Malcos

Weekly update: I sent out several pm's to those who haven't posted for a while and/or expressed interest in a particular theme that is now free, letting them know the final date, where the thread had moved to, etc. Spaclock has said that he will do the E.Honda theme. Red Tailed Fox and I will be working on the Chun-Li ending theme(s). I've sent a WIP of Dhalsim's theme to Shael and I'm going to start work soon on a Balrog theme. Do you guys think I should sing on it or just leave it instrumental? Tracks still open: Chun-li Stage Cammy Stage Vega Stage E.Honda Ending Blanka Ending Ken Ending Zangeif Ending Sagat Ending T.Hawk Ending Feilong Ending DeeJay Ending M.Bison Ending Roughly 5 weeks to go till the final date.

Software: Reason 3 N-Track Studio Various free VST effect plugins Midi controller: Yamaha PSR-270 Mic: ADK A-51

AFAIK, someone has done a WIP of Zangeif's stage, but you can also do one, Shael will decide which version is more suitable. It seems that Chun-Li's stage has just fully opened up. Ok here is a quick list of the songs that are still fully open ie. no wips or anything afaik: E.Honda Stage E.Honda Ending Blanka Ending Ken Ending - lol this will be near enough an urban remix of the wedding theme. Chunli Stage Chunli Ending Zangeif Ending Sagat Ending T.Hawk Ending Fei-long Ending DeeJay Ending M.Bison Ending Leave Dhalsim's and Balrog's endings to me. I think that if those who are doing a character's stage feel that they can also mix their character's ending theme then that would be a good thing.

I thought it sounded good man. But I know how it feels when you're not happy with something, even if other people think it's good. Don't forget you said you were gonna do Balrog's ending with me, so you're not out of this yet!

Wow thanks guys!

Does anyone know where I can find a good erhu patch? I've already got the chinese orchestral erhu soundfont, but it's not the sound I'm looking for at all. I've also got the erhu rex loops refill, but it's useless to me as I want to be able to construct proper melodies with a patch. If anyone doesn't know what an erhu is, it's that oriental violin type instrument, it was used in the Shenmue soundtrack.

Ok, I think I've finished the Dhalsim mix. But I'll send Shael a pm with it. It sounds much better than that WIP lol. Thanks for the ideas guys!

Oh yeah, I've definitely had musician's block before. I just don't touch my keyboard or Reason for about a month or so - it usually works for me. Dunno what else to say really, so much has already been said on this thread. Sometimes a lack of highs and lows can block you musically as well - when life is 'just so'. I hope you work your way out of it, 7 months is a long time.

Well if they want it to be a surprise, they have the choice of not listening, and waiting. I kind of did a Dhalsim thing a few mins ago, it's very very early stage though: www.malcos.co.uk/Dhalsim.mp3 I'm unsure as to whether to include the (annoying imo) key change. I think the key change was just to add some variation, otherwise it would just be a constant loop. I may really have to put a lot of originality into this, sounds quite bland at the moment.

I usually do it all by ear; I figure out the root chord first then go from that. Most of the time the melody flows from the chord structure, so by remembering that you're half-way there. I always end up learning the chorus first, easiest to commit to memory.

http://www.cikira.com/gear/ I seriously have had dreams of having this many keyboards to play with.

Got the book! I'm working through it now (slowly!). It's very very good, I'm having to annotate everything cause I can't really read music all that well, but it's really opening doors for me. Thanks again guys! Right now I'm listening to a lot of Brad Mehldau.

Now that's what I call a studio. 2 24" monitors? Damn! I'm sure you'll have lots of fun!

Wow, you got some serious Reason skills! We need more stuff on this thread! Perhaps we should also do a 'Reason originals' thread or something. What do you guys think?

Wow, great! Thanks Ubernym

That book looks great Yoozer thanks, I'll be picking that up! Chavous, I didn't quite 'get' that chord progression, I thought that Gm fitted the last chord instead of an Em. But then again, I need to learn some more jazz! Thanks!

This question is less about jazz chords than it is about jazz chords progressions. In fact any chord progressions will do! Any tips on playing jazz piano? I'm trying to improve, but I've hit a glass ceiling and I want to smash through! I'll start with some of my favourites, I use these progressions most of the time. I'll just do the most comfortable fingerings (for me anyway). For those not familiar with slash chord fingerings, something like C/G means play a C chord but with a G note as the bass with your right hand instead of a C. 1. (Cm7, Gm7, AbM7, Fm7) Fingering, starting with the lowest note to be played in the chord: C+Eb+G+Bb, Bb+D+G+Bb, Ab+C+Eb+G, F+Ab+C+Eb. 2. G+B+C+E/A, G+B+D+E/G, F+A+C+E/F, E+G+B+D/G 3. Eb+G+Bb+D/C, Ab+C+Eb+G/F, F+Ab+C+Eb/Db Ahhh, all my secrets are out! lol.

Yeah I agree with what has already been said. I rarely start with the bassline, usually the bassline for me comes with the chords or the drums. If it goes with the chords I'll start with the root or the second note of the chord and work my way up and down, just going with the vibe really. As for the sounds themselves, yeah sometimes I just feel like using a double or guitar bass, cause it just fits most of the time. Try working on a different genre, get the feel for other bass sounds as well. As much as double or guitar bass always seem to fit, most of the time you'll find another bass sound that is an even better fit.

Wow, was looking for some freeware mastering plugins and came across this site: rocketloop.com Links to loads of free VST plugins and instruments! EDIT (20 July 2006): Site is now http://www.free-plugin-list.com

Stop being lazy and use google. http://melodymachine.com/sfark.htm

http://www.hammersound.net/cgi-bin/soundlink.pl?action=view_category&category=Collections&ListStart=30&ListLength=15 Scroll down a bit for the christmas sounds ('Celtic/Folk Sounds For Christmas' and 'Church Sounds for Xmas').

I wonder what's going to be in Reason 3.5? I'm assuming it's going to be free (better be lol), but I'm not sure I can think of anything that they can really add now!

Nah, this just isn't going to work! I'm glad other people are working on this theme, cause my efforts so far are just under par. I'll look at the themes that haven't been covered yet, and when I come up with something decent, then I'll post up a WIP of it, instead of wasting everyone's time by doing something like this again.

I've been messing around with Akuma's theme for a little while now, but nothing so far has hit the kind of energy level I'm looking for. Hey Shael, is that you singing? Pretty good! Yeah it is bloody hard to get the volume levels right in vocal songs for some reason! I would say turn the drums up just a bit and the vocals down so they blend with the rest of the tune. I'll let you know how I'm going with the Akuma theme.

Er, yeah, that's what I meant lol.