sephfire

"People of the North Pole" (the music played in the Mt. Gagazet region) The original was a 4/4 beat and the remix changes it to a 6/4, so that may be why you're having a hard time hearing it. I assure you, it's there.

I've never managed to find an orchestral percussion kit that quite manages the sound I'm looking for. I love listening to the percussion in scores by Harry Gregson-William, Steve Jablonsky, Klaus Badelt ... pretty much any composer who fits in the "Hans Zimmer"-style catagory. The driving bass drums/taikos/timpanis/etc are the real appeal to me (although the supplementary sticks/cymbals/electronic/etc sounds are great as well). Does anyone know of a sample kit or something that provides this sort of sound? http://www.sephfire.com/sector6.mp3 Here's a sample from Steve Jablonsky's work for "The Island." Note ... -the snare-like hits around 0:18 -the beat the kicks in at 1:47 These are the kinds of sounds I've tried hardest to emulate but had little luck with. Any suggestions?

Just wanted to come in and say I'd be happy to help out musically in any way I can (for what it's worth). If anyone wants/needs and hand with some particular thing about their track or if remixers suddenly start dropping like flies, send me a PM or something. I don't expect to be needed for anything given the high-calibur crew TO has assembled, but I figured I'd put it out there. Looking forward to hearing your work guys.

Just popping in to say, this is one project release that I am eagerly anticipating. I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

Thank you.

Yeah. I envy those guys' ability in that area. They take the free stuff and work miracles. I have the ability to consistently make Reason's decent orkester library sound like crap spewing from a marching band tuba at haltime. Unknown needs to create a tutorial or something explaining how he does that. I'd pay money. Seriously. It's not that difficult; just use the right amounts of reverb and stereo separation, and pay attention to velocities. Write realistic rhythms, and know the limitations of your sounds. You need to treat a violin sample as a violin sample, not a real violin, and understand its limitations. That's how I approach sequencing any 'real' instrument, and it's what I did when I wrote my tracks for this project. That makes sense. I'll keep that approach in mind for the future.

Yeah. I envy those guys' ability in that area. They take the free stuff and work miracles. I have the ability to consistently make Reason's decent orkester library sound like crap spewing from a marching band tuba at haltime. Unknown needs to create a tutorial or something explaining how he does that. I'd pay money. Seriously.

I'm not saying that the tracks can't stand alone independent from the whole. That's obviously untrue. As you said, several of the tracks were composed before the project began. I'm saying that Chrono Symphonic (by design) meshes into a single composition in a way that no other project has until now (though others come very close). I agree with that. However, with everyone using different software and resources, it would be incredibly difficult to have EVERYONE use the same samples/etc and master settings without resorting to freeware. Granted, Unknown has proven that free stuff can work wonders, but not all of us have mastered this technique. There are lots of other ways that such unity and coordination could have been accomplished, but most of them would have involved money or an incredible sacrifice of time to achieve. I think things were organized efficiently given our resources. Also, the entertainment value of film soundtracks is rather objective. I've been listening to the soundtracks from "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "The Island" ever since I bought them without succumbing to boredom. Film soundtracks don't necessarily have to limit themselves to simple "background music."

OCReMix has an enormous Chrono Trigger section. Well over 60 tracks have been composed remixing the music from this game (and there's a lot of quality music to be found in there, let me assure you). This project has a more defined purpose than to just "make 25 more remixes but all orchestral." The "film score" organization and arrangment of this album is what makes it so unique. And you don't have to see the movie to appreciate the dynamics of this album. Listen to it all the way through. If you know the game's story, you can follow the storyline placement just by hearing the music. The dynamics of the album as a whole reflect the dynamics of the Chrono Trigger story itself. So long as you know the game, you can follow the soundtrack. Chrono Symphonic is a single united composition, not just a collection of many tracks. This is reflected in Claado's script and in Compy's hard production work to make each individual track flow together. This was the goal from the very beginning.

I can't argue with you. Such are the limitations of the 2 minute time limit. There are probably ways that such an intro could have been forced in, but as far as "script-adherence" goes, I still stand by my arrangement decisions with this one (mostly). As long as I'm explaining, I had imagined a lot of the emotional buildup being driven by the scene's pre-fight dialogue. Then the chorus/string buildup would come in just as Magus made it clear that he was about to kill himself some intrusive pre-teens (by lifting his scythe or whatever). Then the music moves straight into the battle. Halfway through, the intensity drops as a resounding BOOM alerts everyone to Lavos's awakening. Then the panicky music at the end plays as everyone tries to escape the huge vortex. Again, things could definitely have been reworked. If I were to do it all over again, I'd concern myself less with the script and more with service to the source tune. I may eventually create an extended version of the track for OCR submission to do just that, but until then I'm still quite proud of the remix as it is. BTW, great work everyone. This is definitely a real treat.

Come on, man. We're gamers. Tolerating one release delay after another is what we do.

Compy's job is a bit more complicated than just that. Even we mixers would much rather let him finish his work. Trust us when we say that production makes all the difference in the world.

Ok, we've got some "special features"-style bonus material here. The mp3s below show the progression of Journey's End from it's earliest draft (before it was a collab) to the final draft currently posted on OCR. This may give you some insight into the creative process and show exactly what each remixer contributed. Enjoy. Journey's End - first draft The original remix composed by myself before pixie or Gray were involved. Journey's End - second draft (vocals) After I contacted pixietricks, this is the rough vocal draft she wrote and recorded, transforming Journey's End from a simple arrangement into a song. Journey's End - third draft Once I received the vocal tracks from Jill, this is the final track I came up with and finally submitted. As you can hear, it had its share of production issues, which eventually led GrayLightning to offer his talents ... Journey's End - final ... which resulted in the final version of the remix that made it into OCR. A great deal of work went into this remix from conception to completion, but the results were worth it. It was a true pleasure to hear my own work molded and perfected by two of OCR's most talented musicians. I look forward to any chance of working with them again someday.

Definitely. Next week can't come soon enough. It will have been worth every week of waiting before it.

accent FTW. I'm beside myself with anticipation.

*pats Compy's head* we all feel for ya buddy.

Same with the final boss in FarCry: Instincts if you're unlucky enough to experience the glitch. You can shoot/punch him for hours and he'll keep on coming at you like a tank. A tank with infinite ammunition and no character depth.

Sorry for the late response, but you're welcome to use it however you like. I'm sure Fatty Acid won't mind either. If he let me totally overhaul his work, I'm sure he won't mind your use.

Indeed it can. Slow and steady wins the race.

Hey, no apology necessary. Personal life comes first. I was just curious if anything new had happened outside of the thread.

Any new developments in the last week or so? New mirrors, mastering progress, artwork, etc? There's a shortage of buzz.

As long as we're all sharing our anticipation, I can't wait to hear everything when Compy's finished with it. It's always a treat to hear your arrangement mastered by someone who knows what he's doing. Looking forward to it.

This issue didn't deserve two pages ...

We've all put in a lot of time and stress into this project over the past year. For some of us that stress has been stretched over the whole length and for others it's been compressed into a short, panicked session near the project's end where everyone starts getting edgy and impatient. Let's not start going for each other's throats here. We're in the home stretch. For emphasis.

Yeah, seph! Did you ever hear episode 017 of VGDJ? Just listen starting at 32:27, where the stinger is, hehehe. Yeah, I heard that one too. Both great interviews. I just wasn't expecting it in the Press Start interview.