News:

11 March 2016 - Forum Rules

Main Menu

Phantasy Star II MSU-MD Project [WIP]

Started by Bonk, June 28, 2021, 04:36:54 AM

Previous topic - Next topic
Print
Go Down Pages1 2
User actions

Bonk

June 28, 2021, 04:36:54 AM Last Edit: June 28, 2022, 02:18:51 AM by Bonk
    Phantasy Star II: MSU-MD Project/Arrangement album

    Hey there folks, i've been working on this since the end of 2019 or so and i've gotten far enough (about half of the songs blocked out) that I was hoping to get some of the feedback on the music as well as use this in addition to another place (https://ocremix.org/community/topic/49095-phantasy-star-ii-restoration-mega-drive-arrangement-album/) to kind of as a journal for progress.

    ArcadeTV helped me a while back get a rudimentary working build where I can insert music into the game to get an idea as I go. It's a bit buggy but it will work until everything is finished. I'm hoping once it's all done it will work and be compatible with some of the hacks and patches out there. (Programming isn't my thing so I hope eventually I can find someone to help out with that)

    My intention is to use as many 80s synths (and even including 2612 based lines or even using the original instrument patches from the game) and arrangement choices as I can to keep the "Spacey 80s sci-fi" feeling of the game. Occasionally though I will take some influences from the Phantasy Star Online series as well. (Because the music is likewise incredible). As well i'm trying to make every song enjoyable to listen to on it's own outside of the game and based on feedback from ArcadeTV I won't be writing the arrangements to be loopable (But every song will be at least 2 minutes in length) because on OG SegaCD hardware it wouldn't have worked with the speed of the CD drive. This actually reduces some of the burden for me. As the first few songs I worked on I tried to make it so you could play it end to end and it would loop seamlessly.

    Another thing is the arrangement choices themselves. This may divide some fans (Something I can completely understand) because i'm trying to strike the middle ground of finding ways to be creative with the arrangements and add new variations and other things to them to make them uniquely my own. But retaining the spirit and initial song structure of the original music to a specific degree (If you can't recognize the song within 30 seconds then i'm failing). In general I try to write 2 loops of the original structure before making any additions or changes to the structure. There are some exceptions to this so far.  Believe it or not, this middle ground is extremely difficult and the hardest part of making arrangements of video game music.(And it's still hard after having done it off and on for 15 years) Making it exactly 1:1 is too limiting and when you break down the original music, most of it is actually extremely short in length. The weapon shop theme for example is only 16 seconds of music before it loops. At the same time, it's not hard to go too far and alienate a die hard fan who has an expectation of how it should sound in their mind. (I've been that guy)
    I'm not opposed to retooling something.

    Another thing to keep in mind
    What is a "Blocked out" song?: This means that much like pre visualization or storyboarding i'm making the foundation of what the final song structure will be. These are subject to change based on feedback or how I feel once I revisit each song after all have been blocked out.
    This means often that sections of song may be missing parts, the instrument choices and performances are non final(Many of which may be placeholder). The mixing can be just basic enough to get the idea across, levels will not be consistent and there may be clipping.
    That said, please do not be afraid to give any feedback about any aspect.

    Thank you for taking the time to listen. I love Phantasy Star, I hope some of you who are maybe older than me (I was born 2 years after this game came out)get some enjoyment out of this.

    _____________________________________________________

    Final WIP for blocking out Excite Town.
    Lots of little things to change when final pass is done later. Quite like how most of this turned out
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FP7TrmFhhT-4t0f_b8k1wc2CZ6ADGU3D/view?usp=sharing
    • Violation
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CBo4OX5CWHaAzNI2o-ApHisYWZjjxtvJ/view?usp=sharing
    First WIP for Violation, just sat down tonight to get the base out of the way. No percussion yet.
    I like how this is sounding to start with :p

    This will be updated as I go. If I somehow can't finish the entire project. I vow to at least finish these songs completely that have been posted.
    ______________________________________


    Special thank you to Near, without your work I wouldn't have had the courage to finally take the plunge. Start this project and feel like I can actually work on music again without anxiety or feeling depressed. (Because MSU-MD wouldn't have been created probably) The ability to be able put this music in game was what pushed me over the edge to give my passion a try again.  5 years ago I obtained the lovely beast that is Tinnitus alongside some other health issues. I never went to loud concerts and my hearing is decent, but I spiraled into the darkest pit of my life right before turning 25. Afraid I would never be able to hear the same , enjoy music the same or be able to work on music again the same ever again. For 3+ years I barely even listened to any music or did anything I enjoyed. Outside of my co-workers, many of which I consider like family. I don't have a lot of real life friends any more. I don't know how to reach out to anybody just to talk as i'm generally fine by myself. So I had to slowly crawl my way out of my hole. And then last year I started having a lot more major health issues and chronic pain (On top of the pain already had in my neck and right hand) in addition to some bad tremors that are generally just in my hands but can happen all over my body.
    But thanks to having gone through already the worst part of my life and getting started on this project in 2019 I was able to bounce back a lot quicker.
    So thank you Near for playing a part in indirectly helping me.

    I had been planning on making this thread for a long time. But I wanted to get more songs started, but the recent news pushed me over the edge.


    Anywho, thanks for any thoughts you have on this. Let me know what you think!
    [/list]

    Spooniest

    #1
    July 01, 2021, 01:53:25 AM
    Oh I'm subbing to this thread, for sure

    I listened to Mystery. I've done an actual rock cover of it, myself, but it certainly doesn't have any synth as it's been years since I even owned a keyboard.

    Sounds frickin' incredible, dude. Let me know if you wanna pick my brain about stuff, I've been playing music for a quarter century now.
    Yamero~~!

    Bonk

    #2
    July 01, 2021, 03:00:46 AM
    Quote from: Spooniest on July 01, 2021, 01:53:25 AM
    Oh I'm subbing to this thread, for sure

    I listened to Mystery. I've done an actual rock cover of it, myself, but it certainly doesn't have any synth as it's been years since I even owned a keyboard.

    Sounds frickin' incredible, dude. Let me know if you wanna pick my brain about stuff, I've been playing music for a quarter century now.
    Got a link to that cover? ;D
    Thank you, any fresh ears I can get;especially a PS fan; if i'm in a rut will be very helpful.
    I'll be posting in the thread as I work on any given song with WIPs to show off some progress and get any ideas and thoughts.

    Spooniest

    #3
    July 02, 2021, 12:53:51 PM
    Quote from: Bonk on July 01, 2021, 03:00:46 AM
    Got a link to that cover? ;D

    Yeah.

    Quote from: Bonk on July 01, 2021, 03:00:46 AM
    Thank you, any fresh ears I can get;especially a PS fan; if i'm in a rut will be very helpful.

    It may be a week or two until I can sit and listen to them at my leisure; Shakespeare got to get paid, after all. But I will definitely do it at some point.
    Yamero~~!

    peixemacaco

    #4
    July 02, 2021, 01:19:33 PM
    Bonk, I wish great success on your Phantasy Star project.
    I'm not trully Rpg fan, but I think you can find some great PS music on Phantasy Star Online game.

    I had contributed with ArcadeTV in the MSU-MD version of Super Monaco GP on catching the original songs and voices from the arcade version.

    No more Donald Duck voices on Genesis version :laugh:

    http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=32330.msg408913#msg408913

    Nelson
    Super Monaco GP... It garnered an at-the-time unprecedented 10–10–9–9 rating from Electronic Gaming Monthly's Review and wasn`t a F Indy title.

    PresidentLeever

    #5
    July 02, 2021, 01:44:45 PM Last Edit: July 02, 2021, 02:33:41 PM by PresidentLeever
    Had a listen to Restoration and it sounds really cool to me! Similar to the PS rearrangements on the Saturn collection IIRC. The improv part is also pretty neat.
    If I'd change anything it's to make some of the leads stand out more such as the one at 1:23-ish, it kinda disappears behind the chimes. I'd also give the main bass a little bit more depth, it's a bit hollow sounding.

    Edit: Well I don't have anything better to do right now and I like this OST so I posted my thoughts on the rest. Overall I think this is great stuff and hope you keep going with it!

    For Step Up I think the echo channels for the main lead are a bit too loud and prefer the original instrument choice I think. But it's still really good and fleshed out in a suitable way. I would've liked to hear the main hook played "straight" one more time before the remixed part where you play around with the beat though I think (that part is really cool though btw), it takes a good while to come back to that part as it is in the original. Well, just my first impression anyway. Nice bass fills here too.

    A Prologue is great, especially the drop before it gets going and the chilly break part. Got some blade runner vibes from that.

    Bracky News gets a thumbs up as well, nice guitar and bass additions. Actually worth listening to more than once now.

    Mystery is really cool except for the very first lead synth which sounds kind of cheesy and like something you'd hear in old OCremix tracks. Didn't expect the metal part but it works pretty well. The stabby part at 2m20s-ish is the only other thing I'm not sure about, as it makes me think of the chip 'n dale theme.

    For Advanced, I feel the chorus lead should have a bit more clarity and oomph to it, it gets lost behind the drums and bright bass. Other than that it's really cool overall, with some great drumming. Towards the end it kinda sounds like everything is falling apart arrangement-wise instead of going back to the chorus like you'd expect but I guess it's not done yet.

    Silent Zone - Not sure how to explain it but it feels like all the backing harmonies are fighting for attention here and the lead doesn't stand out enough, it sounds a bit overworked at least up until 0:50-ish. Maybe have the plucky guitar playing only in the second verse and don't have it playing in stereo?
    I also didn't like the rephrasing of the melodies around 2:50-ish onwards. Sorry I'm just rather attached to the original here and it didn't think it added anything, but other than that it's a cool arrangement.

    Power sounds cool! The added percussion and lead choices work rather well. Enjoyed that sliding bass part a lot. If I had to change one thing, idk but maybe the bass shouldn't be in stereo for the whole thing.

    Home and Over - These also sound good to me, really liked the added section to the latter in particular. "Blocked out"? You did a lot more here than that it sounded like hehe.
    Mini-reviews, retro sound chip tribute, romhacks and general listage at my site: Mini-Revver.

    Bonk

    #6
    July 04, 2021, 02:26:45 AM
    Quote from: Spooniest on July 02, 2021, 12:53:51 PM
    Yeah.

    It may be a week or two until I can sit and listen to them at my leisure; Shakespeare got to get paid, after all. But I will definitely do it at some point.
    Always appreciate a fresh take on a song when you've been entrenched and only hearing your own ideas for a long time. It's got a few sloppy moments, but I like the direction you took!  :thumbsup:


    Quote from: peixemacaco on July 02, 2021, 01:19:33 PM
    Bonk, I wish great success on your Phantasy Star project.
    I'm not trully Rpg fan, but I think you can find some great PS music on Phantasy Star Online game.

    I had contributed with ArcadeTV in the MSU-MD version of Super Monaco GP on catching the original songs and voices from the arcade version.

    No more Donald Duck voices on Genesis version :laugh:

    http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=32330.msg408913#msg408913

    Nelson
    Very cool! Have any video footage of what you guys did?



    Quote from: PresidentLeever on July 02, 2021, 01:44:45 PM
    Had a listen to Restoration and it sounds really cool to me! Similar to the PS rearrangements on the Saturn collection IIRC. The improv part is also pretty neat.
    If I'd change anything it's to make some of the leads stand out more such as the one at 1:23-ish, it kinda disappears behind the chimes. I'd also give the main bass a little bit more depth, it's a bit hollow sounding.

    Edit: Well I don't have anything better to do right now and I like this OST so I posted my thoughts on the rest. Overall I think this is great stuff and hope you keep going with it!

    For Step Up I think the echo channels for the main lead are a bit too loud and prefer the original instrument choice I think. But it's still really good and fleshed out in a suitable way. I would've liked to hear the main hook played "straight" one more time before the remixed part where you play around with the beat though I think (that part is really cool though btw), it takes a good while to come back to that part as it is in the original. Well, just my first impression anyway. Nice bass fills here too.

    A Prologue is great, especially the drop before it gets going and the chilly break part. Got some blade runner vibes from that.

    Bracky News gets a thumbs up as well, nice guitar and bass additions. Actually worth listening to more than once now.

    Mystery is really cool except for the very first lead synth which sounds kind of cheesy and like something you'd hear in old OCremix tracks. Didn't expect the metal part but it works pretty well. The stabby part at 2m20s-ish is the only other thing I'm not sure about, as it makes me think of the chip 'n dale theme.

    For Advanced, I feel the chorus lead should have a bit more clarity and oomph to it, it gets lost behind the drums and bright bass. Other than that it's really cool overall, with some great drumming. Towards the end it kinda sounds like everything is falling apart arrangement-wise instead of going back to the chorus like you'd expect but I guess it's not done yet.

    Silent Zone - Not sure how to explain it but it feels like all the backing harmonies are fighting for attention here and the lead doesn't stand out enough, it sounds a bit overworked at least up until 0:50-ish. Maybe have the plucky guitar playing only in the second verse and don't have it playing in stereo?
    I also didn't like the rephrasing of the melodies around 2:50-ish onwards. Sorry I'm just rather attached to the original here and it didn't think it added anything, but other than that it's a cool arrangement.

    Power sounds cool! The added percussion and lead choices work rather well. Enjoyed that sliding bass part a lot. If I had to change one thing, idk but maybe the bass shouldn't be in stereo for the whole thing.

    Home and Over - These also sound good to me, really liked the added section to the latter in particular. "Blocked out"? You did a lot more here than that it sounded like hehe.

    Thank you for taking the time to write such detailed notes! I appreciate this more than you know.

    1. This is definitely a mixing issue that i've thought about too, since a lot of these mixes are rough WIPs the mixes are not very polished. I've got the base ideas, but it's definitely not finished! So these mirror some of the things I have thought myself. Once all songs are blocked out I plan on going back through every single song to make major adjustments, new recordings, any creative changes.
    Doing it this way helps me a lot because it helps me keep track of the bigger picture and have time to process what my initial ideas were when trying to write the arrangement. If I try to do heavy mixing while writing the song out i'll get too lost in the details rather than focusing too early.

    2. For the main lead, do you mean the super wide reverbed guitars? Or the short attack FM synth lead that kicks in after the intro?
    I may be able to work in one more straight played version when I go back to this. This is exactly the kind of ideas from outside my own head that I need. Because with music the way you intrinsically feel about a song or it's structure is different when you are the audience instead of the creator. So I have these ideas based on my own expectations as a listener, but you can't always get the whole perspective when you know every nook of a piece and have heard it hundreds of times.  FWIW, the beat change is a change to 9/4 time signature. Very uncommon but I really like how it sounds. PSII's music in places does use some different signatures so I tried to include things like that into the arrangements.

    3. Blade runner is exactly what I felt like it gave off. I want to expand that a little more maybe once I return to finish this one.

    4.Bracky News is a song where I tried to expand it while keeping the core elements of the original jingle. Which is way too short. This 1+ minute section is what I originally was going to just use as a sort of loopable base. But since I last worked on it I have come up with some ideas to add to it when I go back. Like trying to work in a reference to the shop theme from PS1 on the second pass. :P

    5.Yeah the synth lead here is a place holder and I don't like it at all either actually. I had been using a different one, but due to some technical problems I couldn't use them when I was last working on the song. The bug was fixed later so I can return to that once I get back to it. And yes the ending is actually just a placeholder loop as well because I was planning after the 2 minute mark to loop back run the whole 3 variations again before an ending. Don't know if that will be too repetitive however. Got a link to the Chip and Dale song that synth reminds you of? I'm very curious now! :D

    6.Advanced has been the most difficult to do as I had a lot of ideas and trouble fitting some of them together.
    My vocoder was not behaving so the finished song should actually have some neat robotic leads. That first chorus section sounds kind of weak because of it. You may have also noticed the Bass switching off after the first chorus as well, I switched to using a Synth so I could write out the bass lines and this will be replaced with live electic bass in the final song. The last section before the WIP cuts off i'm not so sure about yet because I was trying to work in some more wankery but not sure what yet. Either way it will use the chorus section repeated to an ending of some kind. I really wanted to make the arrangement of this sort of "Advanced"since that's what the song is called, so there's never an exact repeated section as every section has variation along with several time signature and key changes.  I wanted it to be very Prog Rock so to speak.In addition to this after about 2 minutes or so it's actually a hybrid remix of Advanced and sections of Forest 1 and Forest 2 from PSO
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXWI82eN1tk
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuFZB_1ehKo

    There are some muddy issues with the mix for sure.

    7. Silent Zone is in the worst shape mix wise as I did the least work for it a ton of changes in store for that one. Kind of want it to have a late 70's /early 80's jazz fusion feel though overall. The main section A melody at 2:50 i've never liked no matter how many times i've listened to it.
    At this point in the song it's actually switched to a 9/4 time signature (This requires the rhythm of the melody to change a bit), so I think that needs to be reworked and some stuff changed/added. However at 3:29 I really love this section (Continuing on in 9/4)and is my favorite part of the song actually >_>. The bass line in the 3:29 section B is ironically the most faithful to the original bass line of the song and not only that but the synth being used here is actually the exact same 2612 FM patch on 2 channels and then bussed with some effects.
    (The bass line from 2:29 onward is the same actually.)
    What may be throwing off how you feel about the first half of the song may be the conflicting high frequency information pulling your ear's attention away. For example the hard panned left FM Bell patch and the other section 2 lead synth/clean guitar melody lead panned hard left.
    This was initially intentional to mimic some mixing and sound choices of early stereo music. But some of it does sound a bit odd.

    8.Yeah I actually have been thinking about changing that bass choice as it doesn't sound quite right for a lot of reasons.(Stereo width is coming from an over zealous Juno 6 chorus with the width to max lol) I'll definitely do a lot of work on that.

    9. I feel apprehensive about Home in particular as I feel it's the simplest structure wise of most of the arrangements. I was definitely more inspired by the soundscapes of PSO for a lot of the instrument choices. (In addition to the chord progression change in the 2nd section of the song that I made in the slower part of the song)


    Thanks a ton for sharing your impressions. It's very helpful!

    Spooniest

    #7
    July 04, 2021, 02:49:18 AM
    Quote from: Bonk on July 04, 2021, 02:26:45 AM
    It's got a few sloppy moments

    This compliment sandwich is delicious lol

    Nah, no need to assess this as a serious recording. That one was done for highly personal reasons and I didn't care about the quality of it really.
    Yamero~~!

    PresidentLeever

    #8
    July 04, 2021, 08:15:43 AM
    Quote from: Bonk on July 04, 2021, 02:26:45 AM

    1. This is definitely a mixing issue that i've thought about too, since a lot of these mixes are rough WIPs the mixes are not very polished. I've got the base ideas, but it's definitely not finished! So these mirror some of the things I have thought myself. Once all songs are blocked out I plan on going back through every single song to make major adjustments, new recordings, any creative changes.
    Doing it this way helps me a lot because it helps me keep track of the bigger picture and have time to process what my initial ideas were when trying to write the arrangement. If I try to do heavy mixing while writing the song out i'll get too lost in the details rather than focusing too early.

    2. For the main lead, do you mean the super wide reverbed guitars? Or the short attack FM synth lead that kicks in after the intro?
    I may be able to work in one more straight played version when I go back to this. This is exactly the kind of ideas from outside my own head that I need. Because with music the way you intrinsically feel about a song or it's structure is different when you are the audience instead of the creator. So I have these ideas based on my own expectations as a listener, but you can't always get the whole perspective when you know every nook of a piece and have heard it hundreds of times.  FWIW, the beat change is a change to 9/4 time signature. Very uncommon but I really like how it sounds. PSII's music in places does use some different signatures so I tried to include things like that into the arrangements.

    3. Blade runner is exactly what I felt like it gave off. I want to expand that a little more maybe once I return to finish this one.

    4.Bracky News is a song where I tried to expand it while keeping the core elements of the original jingle. Which is way too short. This 1+ minute section is what I originally was going to just use as a sort of loopable base. But since I last worked on it I have come up with some ideas to add to it when I go back. Like trying to work in a reference to the shop theme from PS1 on the second pass. :P

    5.Yeah the synth lead here is a place holder and I don't like it at all either actually. I had been using a different one, but due to some technical problems I couldn't use them when I was last working on the song. The bug was fixed later so I can return to that once I get back to it. And yes the ending is actually just a placeholder loop as well because I was planning after the 2 minute mark to loop back run the whole 3 variations again before an ending. Don't know if that will be too repetitive however. Got a link to the Chip and Dale song that synth reminds you of? I'm very curious now! :D

    6.Advanced has been the most difficult to do as I had a lot of ideas and trouble fitting some of them together.
    My vocoder was not behaving so the finished song should actually have some neat robotic leads. That first chorus section sounds kind of weak because of it. You may have also noticed the Bass switching off after the first chorus as well, I switched to using a Synth so I could write out the bass lines and this will be replaced with live electic bass in the final song. The last section before the WIP cuts off i'm not so sure about yet because I was trying to work in some more wankery but not sure what yet. Either way it will use the chorus section repeated to an ending of some kind. I really wanted to make the arrangement of this sort of "Advanced"since that's what the song is called, so there's never an exact repeated section as every section has variation along with several time signature and key changes.  I wanted it to be very Prog Rock so to speak.In addition to this after about 2 minutes or so it's actually a hybrid remix of Advanced and sections of Forest 1 and Forest 2 from PSO
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXWI82eN1tk
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuFZB_1ehKo

    There are some muddy issues with the mix for sure.

    7. Silent Zone is in the worst shape mix wise as I did the least work for it a ton of changes in store for that one. Kind of want it to have a late 70's /early 80's jazz fusion feel though overall. The main section A melody at 2:50 i've never liked no matter how many times i've listened to it.
    At this point in the song it's actually switched to a 9/4 time signature (This requires the rhythm of the melody to change a bit), so I think that needs to be reworked and some stuff changed/added. However at 3:29 I really love this section (Continuing on in 9/4)and is my favorite part of the song actually >_>. The bass line in the 3:29 section B is ironically the most faithful to the original bass line of the song and not only that but the synth being used here is actually the exact same 2612 FM patch on 2 channels and then bussed with some effects.
    (The bass line from 2:29 onward is the same actually.)
    What may be throwing off how you feel about the first half of the song may be the conflicting high frequency information pulling your ear's attention away. For example the hard panned left FM Bell patch and the other section 2 lead synth/clean guitar melody lead panned hard left.
    This was initially intentional to mimic some mixing and sound choices of early stereo music. But some of it does sound a bit odd.

    8.Yeah I actually have been thinking about changing that bass choice as it doesn't sound quite right for a lot of reasons.(Stereo width is coming from an over zealous Juno 6 chorus with the width to max lol) I'll definitely do a lot of work on that.

    9. I feel apprehensive about Home in particular as I feel it's the simplest structure wise of most of the arrangements. I was definitely more inspired by the soundscapes of PSO for a lot of the instrument choices. (In addition to the chord progression change in the 2nd section of the song that I made in the slower part of the song)

    Thanks a ton for sharing your impressions. It's very helpful!

    1. Right, I figured with your skills some of my comments are probably super obvious things but like you said and in my own experience, one can become "deaf" to certain details if working on something for a long time. Sometimes just a break does the trick or someone else listening to it can do the same. Can definitely relate to your comment about mixing too, I have various unfinished songs laying around because of getting bogged down with this aspect myself.

    2 (Step Up) - I mean the latter here, the FM synth lead. Right, I'm coming from this being pretty familiar with the originals which are often both short and following more of a pop song structure. So I come at it with that expectation, which is not better or worse and I also listen to a bunch of prog, drone and ambient music elsewhere for example. If your goal is to balance experimentation with capturing the original fans and/or fans of pop music though I guess my comment would be relevant then.

    4. Cool, looking forward to hearing what you come up with there. It's really good as is now too. I'm not sure how long the in-game scene is so that might be worth considering

    5. Sure, checkout the chorus here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSPG9NPj73E
    Not that this is bad, it just jumped out at me as similr. Either way it does pretty much fit the vibe of that segment and has a bouncy 80s feel to it.

    6. Hehe right! I think that idea works well here, it's certainly not something you'd get bored listening to. That makes sense regarding the vocoder, I didn't notice it so was wondering if maybe it's not in there yet.
    Nice, I thought I heard some PSO in a couple tracks but I'm not as familiar with that one and it's a more subtle score overall.

    7. Yeah in regards to the mixing I think it's a combination of that, the stereo effect and the brighness and plucky attacks on the backing instruments, as well as the lead not standing out as much as them. The original has one of the stronger melodies in the OST so I feel it should be rooted in that more after the intro.
    But 3:29 is pretty interesting and if it went back to the intro at 4:00-ish instead of the slower new part it might work better (if it's meant to be a continuous loop). Or if the part before that was changed so the melody and perhaps the beat as well is more faithful.

    8. I tend to like stereo bass like that when I hear it in chiptunes with hard panning, but switching it up at some point could help distinguish each part of the song maybe, since in headphones it becomes a dominant part to my ears as I listen to it even if doing something else at the same time.

    Again looking forward to the next update, this was pretty awesome to hear!
    I was actually doing some YM2151 mixes of the original songs a while back myself, but it didn't end up becoming a project due to the guy I made them for having problems adding the songs to the PS2 remake of PSII. Either way this is much more ambitious and professional sounding than what I was doing but if you want to hear them here's the one that was the most well received (you can find one more on YT and two others on soundcloud under the same username): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sBe2-pnlQI
    Mini-reviews, retro sound chip tribute, romhacks and general listage at my site: Mini-Revver.

    peixemacaco

    #9
    July 05, 2021, 01:06:03 PM
    Bonk
    Very cool! Have any video footage of what you guys did?

    =========================================================

    Hi Bonk! Hope to see a video of your project very soon.

    This is the video for the original MSU made by ArcadeTV with my contribution
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dti1ii337aQ

    And this one, Super Monaco GP Brasil , I did after some talks to ArcadeTV and his explanation on how to change the songs/voices into the iso he created.

    Some interesting songs as BBC for F1 sports (The Chain) and some others.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IOOKXOPbvo

    Just a little problem, ArcadeTV is trying to solve, when the gear is down, the sound get silent for a while, till you gear up.

    Nelson
    Super Monaco GP... It garnered an at-the-time unprecedented 10–10–9–9 rating from Electronic Gaming Monthly's Review and wasn`t a F Indy title.

    Bonk

    #10
    July 13, 2021, 11:08:32 PM Last Edit: July 19, 2021, 04:17:02 AM by Bonk
    First WIP of Pressure (There will be an 4-8 bar intro for this... I uhh just can't quite think of it yet.)
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DcsP5S3JAn4PSGUU31Cv3n_ajgO6G3NQ/view?usp=sharing
    July 19, 2021, 04:17:02 AM - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)

    2nd WIP
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/15ZW2arg6QtF6N1LXeMBdayl1lcQkW58N/view?usp=sharing
    Really capturing what I had in mind in my head so far with the core song.
    Beware! Rendered this one with the volume up too high sorry.

    Bonk

    #11
    August 22, 2021, 03:23:35 AM Last Edit: August 22, 2021, 03:29:27 AM by Bonk
    Next WIP of Pressure. Not much done, I had been working on it more recently but came down with Covid a few weeks ago despite getting vaccinated in Janurary. (Meanwhile none of my co workers got it and until this last week was only one of 2 in my department who actually were vaccinated. Now 3.  ::)They were lucky they didn't catch it. And the only other place besides work where I could've picked it up was at the grocery store. Only other place I go. But i've always worn a mask in public so of course, the one who tries to follow the rules to place the least risk on the greatest number of people is the one who gets the bad thing. Typical of luck in my life. Looking out for others and the one getting knocked down in their stead.)So last few weeks didn't feel well enough to do any work.

    Having a little bit of hard time with this one but it's mostly mental I think. Or mixing/instrument choice related. (Instruments are still very WIP) I have the structure planned out on paper already. I just have to make it work .

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AjTLaRjq88M-Tpp1CEg_Lpqd50UiUjby/view?usp=sharing

    PresidentLeever

    #12
    August 22, 2021, 06:41:56 AM
    Yikes, glad to hear you're doing better.

    This sounds cool! I really like the progression of it and the main hook's synth there. I would say maybe the chorus snare could have a bit more oomph or high end to it.

    Mini-reviews, retro sound chip tribute, romhacks and general listage at my site: Mini-Revver.

    Bonk

    #13
    August 23, 2021, 01:14:41 AM
    Thanks for the feedback! I'll take a look at that. I was actually kind of thinking the snare was lacking just a little bit, it's a lower tuned snare so the primary energy is in the 130hz range I think. I see what I can do with it as I go. :)

    I'm really lucky I didn't get sick enough to be hospitalized. I've known a lot of people who have. (Here in southern Oregon, Delta is hitting strong and hard.)Scary stuff and very thankful to the makers of the vaccines.

    PolishedTurd

    #14
    August 23, 2021, 09:04:43 PM
    Some constructive criticism here. You have too many voices that are busy at the same time and in the same part of the frequency spectrum. Namely, the upper mids. Many times, I struggle to find the melody or even rhythm of these songs which I know very well. So, I recommend arranging the accompaniment to a lower register, making it quieter, less busy, or possibly even absent so that the primary element has space. Don't try to make all parts interesting all the time.

    The lesson I had to learn as a drummer was to always serve the song, even when it means playing a boring part or playing quietly.

    Otherwise, I do like hearing these songs reimagined on 80s synths.

    Bonk

    #15
    August 25, 2021, 02:19:56 AM
    I think a lot of that has to do with a lot of the mixing. (Although on my monitors I can easily discern almost every line. But that's because I made it probably. One of the difficulty things about mixing). The mixing on a lot of stuff is pretty muddy and unfocused because i'm trying to get get the overall arrangements (And general production ideas. Which is why some songs have heavier effects like reverb than others are more dry).done first before going back to do further performance passes on every song and the final mixing/mastering passes last.

    Some accompaniment lines will probably modified or removed on further passes too as I completely get what you mean about that. It's a fine line to walk with arrangement. I've already done a lot of this on some songs and on Pressure for example since that's the most recent, there was some clean guitar lines and harmony in the 2nd loop I had written out that just seemed too distracting or didn't work. So axed it.

    I appreciate the criticism and I will definitely keep that in mind as I work further. :thumbsup:

    Bonk

    #16
    October 04, 2021, 03:39:20 AM
    Still been plugging away at it here and there trying to get close what I originally envisioned in my head. Still a lot placeholder performances for bass/guitar solos and stuff. But the foundation is there.
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EfFFAfDj-fF5JW034s7O82aHjm7l9VqP/view?usp=sharing

    Bonk

    #17
    February 18, 2022, 04:15:21 AM Last Edit: February 21, 2022, 05:00:13 AM by Bonk
    It's been a while, lack of motivation(Anxiety) and work have been taking a little bit of a toll.
    But i've been slowly starting on new tracks.

    Here's my first WIP for Excite Townhttps://drive.google.com/file/d/1hUs2gwCaC8w6Y-oOKA8aJH172GhHxrE8/view?usp=sharing
    I'm not quite happy with the intro yet and the mixing is slapped together. Let me know what you think of the direction this is taking if you have thoughts.
    February 21, 2022, 05:00:13 AM - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H5HoluNOhkfHATu1EMRaGYKB3-_4VlQW/view?usp=sharing

    Next WIP. Feel like i'm liking this a bit more.

    Bonk

    #18
    March 08, 2022, 12:31:50 PM
    Levels and mix are all over the place. But it's sounding better I think.
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vACfhWhAK7Tk8pjejCvQ8ncJtF1AUFdW/view?usp=sharing

    Bonk

    #19
    March 30, 2022, 07:00:30 AM
    Almost done with Excite Town , some changes to the mix and performances.  :beer:
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SuLxM2JjMj5EHBE4AT6unppJC4s6Li9Z/view?usp=sharing

    Can't ever seem to keep one of the arpeggiators in check though and you can hear it desyncing and going out of time here and there. Erg!!
    Print
    Go Up Pages1 2
    User actions