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Post by Jugem on Mar 7, 2005 18:04:27 GMT -5
Rather than post all my impressions in one post, I'll try to spread them over multiple posts so they're more readable.
PhantomManor: What can I say? Like your EvilAtWork piece, this has potential. But it doesn't really develop at all. I like what you did with the cymbal crashes. Really adds to the eery feeling. I would have liked to see the violin (I think) part brought out a little more though. As it is, you can barely hear it. But it's the only thing keeping this piece from becoming too repititious.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2005 22:26:58 GMT -5
Thank you everyone, I may try adding something else to Evil at Work, I just haven't managed to get anything else in it that sounds that good, and with the fast part where it does 3 guitar sounds ('power chord') quickly for a while a lot of other sounds randomly get cut off like the violin in Adventure Time before I fixed it. I'll look into it though. And thank you for downloading my demo Jugem:)
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Post by Jugem on Mar 8, 2005 2:37:30 GMT -5
Thank you everyone, I may try adding something else to Evil at Work, I just haven't managed to get anything else in it that sounds that good I've had that problem quite often. In fact, I still have one piece on the backburner because I couldn't yet come up with something to complement what I've already composed for it. I'm sure sooner or later something will come to mind for you. Now to continue my impressions: SaveTheWorld: I didn't get the "saving the world" image at all from this piece. In fact, when I listened to it, I pictured two elderly women linking arms and dancing in circles. Probably not what you wanted to convey with this music. One thing that felt strange was in your use of the major third (in the first two different notes in each group). You go from minor 3rd to major 3rd to major 3rd and back to minor third. and it doesn't quite work for me. I think it's the first major 3rd that sticks out the most. Aside from that, it's still my least favourite of the group so far. It's basically the same four bar phrase repeated over and over again. Sometimes you add an instrument playing the octave, but it doesn't really mix it up at all. At the very least, I'd suggest adding different harmonies. And like your other pieces, this would benefit greatly by developing some kind of melody. I'll give you some advice in general based on what I've been hearing so far from you. You seem to like to compose a "supporting cast" of instrumental parts, but then you just leave it at that. As a result, there's not much happening, and they become too repititious. Try adding a melody with a new instrument. And maybe some interplay between instruments. Like maybe one instrument will play a "question phrase", and another instrument will "answer" back. Or maybe a melody will play, and then it will play again with some harmony. Just basic advice, but it could go a long way towards improving your pieces. Basically, mix it up a little and don't be satisfied with just playing the same few bars over and over again. Try to imagine what it is that you're trying to convey with your music, and "write a story" about it. But with music. Now, if you're not after more dramatic music and just need some background type music, then what you've got should be alright. But even then, it could use a little sprucing up. I don't mean to be harsh or anything, because as I mentioned earler, some of them do have some great potential. But for the most part, I just dont think they're quite there yet.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2005 11:11:09 GMT -5
Perhaps I messed up translating it into RPGM2. When I play it (Save the World) on my guitar I go... B, rest, B, B, rest, B, B, B, rest, D, C, B ; C, rest, C, C, rest, C, C, C, rest, E, D, C ; D, rest, D, D, rest, D, D, D, rest, F sharp, E, D ; E, rest, E, E, rest, E, E, E, rest, G, F sharp, G. What notes does it sound like to you on RPGM2? I know I got the proportions correct (meaning from B/whatever up 1 to C, up 2 to D, up 2 to E, up 2 to F sharp, and up 1 to G).
Yeah, I've known that's my weak point for a while. I make one rythm guitar part, then make it into a song in RPGM2 and add supporting instruments, but never make a lead part. I think my best are Total Terror, Pleasant Dreams, Happyville, and then perhaps A Gay Ol' Time and maybe then Woof Woof Song or Evil at Work, mostly because what you said in that they have separate parts going at once in them (that aren't just going along with each other). The only thing I could think of doing to make Adventure Time less repetitive is make it follow the same pattern as Woof Woof Song where it eases you into the song with an intro part and the drums come in gradually and build on themselves (you'll see similarities in how the original guitar line for each goes, or at least at the verses).
Thank you for the advice, don't worry you weren't harsh or anything.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2005 12:31:58 GMT -5
I've been thinking of making my custom music only on the world map to save me a lot of work in learning how to do lots of things in apply together, and if I can get this to work I can get it set up for the map. I'm thinking I'll let the player pick which song from the menu, and use all my songs that make the cut, so the player can listen to whatever they like most whether it be the evil/spooky songs or the soft pleasant ones or the upbeat rockin' ones, and they'll (maybe) never get tired or bored of my custom music, and will keep enjoying it even during the second or third playthrough (which with everything else I expect that).
What does everyone think of this?
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Post by Jugem on Mar 9, 2005 4:41:19 GMT -5
Perhaps I messed up translating it into RPGM2. When I play it (Save the World) on my guitar I go... B, rest, B, B, rest, B, B, B, rest, D, C, B ; C, rest, C, C, rest, C, C, C, rest, E, D, C ; D, rest, D, D, rest, D, D, D, rest, F sharp, E, D ; E, rest, E, E, rest, E, E, E, rest, G, F sharp, G. What notes does it sound like to you on RPGM2? I know I got the proportions correct (meaning from B/whatever up 1 to C, up 2 to D, up 2 to E, up 2 to F sharp, and up 1 to G). B to D is a minor third. C to E is a major third. D to F# is a major third. And E to G is a minor third. That's what I was talking about. The two major thirds (C to E and D to F#) just don't sound great to me for this piece. I tweaked it a little bit, and here's something I think sounds a little better. Try it out and see if you like it better as well: B, rest, B, B, rest, B, B, B, rest, D, C, B C, rest, C, C, rest, C, C, C, rest, D#, D, C D, rest, D, D, rest, D, D, D, rest, G#, G, F G, rest, G, G, rest, G#, G, G, rest, F, D#, D, C (where the last D#,D,C are a triplet that takes the place of what normally would be only two notes to finish off the line.) So you've then got (for the first repeating note in each line, and the next different note) a minor third. minor third, tritone (nice, isn't it?), and major second (below).
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2005 0:05:05 GMT -5
I've thought of some stuff to try putting in Pleasant Dreams and Evil at Work, and will be trying those soon. I played what you said for Save the World and it doesn't really sound right going D, C, B (down 2, down 1) then D#, D, C (down 1, down 2). I did notice what you said about mine though, and I tried playing it with B, C#, D#, F, and G, and A (all 2 differences) but it doesn't quite have that edge. I usually think of the actual notes and not their relativity to each other, and for example one song of mine doesn't fit within RPGM2's 2 octave limit and sounds crummy when shifted up or down (it seems) any number of octaves others than 12 (which would result in the same notes). I'll try to come up with something else to do in Save the World (another melody), but there's so many sounds already going (and pretty quickly) that it may not be possible with RPGM2. I do really like the last part of your fourth measure though.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2005 5:55:31 GMT -5
I'd rank them as they are NOW-NOW in this order: Best to Worst 1. Total Terror (8th, on newest playable demo) 2. Pleasant Dreams (6th) 2. A Gay Ol' Time (9th, haven't managed to upload it yet) 3. Happyville (4th) 3. Evil at Work (5th) 4. Woof Woof Song (7th) 5. Save the World (3rd) 5. Adventure Time (1st) 6. Phantom Manor (2nd) It's looking more and more as though, except for some volume adjustments that these are what the songs will be like in the end too. The ideas I'd had for Evil at Work and Pleasant Dreams failed to sound good in RPGM2. Edit: RPGM2's ability to have only so many sounds playing at once, the lack of available pitches, and the lack of decent instrument sounds, and annoyance of randomly guessing the tempo for different sounds over and over... is why this is. It's looking as though this'll be it too. I've had two failed attempts at potential songs since the 9th, two failed attempts after the 7th, and one failed attempt after the second. The sounds I'd recommend to people are: Harp - good for a pleasant chime kind of sound. easiest listening of them all along with the Orcarina. sounds better than the instrument sounds that can take its place easily (guitar 1 and piano) Orcarina - good, pleasant, wind instrument that's not overly high pitch or screechy and is more soothing and relaxing than all the other ones that could go in it's place usually (flute, violin, female voice) Guitar 1 and Piano - both are pretty nice and pleasant, though not as much as the harp, and can be good for many things. I recommend making your own chords using pitches of Guitar 1 instead of the cruddy sounding Guitar 2 and 3 (I'll post up different combinations if anyone wants) Flute - just like the orcarina, except higher pitch and thus more happy and less mellow/pleasant, both are good for their own uses and can replace each other quite easily Violin - I don't like the way it sounds, but it can still work well, but I'd recommend starting with flute or orcarina and then later in the song using the Violin in their place to hype it up (I'm disappointed there's no Viola sound ) Bass - Since RPGM2 can't play many sounds at once I recommend you hold off on adding the bass till everything else is done, and chances are you won't be able to add it because it'll be too much for RPGM2 to handle (it then randomly cuts off the sounds frequently), however it can be really good if used well (he he ) Snare, Cymbols, and Banjo - these are the best for percussion no doubt, the banjo is nice for lighter softer percussion and the snare and cymbols are good for rockin' songs, a percussion line is a pretty easy way to add a nice beat to a song The sounds I'd shun are: (you may disagree, but after all the music I've made these are the ones that could never sound good for me) Male Voice Female Voice Guitar 2 Guitar 3 Drum 2 (unless you're going for a prehistoric sound) all the midis Also, the tempos for Violin, Flute, Orcarina, Male Voice, Female Voice, and Bass are all the same. The tempos for Guitar 1, Piano, and Harp I'm very sure are all the same. ...Banjo kicks ass!
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Post by Jugem on Mar 11, 2005 14:27:07 GMT -5
You hate male voice? I love that one for a deep low sound. It sort of gives you that "chanting" effect. Guitar 2 and 3 can also allow you to play more sounds at once, since (I think -- if I remember correctly) those groups of three sounds are treated as one. And as long as those chords fit in your piece...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2005 6:11:17 GMT -5
I've tried using it and it does seem to have potential (Male Voice), but it doesn't sound too good. Well, I tried everything I could think of with Pleasant Dreams and it's gained light bass behind it and some light percussion (banjo), but didn't undergo that much of a transformation. I worked on Evil at Work a ton, and it's been developed a ton and kicks butt! I even make good use of the 'Rumble' and 'Breath' SFX. I really like the 'Breath' sound. It's tight. What I plan to do now is re-write the scripts for all of them in the most efficient way, and in doing so will alter some of the songs and try adding in new stuff to make them sound less plain, as well as fine tune the tempo's and volumes of the various sounds (I too think the cymbols in Adventure Time need to be louder, thank you for pointing that out to me Ves ). I've done that with Pleasant Dreams and Evil at Work and will try to do that with Total Terror next. I'll release a demo when I'm done with all the completed songs.
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Post by Neo Samurai on Mar 14, 2005 15:38:25 GMT -5
That sounds great. However, I'm having trouble hearing Pleasant Dreams. I use a RealOne Player, and everytime I try to listen to it, it asks that I should update the software to hear it, but when I try to update it, it says the update isn't available. Any ideas on how to solve this problem?
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Post by Doan the Nado on Mar 14, 2005 21:03:56 GMT -5
If you have Windows Media Player, open it up, go to Tools > Options > File Types and place an X in the mp3 box. I use WMP to play all my audio and video files and I've never had trouble with it. RealPlayer is cool, but sometimes it has annoying pop-up windows and it doesn't seem to be as stable.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2005 23:38:38 GMT -5
Total Terror's done and is better now. I'll do A Gay Ol' Time next. Total Terror and Pleasant Dreams only take up about 3000 memory each while Evil at Work takes up about 8500. Edit: I managed to use Drum 1 effectively.
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Post by Jugem on Mar 15, 2005 5:58:45 GMT -5
Any audio files of your new/updated pieces coming soon?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2005 20:10:33 GMT -5
They will be very soon (week or so). So far I've completed 4 of the 9 and I'm going to do Happyville today. They really are getting a lot better too. Others than Happyville I still have Woof Woof Song, Save the World, Adventure Time, and Phantom Manor to do (in that order probably).
edit: Happyville's done. The volume's were perfected, and when I tried to put something in the Ocarina randomly would cut off, so I'm already pushing it with how much can be played at the same time.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2005 17:44:24 GMT -5
I've only got 3 left to do (Save the World, Adventure Time, and Phantom Manor). Expect an updated demo in 1 or 2 weeks including the set-up I'll be using for them on the world map. Think of the current music files as demos of the songs.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2005 19:08:58 GMT -5
New topic: Paladin Story Demo.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2005 15:18:01 GMT -5
Go to the Paladin forum to find it, thank you to all who vote and/or reply!
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