making it clip too hard became a project in and of itself. But I also realized...I have a lot of things in my libraries worth just making more music so I can explore them more! I have my go to's of course that I almost always use but at a few points I was like "Wait...don't I have a library for that already? Yep...yes I do lol" I've been listening for a few days and maybe agree another section before the ending would be nice. I just am unsure where to take it and the source doesn't give me much. So I'll have to be more liberal if something ever comes to mind. Maybe I'll just sit and experiment with stuff and see if something I like comes to mind.

I'm not too big on this type of music personally but the synth sound that starts at 2:07 is sick. Dunno what it is about it per se but it has this like energy to it that is both aggressive and bubbly.

....I think, I'm ready for review haha. This has taken forever and I'm sure there are plenty of flaws in the master...but I think this is my limit without feedback haha. Honestly though, I like the way it has turned out and i had so much fun. It helped me find a lot i actually enjoy about some of these more...hybrid electronic/trailer like sounds that I normally can't stand or find really cliché in like movie trailers but in some game music really can make magic. Anyway, i hope you guys enjoy the first version of the full song start to finish! And I hope whoever reviews it has fun with it as well and can help me with whatever they choose. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hZgXfRJiPTE2IllhEbNEOTqGkYNHIr5h/view?usp=sharing

Honestly where I'm at now, I'm kind of...stuck. I'm like dude I went into a whole new direction, which I like, and I think I'm doing fine with, but I am just unsure how to get home exactly without just kinda...mailing it in. I'll keep working but right now what I have isn't too much different than what I last gave. Really, I'm just trying not to do too much. I'm playing this line between cool effects and atmosphere and sensory overload. That and it's like coming down from the mountains with the climax I just did haha. Anyway, I think I just need one last visit from the muse that got me here and I'll be able to take it home.

Haha, sweet thank you so much for your help.

Thank you! If you don't mind, with a more in-depth program, what other parameters would you set? I don't mind...spending money I guess as long as it isn't too expensive and massively DRM laden like Auto-tune haha.

Hey guys I have a production question that kind of alludes me. So in the song Sins of the Father from MGSV (wonderful piece btw), there is a part at 4:25 where they run Donna's vocals through some kind of filter, which I'm guessing is a pitch correction software. I personally don't own any of the major pitch correction software like Auto-tune or Waves tune. Is that how they get this effect or is this something else? I think I picked up a free one awhile back called MAuto or something but I could never figure out how to make it do that haha. Any advice you guys could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Hmm, I dig the approach! The main synth leaves something to be desired. It is kinda plain I think? I don't know much about synths when it comes to editing and making them but I think this is just a little too dull to be the star of the show. I don't suggest going crazy with it. But I think I wish it had some more sparkle, grit, or something that just made it stand out, while still being able to carry a melody. Other than that, sometimes I wish I had some more umph in the bass but hey, that could just be YouTube not being very good quality. Also, the second verse is not varied enough from the first and could use some other layers or even just some melodic variation to justify a second go around. That being said, the sound is—at the risk of sounding super corny—groovy! Haha, I was jamming a little while I was outside. I like it and would be excited to hear a more detailed version in the future. Cheers!

Hmm, never played Secret of Mana too much but I wanna get my fox in the fray for the first time! Maybe I'll see what I can do >_<

I'm just gonna stick to the successor. I'm also gonna stick to not really commenting too much on the quality of the VSTs or anything as much as I can. I think you could better use some of the more atmospheric aspects in the very beginning I'm not sure if this was intentional or not but there is some pulsating in the strings and it kinda throws me off but I think if it moved more or had a better presence in the soundstage I would have been okay with it. Some panning would be interesting as well. Like that synth at the bottom when it first comes in around 35. Really very nice touch. It definitely screams FFVIII low synth. The next sequence though, personally I don't like the chord progresssion around 50s. The root note/bass sounds out of place. I'm not great at doing analysis off the top of my head but I think it might be some type of inversion thats clashing in an unpleasant way. At 1:13 I especially didn't like the clash. Sure, it is more interesting than a simple, consonant bass line, but I think it doesn't do it for me here personally. I do think the idea is good. Again, that bass screams FFVIII and is used often in the OST. I wonder what sample you used? The next part after though actually works really well for me in the bass line! I enjoy it! I just don't like that first part with the sort of Edea/Witches motif section. I thiink however in that last section from 2:48, the bass no longer does it for me having it there always. It just seems like it shouldn't be there? I think though from 3:01 it could make a come back though. Give us some room to breath and enjoy that beautiful chord progression starting from 2:48 and those high notes. Ugh, so gorgeous. The piano you got really did it or me with those high notes! Loved it :). But yeah, I think just...maybe let that bass go except for the part I put earlier. Maybe even just at that 3:07 part when it plays in octaves with the main line. Anywho, these are just my opinions and my approach. We all come from our different musical backgrounds with our own preferences. I don't think any of the things I mentioned were egregious at all. Just things where I would differ. I think you also have more to offer with this song too. Especially if you want as a remix or an arrangement to take it somewhere unique to you. I like this idea of what you call Uematsu bass and bringing that to this piece somehow. Would love to see the idea expanded upon. Anywho, cheers buddy! Thanks for the listen

Hmm, I think there are some cool concepts worth keeping here and building on. I like brassy take on the theme at 4ish. I think that's something that really shines. But I think—and this is coming from someone who is rather conservative in their remixes to this point—I think there could have been a lot more done to build the suspense. It just kinda felt like a long long version with some interest toward the end. I think you also use silence well too, which some people (including myself) can forget to use to add suspense. But I guess this just wasn't adventurous enough for me. Besides that, on the technical side there are some syncing issues with the Fithos Lusec chorus at times. The strings really leave a lot to be desired. Again, I really recommend BBC Discover or even Spitfire Labs as a base quality for strings these days. I'm sure you are mostly using free patches but I do believe there is room to upgrade there still. Anyway, seems like you have a decent amount of content on your channel to explore so maybe I'll go do that? Thank you for the upload and share!

Still working on this! Just hadn't been able to put in the work really hard. But I added some new progress in the original post. Still a lot of work to do but I'm in the home stretch composition wise. Then it's all the mixing and stuff I'm bad at haha.

Thank you for the tip! I added time stamps for others. I am also grateful for your feedback. It really does mean a lot to me. I'm really happy you liked the percussion. Percussion is literally the bane of my existence and I struggle to really get the most out of it. I want to be comfortable making the sounds in my head be able to come through on the percussion side of things. I guess I'll need to learn more!

This and the acoustic picked guitar are really great for guys like me who can't play and don't really write complex guitar parts. I've tried Evolution strawberry and another Evolution library on a friend's PC and I really couldn't do anything with it because the learning curve. But from what I could see, if you were willing to put in the work, you could definitely sequence something really nice as long as you touched it up. But for me, it would have taken too long and I would have to constantly borrow his equipment. Still, it is nice to fiddle with every now and then. But these two really get the job done for me when I want a guitar and need patterns and such. Usually when I'm doing that it's just for me to sing over. Same with their drum library. Super useful for someone like me whose instrument is voice lol.

I do use Kontakt almost exclusively except with Spitfire Labs and BBC. I actually don't know this feature though so I'll check it out. Like I said, just like you, I mostly learn on my own by doing, not having things sound the way I want them to, and figuring out how to make them sound that way lolol.

I've been uhh, reluctant to really post my original music anywhere because I haven't been the most confident in my composition skills but I want to reach more people so I want to get better! And that means being more vulnerable haha. So, here it is Variation time stamps #1 0:00 #2 1:52 #3 3:06 #4 3:52 The track's title is Variations on a Theme by Anthoney. The story behind it being a friend of mine had a tune in his head. He would hum it from time to time but it never went anywhere. He hummed it to me and asked if I could do something with it. I had ideas over some months but they never quite came together. So I decided to take them and create a set of variations. There are about 4 "acts" or variations, with the last being the longest. I'm actually quite happy with the last one and the least happy with the first, both from a composition standpoint and a mixing standpoint. Concerning the latter point, rhe two were written months apart and in that time I had learned a lot about the features of my DAW and all the VSTs I have. I don't recommend dropping lots of money building a library of instruments first and learning later but that's another story entirely LOL. I almost think the last track could be a song in and of itself and I somewhat think of it as such. Anyway, this has been a long intro post and I'd be glad to talk further about the composition and thought process but for now, if you care to listen to this 7 minute piece and discuss anything that stood out to you—good or bad—I'd be grateful.

Thank you for your comment! I just wanted to wait a bit to give them time but I might message one soon. As for the rest of the libraries used here, I think I stuck to two or three. The strings are definitely Spitfire Symphonic and the flute and oboe come from Nucleus. I believe the wind chimes and harp are from 8dio AGE but I'd have to check again because I have a few of those.

For now, in concept I'm interested. I think even just a preview with a live guitar would be nice because I think composition wise, this is one of those that would stand out of the solos/playing is really outstanding. Otherwise, it is kind of straightforward and I'm not sure if it adds much new to the original and the inspired remix. Keep going though. I wanna see this evolve.