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Pokemon G/S Goldenrod - Golden Nights


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It's okay :D Your friend does awesome work, and it actually spawned a bit of thought for me whilst on the toilet after listening.

I've actually done a fun thing with the melody after the small bridgey thingy that keeps the song interesting and I managed to kinda recreate Timaeus' lead sample (less reverb though). I might have the last WIP up tonight before I go to work on my next project for a while (gotta keep creative juices flowin'). After that, though, I wanna put this one to rest for a week or two.

Also, I may have a WIP of my next song soon (not tonight soon, but within a week or two soon, I really wanna make the arrangement for this one cool), and you might be able to see what I'm aiming to do with this and that!

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Haha! Great! It's great to see someone sticking with their track, and producing steady updates! And, I have to say, It's paying off with this track.

I love what you did with the transitions. The delayed notes at the beginning are a nice touch to keep the intro interesting. You have some pretty decent sounds too. The drums though, don't fit. At least IMO. They sound too hi-fi in the middle of the chippy atmosphere. I would listen to the drums on this song, and try to see if you could mimic it somehow. I like how you altered the melody, and the chords. It makes it new, and fresh. The bass section around 2:13 is pretty cool and glitchy. I think the biggest issue with your arrangement is that it's too basic. There are sections that are fuller, but as a whole it's quite sparse. I would try to have parts for at least high, mid, and low ranges. With chiptunes like this, you could even try having two different patterns playing with a stereo seperation. The interlude, is cool, and one of the best parts. I like the string(like) sounds in the background, and the lead there is nice. My biggest concern, honestly, is just that it feels somewhat incomplete because it's so sparse. It's got plenty of potential, and you've made good progress though!

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Haha! Great! It's great to see someone sticking with their track, and producing steady updates! And, I have to say, It's paying off with this track.

I love what you did with the transitions. The delayed notes at the beginning are a nice touch to keep the intro interesting. You have some pretty decent sounds too. I like how you altered the melody, and the chords. It makes it new, and fresh. The bass section around 2:13 is pretty cool and glitchy.

Thanks man! Goldenrod is a song I hold dearly to me, from way back when I was 3! I could never let it go. And I felt like the source was so...geometric(?), like it was all quarter and eight notes, somethin had to change!

The drums though, don't fit. At least IMO. They sound too hi-fi in the middle of the chippy atmosphere. I would listen to the drums on this song, and try to see if you could mimic it somehow.

Actually, funny coincidence. I was regarding those exact drums from that exact song on the way home from school, and I am still as we speak looking for a more conventional bass kick (that I don't have to pay for, of course :wink:) like the one in that same remix. Also, ack :c I'm happy I'm gotten to the point where I have somewhat hi-fi sounds, but being asked to lo-fi them is just, eugh :( But, I'll try!

I think the biggest issue with your arrangement is that it's too basic. There are sections that are fuller, but as a whole it's quite sparse. I would try to have parts for at least high, mid, and low ranges. With chiptunes like this, you could even try having two different patterns playing with a stereo seperation. The interlude, is cool, and one of the best parts. I like the string(like) sounds in the background, and the lead there is nice. My biggest concern, honestly, is just that it feels somewhat incomplete because it's so sparse. It's got plenty of potential, and you've made good progress though!

Yeah, the idea of a countermelody has been floating in my head for a few days, but I thought it'd make the song too busy, actually, so I opted out.

Thank you, and thanks everyone who gave me those samples, they are amazing and very easy to work with!

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It's a bit more interesting soundwise... but still dry and repetitive! You need to add a main reverb send and give every instrument some except bass and kick. The arrangement needs some variation, too many of the same (or very similar) pattern. I think the drums are ok, just too loud... turn down that snare (and you could eq out some woodiness)! Try adding something else besides kick/snare/hats like a shaker or something else (cowbell?). Whatever instruments you've got gated are off their timing (like at 0:55). What are you gating with? Doing it manually, or using something like Grossbeat?

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Manually, in FL10, I'm using automation clips to edit my Master channels Multiband Compressor and lowering all frequency knobs.

Oh god, if you're doing it on the master why wouldn't you just use the volume slider instead of 3 different bands?

EDIT: although it sounds like you're doing it on just one track, and not the master

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Oh god, if you're doing it on the master why wouldn't you just use the volume slider instead of 3 different bands?

EDIT: although it sounds like you're doing it on just one track, and not the master

1) I had no clue there were things that did it for me.

2) I pretty much just thought, well, that guy did it, I should find out how, and then I dicked around until I found this.

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1) I had no clue there were things that did it for me.

2) I pretty much just thought, well, that guy did it, I should find out how, and then I dicked around until I found this.

Haha, fair enough. If you're using FL though, I'd *seriously* recommend checking out Gross Beat. It'll be available as a demo version right off the bat, but hot damn is it amazing. I tried that thing out a year ago when I first started doing music seriously (and for that matter, when I first got FL) and it instantly became one of my favorite plug-ins, and after about a week I gave in and bought it; pretty pricey, but I've more than gotten my money's worth.

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Hey Pix, yeah it sounded an awful lot like manual gating. ;-) For gating to work and be cool, it has to be precisely timed. You can do it manually but you'll have to be sooo careful and precise and who has that kind of time? I recommend Grossbeat highly, it is very easy to use and also does glitching stuff. You can pick a gating or glitching (or combo) pattern you like, then automate it to go on and off (hence only gating/glitching bits and pieces of the pattern, as you are attempting to do). You can also do gating using Fruity Love Philter, but it isn't as easy or intuitive as GB, but

. Or search the web for a freebie. Good luck and have fun!
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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Possibly in resub territory, the arrangement is conservative but I think the rhythm variations and the stuff going on top of the simpler source stuff puts this above the bar, arrangement-wise.

The intro is problem tho, it feels like you've got an intro to your intro... The track doesn't really get started until 0:49 when the snare comes in and we get a more regular rhythm. That's a bit too late for a 3:22 track.

The rest of the structure of the track works ok, tho you can think through the placement of breaks and change-ups some more, eg consider the 0:57 drum dropout so soon after the snare came along.

Careful with your effects, putting a flanger (or whatever) on everything is less a "cool effect" and more a "what went wrong" kind of sound, except when used very sparingly. For cool, more chip-appropriate effects, play with the waveform, pulse width, portamento and other low-level stuff, which is what the actual chiptunes had to work with.

The track overall is too quiet, with occasional instruments are to loud. The kick has too much lows. The hihat is too loud. Take a step back from your mix and rethink your mixing. Use posted mixes for referencing levels and eq.

With mixing being the biggest problem, this is a good track to keep working on to get the mixing right. The chippy stuff works ok on its own, just get the drums in line with them, or vice versa. Good luck. :D

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Possibly in resub territory, the arrangement is conservative but I think the rhythm variations and the stuff going on top of the simpler source stuff puts this above the bar, arrangement-wise.

The intro is problem tho, it feels like you've got an intro to your intro... The track doesn't really get started until 0:49 when the snare comes in and we get a more regular rhythm. That's a bit too late for a 3:22 track.

The rest of the structure of the track works ok, tho you can think through the placement of breaks and change-ups some more, eg consider the 0:57 drum dropout so soon after the snare came along.

Careful with your effects, putting a flanger (or whatever) on everything is less a "cool effect" and more a "what went wrong" kind of sound, except when used very sparingly. For cool, more chip-appropriate effects, play with the waveform, pulse width, portamento and other low-level stuff, which is what the actual chiptunes had to work with.

The track overall is too quiet, with occasional instruments are to loud. The kick has too much lows. The hihat is too loud. Take a step back from your mix and rethink your mixing. Use posted mixes for referencing levels and eq.

With mixing being the biggest problem, this is a good track to keep working on to get the mixing right. The chippy stuff works ok on its own, just get the drums in line with them, or vice versa. Good luck. :D

The intro thing is a thing I'm definitely thinking about, and yeah I had to mix on some shitty Skullcandy's at this point, so the bass and treble were probably quiet on them. It's nice to hear some positive stuff thrown in too!

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I completely agree with the whole of the intro comments. I am very confused by the intro melodies and everything going on in there. The whole entire first minute, I am very confused by the pattern you are trying to make. To me, it sounds like you attempted to get something going that sounded glitchy and groovy, but to my ear it's only halfway there. A few of the licks sound random in there and don't exactly flow--take 0:51 for example. I don't really know what that lick is doing there, it seems to come out of nowhere. I would work on the lead writing a bit to make it stronger and flow more, and if you really want to go after that glitchy feel, you have to add some background "noise" around it to give it that feel.

When the song gets going about halfway through, it gets better for sure. It still has some issues, like lack of build and repetitiveness.

What I feel like you should invest in first is looking at the feel you want and rewriting the lead to really suit that. Whether a playful, glitch-bit mix or something with a few more pads, the feel needs to be established. Then I would improve the soundscape; fill it out, give it more substance to keep the listener interested. Really EQ the drums (as well as everything else); in this mix I felt like the drums were generic and could really be built upon. Just have some fun with them--the mix in all, really--and you should be good :D

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I am very confused by the intro melodies and everything going on in there. The whole entire first minute, I am very confused by the pattern you are trying to break.

I don't understand what you mean by "confused" and "break." I am trying to make a song, not break it :P I need a little more to work with in that concern.

I don't really know what that lick is doing there, it seems to come out of nowhere.

I am not seeing the issue with that part, I think it gives the song more glitch-groove feel to it. It's just a little flare/stylistic choice.

I would work on the lead writing a bit to make it stronger and flow more, and if you really want to go after that glitchy feel, you have to add some background "noise" around it to give it that feel.

While I can work on the lead more, I think you should either give it another listen or define the "noise," because I think the background is well filled.

When the song gets going about halfway through, it gets better for sure. It still has some issues, like lack of build and repetitiveness.

Truth.

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I don't understand what you mean by "confused" and "break." I am trying to make a song, not break it :P I need a little more to work with in that concern.

I think he may have meant the gater part but I dunno.

The gater part in the intro just seems a little out of sync imo.

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