Music

[Razorwing]

The new version sounds even better! It struck me that the ending is a bit abrupt though. Hmm *thinking* perhaps the last note could be slightly higher and played slightly longer, to lead it out to a nice finish? :goodjob:

I like what you did with the website too, it looks clean and organized.

I'm not that familiar with the horror music you mention, but I think I understand what you're getting at. Something intense like that might be great for "horror & battle", like when the player is confronted with a nasty surprise in a tomb? When the player isn't fighting the music could be less intense.

[Quentin Fortune]

Amazing ... as Razorwing said, it's getting better and better. I really like it.

@Razorwing: I think Return of the King is that little Tolkien movie everybody spoke about last year, the one with the eleven Oscars, while The Shining is the Stephen King adaption from Kubrick, the one with Jack Nicholson and his little axe.

And before I forget: Anaglyph, what kind of equipment and/or software are you using? Being in the Bard's trade as well I'm always looking for hints, tips and recommendations (even though the music I usually make is not very appropriate for Morrowind )

Greetings

Quentin

[Razorwing]

Quentin: Really? Yes I've seen both of them - and damn was I tired of the style of acting by the third movie, I'm glad they didn't make a fourth one - I just didn't recall the music off the top of my head.

[Anaglyph]

Originally posted by Razorwing
The new version sounds even better! It struck me that the ending is a bit abrupt though. Hmm *thinking* perhaps the last note could be slightly higher and played slightly longer, to lead it out to a nice finish? :goodjob:

Finish? It's going into the quiter middle section now. What I'm thinking is once the basic form is complete, I can tone it down a bit so it doesn't get too grandiose and it should be okay for exploration, then for, say, a special situation I can write a shorter version and raise the grandiosity again. Or if you need something for a trailer do the same sort of thing. Basically, use it as the "main theme" from which some of the other pieces can be derived where needed. Sound like a good idea?

Something intense like that might be great for "horror & battle", like when the player is confronted with a nasty surprise in a tomb? When the player isn't fighting the music could be less intense.

Yeah, move between creepy and frightening. I guess a lot depends on how much control you'll have over what tracks play when, though I suppose you can always script music in if you want to. But if I write something you can't use, no problem, I can always come up with something more suitable (or try anyway) - it's all good practise. heh

Originally posted by Quentin Fortune
And before I forget: Anaglyph, what kind of equipment and/or software are you using? Being in the Bard's trade as well I'm always looking for hints, tips and recommendations (even though the music I usually make is not very appropriate for Morrowind )

I do it all on the computer. Used to use a Korg X3 workstation, but that's been gathering dust since I discovered what you can do on computer these days. Still amazes me...

The sequencer I use is Sonar 4 (Producer Edition). Can't say I'm an expert on any of this stuff, but if there's something it can't do, I haven't run into it yet. It does crash occasionally, but whether that's a problem with my system or the software or plugins I don't know. Guess it's par for the course these days anyway with complicated software. The orchestra is a plugin by Edirol. When I do the finished versions though, I'll use Gigastudio (software sampler that streams samples off your hard drive so you can use very big samples) and the Vienna Symphonic Library (50 gigs! of samples). Gigastudio is quite buggy, and I can't really say I'd recomend it unreservedly. I got it before I knew anything about recording on computer, and I suspect there are better software samplers out there. It's notorious for compatability problems. The reverb is a plugin by Waves. I have a few other plugins by them for mixing, such as eq's and compressors. Again, not an expert, but they seem to make effects that are a cut above most - and so's the price. heh

I don't know how much you know about all this stuff (probably more than me ), but I found this site very helpful. Lots of tips and info on home recording and software/hardware.

What sort of stuff do you do?

[Razorwing]

Originally posted by Anaglyph
Finish? It's going into the quiter middle section now. What I'm thinking is once the basic form is complete, I can tone it down a bit so it doesn't get too grandiose and it should be okay for exploration, then for, say, a special situation I can write a shorter version and raise the grandiosity again. Or if you need something for a trailer do the same sort of thing. Basically, use it as the "main theme" from which some of the other pieces can be derived where needed. Sound like a good idea?

That sounds like a great plan! Can't wait to hear it :goodjob:

Originally posted by Anaglyph
Yeah, move between creepy and frightening. I guess a lot depends on how much control you'll have over what tracks play when, though I suppose you can always script music in if you want to. But if I write something you can't use, no problem, I can always come up with something more suitable (or try anyway) - it's all good practise. heh

I never got into modding with music scores on Morrowind but I imagine it would be very easy to script it if it can't be controlled through the interface. I used activator markers that triggered sound effects whenever the player got within range, and if that's possible next time around that could just be switched to triggering music and then we'd place the markers whenever an undead attacked.

I guess it's theoretically possible that you could compose something we couldn't use, but I doubt it :bananarock:

[Quentin Fortune]

Originally posted by Anaglyph
[...]

I do it all on the computer. Used to use a Korg X3 workstation, but that's been gathering dust since I discovered what you can do on computer these days. Still amazes me...

The sequencer I use is Sonar 4 (Producer Edition). Can't say I'm an expert on any of this stuff, but if there's something it can't do, I haven't run into it yet. It does crash occasionally, but whether that's a problem with my system or the software or plugins I don't know. Guess it's par for the course these days anyway with complicated software. The orchestra is a plugin by Edirol. When I do the finished versions though, I'll use Gigastudio (software sampler that streams samples off your hard drive so you can use very big samples) and the Vienna Symphonic Library (50 gigs! of samples). Gigastudio is quite buggy, and I can't really say I'd recomend it unreservedly. I got it before I knew anything about recording on computer, and I suspect there are better software samplers out there. It's notorious for compatability problems. The reverb is a plugin by Waves. I have a few other plugins by them for mixing, such as eq's and compressors. Again, not an expert, but they seem to make effects that are a cut above most - and so's the price. heh

I don't know how much you know about all this stuff (probably more than me ), but I found this site very helpful. Lots of tips and info on home recording and software/hardware.

What sort of stuff do you do?

Thanks a lot for the info and the link. And I truly doubt that I know more about it than you.

My band and me are deeply into good ole' dirty rock (and sometimes roll), doing partly own songs, partly cover songs, but I started recently to experiment with my PC and used it as a little home-recording studio for new songs I want to present to the guys.

And I'm looking for a MIDI keyboard now, trying to fiddle with a few songs that won't be fitting for the band so I'm grateful for any help I can get on my path. =)

Thanks again and I'm looking forward to hear more from your fantastic work.

Greetings

Quentin

[Anaglyph]

Used to play some good ole' dirty rock myself in a few bands. Nothing like thrashing out some power chords to get the blood pumping.

Not really sure what current MIDI keyboards are like, but I've always felt Korg make the best keyboards. Back when I was comparing them for buying the workstation the others seemed to lack a bit of oomph compared to Korg. No idea if that's still the case though, and it's no doubt all a matter of taste anyway.

[noremorse]

:goodjob: Wow Anaglyph! It's great, I can see using this in a trailer! I could possibly use it when we have some stuff to record as video footage though. I made the original Silgrad Tower trailer, and I'd love to do another one for Oblivion with your music.:yes:

[Anaglyph]

Thanks, noremorse. I'll tag an ending on to that for trailer purposes so it's not so abrupt.

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I've put a short bit of "horror" music up on my site. I was just sorta doodling. Not sure it's that great (the horns sound kinda cheesy). Let me know if you don't want that sort of thing, guys.

[Razorwing]

Anaglyph: The horror music drafts sounds very nice, and without the horns (and a couple minutes long) I'm sure it'll be perfect background music for dark, evil places :goodjob: