BlackPanther Posted April 20, 2007 Share Posted April 20, 2007 New to OCR, but I've been doin music for almost a year now. I've been using FL for most of that time but I just recently picked up Reason and I'm still figuring it out but I've gotten the basics down for the most part. The song I'm workin on now, is done with Reason so I'm sure a few of you guys can help me out. Anyways this is the Cosmo Canyon song for FFVII and I was wanting to go with an ambient feel which I think I'm doin so far. I'm stuck on a few parts like what to do with that second part when I change up the drum loop a little bit and what I should do with the whole bell thing I have in the background. And I'm not finished with it by the way, I just stopped it there so you guys can help me with what I have so far. But yeah if you guys can help I would love the help and since I've been doin music on my own for such a long time, I won't know a lot of music terms so if someone can help me out with stuff like that to I would appreciate it. Enough of my ranting lol. Here's the link, if you need me to link you again just let me know. Oh and if you don't like the name tell me because I might change it to somethin else. Cosmo Canyon Bebop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villainelle Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 This is pretty cool. I like the sound design and the various drum patterns. (Appropriately enough, Red XIII is my random mascot right now in the top right of this page. ) There's no clear lead instrument, though, so there's no direction to the listener to focus on something, and the mix feels thin. It sounds like you have a nice background and concept for a mix here, but it needs some meat and potatoes. This theme is one of the most popular from the game too, so you really have to step up and be ambitious with that familiar melody. I also think the intro drags on too long before introducing supporting instrumentation; I'd suggest introducing either bass or drums just a bit earlier to keep it interesting. It's hard to be more specific since it feels like there's a very important element missing from this (a lead), but I do like the overall feel, the intricate drums, subtle FX, etc. Keep at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackPanther Posted April 22, 2007 Author Share Posted April 22, 2007 Thank you for the words of wisdom. Do you think you could help me a bit more though? I find this is a great opportunity to actually learn more about music as I've been doin this on my own and it's only natural that I would not learn everything or I wouldn't learn it right. But do you think you could explain the whole lead thing to me? A lot of times I'll put a song together and not know exactly what I'm doin. But this is definitely a good start seein as how I've been waiting for someone to reply and help me out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avaris Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 I agree with Leah that the basic feel is very good. You have a lead but it is so soft it doesn't sound like a lead. The current instrument you are using for the lead would be good for a breakdown section. Alot of your basic sound design works. You need a whole lot more. The feeling of the song needs to dynamically expand. Add in different elements to boost the emotion your feeling. Currently the whole song feels and sounds like one giant loop. That gurgle FX, put some reverb and stereo imager on that sucker. Turn the knobs on the stereo imager all the way to the left. Go listen to some of Red Tailed Fox's mixes. (They're all done in Reason) He adds in lots of different elements changing in and out. Writing music with different interchanging elements that create a give and take sort of feel will really add alot to your songs. Also check out this mix by DannyB http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR01179/. If you look through the reviews he has a link to the reason file in there. If you are somewhat comfortable with Reason and have a general sense of what is going on get the book 'Power Tools for Reason 3.0' it's only like $17 on amazon it comes with some refills. It has some incredible tips that will send your skills and understanding of reason through the roof. The chapter on the CV inputs is easily worth more than the $17 you pay for it. Keep working and expanding on this one dude, with enough time and effort it could really turn out to be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackPanther Posted April 22, 2007 Author Share Posted April 22, 2007 I'll have to check out the power tools for Reason although I still don't feel too comfortable with it. I'll have to look over the Reason manual whenever I have time. But yeah thanks again, I keep listening to the songs and I finally understand what you mean now. It seems like that has been my problem since I decided to start making my own music and they all just sound like loops, so I will definitely work on not doin it with this song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSB Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 how is this at all bebop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackPanther Posted April 23, 2007 Author Share Posted April 23, 2007 Lol I don't know. That's why I said in my first post I would change the name if it sucked or if people didn't like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Rod Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 This was a nice, relaxing groove. I agree that some more variation would boost the feel of the song, but make sure you keep it within the emotion you're going for. Its real easy to clutter a song like this if youre not careful. Really good work though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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