Sil

I've always thought Craig Armstrong's Rounders sounded similar to Chrono Trigger. listen here

Believe it or not I'm the kind of composer who uses the library method of composing, that is to say, I've amassed a collection of original themes and such that I might refer to when I'm stuck. You know, stuff that I come up with in the middle of the night or while I'm in the shower, etc. Most of the time I'm solid on coming up with something original under deadlines, but in this case I ended up using some "library" material I've used in a contest before (a harmonic progression) and even though I put a new melody on top, it wouldn't be fair to everyone else if I did that.

I spoke too soon. I thought I had something really good but it ended up borrowing heavily from something I already wrote for a contest a few years ago so I'm not going to attempt to break the rules. Maybe next time when I'm feeling more original... I'm still going to call it "The Last Stand" since I think that's a good title.

To pull of the "Zimmer" style you need stronger string staccatos for the rhythm, and lots of percussion. For example, on the downbeats (whether you're in 3/4 or 6/8 ) you could use a timpani with the bass drum playing the rhythm, or vise-versa. Other kinds of drums like taiko drums could help. It's up to you if you want to use snare or tambourine to enhance the rhythm. Even stomps could work. You might be building up to this sort of thing already, but I'd probably go with it right away and build up to something else later on. For the melody you could make it sound more pirate-y if you had a high piccolo or penny whistle playing two octaves above the violins. Later on (after the key change) the brass should take over the melody: the horns and trumpets could play the violin part while the trombones take over the rhythm. I'd get rid of the flute harmonies unless they became rhythmic too. Right now they fall into the "block chord" trap. Here's two super secret tips for enhancing the 6/8 rhythm: 1. The rhythm is moving along 1-2-3 4-5-6 1-2-3 4-5-6 etc. so what you can do is put drum/brass hits on 1, 2, 4, and 5 with the stronger hits on 1 and 4. Common, yet effective. 2. This is usually reserved for flamenco, but another way to enhance the rhythm is to turn a 6/8 measure into 3/4 (think West Side Story.) It works well to transition into a new phrase.

I keep meaning to enter one of these but I could never seem to come up with anything good. However, I think I have something here that's probably going to be just over 10 minutes when I think of an ending. Is that kind of length okay ? (hey, last stand battles are supposed to be long!)

It's definitely a jingling sound as if it's being shaken. I uploaded a higher quality recording if that helps.

I'm having trouble identifying this sound heard often in anime, which I think are bells strung to some kind of stick (similar to sleigh bells), but they sound more wooden and authentically Japanese. I've scoured several sites on percussion instruments, even for wind chimes and meditative sounds, but found nothing. It's usually heard to set a traditional atmosphere like those bamboo fountains, so it might not even be an instrument. listen here better quality here similar bells? Oh yeah, I need them for a new arrangement I'm doing too!

0:45 Pizzicato strings would work throughout this section, especially in the bass. You already have some sustained basses, but often they can be split so some are keeping rhythm with pizz. 1:48 The panning is a bit extreme here. Really the only panning that is needed is violins on the left, cellos/basses on the right. If you need it for other instruments, try to do it as subtly as possible. 3:25 I think it'd be awesome here if either the flutes or trumpets were doubled with xylophone to add an extra percussive/rhythmic element. 5:05 Like before, I think pizz would work here, maybe even some glockenspiel. Not that it doesn't already sound great, but it'd help the bassoon/clarinet not sound so exposed. As for the melody thing OA is talking about, all I can suggest is to find the right doublings with your samples to bring it out. The legato violins just aren't working on their own because their attack is too soft. Double them with anything you can find, even if it has to be some string ensemble 1 patch with the velocity turned down.

SAM Horns = great. SAM Trombones = good. SAM Trumpets = terrible. Really, you only need two or three decent solo trumpets with a nice attack to accomplish most of the conventional trumpet writing. And here I was trying to stack them like horns and expecting them to sound good. I've had them for two years and just can't make them work. At least it came with a nice solo trumpet good for mournful solos. But I'm still without a good, strong staccato/accent.

It sounds fine so far, maybe a bit thin, but that can be fixed with some stylistic elements such as tremolo strings moving rapidly against the pulse, or anything else that sounds agitated. Watch out that you don't repeat too much of the accompaniment just because you're staying true to the melody. Try to change as much as possible with each successive phrase (without changing the direction of the phrase itself.) I like the horns against the trumpets, but instead of single notes in the horns, make them chords (triads) to sound thicker. Your timpani is sounding thin as well, so make sure it is doubled with the double basses. I think you do this in some cases, but the catch is to make those double basses play in octaves or have the cellos play an octave above that. Timpani, cellos, double basses, and bassoons playing together is probably the most fundamental orchestration technique, especially during tutti sections. Speaking of doubling, anything the strings can do, winds can help. Staccato violins? Have clarinets play with them exactly. Unison doublings are great. Octave doublings are too, especially in the bass or violins when they have a melody.

I'm going to be starting a blog on classical music/composition/orchestration/arranging/game music/film music/whatever else pretty soon (when I can find some time.) The main focus will be to give readers and aspiring arrangers some (almost tutorial-like) insight into what I do and how they might go about doing something similar. The catch is that I will require a few embedded clips of music no longer than a minute each. If I could make it a part of ocremix it'd probably give me more motivation to inform about music rather than complain.

I don't understand the advantages to having this. Is there a way to advertise a need for a performer on a certain instrument on this site, or do I have to e-mail everyone who might meet the qualifications asking if they're available? (btw, I need someone who can play and record an alto or tenor saxophone solo for an FF6 arrangement)

Sounds good. You have an ear for multiple lines and counterpoint. You may want to invest in some better sounding samples or equipment, though, so everything comes across much clearer. If I can offer one criticism, it's that you don't use enough strings, for example: legato strings in octaves to bring out the melodic line or staccato strings in the base/mid-range to drive the rhythm along with the snare. Keep at it!

I think one of the reasons people aren't willing to invest in listening to a lot of classical music is because it sounds too complicated at first. It's easier to give up than it is to listen to something difficult over a few times before you begin to memorize, but once you do begin to memorize it, I think the payoff is worth it. For example, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring seemed terribly complicated the first time I heard it, but now it's actually quite predictable and quaint. I heard that Japanese composers like Uematsu are especially influenced by progressive rock bands from the 70s like Emerson, Lake & Palmer, so I tried a boss battle theme in their Tarkus style, which is just as disjunctive, if not more. You can hear its influences in tracks like Dancing Mad, One Winged Angel, etc. But everyone is correct in saying it is disjunctive and seemingly random at times. That's what I was going for since I love composers like Shostakovich who through-compose pieces to fend off stagnation.

Like I said in the other thread, with some assurance you guys are going to be done in the very near future, I'd be glad to contribute some orchestral arrangements for you. Until then, music should be the last thing on your mind. Don't worry about it. When you have a finished product to show, you'll practically have musicians knocking on your door to offer their services.

You'll find that orchestral arrangements tend to attract heavy criticism stemming from opinion. It's a genre prone to subjectivity because it is a field of expertise with no experts, that is, experts that are hanging around on web forums talking about game music. I wouldn't call anyone around here including myself an "expert" on orchestration because we don’t have the proper credentials and experience. In the end, the only kind of criticism you're going to get is "does it sound good? Yes/No" and that's what my opinions are mostly concerned with as well. But anyway, whoever said your low brass needs work is correct. In fact, your bass lines all throughout seem unrealized, brass or no brass, but it's an understandable oversight if you're just starting out at this whole orchestra thing. A good way to practice is to figure out what your bass line is from beginning to end and have these instruments all play it in unison or one octave apart: bassoon, trombone (in octaves), tuba, cellos, double basses. At forte moments you add timpani, and at piano moments you take away the brass. I'm guessing if I looked at your orchestration I'd see a distinct lack of cello and double bass writing, especially considering how often they play in octaves. And in general, if you want those low brass lines to stand out more, double them with the cellos and basses and bassoon. Use staccatos or pizzicatos if you must. You need a strong bass line, because this is game music!

A few older epic scores you are missing out on: Scott of the Antarctic - Ralph Vaughan Williams Alexander Nevsky - Sergei Prokofiev Ivan the Terrible - Sergei Prokofiev Antony and Cleopatra - John Scott The Lion in Winter - Jerry Goldsmith Jesus of Nazareth - Maurice Jarre ...and I also must express my love for Conan the Barbarian, Krull, and Red Sonja (Morricone's own Conan).

I'm taking a short break from all the orchestral arranging to try my hand at some rock-oriented game music using old fashioned synthesizers instead of samples. Here's what I've done so far: http://jeremyrobson.com/ffbatt.mp3 - a little Final Fantasy-inspired battle music http://jeremyrobson.com/boss.mp3 - a little ELP-inspired boss music, with the distortion turned way up for some reason http://jeremyrobson.com/megaman.mp3 - this one sounds familiar, but I'm pretty sure it's original and I'm not ripping anyone off, but please let me know if I am

Here's a version of Sviridov's Snow-Storm on amazon.com, you can sample the first track on the CD: http://www.amazon.com/Sviridov-Snow-Storm-Choral-Georgy-Vasilevich/dp/B000003WA1/ I transcribed the theme (called Troika) by ear into a midi sequencer, and then took the horn part from the Alternate Ending Music at vgmusic.com: http://vgmusic.com/music/console/sony/ps1/msgending.mid ...and played them separately at first, then together at the same time to see how similar they are. The results are pretty self-explanatory considering I didn't transpose anything. download They stay in harmony and hit many of the same notes for EIGHT measures. Again, no transposition needed. But still, I've seen worse...

No intelligent composer is going to help you unless you're making progress with your mod/game/film, for example, being completely done and all it needs is music. Exclamation point!

Although we were not given an official explanation as to why this track wasn't used, the general consensus over here in North America is that this track (which was used in the FF8 demo over here) was a rip off of the score to the movie The Rock. Clip of the soundtrack: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=FPrHH3DOaSE This alternate Landing track is definitely Uematsu's style, so I don't buy the excuse that it was composed by a ghostwriter. I think Uematsu unconsciously remembered that little syncopated riff after watching the movie. Uematsu is one of the last composers to plagiarize, so it was probably an honest mistake. Could it be a coincidence? Possibly, but there is a part where Uematsu has some high strings playing staccato syncopation against the motif that is exactly what is done in The Rock (at around 1:04 in that youtube link.)

I'm a huge fan of the original Warcraft and I'd be interested in this if given some creative liberties with the tracks. However, I'd have to see some progress in the mod before I can begin working on it.

Is there any plan to upload the scores for the piano pieces? I've been working on a piano semi-reduction of Valse Aeris in case anyone's interested. download here

I don't use GPO so I don't know its capabilities, however... It is up to the user to know what his or her sample library is capable of. Like all orchestral libraries, GPO has its strengths and weaknesses, and it is up to the composer using them to compose towards its strengths and avoid its weaknesses. I've often called this "catering" to your samples, and I do it all the time. If you have good winds and strings, you write mainly for winds and strings. Why? Because if your brass is no good then when you write for it you aren't getting the full effect of the music. It doesn't matter if you're the best melodist in the world, or the best part-writer, or arranger - if it can't sound good, there's very little point. Also, it might interest you to know that it is easier and more efficient to write for orchestral samples using a piano roll instead of staff notation, so if you aren't doing this yet, you might want to try it out. What programs such as Finale or Sibelius interpret as midi data is far less controlled/detailed than other programs out there (like Sonar.)

If it’s a good arrangement, you can’t really tell off the bat because the sample quality is just not up to par with what you can do with the free/cheap samples that are available online. To me it sounds like you weren’t directing your arrangement towards your sampler’s strengths. My advice: find out what your ensemble of instruments can do best and write for that. Composers have made similar sacrifices for hundreds of years. If you really need a certain sound and don’t have it, you’re going to have to find it or buy it. Those flutes right from beginning of the Icarus arrangement show that you know what sounds good. The brass at the beginning of the Luigi arrangement kind of imply that you don’t. See what I’m getting at?