CBlockDis

And if ... he was born in 76, he's not exactly young. :toothygrin:

Okay, only listened to the first songs in your post, not energetic enough to read every post you made and comment on all the latter songs. Your main theme/title music, it sounds okay, but it needs work as far as mixing goes. There is no real contrast between the strings and the flute you use in it as far as range or timbre goes that can really bring out the flute's melody. So it makes it difficult to really hear the melody, particularly when the strings swell consistently throughout the piece. You might try toning it down on the strings' volume just a tad, and possibly making a crisper recording of the recorder. I'm pretty sure it was recorded through a mic, so I'll just assume it's a mic-ing issue. If you'd like I can probably record that track using one of my own instruments(don't worry, they're in the key of D too) or possibly using one of the samples on my other computer to record it that way. Anyway, it sounds nice, just needs some sprucing up. As for the school thing, I agree with others that it's a bit too vibrant and energetic for a school. The music you have gives the type of sound you might hear in a thriving city of sorts. It has the "triumphant" sounds of a full orch here and there, as well as the small parts with lesser instrumentation. I'd probably kill the tempo just a bit because it's not very... school like. Unless all the students are spastic as hell I don't see much need in making it that energetic, even if it is the intro. A game does have to have it's grand intro of sorts, but the school won't be the place to do it, because any other parts of the game that are REALLY dramatic, will seem rather dull after some grand opening for a simple school. Don't get me wrong, it's a great piece, it's just a little over the top for what it's being used for. One thing to always remember when composing for a game, is to never put too much emphasis in the wrong places. You'll have ample chances to bring out some really kicking music throughout the game but songs like this one should be saved for latter points, say a thriving city like I said earlier, that the characters are in awe of. Just ... I guess compose the music the way you would probably react, if you were the character... and it was your everyday life experience in their world. If you were already in the school... I doubt it's going to be the most exciting day of your life, versus the first time you go to some huge city with every glistening of fabulous wealth.... your eyes would be wide open with a grin from ear to ear. I hope that makes sense... but yeah, if I made a suggestion it would be to redo the school theme, as opposed to the title music. Peace, Zack ZackParrish.Com

Samples used were... QL Rare Instruments Irish Low Whistle WestGate Studios Classical Guitar(free download from their site) Sonic Implants Silk Roads percussion

New piece I just finished, was bored, didn't do it for anything in particular. Ended up just finishing it and using it as a demo for my page. Anyway, without further ado... BIG VERSION 2mb SMALL VERSION 413kb Feedback would be nice. ;)

I'll just stick with what I have done already, seeing as in a sense, it is sad. He has no idea what he's doing or why he's doing it, and to me that justifies making the theme sad. He acts completely normal aside from that small little detail, getting ready for his dates, going about his day like it's a normal life, but until his actual "date" starts, he's perfectly sane... kinda.

Well, the reason it's got so much tention now is because it's a ... really short film and there isn't really enough time overall to just build build build. Glad you liked it otherwise though. Thanks for the feedback. Peace, Zack

Opening Scene Okay, this song ... if you can even really call it that is for the opening scene in a short film I am scoring. Basically, the film is about a guy that has this big date with a girl named Rose. But, he's a little off in the head and the girl "Rose" does not really exist. So, he goes on planning this date, and buys 2 dozen roses, and starts following the first girl he sees, thinking it's "Rose". Eventually the girl is dumb enough to go to an alley where no one can witness the murders he keeps committing and well, you do the math. He's all happy and optimistic about his "date" and keeps getting ready for it and killing whoever happens to cross paths with him each day. That's about the best I can describe the whole short, but the first minute he is getting ready for his date and the music is supposed to kind of hint at a troubled mind while not being TOO bold to spoil what will happen later on. Feedback would be nice, as always. Peace, Zack

Heh, thanks... I use chords like that a lot now... I think. I really couldn't tell you what my habits are composing though because I rarely compose anymore(full time manager... means no time at all).

As title says, I'm just composing this piece for the heck of it. Call it a mock soundtrack of sorts if you want to because it doesn't really fit well in the orchestral forum. But anyway, some feedback on the piece thus far would be nice. It's very rough right now as I haven't really put much effort into the dynamics or the tempo so at times instruments just kinda "disappear" because I didn't raise their velocity/volume with the rest of the instrumentation, thus you have all this other stuff drowning them out. But anyway, the song... http://zackparrish.com/stuff/Progress.mp3

As far as music composition, sampling, and sequencing go, I'm self taught. But as far as basic theory goes I played Alto Sax in school for abouit...8 years with about 4 personal lessons(hated them so I dropped the lessons). Took guitar lessons for about... 7 sessions or so and dropped those(been playing guitar for 11 years). And... had piano lessons for about 3 years to top it all off, but been playing piano since I could move my fingers. :D It's been about 15-18 years I've been playing piano. My only sin on piano was the fact I never wanted to learn other people's stuff, and instead of practicing my assigned pieces I'd spend hours making up my own little creations. :D

Samples I used... if I can remember correctly... Sonic Implants Con Sordino(Demo) Sonic Implants Spiccato(Demo) VSL Orchestral Percussion(Demo...) True Strike 24-Bit ...Demo VSL Horn Ensemble(Demo) VSL Trombone Ensemble(Demo) VSL Tuba(Demo) Westgate Studios Percussion(Free download from their site) WestGate Studios Flute WestGate Studios Oboe WestGate Studios Clarinet PMI Bosendorfer 290(Demo) I think that's all of them but I could be wrong. Anyway, as you can see... everything but the Westgate studios samples are Demo patches that came in a 17gb set when I bought GS3. Personally, I think a lot of the samples suck as far as VSL's go, but I love the con sordino and spiccato patches, and the PMI 290. :P Thanks for the feedback.

Onearmedbandit - PM me your email address and I'll email it to you, that or holler at me on AIM(CBlockDis) and I can just do a file transfer. Listened to your song(Alpine something isn't it?). Really cool stuff. If I get more time I'll make an in depth review of it in your thread. Agnor - Here's the breakdown as I remember it... Sonic Implants Ensemble Spiccato Sonic Implants Ensemble Con Sordino West Gate Studios Clarinet Dan Dean Flute West Gate Studios Oboe PMI Bosendorfer 290 VSL Orchestral Percussion(Bass, Gong, Crash Cymbal) Westgate Studios Percussion(Bell Tree) Project SAM True Strike(Suspended Cymals and other miscellaneous effects) I think that's about it. The majority of these samples came with GS3 when I bought it in some 17gb bonus sample package. The only samples on there that weren't from that package were the True Strike(got some free 24-bit demo set from SAM's site), Westgate Studios(bought the woodwinds, got percussion from their site), and... that's it. Everything else came with GS3. I tried finding that same package I got for a friend but apparently it was just a promo back about 5 months ago that's not available anymore. Anyway, thanks for the comments. Much appreciated. Peace, Zack

Server might've had a hiccup or something. Works now as I type this but you never know... could get indigestion later... :thumbsup: Thanks for all the feedback, really appreciate it. Think I might put this in the serious critique forum or whatever it's called. Could use a good hammering.

Thanks for the comments. As per your questions on what I used to make it... Sequenced it using Cakewalk Pro Audio 9, loaded samples using Gigastudio 3 Orchestra. Samples used... Kind of a mixture of everything. :laugh:

This writer and I crossed each other's paths(we are on the same development team) and got an idea to make a soundtrack arrangement of 10-15 songs for a game that doesn't technically exist(it's still in the design stages). So, the first song I worked on was the main theme, which took about 5 days to do I think... but I can't be too sure because I usually worked on it when I could barely stay awake anymore(best time I'm inspired). Anyway.. .I know it's a big file(over 5mb) but please try and give it a listen as I spent a good amount of time working on it, not for me but everybody else that enjoys listening to music. http://www.zackparrish.com/dead/MainTheme.mp3 Peace, Zack