Time of Darkness - Zelda OOC WiP

[bobsideways]

http://web.mac.com/kaleth.galanodel/iWeb/Sideways%20Music/The%20Music_files/A%20Time%20of%20Darkness%201.m4a

Work in progress. A little more serious than the other one I have on the site, and I'm liking it, but I need feedback. Working on it in Garageband (soooo want Logic '08....droooooollll......).

Still getting the hang of the program, so some sounds might not be equal or without reverb, but hey let me know about those too. Thanks!

[Lemonectric]

What on earth is an m4a, and how does one go about opening it?

Also, I assume you meant "OOT"?

[227]

My version of iTunes rips CDs into m4a format. Questions: 1.) how is this practical, and 2.) that being considered, isn't it more effort to convert into m4a format compared to mp3?

Anyway, I listened to it and the first thing I noticed was a lot of noise. It sounds like you recorded the vocals with an air conditioner next to you. Also, you need to push those vocals waaaaaay back in certain places (like right before the techno/whatever genre that is comes in).

Also, I assume you meant "OOT"?

OOC - Ocarina of Crime. It's Nintendo's answer to the wildly successful Grand Theft Auto series.

[Chickenwarlord]

My version of iTunes rips CDs into m4a format. Questions: 1.) how is this practical, and 2.) that being considered, isn't it more effort to convert into m4a format compared to mp3?

Garageband automatically exports the file to M4A.

[bobsideways]

Yeah, sorry I will have it in mp3 when I get a chance. School and work kinda take all of my time.

Vocals will be re-recorded later, I just wanted to get a feel for it. Sorry for the feedback, I don't have a very good mic but I have "some" ways around it. I know, they're not very high quality right now, but again, that's why it's a WiP, right?

And accidental wrong site slip up aside, yes, the crime lords are in and the ever powerful man clad in green is their leader! Mwa ha ha ha---wait that one's taken dang it......

About the rest of it though......thoughts?

[Rozovian]

If iTunes is set to use mp3 as the standard import format, you can convert m4a in iTunes. Using less app- or platform-specific software is usually a good thing if you want people to listen to it.

On a mac, Safari's having no problem running it with Quicktime in-browser, tho.

Anyway, the song begins with a solo voice being panned forth and back between the channels. The panning is a little annoying, but it's not as bad as it looks. Another voice joins in, it's all very epic, and while I try to avoid the human voice in remixes, this is a quality piece enough to be worth listening to.

Then, the SNES darkworld theme comes in, played on, and along with others; synthy bleepy things - all backed with your everyday techno bass drum. The arrangement becomes quite repetative, and the mixing of genres doesn't work well here.

Save up a hundred bucks and get yourself the Jam Packs and redo this with samples fitting the beginning. At least find some better instrument choices among the ones you've got, the bleepy synths are ruining this song for me. It's not impossible to make epic/ethereal techno, but this isn't it, and the two don't blend well in this one.

GarageBand suggestion: use the analog pad, set it to be smooth, modulate slightly, set length to about 20%, play a melody, slowly, and use it to bridge the voice and the techno. That's something I'd try, anyway.

And finally... You need and ending.

[bobsideways]

Yeah, the mp3 isn't that hard, I just need to do it real quick.

Vocal panning I didn't like, but it was a temporary fix to lower the background noise. Like I said it will be more "professionally" recorded later. I'll do more with it too, since it's liked so far.

The synthy bleepy things are just trying out sounds, and might be changed altogether, though I actually have three jam packs. I don't like a lot of the sounds though--the oboe in particular is a real piece of crap. I've been looking for better soundfonts and stuff, but again the time thing and lack of more money just kinda hinders that.

Honestly, though, as you say, the beginning is a lot better than the darkworld theme, though that is of course the whole idea of the title.... But I have a feeling that the Song of Time will be a lot easier to work with, provided the vocals are more recordable (stupid mic)....

Thank you for the input. I will work some more (and the ending may or may not actually come, since still working around a lot of it).

[Rozovian]

Reverb makes anything orchestral sound better. Not too little, not too much. Unfortunately, GB doesn't have many effect slots, so set the reverb settings on the master track and apply the standard reverb to each track individually. And carefully. That's quick advice for using an orchestral setting for the music. Someone with more experience could probably whip up something more in-depth.

I used GB before I got Logic Express. Aside from the lack of orchestral instruments, I didn't have any pressing need for any additional sounds to make music I was satisified with. Much in in the mix rather than the source samples. If the samples aren't bad, you can make good music even tho the samples aren't that good.

I've heard a couple of cool darkworld ReMixes, and recently played the game again, too. It's a fairly easy theme to work with, at least if you get the MIDI from somewhere. It helps. GB can import MIDI, just drag n' drop into GB and it's done. Take what you need and rework it. Voilà, it's a ReMix.

[bobsideways]

Yep, easy to use, not perfect, but still fun. Though yes I drool at the new Logic. I want I want I want I broke.

Oh well. Back to work! Again, thanks!

[bobsideways]

http://web.mac.com/kaleth.galanodel/iWeb/Sideways%20Music/The%20Music_files/A%20Time%20of%20Darkness.mp3

There we go. Sorry about the delay, but there's an mp3 link to the same song as above. As of yet no changes, but it's for the rest of you that couldn't view the file.

Enjoy!