zomg Terra does soundtrack music

[Terracosmo]

Well not really. But I've been asked by a mate who is doing some kind of.. uhh.. project (I don't really know what it is) but he asked for music he could use during "a visit in a cave". I'm guessing he's playing around with RPGmaker or something. Either that or he's gone nuts. Anyway I composed a quick little piece of music for him to use and this is it (http://valethcosmo.free.fr/Andie%20Brando%20-%20Black%20Crystals.mid). It's around 1:30 long and in midi format so I don't think the download will take that long (it's 4 kb i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif). Yeah so it's composed by me using random programs, some of the instruments include the piano, an ocarina and of course the drums.

So yeah... comments plz. Let's say that he's making a game. Would you find this track irritating if it played in a cave portion of an RPG? Or would you perhaps even use it yourself if you were an RPG developer?

Oh and I named it "Black Crystals" because black is COOL!!111 and I use some "crystallish" sounds towards the end of the track.

[darkmetal505]

itll be good in "searching" scenes

[masamuneehs]

not too bad, but perhaps too short? If the person is a fool and spelunking around alot it'll get pretty old and nagging pretty fast.

edit: and props for actually creating something like this. i'm not a great musician myself (alto saxophone), but i respect the time and effort (and that little thing that i seem to lack... what's it called?... oh yes! Talent!) spent in actually forging a piece of music.

[XanBcoo]

Holy shit...Terra's name isn't actually Terra. I think I need to sit down...

One thing I noticed about the track straight away was the ocarina in the background. If anything I think that would get the most annoying, as it is pretty monotonous and repetitive (makes me think of the Simpsons, when Lisa gets her sax stolen, and Homer gives her that jug to blow into...). For that reason, I think you should make it longer. As it is now, it's easy to pick up on when the song repeats, which would make it awkward if it is playing for more than 5 minutes. Perhaps you could change the end of the song a bit to make it blend better with the intro. Either that, or make it much longer. Other than that I'd have to congratulate you on making a peice of music that otherwise would fit great in a game.

I like the crystal sounds though. Very cavelike.

[Terracosmo]

Thanks guys. I agree about it being too short and will take the comments in consideration.

Also, "Andie Brando" is not my real name either - that's actually my scene name used in my band(s) and when I create music such as this i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif

[Terracosmo]

Bump because I'm a genius!

Behold! (http://valethcosmo.free.fr/Andie%20Brando%20-%20For%20Glory%20(And%20Local%20Supermarket%20Disc ounts).mid)

Terra composed a battle theme! My mate thought it was great, now I'm sure about the fact that he's making an RPG. :S I only used "dramatic effects", drums & electric guitar for this one but I felt it was enough. I think that this song might also become irritating in the long run because of the monotonous sound of the guitar, but I tried to include several tempo changes which I think can be heard rather well. I also attempted to make it loop better than the last song I made. What I like the most though is the dramatic and subtle effects, such as the one in the beginning, which made it sound like a "real" RPG battle theme. You'll see what I mean i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif

Oh what fun! (12 kb)

[Honoko]

the battle theme was better than the cave one. and the cave one was REALLY annoying. i'd quit or turn off my speakers if i were playing an rpg inside a cave w/ that music going on over and over again @_@ sorry, terra. they both sound so.... empty. is that a deliberate style due to the nature of the game? did ur friend request small file sizes for the music? it's hard to judge w/o context but the sound all by itself feels like it's missing something. bass, maybe?

[Knives122]

Question: Why did you refer to yourself in the third person if this thread was about you? i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif

[Terracosmo]

Originally posted by: Honoko
the battle theme was better than the cave one. and the cave one was REALLY annoying. i'd quit or turn off my speakers if i were playing an rpg inside a cave w/ that music going on over and over again @_@ sorry, terra. they both sound so.... empty. is that a deliberate style due to the nature of the game? did ur friend request small file sizes for the music? it's hard to judge w/o context but the sound all by itself feels like it's missing something. bass, maybe?

Well both of them need to be longer, I haven't been working with either one that seriously yet. Consider them more like samples. I'm not sure what you mean with empty but maybe you're right about the bass. I'm not some pro when it comes to composing music >_<. Yet...

@Knives: Because... I can! :S (plot twist)

[XanBcoo]

Wow. The battle theme is awesome. MUCH better than the cave theme. The intro was very reminiscent of other rpg battle music. The only thing I don't like is at the 56 second mark where it like...stops...and...staggers...it's a jarring change.

I also think you should add one more layer to it. Perhaps with the same instrument you used at the 6/7 second mark and again at 00:51 I think that would sound great, but it's good as is.

[Assertn]

Your music makes me think of one of those guys that sits around with a whole bunch of instruments and goes back and forth between them real fast to try to make a song.

You need to have more things playing simultanously so it actually has some sort of ochestraic feel to it, rather than one guy with a whole bunch of instruments to play with.

[Terracosmo]

Thanks Xan. Yeah that slower part is really a matter of taste, personally I enjoy when themes slow down and then get speeded up again... and I kinda like the riff I came up with for the part, but hey.

Man Assertn, that's harsh. You make it sound so easy. "Try and make a song"? I sat with this for hours i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif But I do agree that I need more instruments and things going simultaneously. Some of you expect too much from an amateur i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif

[Assertn]

haha, well it's more than what I can say i've done as far as music is concerned. I'm just pointing you to the next step of the process =]

[Terracosmo]

Yeah I see what you mean. Just in case you were serious though, I'm not jumping between the instruments i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif it's only solo a few select times.

I made another one! This one is the best yet, IMO. It's used for "omnious stuff". I made it so the looping comes out very naturally (IMO anyway), and tried to include much variety, using a total of 5 instruments. This one is also less busy, so I think it's harder for it to get on your nerves than the other two. The pan flute melody is kinda monotonous though (which is why I made two versions) so I tried to mix it up rather evenly with the music box. But as always, there is of course room for improvement. And yes, it probably needs to be longer.

Anyway, comments/verbal beatings/worshipping = appreciated as usual. i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif

Omnious things are sexy! (2 kb) (http://valethcosmo.free.fr/Andie%20Brando%20-%20Omnious%20Things%20Are%20Sexy.mid)

Omnious things are sexy! - With less pan flute (2 kb) (http://valethcosmo.free.fr/Andie%20Brando%20-%20Omnious%20Things%20Are%20Sexy%202.mid)

I'd like it if you guys could tell me which one is better. ;P

[2:25]

I think the latter one is better, but they're both really similar. Personally, I don't like either of them. :<
They sound way too choppy and I don't like the short silent pauses throughout.

[Terracosmo]

Well you'll have to put it into context.
"Short silent pauses throughout" is very common in soundtrack pieces used for situations such as the one I described, in Final Fantasy games to name a few.
It's not like you can dish these things out and dig them i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif