DarkeSword

And stopping all of this talk about cover art is a must, too. Seriously. Lay off on the cover art. At this point int the project I don't even give a damn about the cover art. The title of the album has not even been decided yet, so designing anything is moot. I appreciate the effort, but I'm not interested in looking at art right now.

Hey hey guys...hold up on the cover design. I want to worry about all of that AFTER the music is finished.

I don't like the cover design.

you know, you can use the easiest damn thing to do this that has nothing to do with pitchbending or the MIDI PWOD. its called edit events. if you want to adjust one note on a monophonic line, just adjust the volume for that section by using your right click diagonal drag. its so easy. now, if you're talking one note in a polyphonic piano roll, then you've gotta use the pitchbend thing. it sucks but its all that you can use. to avoid that, put the melody line seperate from the rest of the stuff. But that just changes the volume, as opposed to the velocity. I prefer using pitch bends for the monophonic stuff too though, because it's easier to manage the velocities when you're looking straight at them in the piano roll. It's a lot easier to humanize stuff when you get notes and velocities in the same view. edit: of course i'm talking about native fruity stuff, like SF player, etc. I use mostly samples anyway, as opposed to external synths.

I'll talk to you about that. IM me about it sometime tonight.

You know, I did a nice write up on this exact subject in this very thread. Anyway, you can use the pitch bend notes to do it. Just overlap the pitch bend on the regular note (so that the pitch doesn't actually bend), and adjust the velocities accordingly. The regular note has the initial velocity, and the pitch bend gets the velocity that you want to shift to. The duration of the pitch bend specifies the duration of the (de)crescendo. You can do some rudimentary sfortzando (sp?) stuff like that, with multiple pitch bend notes.

Hm, I'll keep this brief, because Jesse, Larry, and Mike already summed up my issues with the mix. I still don't like that whistle sound; it's very unexpressive and lifeless, despite the good sequencing. As I said before, try layering it with something airier to combine the sounds into something new. The arrangement is also kind of strange; there are parts in the middle that sound like they'd make good endings, yet the piece moves to new sections. It doesn't feel like a logical progression of ideas. I'm also still not feeling that ending. I can hear it resolve, but it's still abrupt, and doesn't jive with the build at all. I really suggest bringing in some kind of short, quieter section to finish out the piece, for some contrast. Brass also blares in the ending build; might want to scale it back a bit. Don't get me wrong here; it's a good interpretation with lots of great ideas, as well as some decent execution, but I think that the few issues we have with this piece are what are keeping it off the site. I realize this is the second version submitted to the panel, but please don't be disheartened. It's CERTAINLY not a lost cause here, and it's better than many submissions we judge. NO (tweak and resubmit!)

How about just 'Chrono Trigger - The Motion Picture Soundtrack'

I think that the piece starts out really great, but as it gets further along, it really starts becoming quite bland. The guitar sound is pretty good (yay slayer?), but I really think that some sonic variety could do this piece some good; more of the kind of thing we get around the 3:03 mark. I'm pretty borderline on this track. It seems to lose some steam halfway through. Work on a stronger, tighter sounding drum track, and some sonic variety. NO (resubmit)

I like this. There's a nice quirky texture going on with all of the different sounds; percussive elements really work will alongside the synth stuff. Piano solo is fun stuff too. Nicely done. Arrangement side of things gets the job done. No real dead spots, and there's a logical progression. Nice variation. Don't see any issues here. Nice work. YES

Too much muddiness as far as reverb and delay goes. The mix has a crowded feeling that doesn't seem to exhibit and kind of real balance between instruments. I like the arrangement though, but it does start plodding a bit later on. Go for more interpretation. REWORK NO

Everyone criticizing the script, just please shut the hell up. Nobody cares if you're indignant that your precious Chrono Trigger has been bastardized. Does the title of the thread say "Chrono Trigger Movie Script Review!!" ? No. The script is merely a framework for the project. So shut up. Repeat. Shut up. (shut up) Anyway, I've got tracks 19 and 20 as of now. Not biting off more than I can chew. We'll see how things go. PS. Shut up.

Vocals are really terrible man. I think Larry's usage of the word 'untrained' sums it up, though even that may be an understatement. Balance between the elements is pretty bad too. The original piece is so strong harmonically in the way everything fits together; in your piece, I don't feel any kind of emotional response at specific hit points in the song. Very weak and lifeless overall. Guitar is too quiet and doesn't mesh with the drums or vocals; drums have timing issues too. Overall a pretty poor execution. Sorry man. NO

Short version: Needs more. Long version: Needs a lot more. But seriously, this is way too short and much too underdeveloped. It clocks in at 1:41, and even then, there's about 25 seconds of actual nonrepeating material. Variation in your instrumentation would be nice to hear; what you have sounds good, but it's certainly not enough. I'd like to hear some highs and lows in the arrangement as I feel that this one doesn't go anywhere, it simply is. Sometimes simply being is a good thing, but not in this case. Comes off a bit boring. Develop! NO

KirbyMixer - 22/57 - Water Drop * Darangen - 51/52 - Son of Wind * Adhesive_Boy - 41/42 - L'il Traveller * analoq - 16 or 32 - Star Herald - Rellik - 55/37/22 - Swift Hunter * Suzumebachi - 28/29 - Dream Hunter Ellywu2 - 18/19 - Dream Warrior * Trenthian - 1/2 - Star General * Sir Nuts - 13 - Great Ace DJ Ikronix - 14/15 - Final Star mv - 56 - Hero of Lore - People with stars next to their names are the people I have seen WIPs from. I'll ask that you guys each post your WIP again. I know that mv and analoq are working on their pieces, as I've talked to them, but as for Suzumebachi, DJ Ikronix, and Sir Nuts, I need to see something, otherwise you guys are out, and I'll have to figure out how to fill spots. I'm setting the Final Arrangement Deadline for December 5, 2004. I'll comment on posted WIPs soon enough; in the meantime, please post WHAT YOU HAVE SO FAR again.

Jeff man, you really know your production. Very nice sounds here; everything works really well together. Top-notch production. Arrangement however, leaves a bit to be desired. It's very straightforward, and follows the structure of the original fairly closely. I believe though, that this song has a lot going for it in the execution area, even if it lacks in the concept area; similarly to Rhodes to the Past by Fatty Acid, I think that even with a structure similar to the original, solid trance production coupled with creative use of monkey sound effects puts this mix over the borderline for me. I think that it's enjoyable and well-made; that balances out the arrangement issues, for me. YES

OH MAN I LOVES ME SOME LIVE RECORDER (feel free to quote me on that) Yeah this is great. Great concept, great execution. Balance is perfect, in my opinion. Nice work all around. OF COURSE

I don't know how to respond to that. Not much else can be said here. Anyway. Very chill, laid-back groove. I adore rimshot the way it's used here; nice interplay between hats and kicks too. There's some subtle stuff going on in that kick. The distorted lead fits nicely in with everything too; it adds a nice contrast, without being out of place. Improv is good enough. My only qualm was that I felt the piano was too loud in the opening, but after a while it blended in. Nice work man. YES

That piano is really loud bro. I can see what Vig is saying about the emptiness too; that part where it's just the piano going solo is BERY BERY BORING. Not much besides block chords (fifths?) and the continuo line from the original. Not very creative. Later on down the line, with the oboe, cello, and piano, everything sounds REALLY crowded right there in the mid-range. The piano is really overpowering everything else. This mix has MAJOR balance issues. I'd go back and tweak ALL of the volume levels if I were you. Sorry about your cat. NO

I don't hear Star Stealing Girl in here; just sampled vocals from Bollywood music. As much as I love the homeland, I gotta say that I had a very hard time finding more than hints to the melodic line of SSG. The percussion and flute stuff is great, but I don't like how any of the voice samples were used. Maybe I'm biased because I've seen all of those movies? (Probably; so I'm not going to count that against you.) It's a nice original piece inspired by SSG, but I really think it's way too liberal of an arrangement to be considered a ReMix. Sorry Bhai-sahib. NO

That trance lead in the opening is ridiculously wide and messy. It fills up the whole soundscape and doesn't leave room for much else. Plus it's got so much reverb on it that the notes are just bleeding together. Balance between percussion elements is also terrible; what's with the hi-hat just clicking every upbeat? This mix goes nowhere fast. No development, no innovation, no nothing. It's nothing but a repetitous trance synth on an uninteresting beat. NO

This comes off as sounding very empty. The synth sounds used in tandem with the detache strings (squid?) just aren't enough to fill up the soundscape. The harp and piano bits are pretty nice; but I think that the whole thing is a bit drenched in reverb. The synths are also lifeless and lo-fi, and the bassline is boring. That change at 2:11 sounds so out of place too. NO

holy shit dude!! you asked me how to submit a song to this site YESTERDAY!! HAHAHAHAHA Anyway, like I told you before, it's pretty damn good. Tight lyrics, decent production, great all around. Nice work!!

I'm alive. I'll pick tracks once you guys are all settled on yours.

I do believe that may be a violation of the guidelines. Just want to clarify here for any Decisions readers that it's not a violation, because Elfman's theme is only used sparingly. This isn't a remix of Batman by Danny Elfman with RotJoker thrown in. It's the other way around, so it's okay.