The Mute

Starfox Adventures... great game, great soundtrack. This is a decent start, but personally I think the first segment is a bit too close to the original. It starts to do some fun stuff around 1:35, but whatever that synthy instrument is around 1:50, I'm not so much a fan of it. Or the guitar later on in the mix. It's not necessarily the choice of instrument as it is the quality of the sound. Some instruments are harder to fake than others. I'd cut that second segment and play around with the first. There are some good aspects that I think you could work with. Keep going!

Yay! I like this theme. And I like your treatment of it as well. Whoever says this theme couldn't be improved by remixing is wrong. As far as criticisms, the only thing that bugs me is the transition from the piano segment. It gets too loud too fast. My suggestion would be to bump up the piano's volume a bit and leave the rest as is. I have the same issues with quiet mixes. Still haven't found a remedy that works, unfortunately.

Well, okay. I'll bite. I don't have as much time to devote to this stuff as I used to. :'( I try to check in every once and awhile, see who's doing what nowadays, but I've been busy fulfilling my academic duty! (Now officially a Graphic Design major with a Creative Writing minor. Yay!) Anywho, you know what happens when you put something aside for awhile and then come back to it? You can hack the crap out of it, that's what! Take a look at it with fresh eyes (or in this case, fresh ears.) As far as updates, I'll have to wait for summer vacation, which will be at the end of my 6-week summer session in July. (I've even got a bunch of new material that might show up too.) I've been keeping a list of things to change with this piece the next time I get a few editing hours to play around with. No, I haven't submitted it. I keep thinking about it, but I end up chickening out, 'cause that's what I do best! ^^ Maybe I'll try it when I stop cringing at my own work. [lol] So yeah, that's about where it stands. No worries. The song is still alive and well.

This is a serious tease. I want the rest of it! Reminds me of something... some late 80's, maybe early 90's pop/rock song... oooh... can't think of the name off the top of my head. Doesn't matter though. This is definitely going to be a fun mix when it's finished. It will be finished, right? The light world dungeon theme is one of my favorite Zelda themes eva'. So to say that I really like this surprises me. The sound quality is excellent.

The first minute or so didn't sit so well with me either. I listened to it a few times to see if I could get used to it. So far, no go. Hm. Kaepora Gaebora's theme was excellent. As was the Death Mountain theme... although I'm not sure how inter-game mixes are recieved on the judges end of things. :/ Even if they are all Zelda. Very nice though. I am impressed, which is not easily done.

Congrats on your first attempt! Although, I'm going to have to be one of those naysayers who says there's not enough variation. It's nearly note for note except to a different beat. Part of remixing is... well... mixing! But it is a new genre, so I'll give ya that much. Kinda reggae (sp?). I'm not too familiar with Monkey Island though. *shrugs* I agree, it is MIDI-ish, so find some good samples. That'll help a lot.

.mp3 downloads are usually preferable... but I guess I'll deal. It took some patience to get the song to play. :/ I'd say first off, watch the volume. It goes from quiet to loud in a bad way, more than once throughout the song. If you want to put emphasis on something, try bringing it to the foreground and pushing the rest back as opposed to making it louder. *cringes* The beginning isn't much, but the last minute or so has some good stuff going on. There's a place about 1:30 into it that sounds a bit disjointed to me. I hear what you're trying to do though. That's all I can think of right now.

Meh. It's probably just too soon. You know how it is when people hear a song for the first time and they become enamored. Maybe if I shelved this for awhile... *shrugs again*

So here's an idea I was playing around with. Couldn't decide whether I liked it or not. It's a remix of a theme from Twilight Princess... which as far as I know, has no name yet. (I've seen somebody call it 'Midna's Desperate Hour'.) Oh, and some of that stuff toward the end comes from the part when Zelda saves Midna. Obviously, it's not finished. It just sort of ends at this point. I'm still working on some quality issues too, so try to listen past that. ^^; Faking strings isn't easy, and I don't know about you, but I can be really picky. Remix: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=222582&songID=4853473 And in case you don't know the original, here's a mock-up: http://webpages.charter.net/hruff04/Midna.mp3 So... do I keep going? Scrap it? *shrugs*

Aw man, I thought I was the only one to get inspired by Twilight Princess. Curses! I've been aced! Well, I have to agree with Salty. Word for word.

Goth I understand. Rave, not so much. I always thought rave music was really up there as far as bpm goes. This is slow. Hm. Oh well. Not important. I do see potential in this. It is hard to recognize the original, (I kept trying to pick it out, finally got it) but that could be a good thing. Perhaps it is just a product of the genre chosen. Which is executed nicely, by the way. I hope it's just my cheap-ass headphones killing all the bass. I'd listen on speakers, but I'd wake up the whole house. Overall, I like it, and I think it can be expanded, answering your original question.

Can't sleep... decided I'd post stuff. Crappy soundfonts, eh? Yeah I know how that goes. And that was probably me who said a lot of remixes for Song of Storms were popping up. It's true! Or at least it was. That aside... Well, this sounds like Zelda meets Perfect Dark to me. I don't know if there is much more of a polar opposite than that. Heck, I'll give ya kudos for it. There does need to be some variety though. Two things I generally check for when doing a remix are (1) Is it going somewhere? and (2) Would I listen to this as more than just background music? Right now, I'd say no to both. But of course, you're not finished. Maybe some fun little solos would help? I keep expecting some serious riffs for some reason. The drums are good. The sax is even kind of fun (and I'm rarely a fan of saxophone music). Get some killer soundfonts, a bit more length, and add some content and you're good to go in my opinion. For as much as that counts.

Yeeeah... I know. I know, and yet I left it that way. For shame. I thought so... but then it's kind of hard to find good samples for that sort of thing. So I dunno. I'll put it on my list of things to scour for. Not that I know a damn thing about percussion anyway. Research is never a bad thing. ^^ Awesome. I'll admit to being quite reluctant about scratching the first section... but I'd have to agree. I just wanted to see how it'd fly first. I try to be clever and it doesn't always work out. I guess I could leave it in an extended version or something. Most people don't like 5 minute+ remixes anyway. The Mute has goodness? Oh happy day! Too bad everything can't be ambient piano, eh? Yeeeah... I suppose I'll divulge a little secret here... I started this one two years ago, just like my last post. I worked up this version of it in pretty much one day. So this is basically three or four different ideas sandwiched into one mix. And it shows. My mom liked it. Does that count?

.mp3 link: http://www.soundclick.com/util/downloadSong.cfm?ID=4337115&key=FD5CCEAF-0 Themes used: *The Legend of Zelda theme *Ganondorf's theme *Zelda's Lullaby -------------------------------------------------- I know I said I was going to work on my Song of Healing WIP, but I found this one in my files and decided to play with it instead. This is supposed to be a medley of sorts... kind of like a movie soundtrack. I dunno. It's kinda cheesy, but I like it. I don't know what else to say about it. So I guess the floor is open for discussion.

As far as I know, the final changes to this piece have been made. Something that didn't come up during this process was my feelings about the second theme variation. I couldn't help but hear that it had a slightly mechanical feel to it. So what I did is bring back a couple things that didn't make it into the original version I posted. They were just little variances from several live recordings I'd done while trying to decide about the arrangement. Some may call the changes I made gimmicky, but I like them. So deal with it. The 'choir' issue was also dealt with. I grabbed a different soundfont that sounded almost exactly the same and for some reason, that cleared up the problem. Again, I kept the choir sounds simply because no other instrument was working there. I tried everything and nothing was doing what I needed it to. Again, no new instruments were added. They just weren't cutting it for me. I wanted to stay true to my original concept. The volume should be less of an issue now, but the piece is still rather quiet. It *IS* a piano piece, after all. Nobody in their right mind blares piano music. And most recordings that I've encountered of such music does tend to be quiet. *shrugs* I did what I thought was best. No, I didn't cut the beginning. It's meant to set the mood and 10 seconds is nothing compared to a techno song's minute+ long intro. So yeah... there ya go. I hope I didn't forget to mention anything. Anyway... if you want to keep this song, you better go grab it now. Within the next month or two, I plan on reclaiming the webspace I used to host this. But you'll always be able to find a copy on my Soundclick page. Thank you for all your input. I want to start on another project now. It's of the Song of Healing and I began it about three years ago. So I guess I'll see you all when it's mostly finished.

Tried the compressor suggestion, and I hated the results no matter what I did. But it doesn't really matter because I found what's really causing that infernal noise I keep ranting about! It's because of the choir soundfont I used. Once that is eliminated, everything sounds just fine. So now the question is... do I try to fix that part of it, or just replace it with another instrument? I can't think of much besides human voices that can hold that one 15-second long note and get away with it.

Thanks for the input. I'll try that. But not right now. Grammar test tomorrow, ya know.

The clipping that you're refering to is probably what I'm trying to say. The way the mix was originally was just fine but it was too quiet. I need a way to turn up the volume without losing the quality of sound. I do have a few tricks left to try. Suggestions welcome. I'm perfectly happy with the background noise. That doesn't bother me at all because I don't notice it unless I'm purposely listening for it. I should hope that the piano drowns out the rain enough... which is why I've asked before if the rain was too loud. I do plan to turn it down just a touch anyway. I'm a little short on free time these days, so any changes I make will take awhile. I apologize for that. It's sort of a tease when people make a WIP you really like and then they just sit on it forever. I know that bugs me personally. But when I do get a chance, I do plan to add just a few tiny tiny changes here and there. I decided no additional instruments were needed. This began as a piano piece and I'd like to keep it that way.

It's funny really... I listen to the mix on my speakers, everything sounds fine except for one tiny spot around 3:38. If I could fix that one little note, I think I'd be happy. On my headphones, however, it sounds like I'm listening to the music through a wall. The headphones are about $20, so not exactly run of the mill but also not super high-quality. $5 earbuds seem to have the opposite effect. Too much treble goin' on, but the overall sound clarity is awesome. I can hear the bad spot at 3:38 here too. --------------------------------------------------- As for adding other instruments, I had considered using some strings. Unfortunately there are no realistic sounding samples for strings... or at least none that I've happened upon. Fake strings assault my precious eardrums. Again, submitting this isn't my plan because I know I'll be told that there isn't enough going on, that it's too repetitive, my levels are off, etc. (Didn't you know I'm omniscient?) Thanks and all, but I must decline.

Again, I must thank you all! I'm glad so many liked this. It's more than I expected, heh heh. I wish all my songs could go over this well! But I can still hear the damn static! GAH! (I really don't think it's my speakers, they're brand new! ) And thanks for the votes of confidence, but I really don't feel I could take submitting this. The judges are cool n'all, but I don't think even one YES is in my future. You'd think as an artist I could take criticism... hm...

I was all set to scream AGAIN?!?! But turns out this was actually a pretty fun listen. Beats the pants off my depressing piano mix of the same song anyway. Way to go! Nitpicks? I haven't a single one. The repetitive nature of the song works with this genre surprisingly well. Although... fifteen or so seconds of silence at the end could be fixed to a nice 5 or so. Easily remedied. Hm... well that's all. I guess I'm not much help.

Yeah but, can't you hear that nasty static when things start to culminate? I haven't been able to work on it today, but I'm going to keep trying to eliminate that. It bugs me to no end! EDIT: Does anybody else think I should turn the volume down on the rain? It seems too loud toward the beginning.

The volume issue should be solved now. Maybe. I couldn't bump it up any louder without losing quality. And I doubt it's my speakers... they're brand new.

I suppose. *sigh* I did say I wasn't going to change anything really, and truth be told, I love it the way it is. But then I have the habit of being biased because of myself. AH! I dunno. Maybe I'm just too much of a purist to fiddle with the notes... like it was sacreligious or something.

Yeah, I know about the volume thing. It always does that for some reason even though I swear I've got everything turned up. Meh. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try again... or run it through another program to amplify it somehow. Having the next song blare in my ears is a real hassle for me too. So I'm very sorry for assaulting your eardrums! You know, it's funny because I was trying to tie that theme and some others into this piece. Then I realized I was straying from my original ideas. But maybe as another piece later on, I could try it. And I looked so very hard for that damn piano! Didn't I say that? I know you all keep saying this, but what constitutes a true variation? That whole little melody running in the background was completely my idea as was the bass line, 1:12 to about 3:10 is aaall miiine. Granted, everything is based pretty strongly on the original, but it is different. Then, I take all that and tie it back together with the Song of Storms at the end with some little embellishments here and there. You're killin' me smalls! Maybe the better question to ask would be, what would you like to hear?