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The Apprentice


Calum
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The title of the post is now a little irrelevant, but oh well.

Here's a few originals for imaginary games:

Happy Street:

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The Journey Continues - quite cinematic track

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ICO TRAILER re-scored:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btDLrESwLy0

In the water garden:

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Remnants of the Day - 3 part orchestral piece recorded live by the aurora orchestra a few years ago:

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Sonic-style tune, I'm not sure if I made up this melody or not... it sounds really familiar (unfinished)

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Soul Calibur-type battle theme which goes electronic towards the end (update):

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Some kind of myserious/techno factory theme inspired by The Apprentice soundtrack/Daft Punk:

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Parappa The Rapper style house theme:

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A funny little town theme inspired by noby noby boy/animal crossing:

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Very sims-inspired building type theme (unfinished):

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I've only listened to Remnants of the Day now, but I need to post this before I forget. The song is really wonderful, and I love the fact that the arrangement is so minimalistic and how all the instruments have a very close, intimate chamber sound.

It's definitely something I'll keep on my playlist for a very long time.

I'll listen to your other tracks now. Great job!

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
I recently re-scored the trailer for Ico - SFX + music!

This isn't fully complete (the ending still needs some sfx and the music is yet to be mixed).

but feedback is more than welcome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btDLrESwLy0

re-scored trailers always really interest me, i think it's such a cool concept. i wish i knew more about creating sfx and all that, i'd love to give it a shot. but that's not the point! yours turned out really well, i think. it's definitely a different mood than i was expecting (i've played ico a ton and i'm really used to its score and atmosphere), but i think it works nicely for a trailer.

i like the rest of your work, too. you seem to capture the ideas you mention in your captions for them awfully accurately, which is very cool. nice work, dude!

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re-scored trailers always really interest me, i think it's such a cool concept. i wish i knew more about creating sfx and all that, i'd love to give it a shot. but that's not the point! yours turned out really well, i think. it's definitely a different mood than i was expecting (i've played ico a ton and i'm really used to its score and atmosphere), but i think it works nicely for a trailer.

i like the rest of your work, too. you seem to capture the ideas you mention in your captions for them awfully accurately, which is very cool. nice work, dude!

Yeah, it's certainly more cinematic and dramatic perhaps. I love that game but I was very aware of the original music, so i think I just tried to get as far away from that as possible. Plus it was the first trailer i have done so i was just going with whatever i'd written and seeing what would happen.

As far as SFX are concerned maybe it's easier than you think. All you need is a mic and some imagination! A lot of sound effects only sound a bit crap when you know they're there. So it's really good to get a fresh set of ears on them in context - to see if someone notices that the sound isn't "real".

But yeah - either record as many sounds as you can with objects around you. I used keys as a glass smashing sound (it sounds pretty convincing). You can use all sorts of effects to get things exactly how you want them. Slowing things down or speeding them up and playing with the pitch can also be good for explosions or crashes and things like that. If you pitch down screams or normal talking you get a kind of monster groan or roar type thing.

If you dont have a mic then perhaps try sound design type stuff - play around with any synths you have on your DAW. Playing them really high or really low, adding effects and playing around with all of the settings until you can find some kind of laser sounds or other useful electronic noises!

You can also download sound effects off the internet and play around with them - cut them up, reverse them, pitch shift them etc. I don't know what the professional opinion is on downloaded sound effects... but most websites with free sfx are fine with you using them for whatever you want.

Ah, thank you. I usually come up with the idea after the tune is done. Maybe that's why it's accurate!

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  • 3 weeks later...
heard 3 of them, they all sounded good, water garden sounded zelda-y and sonic sounded sonic-y. only have one slight complaint is the second chord of water garden sounded slightly off to me, but that's about it. will review the rest when i get more energy.

Thanks for the feedback

What do you mean by off? Considering it's a two-chord progression through the whole piece are you saying that half of the whole song sounds off?

Listening back, it's definitely the chord I intended. It's Fmaj7 to Em7 (I add a 9th & 11th sometimes to this chord, perhaps that is it? so it is E G B D Fsharp and A)

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Thanks for the feedback

What do you mean by off? Considering it's a two-chord progression through the whole piece are you saying that half of the whole song sounds off?

Listening back, it's definitely the chord I intended. It's Fmaj7 to Em7 (I add a 9th & 11th sometimes to this chord, perhaps that is it? so it is E G B D Fsharp and A)

Yes the chords may be right but Em7 sounds slightly off. could be due to the instrument quality itself. maybe try shifting one or two of the chord's notes an octave? or adjusting the fine pitch of one the notes slightly. It's very slight to me, so I can't really tell you anything else.

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Yes the chords may be right but Em7 sounds slightly off. could be due to the instrument quality itself. maybe try shifting one or two of the chord's notes an octave? or adjusting the fine pitch of one the notes slightly. It's very slight to me, so I can't really tell you anything else.

Fine-pitch would effect both the first and second chord. Changing the octave will ruin the phrase. I don't hear this "off" anywhere, if anyone else agrees then let me know but I don't think i'm gonna change it i'm afriad i simply disagree.

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Fine-pitch would effect both the first and second chord. Changing the octave will ruin the phrase. I don't hear this "off" anywhere, if anyone else agrees then let me know but I don't think i'm gonna change it i'm afriad i simply disagree.

Chord sounds pretty good to me. Could be a matter of taste. Either way, the way In the Water Garden starts (Just the first few harp notes) reminds me a bit of Ballamb Garden from FFVIII, which is awesome. The sitar instrument that comes in could be a bit more subtle at first. The notes all seem pretty loud in that first run, where a crescendo might sound a bit better. It also tends to get a bit muddy during the passages with fast notes, perhaps toning down its reverb, or changing some of the velocities of the notes? Interesting reverb effect on the snare with the panning between left, right, and center, I kinda like it. Overall though its a pretty solid song musically. Could just use a bit of cleanup as far as production goes.

I'll have to give a listen to some more of your songs soon. From what I can tell so far you've got some nice musical ideas.

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Chord sounds pretty good to me. Could be a matter of taste. Either way, the way In the Water Garden starts (Just the first few harp notes) reminds me a bit of Ballamb Garden from FFVIII, which is awesome. The sitar instrument that comes in could be a bit more subtle at first. The notes all seem pretty loud in that first run, where a crescendo might sound a bit better. It also tends to get a bit muddy during the passages with fast notes, perhaps toning down its reverb, or changing some of the velocities of the notes? Interesting reverb effect on the snare with the panning between left, right, and center, I kinda like it. Overall though its a pretty solid song musically. Could just use a bit of cleanup as far as production goes.

I'll have to give a listen to some more of your songs soon. From what I can tell so far you've got some nice musical ideas.

Ah thanks. I had never thought of that but it's totally similar - Balamb is one of my faves!

Mmm yeah, i think i agree the sitar is a bit abrupt - i have faded it in a little and eased off the delay and reverb. Sometimes particularly for me who has come from a composition rather than production background it is easy to try and hide sounds in vast amounts of reverb and not keep things clean. But i'll have to listen more objectively in the future. Mmm, i think the effect on the snare is quite explicit and in your face buuut, i kinda like it too. Mmm yeah, most of these tunes haven't really had all that many effects put on or mixing done. It was just a kind of, found this sound, now lets make a song!

I will post a new version of this with less reverb on the sitar and a new section soon!

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Another tune - called Happy Street. I spent a while trying to mix this, let me know what you think of that aspect and others? This one is a little repetitive perhaps.

Can't decide whether i love or hate the over-chorused trumpets!

Haha, kind of a pleasant tune. I can see your getting better at production. The MIDI slap bass is a bit generic, but given the style and rest of the instruments its isn't too out of place or distracting. The percussion seems to take over a bit from the rest of the instruments. A bit of a finer balance between them could improve this a fair bit.

*EDIT - Oh also, those Trumpets. Not so sure about them myself. They seem a bit harsh, and kinda stick out in a not-so-good way. Perhaps toning down the chorus a fair deal (or removing it completely? I'm not so sure) would be wise.

I also gave a listen to The Journey Continues. I really love the musical ideas here. A very well composed piece I'd say. The opening before the piano solo is quite nice, and the piano part is beautiful. Loving that suspension. Of course, production wise just a few small things I noticed. When the violin comes in, it seems a bit loud compared to the rest of the instruments, not to an irritating extent, but noticeable. It could be worth toning down just a tad, even though it is the melody. Same can be said for the plucked instrument that echoes the violin. A pretty great tune otherwise.

I'm not really an expert on orchestral / classical / etc. music so I hope what I'm saying is still helpful.

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Haha, kind of a pleasant tune. I can see your getting better at production. The MIDI slap bass is a bit generic, but given the style and rest of the instruments its isn't too out of place or distracting. The percussion seems to take over a bit from the rest of the instruments. A bit of a finer balance between them could improve this a fair bit.

*EDIT - Oh also, those Trumpets. Not so sure about them myself. They seem a bit harsh, and kinda stick out in a not-so-good way. Perhaps toning down the chorus a fair deal (or removing it completely? I'm not so sure) would be wise.

I also gave a listen to The Journey Continues. I really love the musical ideas here. A very well composed piece I'd say. The opening before the piano solo is quite nice, and the piano part is beautiful. Loving that suspension. Of course, production wise just a few small things I noticed. When the violin comes in, it seems a bit loud compared to the rest of the instruments, not to an irritating extent, but noticeable. It could be worth toning down just a tad, even though it is the melody. Same can be said for the plucked instrument that echoes the violin. A pretty great tune otherwise.

I'm not really an expert on orchestral / classical / etc. music so I hope what I'm saying is still helpful.

Yeah, I was kind of into how corny the slap bass was. Did a similar thing on my sonic-type track earlier with it. Mmm, OK. I feel I get really into certain bits and then pump them up quite subjectively - with 'Happy Street' I was really into the drums so i probably pumped them up a bit too much and then on 'The Journey Continues' i was loving the violin so I whacked it up. I think with leads/melody lines I need to develop learning how to integrate them more subtly with the rest.

Mmm on the journey continues I was so into the suspensions! It was really quite cinematic and dramatic for what I usually write but I enjoyed working with this kind of grand sound.

I think your advice has been really really great regardless of genre. Thanks a lot!

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replace the slap bass change the trumpet sample with something higher quality, the very first percussion note was very grating but other than that percussion isn't on your top to-do list. anyway i like the song. about 2:30 though maybe add a contrasting melody will keep it interesting and that way you can extend it a bit.

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replace the slap bass change the trumpet sample with something higher quality, the very first percussion note was very grating but other than that percussion isn't on your top to-do list. anyway i like the song. about 2:30 though maybe add a contrasting melody will keep it interesting and that way you can extend it a bit.

I really was going for a corny kind of old school lo-fi type of sound and i'm really happy with the bass sound. The trumpets were actually not that bad until I put loads of chorus on them but I just thought real-sounding trumpets (as with bass) wouldn't suit the song/instrumentation. But I will make the trumpets a little less jarring - I decided to double track them and pan them L and R a bit and make them slightly out of sync - i thought this would beef them up but it kind of just made them a bit weird!

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Here's a new version - it was actually flanger on the trumpets but i've turned it down quite a bit and made the drums a little quieter - let me know if you think this is better?

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