Jump to content

MkVaff

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    219

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

 Content Type 

Posts posted by MkVaff

    6 Weeks of Sweat and Tears - McVaffe.com is Up!

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I'm not that comfortable with shameless plugs, but I told people who have asked me through the years that as soon as I was able to put together a new site of my new and old work, that I would do so. And so I have, so here it is:

    http://www.mcvaffe.com

    So far the site contains the vast majority of my work, much of it which was created in the late '90s and early 2000's when I joined the site and began submitting remixes. It's no coincidence that my discovery of Overclocked led to what was one of my greatest periods of regular output.

    The fact that I owed such a huge debt of gratitude to OCRemix and to its community members through the years for supporting, inspiring, and shaping the way I developed my sound led me to post about the site here. I searched for all of the old original remix WAVs I could find, and uploaded them in higher bitrates than I originally submitted here. As well, there are some remixes there that either didn't fit the guidelines of OCR, or ones I never quite felt polished enough to submit.

    For any Youtube fans, I spent over a week creating original game captures and editing videos to some of my remixes, which to me increases the nostalgia factor tenfold. It was a ton of work but it was a great experience playing the games again and seeing Sonic snowboard down a mountain, or Mario chase a giant eel. It reminded me so much of why I loved games and game music in the first place. Link is below:

    http://www.youtube.com/mcvaffe

    Finally, I wanted to share part of a new project I'm working on with a close friend and artist. It may somewhat be considered an original album, but the presentation will be revealed once we figure out how we will put everything together. Short version: It's a personal project of original music based on the inspiration of the amazing composers who originally got me into game music composing and remixing. It's simple, sweet, and hopefully will remind listeners of the good old days of Super NES and PS1 RPGs from which I've drawn so much inspiration through the years. The music can be found on the front of www.mcvaffe.com or from the youtube link.

    And as for a new remix, Jimmy Hinson told me to work on Earthworm Jim. And I can't not listen to Jimmy Hinson now...

    Thanks for reading all my crap guys! For those who don't know I lost my job of over 11 years about 3 months ago, which was especially hard for the farewells I had to say to people I've spent years working with day in and day out. The silver lining to that event was the extra time I'm having to refocus, and work on projects like this. I hope you enjoy the site, find stuff you like, and that I may continue to create stuff that you can enjoy in the future. Thanks for reading, and for lending your ears.

    Michael Jackson dead at 50

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    My problem with death, especially celebrity death, is that if this person hadn't died, would you have cared today? Would you have cared a week from now? Would you have cared in a year? The only time MJ got brought up any more was either if he was gonna do a tour, or if he did something crazy. Its just kinda sad to see all these people fawning over him right now, when they didn't give two shits about him the day before, or way beyond that point. I kinda agree with my wife's mom. She said "if you can't bring me flowers when I'm alive, don't bring them to my grave, cause I guess I'm not good enough now, why should I be then?"

    This always, always happens with public figures because even a time of relative obscurity and quiet can be ignored but the second a person dies, the media is all over it. It's a bit different with a close friend / family member because you have a direct relationship with them and you can keep in touch with them / respect them, etc. With a public figure that is hardly possible.

    And the thing with older celebrities (i.e. the ones that passed away this past week) it's not like many people gave 2 shits about any of them days earlier, but in their deaths we're reminded of the things that they offered us while they were alive, in some cases many years ago. For the record, remember that MJ sold out 50 concerts in London that were going to begin in two weeks, so he was hardly forgotten anyway. But inevitably, some people choose not to continue long term entertainment careers or go into retirement. That doesn't mean that you forget their past accomplishments or the way that they made you feel when you were a fan watching their singing / dancing / acting / shows.

    No matter how long it has been since someone produced good work, whether it be Heath Ledger before the release of his landmark performance or MJ many years past the best ones of his - an artist's death reminds you not only of the (generally) great things they've done, but unfortunately how you will never get to see them do it again. For fans of art and performance, that makes the tragedy all the more poignant.

    Michael Jackson dead at 50

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Talking to people I'm finding that this thing is affecting people a little closer to my age range than younger kids, who didn't see MJ in his stride. The current teenagers and early 20 something's grew up with Wacko Jacko, where I remember him as the legend - being there in the family room watching the world premiere of "Bad" on TV, picking up Dangerous on tape, and even History on CD a few years later.

    He's always been someone I've enjoyed and respected as an artist and performer, and despite his admittedly strange life I must say it's shocking and tragic to see it end so relatively quickly.

    To those who don't care - that's perfectly valid, but a bit abrasive to interject in what is essentially a public sharing of sadness over the death of someone who - through one way or another - inspired so many. There are no entertainers in the world quite like MJ, and I doubt after today there ever will be.

    R.I.P.

    I have a question for you as I was just told my musical style was "too Japanese."

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I've actually been quite disappointed in the soundtracks of games I have played somewhat recently (note that I am not saying all games that have come out recently, just that I haven't played any that has surprised me). I miss the memorable music from games... from the recent games, I remember not a single track whereas old games that I haven't played in years I can recall. I have found that with the increase use of the orchestra, most games are starting to not only sound the same, but also really boring and completely forgettable (probably something to do with "hey, he used an orchestra - I can do that too!"). The only exception I've found is (gasp!) Sonic Unleashed, which had some interesting tracks (though some forgettable as well). It still pales in comparison to say, Sonic 3&K or Sonic 2, but I definitely thought it was better than other modern games. Hell, I remember ONE track from FFXII. I remember too many to count from FFVI and FFVII.

    I'm not saying the orchestra can't be memorable or exciting, but from what I've played, composers need to start stepping it up. Or just focusing on other instruments (yes, we get it, the orchestra has brass in it) and melodies to create interesting tracks instead of just background sound.

    Yeah I've noticed this trend for awhile now, very few new game soundtracks stand out to me these days. Even though the vast majority of them are done well, very few are memorable - some more recent exceptions being the Katamari series and the oh so awesome Megaman 9 soundtrack.

    I have a question for you as I was just told my musical style was "too Japanese."

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    ....

    Editorial: And I hate Danny Elfman. You hear one bells-and-choir song in a chromatic scale, you've heard most of his resume.

    You may be true about his limited scope compared to some people, but I can give Danny a pass though because though he might not venture out of his comfort zone much, he kicked ass in the Nightmare Before Christmas and Beetlejuice soundtracks. =)

    I have a question for you as I was just told my musical style was "too Japanese."

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    To me, Japanese music sounds like overly epic, melodic content built over sequenced drums and background with progressive rock song structures. It lacks subtlety in emotional content, prefering to blare out sad or angry or powerful by making you focus on one memorable melody or sound over any combination of I, IV, V and VI Minor chords with occasional breaks into a melodic chord just as Em, C, D, B and then having Esus4 and then E to close off a music phrase.

    Western music sticks to making music that is strictly background and atmosphere and only exists to maybe give an atmosphere some subtlety and you wouldn't be able to remember a specific tune to save your life. They are usually Danny Elfman or John Williams-wannabe scores and are overly orchestral with extreme focus to make it sound like real orchestras are playing which I disagree with because its too much money spent on production instead of creativity which is what sells records.

    Modern Japanese music rules. Hands down.

    You saying that Elfman and Williams (as examples of Western composers) are subtle on melody? Because damn I can remember sooo many Elfman and Williams melodies. Williams in particular has a career full of memorable themes...

    I have a question for you as I was just told my musical style was "too Japanese."

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Personally, I've generally preferred Japanese game music to American or European. I think it's a good thing. Saying music is too Japanese is actually a pretty ridiculous comment in itself - unless the project was supposed to go in a different direction and didn't fit with your style. Dismissing something as too Japanese is pretty close minded and, well, pretty much useless.

    If I heard your music and I thought it sounded Japanese I would've had the common sense to think that you wanted that way. If I heard one of Zircon's songs with crazy beats and synths and told him "dude it sounds too electronic" I think that would be pretty silly on my part...

    16-bit Art Projects

    in Post Your Art!

    Posted

    ff6DONE.jpg

    from Final Fantasy 6, 40" x 20", over 27,000 beads

    Any comments/criticism welcomed!

    I think the amazingness and intensity of this thing has just melted my brain. I usually don't go so crazy for this type of crap - but damn this not only looks great but brings back so many memories (sheds tear)... I love you 16-bit Squaresoft, and I will never forget you... (sniffle)

    Team Ico: The Last Guardian

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I'm torn on the damn creature design. I mean from far away the recognizable face features are very endearing - it definitely seems to have a personality and it seems like the focus of this game might be the your feelings for this animal - creature -thing... And then they go give it feathers and nasty, super-realistic bird feet/claws. Yuck. Ok we get it - it's an imaginary creature that's not like anything we've seen before. But did you have to make it look cute and horrendous at the same time?

    The creatures in Colossus were pretty consistent in their design - I wish this creature made a little more...sense I guess. Maybe they justify the nastiness in the story itself but to me the creepy / cute Falcor thing is going to take some getting used to. Maybe they'll let me customize my pet and give it nice furry legs so I don't have to see those nasty bird claws all the time...

    How big is YOUR game collection?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    aww, and i was looking forward to posting about how you've got more games than any five people in this thread.

    i own thirteen games currently, between ps2, 360, pc, and n64. i only keep the ones that make an enormous impression on me.

    Lol dammit! I know I have those pictures somewhere... I gotta see if they're in my old web files. I love and hate my game collection though - It's nice but not worth all the money I spent on these games I hardly have time to play =(

    Xbox 360's Project Natal

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    The technology looks promising, it's going to be interesting to see what they actually do with it. After seeing what Nintendo has done (and for a large part - hasn't), I'm curious to see what other companies do with similar (if in some ways enhanced) technology.

    I'm not exactly expecting everything to be as seamless as their very wii-inspired PR intro video where the whole family is sitting on the couch and waving their hands around smiling while magical things happen on-screen, but I definitely look forward to the tech and the games that might come out for it. We all know crap is going to come out for it as well... but eventually there will be a few titles that will be innovative, cool, and very fun.

    I'm excited for the prospects...

    How big is YOUR game collection?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Dammit, I still have all my games but I stopped counting a few years ago... I ended up having to put most of them away in storage to clear out my bookshelf for magazines and books.

    I actually had a table layout in MS Word (I made way before I learned how to use Excel) which listed all the games I had and kept an inventory that I would update yearly or so. I haven't updated (or even seen) that file in years now - if I can locate it or the old pics I had of how my collection used to look when it wasn't packed away in boxes, I'll try and post em sometime.

    I can't part with games I buy - as horrible as some of them may be. So I still have all of the games I've had for the 25+ years I've been playing.

    The Evolution of OCR

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I had achieved a full reskin from OCR4 to OCR3 at one point, but it has since rotted because I haven't been updating it to the sites new changes, HOWEVER...

    I'm looking over it now, and I might be able to fix it with minimal effort.

    Edit:

    This is about as good as you get for now. Apparently I had already fixed vBulletin to look more like OCR3, but they're pretty broken now too. Going over it now. No ETA yet, though.

    WHOA THAT BRINGS BACK MEMORIES!!! Damn I forgot what the site looked like back then.

    Composer looking for games will work for free

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I am a 21 year old musician looking to do some composing for video games, I have been a gamer ever since my first sega back when i was like 5 and now I want to take my musical training to world of composing for video games.

    Email: Shiby@mts.net

    Will work for free. (I just love making music)

    Someone with a little more time than myself is going to likely tell you fairly politely that this was a nice post, but probably won't get the response you want. Perhaps that person may even direct you to more useful places for you to advertise your offer, as well as maaybe some pointers on attracting the attention of game developers.

    This is what I have forseen - because I am the oracle.

×
×
  • Create New...