Random odds and evens

[MasterShakezula]

I've begun working on a composition.  So far, it's about 10-odd bars of vibraphone.  It's going to ultimately be something longer and more interesting.

UPDATE TIME, 4/16!

There's some more instrumentation and dynamics.  So, now it's something.  A small amount of something.   

Still lots of work to be done.

Class Cavern 

Please provide feedback, I'd really appreciate it. 


(Note: that's a synthesizer doing the heavy lifting.  I do have a vibraphone and competence in playing it, but not any recording equipment.)

[theseoafs]

It's fine, but it's not really... anything so far, you know? 

Once the piece is finished, we'll be able to weigh in in detail.

[MasterShakezula]

I did some work on it and added more instrumentation.  Still, it is basically a snippet. 

Another Update:

http://soundcloud.com/jimcorncracker/class-cavern-update

There's now a second section, so it's almost 40 seconds long.  Prog-out, baby!

[MasterShakezula]

Another WIP

Hopefully, this one will end up being more than half a minute. 

[MasterShakezula]

Believe it or not, I'm actually diligent to actually complete something. 

Here's Oranze Grove

Please provide feedback.  I would really appreciate it. 

[FlyingBIZKIT]

http://youtu.be/qeY9Nk2qHGQ

[black_floyd]

I like the odd rhythms and counterpoint harmonies in Class Cavern. I look forward to hearing it as it reaches closer to being a full piece.

[Gadough]

Floyd, I can do the growls and you can do black metal shrieks. We can like, harmonize and shit.

[black_floyd]

Be mine. Be mine now.

[MasterShakezula]

I made a random remix of Flying Battery zone from Sonic and Knuckles.  On a new Soundcloud (I changed email, so had to change soundcloud, as well.)

It's basically complete, unless I add act 2 onto it or something.

[Sketchy]

This thread is cool. I like the musics here.

[MasterShakezula]

I appreciate the positive feedback, man.  Don't be expecting musics on a regular basis or anything.  My work ethic is laid-back by DTF standards.   

[MasterShakezula]

I updated Flying Battery zone.    Now it's both Act 1 (the version from before) with Act 2 added in place of the repeat. (basically, the second half is the same basic song, except more awesome, for those of you who are lame and haven't played Sonic 3 and Knuckles). 

[Sketchy]

Lol, shake, I've been working on an album with a friend for most of the last three years. We only currently have one fully recorded thing (but still only a rough mix) and recently agreed on the structure of one thing that we've been playing with for the last two of those years.

Oh, and most of the stuff we have doesn't have words yet, because we're crap at them. You're currently being more productive than us (now, if only I could get hold of that damn Pipa player for once).

[MasterShakezula]

For shits and giggles, I posted the remix on the Overclocked Remix forum, to see what people there would have to say.  Looks like I'd have to do some serious re-arranging to get it to their standards.  I'm probably looking to probably make it sound like a typical spy movie theme.  The original song already does sound like a James Bond ripoff at times.I think I'll go through with that, just to see how different the final product would be, should I actually get it to their level of quality. 

I've started on a revised version for OCRemix, now.  Here's the 40 second's worth I've got so far.

[BlobVanDam]

I'd never thought about it as James Bond-ish, although that makes sense given the chromatic horn lines.

Sounds like an interesting take you've got going there, although I have a couple of comments. The arpeggios in the background throughout sound off. I'm not sure if it's the intonation of the instrument, or your note choice, but it doesn't sound like it's landing back on the high root note (the A). And the intonation also sounds a bit off once the organ comes in near the end.
But the basic idea is cool, so keep at it.

[MasterShakezula]

Thanks for the input, Blob.

The arpeggios, there's a thing about them, you see, it's actually two different 3-note ones; one on the left, the other on the right.  The right one starts on the and of beat 4 and hits A on 1.  The left one starts on 1 and hits A on the and of 1.  So, due to the way they're positioned, it does kind of sound like one continuous thing.  I guess what sound's off could be the sounds being used, but I dunno.

As for the organ, I've changed it to (a hopefully more in-tune) vibraphone in this update and added another 20 second's worth of goods.

[BlobVanDam]

I think it's definitely the intonation on the arps that makes them sound flat. And the instrument for those chords that come in at 0:12 sounds really flat to my ears too.
I really like what you're doing with the arrangement, but I think some of those instruments aren't quite up to the level of quality.

[MasterShakezula]

Yet another update has arrived!

This one comes equipped with an intro!

(I tried to fix the flat instruments, but I dunno if that actually made a difference; I can't discern irregularities in pitch.  At all) 

Blob, I REALLY appreciate your input and suggestions!  I swear, I've gotten more feedback from you than from OCRemix and Soundcloud combined.   

[BlobVanDam]

Really? I've only given a couple of vague comments.

Sounding better now. The intonation doesn't bother me. For some reason the rhythm in the intro is throwing me off though. At 0:19 it switches in my mind. Is that intentional or am I interpreting the beat wrong in the intro? Not saying to change anything, I'm just wondering where that mental block is coming from.

At the moment it's a total blue ball leading up to the big second half of the original track, especially after the big buildup ending at 0:32. Hopefully it will get to that later on in your remix, because it's my favourite part of the song, and I've had the music stuck in my head all day thanks to you! I really like the beat of it so far. Maybe fatten up your bass drum and synth bass? Not sure how much you can do, but I feel like these remixes are supposed to have some doof doof to them.

[MasterShakezula]

A: The weirdness at the beginning is because I have the "snare" hits mostly on the ands of 1 and 3 with very few on 2 or 4.  If it kind of screws with listeners, that's all the better to get things off to an unsettling start, I suppose.   

B(lue ball): Yeah, I probably ought to throw the second half/chorus part in very soon.  I mean, I could have it so the remix is just the first half of the song with a bunch of random crap added onto it, but I know you Sonic fans.  You want the second half.  And I'm just about kind enough to want to give it to you. 

I mean, you're only my most effective musical critic; I practically owe it to you!   

[Ħ]

Class Cavern reminds me of the Ice Caves in Zelda.

[MasterShakezula]

The peeps at OCRemix were saying something about the instruments sounding too Genesis-y/Mega-Drive-like.  So, I made changes to most of the instruments.    Nothing else is new.  Next update, I'll probably shoehorn in the chorus and make some changes to the arrangement, to make it more trance-like or something. 

[MasterShakezula]

Still no chorus

Followed a lot of the feedback I've (finally) been starting to get at OCRemix.  Ended up making major changes to the remix from 0:42 onwards, making it more of trance-y type thing, as well as being less close to the source.  Unfortunately, I haven't gotten to the chorus, yet, do to having to do so much adjustment to what I have so far.

[MasterShakezula]

I've actually put in the chorus now.  Progress FTW! 

Also, the mix is better.  I've removed the James Bond intro for now, until I think of a more smooth way to segue it into the main song.

[MasterShakezula]

Here comes 24-odd bars more and a shout-out to another song!

If you identify the song referenced, you are awesome! 

[MasterShakezula]

The Flying Battery remix is sounding a lot different now.  This also marks the end of an era, as it's the last time I'm going to be using legitimately attained freeware instruments.