Music is art too, so....

[Vaylos]

I didn\'t really know where else to post this...anyways:

http://members.cox.net/james.musicman/Haven.OGG

As I said up in my First Experiences thread in general, I\'d go ahead and write a tune that pretty much conveyed my thoughts of a peaceful day in Hydlaa plaza.

The instrumentation and composition is very simple, Bodhran, Bell shaker, Flute, and Harp. The form is pretty much Binary in nature, but I still think it\'s pretty.

I pretty much did everything in FL Studio 5.  Drum patterns, and recording the flute and harp via midi keyboard.

This is a very rough draft, as I just played the flute and harp using my trusty OLD Yamaha PSR-520 keyboard.  The only thing I ever use the keyboard for anymore is for its midi function  So the flute and harp are played live (i\'m not that great a pianist, so I need to go back and edit a TON of stuff)  Anyways, it\'s still nice to listen to

All the soundfonts used in the creation of this tune can be found on www.sf2midi.com The bodhran is it\'s own sf2, and the bell shaker is one of the percussion instruments from the free drumset released by papel media (least I think that\'s where I remember grabbing it)  The flute was likewise on sf2midi, as was the harp (which was a recent upload from zandro)

I\'ll notify when I\'ve updated the file on the website as I proceed with editing stuff/fixing/changing/etc.

[Father Sengus]

I just listened to it and I really liked it. Great job! My favourite part starts when the drums and flute start. I don\'t know what the first instrument is, but (even though it sounds lovely) it reminds me so much of nintendo games. Can\'t remember if it was Zelda that had music like that...

Anyway, awesome work. Really peaceful music that I could picture hearing in a bright place like Akkaio

[Vaylos]

The first instrument is a harp. I\'m just playing in the middle-lower range, so it\'s not as bright as the higher notes hehe.  I have a tendency to favor the harp\'s lower or middle ranged notes for some reason. I just find them to be very warm sounding, and that\'s kinda what I was trying to achieve in that opening before the drum enters  I may add another instrument to pair up with the flute, or I might leave this the way it is, and just fix the note timings and volume levels.

Anyways, glad ya like it

[Belark]

Ya listening to it ATM, sounds more like a peaceful city at war:D (i donno, just ignore it and move on lol)

But it realy sounds like that. The harp and flute gives warm sound and the drums bring the \"i was destined to do this\" sound. It\'s something in between Tavern and a small, humble city.

But that\'s onloy what i think and i DO like the song

[Vaylos]

Heh, I can kinda see (hear) what you\'re talking about. The bodhran definitely adds that kinda  \"oomph\" to things *grin*
Ugh, soooo many timing issues on the harp notes though. I have a tendency to rush a bit when I play live >.<  Edit edit edit editediteditedit!!!!  rawwwr!  Hopefully I\'ll have it more polished by next weekend hehe  That\'s my target at least.

[zanzibar]

Reminds me of a game called might and magic 3.  (Not heroes of might and magic, just might and magic).

[hook]

Great stuff!!

I think it would fit into PlaneShift very much ...but I maybe see it more somewhere in the woods or plains more then in a city ...dunno, feels like travelling music to me :]

If you don\'t mind, I have some constructive criticism:

I had the feeling that the harp was a bit wierd in the beggining (0:14 - 0:16) and that at two places it could have made a better bridge (0:50 - 0:55 and 1:04 - 1:17).

The bodhran and the bells sound great. I think the bells are placed on the right parts and I really like the way the drums become very playful at some points.

Flute is IMHO perfect! Very life-like

About the bridge after 2:50 I have mixed feelings - it\'s something between a surprise and anticipation, which kinda confuses me.

But even with that I enjoyed it very much!!! :]
I only wanted to give you some quality feedback, since you said yourself you intend to change a few portions...

[Wired_Crawler]

Really good, I like it .
As hook mentioned, it suits PS environment well. Only drums track is a litle bit too loud for me.
Small irregularities in rhythm add atmosphere of realism, so don\'t change everything to sound like it was recorded in music studio, there were no such facilities in medieval ages .

Hmm... There is one thing which I miss - soprano singer. Are there any singers out there ?

[Vaylos]

Heh, no worries on criticism, it\'s what makes me take a closer look at things people notice or mention.  As for the cleanup, I do not intend to make this sound mechanical. I\'m just going to fix the the spots that I consider glaring errors heh. I tend to try to keep things very \"human\" feeling.  I don\'t want things sounding like glorified midi *smirk*  

Thanks for the feedback.

edit:
Goal for next weekend:

1)  Clean up the harp timing in places (mostly in the beginning and end sections)

2)  Take a close look at the compositions at all the bridges mentioned before.

3) Try to make the spot at 2:50 more sudden and less anticipated (I had always intended to fix this spot) I\'ll probably add a couple measures to help the phrase feel like it ends more naturally.

4) Adjust volume levels. I\'m aware of the loudness of the drums. I was using headphones when I played the melodies. It kinda helps me detach myself from ..well...myself hehe.  The final mixing I\'ll do over my speakers.

At least the nice thing about the samples I used, is I don\'t think anything really needs any EQing effects.  Mostly just adjust volumes, and maybe panning.  IMO, the reverb feels like it\'s at a good level, not overbearing, and not too dry.

And you\'re probably right. This does feel more like traveling-style music than town or city. Like wandering through grasslands or moores or something.

[Vaylos]

*bump*

Actually sorry for the double post, but I figured I\'d mention that I updated Haven.OGG And I didn\'t want to start a new thread just for that.

I edited several things. Think I fixed up a few issues, and adjusted volumes and such. Not sure if the harp is too overbearing now or not...but...eh, that\'s easy to fix.

Added tambourine and violin.  Tambourine might need a little work still, but i\'m satisfied with the violin.

Cut the intro before the drums start coming in, just felt like it was awkward, and didn\'t really lend itself to the piece. Besides, now it\'s a little more loop friendly *grin*

I also toned down that chime sound a bit, since I had a couple people mention it was a little irritating, and made things feel too repetitive. And the tambourine helps to take the focus away from the chime.

I think the violin adds a nice contrast both in the background, and as a second lead.  It\'s not real, and a few notes here and there probably stick out, but I\'m liking it so far ^_^

Feel free to give it a listen.  Same link as in above. Didn\'t change the file name.

[hook]

Great what you did to the timing and volume! :]

But the violin bothers me somewhat in most of the song ...I dunno, it just doesn\'t seem to fit in the whole to me ...it seems to me the sound would be clearer without it. But I have to agree that the violin in a few parts adds an insane amount of goodness ...maybe I just have to listen to it again...

[Vaylos]

Well, the violin can always be changed heh. I couldn\'t come up with a convincing bassline, but I wanted something to contrast the flute. Maybe I can tinker with it to make it more convincing, or try to make spots less...er...busy sounding. I\'ll probably keep the fast part as it is though ^_^ Slow parts could use some work I think.


Glad to hear the volumes are better. As I mentioned in another post, my home \"studio\" is a bit ghetto lol. All I really have to judge volume levels by are my speakers. Infinity RS2 for my main, and a pair of old labtec desktop speakers sitting on top of them, acting as my rears (cord wasn\'t long enough, and room is an odd shape)  I don\'t have audio monitors or anything.  I think they\'ve been pretty faithful so far though , er...the infinities at least.  The desktops are near-death hehe.

[ThomPhoenix]

I think the violins are nice, they add some extra atmosphere.
I did think that sometimes the drums in the background were a bit too fast,  a bit chaotic, but overall the music is very nice.
Keep up the good work!  

[Vaylos]

Aye, I think I\'ll make my next little project a battle theme I haven\'t written that kinda music in awhile...and i\'ve had a good lower-strings ostinato in the back of my mind with a more melodic theme coming in on the trombones and horns. Things would progress from there.

I\'ll prolly keep this one a little shorter though. maybe 2:30 to 3 minutes.  *writes a short melodic sketch down so he doesn\'t forget about the idea*

[Vaylos]

well, not bumping this thread for the old music, but I\'ll keep posting to this thread when I come up with new stuff instead of continually creating new threads for every little music idea that enters me head

For starters, still tinkering with battle theme ideas. Haven\'t come up with anything concrete yet though.

However, realized I had enough webspace left to post one of my older tunes.  

This one\'s short at about 1:23, and pretty much written for just strings.  It was an idea I had for a game over screen sorta thing.  Obviously, this doesn\'t work for the planeshift setting, but I figured I\'d post something to whet people\'s appetites ^_^

http://members.cox.net/james.musicman/Transcend.mp3

yeah, i know..it\'s mp3...meh,  I don\'t have the original project file anymroe though, so it\'s kinda stuck this way lol. I wrote this back in february of \'05.  it was a theme that had been in my head for awhile, so I had to get it out *grin*  I\'m not worried about feedback with this tune, since I can\'t change it without rewriting from scratch, so just sit back and enjoy hehe.