zircon

Most of the sample development I do is through Impact Soundworks. It took a few years to build it up to the level its currently at, and I handle most of the business, accounting and marketing tasks in addition to creative ones. Still, I love it, and can't wait to release even more sample libraries this year (all for Kontakt.) However, I do also design synth presets for Zebra 2. I haven't done any lately but I've made over 180 patches total which still sell a bit. As for game soundtracks, yes, I do. In 2010 I worked on Monkey Island 2: Special Edition with several other members of this community. That was more arrangement and production than composition, since we were essentially giving a complete update to a MIDI score (literally MIDI files) including scoring for live performers, etc. I also started a gig for a PSP/PS3/360 game which is not announced yet, and which I'm still working on now. I'm the sole composer for it and have already written almost 30 tracks.

Well, since I just did my taxes, I can give you a pretty accurate breakdown as of 2010... Synth + Sample library development: 42% Video game music: 33% Album sales: 14% Music licensing: 5% Teaching: 3% Royalties (radio airplay, TV broadcast, etc.): 1.2% Miscellaneous gigs (mastering, non-game composition): 1% Of course, it varies quite a bit. For example, in college, I made more money (in absolute terms, and as a percentage) from licensing than I do now. But that's because I'm focusing more now on original music and sample development, which I really enjoy. Oddly enough, money from album sales is higher than ever, even though I put months/years into creating them earlier in my career. Likewise, royalties are a pretty small percentage, but maybe 10 years from now they'll be much higher.

You don't need to take a course to learn how to write music for video games. There are lots of resources online on the topic, and practice (along with a solid knowledge of basic music theory and production) is by far the most important factor. Also, you need to make a distinction between wanting to create music and wanting to work at a studio. They are very, very different. Working at a studio is primarily very technical. It is rare that you would have any opportunity to actually produce or write anything, even if you're working full-time. Most likely your duties would be pretty menial, and even if you ascend the ranks, you'd primarily be running sessions as opposed to doing creative work. Some people absolutely love being in the studio and doing mostly recording work. That's fine. But it's not what I want to do, for example. I would rather focus on writing and producing my own music as opposed to working on other people's work. So, what do you want to do?

Seconding this advice. I'm a full-time composer/producer myself, but I really created this career from scratch. I don't work at one place and collect a paycheck. I have maybe 10 or 15 revenue streams, many of which change every year.

There are always exceptions (both HDR and SSF4 at Evo 2010 had very high-level pad users) but I think overall, arcade sticks help with execution. The main thing is button usage. It's easier to hit and roll multiple buttons on an arcade stick than a controller, generally speaking. Anyway, I've played about 10 ranked matches online, I'm more or less 50/50. Definitely having fun there. I feel a lot less outmatched than I did in SFIV/SSFIV online.

OK, now I see why Sentinel is so good. He has armor on his Medium attacks. His low Medium has an enormous hitbox and combos perfectly into launcher, so that's very hard to deal with. Right now, I'm liking Sentinel, Dormammu and Hulk or Wolverine.

Go for it, and congratulations on the success! You can also use any of my original music.

Actually IMO the problem frequencies tend to be in the middle somewhere. If you just cut out the very highs it will only sound dark and muddy.

Well, any platform like this would potentially offer way more sales, so the slight revenue hit wouldn't matter much. That's the idea of a distribution platform.

The worst part about getting a new computer or reinstalling my OS is installing all my plugins again. Even though I keep all my sample libraries on redundant hard drives (so I basically never have to copy over 500gb+ of data again), authorization is a nightmare. It's guaranteed to take up several days straight, a total waste of time. So while no, I wouldn't necessarily want to download my entire collection of sample libraries when I reinstall my OS, I WOULD like to be able to quickly re-authorize them without having to put in every last DVD and scour my emails for serial numbers or challenge/response keys.

Sentinel definitely seems like he has some tools... but is he really OP? Both Rocket Punch and Sentinel Force take forever to come out. There are way faster spammable projectiles out there.

You know I wrote the demo for FL Studio 9, right? I have all their stuff. The demo song I did uses Gross Beat extensively, too. However, Stutter Edit is more powerful and easily programmable (IMO) so while I'll keep using GB, SE is too good to pass up.

DCAM Synth Squad or ACE (need a really 'analog' softsynth) Sylenth1 (great digital tranceish sounds) BT/izotope Stutter Edit Cytomic The Glue I think that's about it for now!

Just started playing last night! I won a couple matches against Bardic, though overall I got schooled. I still don't know most of the mechanics but I'm very pleased with how easy it is (overall) to string things together. It seems like MVC3 is more of a game about 'macro' decisions (what team? what assists? when to assist? what hypers to string?), as opposed to thinking about a single frame or a single attack. But maybe I'm reading it wrong. I've only played about 1/3 of the cast, but so far I'm a fan of Iron Man, Haggar, Hulk and Wolverine. Dante seems really cool but he's got a billion moves, so I'm still trying to figure out what's going on with him. Likewise, Dormammu seems quite powerful with a ton of screen control, but there are a lot of moves to worry about.

Not sure I agree that once you hit a magic number, views will explode. That CAN happen, but with all my videos I've generally observed a steady stream of views as opposed to massive spikes. I do recommend that you try to connect your videos/content with existing popular content. For example, around the time the Justin Bieber Slowed Down 800% audio file was quite popular, I created a tutorial on how to use the PaulStretch software (used to make the J.B. slowdown track.) The video got some good hits as a result. Likewise, when Super Street Fighter IV was about to be released, I was able to put together a remix from the game. The remix ended up getting featured on Shoryuken's front page, which gave me some nice traffic. What can you do to connect yourself with more popular content?

* Make really compelling videos * Make videos regularly * Encourage people to subscribe + Like your videos * Share your videos on Facebook * Make video responses to popular videos * Make really compelling videos

Hey, for what it's worth, I just got a Sega Saturn as well. Straight from Japan, no less! * 2 controllers * SF Collection (alpha 2 + SSF2T / Grandmaster Challenge) * Xmen vs. Street Fighter * Memory card * KOF 95 * Saturn Bomberman Fight! (the 3D one, not the 10 player one) * Darkstalkers 2 * Virtua Fighter 2 * Christmas Nights

Yeah, but to be fair, the tiers OTHER than Sagat changed quite a bit. C.Viper was looked down upon at first. Then, she moved up toward the top... before dropping down again.

Funny you should ask for this... we've seen a great many requests for Medieval/Renaissance instruments! I think we're going to sample that at some point

Zircon is on this by friday

They're two very different games. SSF4 is much slower paced. Way more emphasis on memorizing long combos/links, not quite as balanced. HDR is tightly-balanced with more focus on timing and reading as opposed to flawless execution of links.

Very cool stuff! Thanks Rama

I'm with Yoozer, let's not re-distribute illegal samples, please. If the WAVs aren't 100% cleared (eg. created by someone in the community) then don't include them. I'd rather redistribute soundfonts and VSTs, anyway. Torrents are fine.

TRacks Compressor 2 is my jam.

Not all compressors are created equal. It's not like drawing general automation curves over your track, which is what some of you are equating it to. A good compressor on the master 'glues' your track together, something that is important in nearly every genre of music. This effect is hard to put into words, but if I showed you a track of mine with and without master track compression you'd hear in an instant how big of a difference it makes, even within a quiet passage.