I've seen you make this argument about how the next Sonic game would have been on Saturn, so we must use Saturn limitations on graphics and music and whatever else. Using this logic you might as well go further and say that the next Sonic game would have defiantly been 3D to keep up with Mario64 and all that. I still feel like this thing should look, sound, and feel like a Genesis Sonic game.
The Aquatic Ruin Zone music captures the mood of the level extremely well and, like Tweaker said, I think it's beneficial to break down each song and see why it's so characteristic to that level/area/place/whatever. Harmony: The song doesn't boast any chords as such, but the piano is, for the most part, outlining triads. the chord sequence as far as I can tell (Feel free to correct me) goes something like this: Im-VI-III-V-I (D minor) The last two chords are what really gives the song it's flamenco-inspired sound, as they are borrowed from the harmonic minor scale, which sounds very exotic due to the raised seventh degree, and the augmented second interval it creates between itself and the sixth scale degree, which leads nicely to the subject of: Melody: D-E-F-A-C# Although the augmented second interval isn't heard (That would be A#-C#) the C# on its own is enough to add a very exotic sound to this song. After this, the melody becomes quite ambiguous, as it switches between natural minor, harmonic minor, and major (albiet briefly). Another thing I think should be mentioned about the melody, is its persistence towards stepwise motion, which puts quite a lot of emphasis on the minor second interval and, although the note D# isn't used, I think the song still has a very phrygian character to it because of this. Rhythm: the song is obviously in 4/4, but the drumming is fairly syncopated. Beats 1, 2, and 3 are stressed as expected, but beat 4 is offset by a sixteenth note, giving the fourth beat of the bar a sense of surprise and momentum. This is a very brief view of the song, and doesn't really do it justice, but I just thought I'd write up something quick, because this song really does capture the feel of the level perfectly.
That was largely so that it would be easy for people to share music for their custom levels over the dial-up connections of the day.
It was stated in one of the threads that we will only be using original music. Doesn't mean we can't base half of it off previous trends. One such trend is how the background music becomes generally darker as the game progresses. This is pretty much a given for most games. Of course, there is also often a place late in the game that has a pretty peaceful tune in comparison to the tunes of the areas before and after it (Sonic 2's Sky Chase zone would be an example of such.) Also, trends as far as the music itself. Since we're focusing mostly on our Tropical Zone, let's look at the music for tropical zones past. I think Palmtree Panic's American Present Music is a great place to start. Why? Because it sounds like something I might actually hear in a real-life tropical location.
http://www.resnet.wm.edu/~amkearns/music/boss4.adx http://www.resnet.wm.edu/~amkearns/music/Boss4.xm Have some boss music ideas. In the part in the middle where it goes c-d#-d-c# I think that it should develop the extra parts based on how many hits the boss takes. That is, if you look at the patterns 2-5 in the XM file, if you have 1 or no hits only pattern 2 plays each time; if you have 2 or 3 hits then pattern 3 plays; if you have 4 or 5 hits then pattern 4 plays; if you have 6 or 7 hits then only pattern 5 plays. Obviously if you have 8 hits then the boss is dead and the music doesn't keep playing. The other parts would probably stay the same just for the sake of it sounding decent.
Don't know if this has been suggested, but you guys should either have one or two guys composing most of the tracks or require everyone to use the same effects and sounds in order to achieve stylistical and soundscape coherency. I might contribute something after Christmas Chaos is out of the way: --- samples: http://www.tindeck.com/audio/fileshack/r/refv-jinglemix4.mp3 Titlescreen esque fanfare http://www.tindeck.com/audio/fileshack/b/b...ludedshore2.mp3 Tropical Level. I managed to get quite a Hataya-esque style on this one, which was my goal haha. http://www.tindeck.com/audio/fileshack/l/l...titlescreen.mp3 Something I created for a minigame type game I was working on. http://www.tindeck.com/audio/fileshack/j/jmpm-jazzy3.mp3 Menu Music http://www.tindeck.com/audio/fileshack/k/k...berforest_3.mp3 Music for a level concept I have that isn't being used, a Petrified Forest level. http://www.tindeck.com/audio/fileshack/o/o...ecandidate1.mp3 the framework for a cave track I never finished due to me never being satisfied with the soundscape I was creating for cave music. http://www.tindeck.com/audio/fileshack/c/ctcv-hardcore3.mp3 A metallic-type space level?
Well, I think we ought to have several composers, but it may be best if we only have a couple of people making the very final mixes, like people doing composing and then one or two others doing most of the arranging/mixing.
You understimate an individuals ability to throw together a soundtrack (/me points to Hunter Bridges' Nexus Soundtrack, or any professional soundtrack)
On a slightly unrelated note... Are we bringing Michael Jackson samples into this like in Sonic 3? Just because they could probably be ripped at a higher quality now.
Only if they're Icecap, Launch Base, Carnival Night, or S3 Credits remixes, and really good ones at that. Other than that, no.
Comments in red Because red is rad As I commented, your songs are good, but almost every single one of them do not feel nothing like a Sonic song, they're too calm and slow-paced. Sonic songs are more cheerful, upbeat, and they're rich in instrumentality. You almost nailed it on the Tropical one, but it lacks more cheerfulness and back instruments (see Palmtree Panic and Green Hill, for example) I wish I could give deeper comments, but when I type in english I lose some time trying to translate some words and some of them I can't really type in English, and I don't feel so free and loose typing it, so I can't express myself the way I exactly wanted. EDIT: See what I mean? I totally forgot to put commas in the text! Fixed it.
Epic font change. All in all, great music, but none are very fitting for a level in a Sonic game. However, as I have said, some sound like another great Genesis game with an awesome soundtrack.
Ooh! This is awesome. I think most of this would be great for the ruin/cave level myself; I was working on something that sounds a LOT like this one for that stage, in fact. This seems to have gone unnoticed so I'll repost it here: http://www.resnet.wm.edu/~amkearns/music/boss4.mp3
Why did people decide that it was a good idea to make URLs case sensitive when filenames aren't? (It should be fixed now.)
Nice composition there, I like the way the layers are just stacked and stacked until the demonic chorus. One gripe I have is that you start with this really awesome and sinister dirty synth stab, and the following voices all seem a bit weak and far too clean. Also, the percussion is a little underwhelming -- I feel this is the sort of thing which needs a good strong kick drum and a very militaristic snare with the beat there. Also, am I alone in really wanting that chorus section to have real pipe organs?
Well, it was kinda rushed; I used a lot of cheesy synths more than anything else but if I can find better ones I'll go back over that again.
Filenames are in (most, if not all) non-Windows OSes, which is most likely what your web server is running. =P
