Post Your Music

[Personigo de la Ĉefo]

@Personigo de la Ĉefo I read this book in high school and found it a pretty big help. I still have this book in my shelf in fact! Very plain language and follows what I would call a full first year of music theory. http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Edition-Lifestyle-Paperback/dp/1592574378

Thank you! THis would be most helpful for me

 

[Housekeeping]

My last track was pretty dark, so let's lighten things up a bit:




@eluukkanen I love how plucky that track is!  It reminds me a bit of a Secret of Mana track once things kick in.  I love all the different timbres going on--I could learn from that!


@Jaren I'm not sure about the song cutting out in the middle--I'd kind of like to have some kind of low thing tying the first and second section together.  I mean--if that's a game track.  If it's not, it's fine, but the silence is prolonged enough that it could pull the player out a bit.  Otherwise, it's a nice little number.


@Saltwater Croc Storyteller is an interesting track--the first part is very Lawrence of Arabia-y, but that big "danger" chord comes out of nowhere.  I like big changes like that; I'm curious how that'll be implemented.  Mr. Melody's theme is pretty classic once it gets going; the piano feels a bit dry when it gets louder in the mix, but that's probably personal preference.


@Balter I like the percussion in that HoF.  I think you could really benefit from a better DAW, though.  The track is good, but if you had some stronger samples, it would sound even better (and it would widen your breadth of expression).


@taistelusopuli Here's a secret about me: I love glockenspiels more than any man should.  That 5 Minute Math song does a good job of mixing that slight cheese element learning games have with some childlike curiosity.  My Home the Forest Floor is a nice atmospheric track; some of the bird chirps early on might could go down in the mix a bit, but maybe I just hate nature.  I like those little volume swells in Prepare for the Worst that immediately cut out.  Once you get those mixing hiccups out, it'll be pretty sweet.


@NTakamura Nice waltz!  I played through Torneko: the Last Hope (it's a Dragon Quest roguelike for playstation) recently, and this track immediately pulls me back to that game.


@HeroofTime123 Yeah, to echo taistelusopuli, I'd like to hear a bit more variations, personally, but often VGM is supposed to set the mood and stay in the background, so it works for what it is.  His suggestion about varying the dynamics would help it sound a bit more organic.


@Kaimen Interesting timbres, as usual.  I'm going to have to experiment in chiptune land at some point...


@Justice_Rulez When the drums kicked in, it reminded me a bit of Castle Crashers.  It'd be cool to hear you play a bit more with the percussion; I'm not a huge fan of techno drum standards, so that's probably personal preference, but for a genre that relies so heavily on percussion, you can make that way more interesting.  With the right game, though, that could fit just fine.


@Personigo de la Ĉefo I think I took maybe six, seven guitar lessons when I first started, and my teacher was terrible (we eventually stopped going since she was AWOL half the time).  It was enough to teach me absolute basics.  If you're learning an instrument, there are plenty of online tutorials that can help you.  Having someone teach you directly will help you iron out flaws in your playing faster, but as long as you're dedicated, you can work around that.

 

[taistelusopuli]

@Housekeeping What a calming piece! Made me feel safe, happy, innocent. Has a taste of childish nostalgy too I would say. Sounded really great!

 

[Housekeeping]

Cool--that was everything I was going for!

 

[YagamiKyo]

@Housekeeping That's a really smooth and relaxing track. I enjoyed it quite a lot. Maybe some more variations somewhere could improve a little, but that's just me.


This might be the third track I upload, and the last two were in summer so you all probably won't remember them. I've been listening to quite some prog stuff lately and I felt inspired today. A shame I don't have any guitars available, though. And there isn't any good guitar vst or anything, so I had to use my limited free resources. This is a work in progress, but I wanted to introduce a jazzy part somewhere. Problem is, I am not a master of odd meters yet, and this is my first time using one. Very Haken inspired, I believe.




EDIT: Finally found some decent rhythm guitar sound, so a metal arrange (which I personally prefer) is here

 

[Kaimen]

@YagamiKyo Out of those two versions the metal one does sound better to me. The "standard" version feels too unstructured and chaotic to me - especially the first half of the song. But since this is a WIP I guess you'll get some structure in there eventually. It definitely has a jazzy fell to it. I especially like the part from 0:42 to 1:10. However, I'd say tune down the harpsichord on the metal version a little. Or maybe try a different instrument there. To me it sounded weird and out of place for some reason, except for 0:42 to 1:10. That part of the song is just magic. XD


You might also try and work on the loop a little - the song loops a little too abruptly. Keep on it!


------------


This is a commission I finished... I think a week ago. Client asked for a battle theme with a Final Fantasy feel. I did my best to capture that feel and gave it my own spin. And this is the result of that. Spoiler: client was pleased.

 

[taistelusopuli]

@YagamiKyo You have a nice start there! Good thoughts and concepts. If you want to, I'd suggest studying musical form in metal/hard rock. It will help a great deal when building the music. You should also look into Dream Theater and similar bands. Study their riffs and melodies. It will take you a long way


@Kaimen The main riff is the definite Final Fantasy riff. Da da da da da da Ba ba etc... You did great work! Something you might want to better next time is melody writing. In the end of every phrase you return to the first note of the scale. Try to do that only at the very very end of the period(section). Otherwise it cuts the melodic movement too much

 

[FroggyGames]

I haven't posted in this topic in a while, so I thought i'd share another song with you guys. This one is just a simple tutorial song:




420

 

[taistelusopuli]

@Justice_Rulez A couple of cool ideas you had there!  There was form, which is good. Next time it would be nice to hear a full piece!  What were you exactly practicing with this?

 

[Housekeeping]

@YagamiKyo: Thanks!  It's a song that needs to sound really stable, so that's why I went a bit more repetitive; I tend to prefer having things with lots of changes, too.  I'm kind of starting to get into Haken; they're pretty rad.  You might want to crank up the guitar in your metal version; that might not be totally advisable because finding a really solid guitar tone is TOUGH (the current song I'm working on is sort of a Pantera meets Meshuggah meets jrpg boss kind of thing, and, man, I wish I had better guitars available).  Too, this is coming from a guitarist--so, grain of salt.  I like the energy of the piece a lot, though.


@Kaimen: Wow, taistelusopuli is right.  It's not something I've ever consciously thought of, but ending several phrases in a row on the tonic does inhibit the flow of the melody a bit.  It's definitely reminiscent of an FF battle theme, though.


@Justice_Rulez: I like how you're playing with dynamics a bit here, especially that little spoken phrase before the drop (I guess that counts as a drop?  I'm not hip enough to know for sure).  It's a fun track--makes me curious about the type of game it'd be a part of.


And, hey, here's another track:

 

[taistelusopuli]

@Housekeeping Yeah, the tonic thing is an interesting one. The reason why it interrupts the flow of the melody, is the energy/tension releasing relation ship it has to other notes in it's respective scale. Especially if you approach from the 7th, 2nd, or 5th. Things you learn along the way


But your piece, it definitely has an interesting name. That I must say. Though I am a tad confussled. The name would refer to a sucky or comic situation while the music refers much more to a tension filled scene like being caught by the bad guy while sneaking in his/her lair. Regardless, it was a great great track! Really liked it. Especially the sounds of breath and detuning the leading melody.

 

[YagamiKyo]

@Housekeeping I had to program everything with only my PC keyboard, as I have no guitar or actual MIDI keyboard controller with me. As a guitarrist I am also strugglling a lot to find a good guitar sound with free things only, but since that one was done I have obtained something a little better. Guitar dynamics using only a DAW is still very hard.


About your track, I...don't really know what to say. It is quite strange, which I like. I feel like it could be a sewers theme (hello Xenogears, I still remember you) with that kind of atmosphere. Probably sewers full of nasty things everywhere.


So.


Wrote this like a couple weeks ago, before studies destroyed my free time. Kinda relaxing track.

 

[Housekeeping]

@taistelusopuli: Thanks!  The track plays in a spooky swamp area, so the "stink" refers to the literal smell.  It's also a reference to it being a bit funky rhythmically.  I saw Buddy Guy several years ago and remember him saying, "I want this one so funky I can smell it."  I was trying to echo that sentiment, haha.  And, yeah, regarding tonics: my formal training lasted all of five guitar lessons and a handful of music history classes in college, so I didn't study much theory, so with melodies I never consciously thought of the tonic as sapping tension, but I think I inherently knew that.  I really should get a better backbone in theory.


@YagamiKyo: You might consider getting a your rock guitar or something similar if you can swing it; I've got one and it's made composing way easier.  I still input notes by hand to avoid any latency/screwups via my playing, but it helps for me to toy with phrases before I start inputting.  Your track sounds like it would be right at home in Animal Crossing!

 

[Gaiaman77]

Im currently working hard on completing a score for "Altars Of Fate" and been given alot of creative control over the tracks for the game. Its my first title, so Im aiming big for the score, hoping to have unique music for each setting, characters and events in the game.


Ive actually set some of the first drafts free just for this thread, some of my portfolio tracks are on here too!


There is such talent on these forums, I am so impressed with the community of creative people we have here and the hours upon hours of work people have put into their games (and music  )

 

[McKathlin]

@Gaiaman77 Thanks for sharing your work.

"Chairman & Dictator - The Red God" has a strong rhythmic basis and good buildup of parts. I especially like the part that comes in at about 0:31, but I had to strain to hear it well. To my ear, the other parts are too quiet relative to the drums; I'd rather that they got to have more of the spotlight when they're present. The part where those busier layers drop out with a cymbal crash at 1:17 is my other favorite part; it's quite well-orchestrated.


Your recent work generally is quite pleasant to listen to, and communicates mood effectively. If there's anything I'd wish were different about your pieces, it's that they'd have a stronger sense of melody, something memorable and recurring that the hearer can hum along to. (But then, I recognize that in some places a memorable melody would compete too much with other things going on in the game, particularly voice acting. So it depends.) Of the work of yours I've heard so far, I'd say that "Chance on a Forkroad" has the strongest melodic motif. "Do.. Mi... Fa..." so simple, and yet it sticks with me.

 

[astracat111]

Thanks for feedback ahead of time.

 

[defunct-user]

@gaiaman77 The Red god is a pretty intense piece. I like the general rhythm it has. The intensity keeps up even through the use of the same chords. Well done!

 

[6down]

You guys really know your stuff, glad I came across this community of helpful artists!


@Housekeeping man, you really nailed the swampy/spooky atmosphere on Bucket of Stink, I feel I would've tagged the setting even without the title!


@Yagami, Warm Night's mega soothing!  Some days I feel like listening to a whole album of stuff like that.  Wish I could help you with your six-string issues, but I'm still learning LMMS myself.


@Gaiaman, excellent batch of tracks, lots of variety! The Red God is especially epic, the lower string riff and the drums give the track a real sense of power, while the lead carries the motion through the impending feel of the rest of the instruments.


@Cat, really diggin' Lions Fangs. Got a bit of an Andrew Bird vibe, and it reminded me of some of the tense string bits from Halo 1.  Keep it up!



Here's one of three tracks I made during the last Ludum Dare: Peter is the Wolf

 

[Chronophagia]

Hello all!


I haven't really posted publicly about my music before but I figure I should.This community has always been great and I have meaning to get back into RPG design again. For any that have the time, I have a few uploads on youtube. 


From a cancelled Sci-fi game in the works :


































Thank you to any that stop in an listen. My music is never finished and I have a problem with continually tweaking them.

 

[Musagetes]

Got a few to share! New to the community, by the way


Some of these are teasers, just little demos for some genre sketches. Others are meant for concert performance or were from a previous project.


https://soundcloud.com/ian-knowland/mythos


https://soundcloud.com/ian-knowland/war-rhapsody-1


https://soundcloud.com/ian-knowland/frankie-19-starry-night


https://soundcloud.com/ian-knowland/the-privateers


https://soundcloud.com/ian-knowland/the-bird-the-pilot


Enjoy listening! I definitely enjoy writing these. I've got a new project I'm working full-time on, so stay tuned for a reveal sometime this year