Super Paper Mario: Great Prognostications

[Altermentality]

Well... this is scary.

I've been a fan of video game music since I was three years old, a fan of OCR since middle school and now, in college, I'm taking my first shaky steps towards producing something of quality. Visual art is my main creative outlet, and I'm quite new to the process of composing music; I've experimented throughout the years, a lot of it inspired by this place, starting back in middle school on a free MIDI program- but all of it very sporadic. Only recently- and I mean in the past few weeks- have I suddenly become obsessed with this little seed of an idea that someday, if I work hard enough, if I ask for help and suggestions, I too could share my ideas with the world through OCR.

So today I'm offering you what I think is my best work so far, although it still needs a lot of work, I know. Please tell me anything- what you think can be improved with composition, production (this is an area in which I'm still very amateur), or whatever else- rip it apart if you must!

Here it is:

Great Prognostications, a song composed of Flipside (the hubworld in Super Paper Mario) and SMB3's Cloud Heaven.

You're doubtless familiar with Cloud Heaven, but here is Flipside if you'd like to compare with the original.

Thank you so much for listening. It means a lot to me. I'm really obsessed with improving my musical abilities at this point, but I really don't have much to go on or anyone around to teach me directly, and I've an untrained ear, not to mention one dulled by hearing my own songs too much. So please tell me everything you notice that bothers you!

Thanks,

-Alter

[Anorax]

Nice work.

No, really, I mean it.

(Compared to what I have done...)

First of all, if you need a mirror for your stuff, then www.dropbox.com works just fine. (you get up to 2 GB free!)

but one thing I noticed is that the sound that runs from the beginning is pretty low-q. Not to be mean in no way, and it could just be youtube, but if it's not, that is one thing you may want to work on.

Also, what software do you use for your mixing? (that's what I use - in the link over there.)

Also, loosen up on the reverb. With the first instrument ( I can't tell if it's a guitar or a low-bit piano), I have to listen carefully to hear the actual pitches (when it drops 5 semitones then rebounds) because of the reverb. But that ties into sound quality.

Again, I see great potential with this piece. More than I've got (if you heard those screwups). With a little work, you could easily get into the OCR databanks.

Good luck.

[Altermentality]

Thank you, Electro!

Yeah, YouTube certainly isn't the most efficient nor highest-quality method for this. Thanks for the suggestion.

The instrument that starts out was a synthesized piano. I replaced it with a piano soundfont and turned down the reverb as you suggested. I'm also working on tweaking the percussion a bit.

I've been using FL Studio 6.

I did listen to all your remixes (I'm a huge DKC trilogy fan) and I do think you have potential too, but we're both just learning. I especially liked the Game Over piece and the pipelines song that you're calling Circuits (although the clapping sound really pops out at me as too harsh, but it has potential). My problem is I can tell when something doesn't sound quite right, but I don't always know what to do about it. I have little formal music education- I've only learned how to read music to play a saxophone but nothing about theory, so I'm figuring this all out on my own. It's fun!

[Rozovian]

Around 1:03 you've got some clashes, again around 1:11 where you're trying to get a major and a minor melody to go together. Careful about stuff like that, takes a while to figure out how to do it.

Arrangement overall is a bit aimless. There's parts here for a good, cohesive arrangement, but they're in disorder. Not gonna comment on the sources, I'll let ppl more familiar with them do that.

Then there's the issue of reverb. In most cases, you wanna turn it down to nothing, gradually turn it up until you notice it, and then turn it down a notch from that, leaving it at a non-intrusive level where it still colors the mix. (if you got good ears for reverb and stuff, this trick isn't gonna work, and there are styles where a big, loud reverb is necessary and this trick is just stupid if applied there)

Instrumentation isn't bad, but the quality of some of the sounds is. Either mask the badness, replace them, or use their badness somehow. You should also humanize the track, make it feel less like sequenced computer music and more like there's a person behind the notes. There's a thread about that in our Production forum, see what you can learn from there.

Not bad, but needs to be better.

[Altermentality]

Thanks, Roz!

Yeah, I'm a little reverb-happy.

I do know about humanization, and I've tried to do it somewhat on the piano/guitar parts, but I'll work on it some more. Also, (if you happen to read this again) which sounds do you consider bad? And if not, I'll figure it out.

Yep, I know I've got a lot of work to do, but I'll keep plugging away in my limited spare time

[Anorax]

Yeah, music theory is the biggest problem with music composition.

When working with music scales and keys, balance is everything.

A minor is the minor relative to C major, so a smooth transition is easy there. However, if you are playing a minor and major chord at the same time, there are several types of chords that can (technically) stay within their own Major/minor keys, they can also blend between the two.

Does that make sense?

[Altermentality]

Yes, I understand. There's overlap, I just don't understand how it all works yet. I really ought to learn instead of just going with what sounds good to me... especially since I'm not good with tones anyway!

I've been working on humanizing the piano and guitar parts and they sound noticeably better. One thing I realized is that the pianist would be extremely bored playing this repetitive thing with one hand, so I added some upper chords. I killed the reverb and am messing with the instruments... in many ways I feel like I'm working from the ground up again. I'm not sure what to do about the arrangement itself, or if I even want to change it, as I wrote the basis of the song itself a year ago and it's sorta my baby. I'm not really concerned with getting this accepted, though I do want to use it to learn. At any rate, I'll just keep working on it bit by bit and trying not to rush things.

[SonicThHedgog]

ew chord progression conflicts, but its a sweet track, no dl? try tindeck.com or ...... soundcloud.com

[Altermentality]

ew chord progression conflicts, but its a sweet track, no dl? try tindeck.com or ...... soundcloud.com

Thanks. I took Electro's advice and got Dropbox.

[Anorax]

if you want to add... variety... to your track - and you are able to use VST or VSTi .dlls, then try "Voxengo Amp Simulator". Also, if you need some form of therapy, then here you go.

Therapy (after a short text run) can screw an instrument's sound up it's @**, and makes it sound twisted and mentally unstable. (Guess that's why it's called therapy) The Boogex (amp simulator) is just that - no explanation needed, I hope.

[Sansato]

While Flipside's theme isn't my favorite from the game, it still has it's charms. It would appear to me that you are doing the best you can, but me thinks the melody needs a little more volume. Aside from that, it's really nice and mellow. Perfect for listening to once the proper adjustments are made. Of course, I'm just a novice myself, so I'm not sure if this is helpful at all or not.

[Altermentality]

While Flipside's theme isn't my favorite from the game, it still has it's charms. It would appear to me that you are doing the best you can, but me thinks the melody needs a little more volume. Aside from that, it's really nice and mellow. Perfect for listening to once the proper adjustments are made. Of course, I'm just a novice myself, so I'm not sure if this is helpful at all or not.

Muaaah, thanks! Yeah, it's not my favorite either, but it's simple and I thought it would be appropriate to remix since it's a theme one hears so much when playing the game... it's often not my favorite tracks that I mess with anyway (although sometimes it is, if only just to study them almost), because if the music's really good already I feel like there's nothing I can add!

I think my favorite track from SPM is Castle Bleck. It actually IS the Flipside theme but blended with Bleck's theme - of course, as lots of things in SPM are - and turned CREEPY and desperate. In fact, that might be what inspired me to tackle Flipside in the first place, seeing what the composer did with it there.

SPM's music is zany and very obviously electronic, even purposefully 8-bit in some parts, but I like that kind of stuff and moreover I feel like I can emulate it with the technology I have. ...And of course, I am in love with the game.

As for Electro, I have no clue what VST is, but it's high time I start learning exactly what FL can and can't do. And I do need therapy, especially after- oh. Well, that will be fun at any rate, especially since it's long been one of the salient features of my art that I often draw people looking exaggeratedly crazy and I'd like to express that in my music at some point, I'm sure.

[Anorax]

Alright, VST (softsynths) are little ".dll" files that add extra instruments or effects to the midi control memory. (IN OTHER WORDS, it add extra instruments to what you can use. The two that I listed are effects - they aren't instruments, but they edit your instrument's sound as it's being played through the track)

A hint for dropbox - It's rarely ever blocked on a protected internet connection - like schools. So if someone has managed to bypass a server to reach OC Remix (without a 3rd party proxy), they can't see someone's signature pic if it is on a blocked server. This hint is mostly for Alter, but anyone reading can use it too.