theOmaster

What are ASCAP and BMI? Those are music producers aren't they? Alright, cool. I read the FAQs, I still didn't understand what that recording right thing is though. But since last.fm is supposed to be encouraging for indie music makers, I'm going to assume I have these "worldwide recording rights" since I'm not obligated with any music producers. Thanks guys.

Hello fellow composers! I have a question about recording rights. I know that anything created by an individual has that copyright, forgot what it's called...but they have that copyright. I was just on the site, Last.fm, and was going claim the artist (which is me) and then post some music. The site says they will pay royalties if you have the "worldwide recording right." I haven't run into this before, and was wondering if anyone would enlighten me on the subject? Thanks.

Well, I was just doing it in studio view, then I tested going into the Garritan Vst itself, after your suggestion, thanks. But in the Garritan Aria, that didn't seem to influence the volume at all. Is that the Kontakt player you were refering to? If not, how do I access it?

Hello reader, I need some assistance. I've been writing some bass drum parts in my songs, and for some reason, it is really quiet. I don't know why. I have turned up the volume on the bass drum to max, I made it quadruple forte/fortissississimo, and it's still overpowered by any other instrument. Also, when I first open finale, and then play on my keyboard using the bass drum noise, the volume is plenty loud. But when I start to write, it gets quiet as above mentioned. Any solutions? PS: this is Finale 2009 with Garritan 2009 sounds.

I think the most important thing you learn from learning an instrument (on the composer's side) is the timbre of the instrument in the different ranges you learned them in. You get a feel for the different registers of the given instrument you learned. I do not feel that the difficulties of an instrument you are learning is a good thing however. I found that I had a mental block while writing for violin, since it was hard for me, it must be hard for other people too. So it was hard for me to write beyond my level, till I looked at scores and saw how insane some songs were. On clarinet, that break around the b/bflat area above middle C, was hard for me when I tried to do runs and other beginners. But good clarinetists don't give a crap. So it depends. I'd say in the end though, learning the instrument will be beneficial no matter what.

Thanks for listening! I really appreciate it. I usually try to be a bit less minimalist, but not in my game music. In my game music, I don't want it to overpower the situation, so I have it hide a bit more by not doing too much with it. I even got a speech on how the music is the mustard and ketchup of the burger...I disagree in theory, but in practice I'm kind of in the position to comply. What kind of stuff would you like me to do with the presentation? I agree with the whole training in soundmixing. I also need a soundmixing program...I'm using finale 2009 at the moment actually. Doing the best I can with what I got, but I'll get to some good stuff eventually. And there is always room for improvement, why do you think I posted this? Obviously I'm kind of just starting in the business too, so no worries. I will keep it up :thumbsup: Sometimes facebook is a bit wierd about that, I can pick my song probably a bit more than half the time, but I should probably work with one of the sites you just mentioned. Thanks again.

Actually, the real ones are kind on inconsistent too...that is because my computer does not have the memory to make them as loud as they need to be without clipping them. I'll be borrowing another computer soon, so I can actually have some better quality recordings. I thought most of them were quiet, sorry about the one that blasted your head off. It's actually a computer factory, it's supposed to have a sense of surrealness to it. A somewhat "dreams coming true" or a sort of "mirage" effect. It's a run down, and broken factory, but in the night after everything is turned on, then it appears as if it's in great working order, and tomorrow the workers will just come in and start working again. I'm assuming you listened to the nighttime theme, since you didn't specify day. We are trying to decide if it's really going to fit in a battle actually, but it probably be...a...I don't think this one will make it in as a battle theme. We're thinking of putting in the one of the other locations. This one does need more percussion to be in battle, but I did make another version that is a bit cooler, that just has 3 of these going one after the other. Which means the harmony was a bit too loose for my liking, but it does make a cool effect when they are all stacked. I would like to use brass, but I really don't like the garritan brass sounds (which is what I have to work with...I wish I had something a bit more pricy, but not yet) This one goes to the game Dark Ember, but yeah, it is a bit more scenic than some. Thanks for the tips on both of these. I'll be tweaking plenty of stuff after I create all the songs. I'm sadly going to be unable to work on these some date soon (October earliest) so I want to atleast get all of them done, then I'll prioritize for tweaking right after I'm done. I actually disagree with you on the harpsichord, I think it's really loud and overpowering. Thanks, and no worries, I don't expect people to listen to 2 hours of game music, and whatever other random music I put there. I hope for people to listen to a couple of songs. You were definitely helpful and encouraging, thanks again.

"Street Theme - Night" finished

"Battle Theme 10" done, and the street theme is coming up.

"Battle Theme 8" and "Battle Theme 9" finished, and added to the list.

Man, at first the iLok thing seems cool...but then it just takes the space of another usb port, which is annoying. Thanks for the info, will probably put it into use :)

Oops, I worded that badly. I was meaning within the instruments' ranges. Like the horn's brighter color in the higher range of the horn, or the mellower trombone in the lower range of the trombone. I was more going for the, you should find which fits better with the piece. If I were actually good at this, I might have even gone into something about the warmness of the horn's lower to middle range, or the trombone's ridiculously low guttural sounds. Sorry for the confusion.

Yep, I'd guess it's that piccolo, didn't catch that. Now that you mention it, I can hear it. For some reason I was more thinking it was some sort of effect to mimic harmonics or something, man I should pay more attention (or just get more experience, working on it ;)). Looks like I need to look into EWQL a bit more. I might also need a higher powered computer...Is EWQL just a sound library or is it a full program? I want to incorporate brass into my mindblight music, but I really don't like garritan's or the random vsts I've found. harp + celesta = awesome

Added "Battle Theme 7." It'll probably be one of the boss themes.

Depends on the a lot of things. It depends on what sound you want, as a composer. You should pay attention to factors such as, timbre, range, and whatever else you can think of. Do you want the brightness of the higher ranged horn, the mellow deep sound of the lower ranged trombone? Which sound blends in with the other instruments playing best, which one has the effect you are looking for? In regards to the fresher entrance, it depends on if you want the fresher entrance or not :) So that one, it's up to you, people tend to like variety though. That one is totally up to you though. I would personally say that dynamics is the least of your worries. Although, horns are better at staying in the background than trombones are. So it does depend somewhat on the instruments carrying the melody, if it's a harp, than you might not even include the brass...but if you were to, you should probably go with the horns. Same goes for if you have a couple of woodwinds carrying the melody. I think the best thing you can do is familiarize yourself with both the instruments the best you can, then you can make these judgement calls with ease. Alright, that's the best I can do, hope you get better advice :) and good luck.