workin on some music...

[Eckels]

I asked a few people in chat for their opinions... but i'd like more thoughts...

A while ago I put together a song, which for the purposes of this thread we'll call version 1.... I liked version one, but I started screwing around with it, and eventually made version two... they're very similar, use the same melodies and beats, but are different in arrangement...

I was wondering which one you like better. If you simply don't like it at all, that's fine. Go easy with the nasty comments, please... But I'm curious which of the two you'd chose over the other, and why?

You can download the two versions from ftp HERE (ftp://24.190.50.47:8021/).

Thanks!

If you're having trouble with the files, make sure you copy them to your computer(desktop or elsewhere) before you run them. they will run fine from your pc, but they don't always run right off the ftp.

[Mander]

Even though they are very similar I prefer version 2. I think the start of both is too long. Version 2 just seems fuller.

[Hermit]

I think both are quite nice. It's easy to see a great deal of effort and time were put into them ;)

My only thoughts would be centered around the things you've chosen to pan and volumes you've selected for each track.

You're drum beats for the most part are fully panned to both sides and that works rather nicely throughtout the entire piece.

The little computer bleeps I like as well the way they are panned from left to right and back. However, when they are mixed with your centered bass line and your centered melody, they tend to drown those out frequently. It's really just a question of what things are more important to you to be heard.

To me it seems that most of the things you've panned to the left and right are meant to be somewhat of background tracks. Once the centered tracks come in (which I assume are your main melodies... you bass line and the melody itself) they tend to drown out the middle.

Perhaps turning down the panning volumes a bit, or leaving them the same while turning up the centered volumes a bit might be something to look in to.

Extra snaz: Some echo effects switching between left and right for the centered walkie talkie sounding thing that the beginning might sound nice in making the intro a little creepier. As Mander added, your intro is almost a minute long. Added effects like this may add some spice to it making it not seem so long in the end ;)

I don't know what you want heard and what you do though so I can only assume. But that's pretty much my $.02 ;)

Perhaps I'm wrong in my assumptions on what the melody lines are but oh well. Just boils down to what you want to be heard, the more important tracks should be clearly audible while the backgrounds should remain ambient and supporting while carrying the main theme to the end. :thumbsup:

[Eckels]

thanks for the comments, hermit... but I have a few questions now... Which one out of the two did you prefer? And I'm curious as to what you're considering background ambience and main song... most of what it heard after the drums start in is main song (all the levels i mean) although i am aware of some levels that i need to tone down or bring back up a bit....

Also, There is a reason for the intro being a minute or so long... this was planned to be a song as part of a small album or a sequence of about four songs or so... While it seems big for the individual song, it would have worked nicely in the grand scheme of things.

Out of curiousity, did you listen to any of the other songs in that directory? They're mostly experimental, as this one is... but interesting to listen to.

[Mini-Me]

uhh... I hope your song isn't a little flashlight trying to find a folder... cause that's all that comes up... and I tried waiting too...

[Gerudo]

yea, for some reason, i cant access it either... :(

[Eckels]

Something is wrong with my webserver... I'm working on it... If someone can host 30mb of files for me for a short time, let me know... I have a few songs that i'd like to share

[Mander]

I had that problem too so I just right clicked HERE, clicked save target as, saved then opened. That worked.

[Hermit]

Ok I'll give a full rundown of each one ;)

Version 1:

Intro - Nothing wrong here. After listening to them a few more times, the length of them really doesn't bother me at all. They flow nicely into the song as a whole. I still think perhaps some panning of that creepy staticy sound would be quite nice. Oddly enough, on my first listen, it reminded me of the creepy staticy radio from Silent Hill games, still does actually.

1:00 - Enters what, to me, appears to be the melody line with a nice volume slide into it... along with the ambiently panned bleeps. Nothing wrong here either, each track can be heard clear as they come in.

1:10 - In comes the bass line, no prob ;)

2:00 - In comes what I would say is your main main melody line, continuing on...

2:31 - Song is taken into a sort of hip-hop sounding beat, nice change, very smooth. Welcome back creepy sound effects from intro. I'd still fiddle around with a possible pan for the creepy radio thing here as well.

2:48 - Switch from hip-hop type mode back to main song. Nice ;)

3:00 - Enters piano pans to both left and right, no problems here as both can be easily heard and sounds just fine.

3:37 - End on the final drum beat.

Version 2:

Intro - Same as Version 1 comments. Nothing wrong here.

0:56 - Enter the volume slide of what I'd say is your melody line, along with the ambient bleeps and bass line.

2:00 - To me, everything runs well up until this point. Perhaps you intended it to be this way and that's cool if you did, but it sounds funny when you considering Version 1 and so far, Version 2 as a whole. Your melody line comes back. Only this time it's barely audible. Being as faint as it is, everything else drowns it out. It's a long volume slide before (15-20 seconds) it becomes loud enough to effectively blend in with the surroundings. Quite a change from your initial 0:56 volume slide intro of it. Interesting nevertheless ;)

2:47 - Enter the hip-hop sounding change, along with the creepy intor sound effects.

3:03 - Bye bye hip hop, back to initial tune.

3:19 - Enter the piano pans again, nice.

3:50 - End on drum beat.

Both Versions: Come to think of it, your ending on the drum beats is a good idea. But considering the force of the drum hits in the intro, the one you've chosen to end on sounds a bit weak. The ones in the intro seem to have more of a definate kick to them, which I'm assuming you probably used 2 drum samples simultaniously to create (adding one for the kick). The final drum beat doesn't appear to have that kick. You came in with some heavy drum kicks, why not leave with one ;)

As far as which version I like better, I'd say Version 1. That long volume slide at 2:00 in Version 2 seems to drag out a bit, and to me doesn't seem to mesh well when considering the intro volume slide of it at 0:56.

Nice work though, and no I haven't yet downloaded your other mp3's but I will as soon as I get a chance ;)

[Eckels]

I felt the same way about version two, and was curious if anyone felt the same way... I wanted to experiment with the pauses between the basslines, but it ended up making the song too slow that had this whole section in the middle that i didn't know what to do with... lol

If you get a chance, listen to the other stuff, and tell me what you think... not all of it is finished, but it's interesting to hear.

[Hermit]

Try this (http://www.geocities.com/Nakedman20/Epic.mp3) one on for size ;)

(Right Click, Save Target As...)

Here (http://www.geocities.com/Nakedman20/MarinTheme.mp3) is my current project. A remix theme for Marin from Zelda 4: LA. There isn't much to her theme so it's a tad difficult to come up with an entire song for it. Planned to be submitted to OC Remix when completed. Not much so far, even what's there still needs work. But I'm hopeful nevertheless.

(Right Click, Save Target As...)

Edit: Oops I forgot to ID tag them, oh well.