How about a little "Show off your music" thread...

#1 I would actually like to know what the recomended software would be to do composition, a-la midi or the sort.

i have heard a lot of good things about reason, but it is rather spendy.. any other suggestions?

#2 There are a number of programs out there that have been discussed by various people in the forums. Everyone has their favorites. Personally, I really like Reason 3 and Sony's Acid Pro 5. I also use Sound Forge from Sony for a lot of the track effect work. For hardware I primarily use an Evolution keyboard and some M-Audio equipment. The Evolution keyboard isn't too high end, but it works well with Reason and gives me what I want. I do a lot of the guitar work the old fashioned way.

For other software, there's CuBase, Cakewalk, Fruity Loops, and lower end versions of the Sony software line that work pretty well. I'm sure others out there can mention many more. I haven't tried any of the others in years, and I don't do midi, so I'm afraid I can't help you much...

#3 Doesnt Reason support midi? i think this is probably what I will end up using when music time comes (a lot of free songs to download and alter as you wish)

ps: sorry for hijacking your thread. I am not an active musician, but will apreciate what you or others post :)

#4 Yes, Reason does support midi, so does Acid Pro. I just don't personally do midi. No problem on the hijack, it's a good question. There are a lot of people out there doing midi and a lot of it is good stuff.

#5 I would be interested. I'm working on my site right now so that I will be able to link from it.
-Ajari-

#6 Sounds good Ajari. I don't have a site set up for that either, but I have an old site I use sometimes for temp transfers and stuff. Then I just put whatever in a folder on the site and link to that folder. When my boys and I decided to get into Indie games I did set up a site for that, but it's still pretty barren. Thought we'd actually produce a game before I concentrate on site work.

Anxious to hear your music...
Terry

#7 Hmmm...

Not sure why, but I thought as important as music is to a game that people might want to show samples of that off as well as their graphical artwork. Ronaldo Petoral's post with some really good music samples made me think of it, but it appears that may not be the case. Not having worked much with Markup Lite I'm not sure how to link directly to an MP3 (I did see how to do it for URL/IMAGE/etc.), or I'd get the ball rolling. Maybe just a bad idea...?

T

#8 I think posting samples up is a cool idea - unfortunately I've just finished the Determinance soundtrack so there's not really any work in progress any more. If I get permission I might put up some bits and pieces of the completed tracks, though.

I'd really like to hear some stuff other people are doing - particularly things that are a little bit off the wall. Wouldn't mind hosting some stuff on my site if people need that...

Joining the software part of the thread, I've just upgraded to Live 5. I love Ableton's approach generally, and despite the bugs in 5 it's been a massive jump from my old setup. The flexibility is great, the way it handles audio is great, VST compatability is (generally) great, and I believe it needs serious support as a contender against Logic.

#9 You guys will get a chance to hear some of my stuff in a few games and projects being made here at Garage Games. One that I feel pretty comfortable talking about right now is Monster Island. They are very hard at work on the beta. It was planned to be realeased today but they are making some last minute touches. Hopefully it will be released in the next day or so. One song I made for the jungle style level is very simple because of time and file size constraints. At first, I was worried that maybe it was a little too simple, but now I actually like how simple it is and don't plan to change it. But I still think it'll fit well with the stage (if they choose to use it with that stage).

The other one is a song that wasn't made for Monster Island so I'm not sure how well it'll fit into the game but Alan James liked it so I let them use it. I won't really be able to tell how well it will fit until I play the game for myself and get a sense for how fast combat will be. I haven't played the beta yet but their site (ReallyReallyGoodThings.Com) has tons of videos and pics that helped me alot. You guys make sure and check out the beta when it's announced and let me know what you think of the game and the music.
-Ajari-

#10 I've worked on a few projects that people who have been around GG a while may be familiar with. I've done music for Realm Wars and Amped Labs' Burger Wars & Rise of Power. Oh, and I have some tracks at GameBeavers, too. I don't have music from them specifically online at present, but I do have a portfolio up at my Zebox page that has an assortment of relatively current stuff I've worked on (mostly orchestral action material). Maybe I'll get some of the newer Realm Wars tracks and the old 'Hymn to the Burger War' (for which we had an actual live choir, which was great) up on there if there is interest.

Additionally, I am selling royalty free music tracks intended for use in games over at GameBeep. The current allotment is intended for action based games, so if any developers here are making such games (and I'm pretty sure you are), you might want to stop over there and listen to the lo-fi sample versions of the tracks I have available for licensing.

I use Gigastudio, Sonar, some Kompakt based products, and Absynth for the bulk of my compositions.

#11

Quote:From Terry, ... Ronaldo Petoral's post with some really good music samples made me think of it, but it appears that may not be the case.

Hi Terry,

Thanks for the wonderful comment... As a new member of this nice forum(garagegames) it is a pleasure introducing myself as well as my works. I would encourage other fellow music composers as well as sound designers to post their current works not to show off but for the benefit of our creative game developers here. It's not about music being composed/produced well or using the most expensive gears/softwares etc. It's about how well can you translate into musical perspective what the producers or any game developers are looking for. As you can see from all those japanese games, most of them are produced using some dated synthesizers & sounds that is sooo old. But does it work with the game? The answer is up to the producer of a certain game. A cheesy organ composition may not work with an RPG like game with lots of actions & adventure, but it could be perfect for some 2D "mario- alike" kind of game. You can disagree, its a free world...
Back to posting our own work..., I think it's a good idea. We could constantly update our old as well as the new members of this forum about the types of music we're creating. And we could also learn from one another how they work with such a game. Isn't that the idea of why such forums exist?

jackULL

#12 Hi jackULL,

I really liked the music, especially the rock. I do some orchestral, some country/blues, but rock is what I enjoy most. More classic style hard rock than anything else, but I've been trying to get into some of the grunge/punk stuff (do they still call it that?) because my boys tell me that's what works these days. I still haven't taken time to figure out how to direct link to an MP3 in Markup Lite, or I'd send a couple of samples back your way. And I do like your idea of bouncing samples off each other.

T

#13

Quote: I really liked the music, especially the rock. I do some orchestral, some country/blues, but rock is what I enjoy most. More classic style hard rock than anything else, but I've been trying to get into some of the grunge/punk stuff (do they still call it that?) because my boys tell me that's what works these days. I still haven't taken time to figure out how to direct link to an MP3 in Markup Lite, or I'd send a couple of samples back your way. And I do like your idea of bouncing samples off each other.

Thanks again Terry,

I would say just keep on writing music in any style. When I write those rock pieces, I don't think if it's punk or metal. I just write whatever feels right for me & I'm glad that people likes. I'm not sure which styles of music works these days... I just go with what the producer wants to hear on his project. In terms of linking the mp3, I use dreamweaver & of course I got a hosting site for my files. I'm still looking for somebody to do my website...

jackULL

#14 I pretty much do the same thing, just write whatever feels good that day. I have dozens of little things that I started, couldn't figure out where I wanted to go with them. Keep telling myself I'll get back to them someday, and sometimes I do. I just enjoy making the music, it's a nice break from more tedious tasks, like coding.

I don't have any problem linking to files on any my sites, it's just the Markup Lite here in the forums that I'm not sure of. The help shows how to do URL's, Images, and Quotes, but not MP3 files. I've tried to fake it, but it didn't work. A search through the forums didn't pull anything up, either. As I get time I'll keep playing with it till I figure it out, just been kind of busy...

T

A little Kicker

Edit: I think the link above works. May not be the right way to do it, but hey.....Anyway, this is a sample of something I did for a cutscene intro to a shooter. I'd still be interested to see what others are doing, just from a musician's perpespective. Maybe we could toss something out here once in a while...

#15 Okay, maybe a couple of other pieces to get things going...

Sample of a little in-flight space thing, ended up not using it:
Spacey (kinda)

Sample of a driving piece loop:
Driving

Piece I used for a scrolling credits screen - to monotonous for anything else:
For Credits

Anybody else?

T

#16 Whats a good site to post music that allows linking? Also the beta for Monster Island is out if anybody is interested. It's a little buggy right now and the music from the intro causes the jungle level music to flip out. But if you exit out of the stage and return for some reason the intro music won't play and the jungle music will be fine. The game is pretty fun IMO and I think they are off to a good start.
-Ajari-

#17 I noticed that Paul Taylor in the post above said he wouldn't mind hosting some stuff on his site.

T

#18 You can hear samples of mine at my home page. I have done music for a couple of games, but have many more tracks for indie films. Let me know if you think I might be able to help you!

I use Sonar and GigaStudio for everything I record. When I have to print scores, I use Sibelius.

Nick

#19 I'm totally new to this forum (I actually ran into a link for this site in my current issue of Computer Music magazine), but thought that I would introduce myself, and also my music. I've been creating electronic music for the last few years, but haven't done much else with it other than submitting it to places like mp3.com (before it's rebirth) and http://www.funender.com.

I'm very interested in getting some of my music out to game developers, but I'm not exactly sure how to do that. In the meantime, I can tag along with the rest of you guys here and hope that I can learn something new :)

If you would take a listen to some of my stuff here: http://www.funender.com/music/maximillian_x, let me know what you think - some tracks aren't really game/movie friendly, but I would guess that a few of them are...

Thanks everyone - this looks like just the site I needed...

Rob

#20 @Nick: Very nice stuff, and an impressive assortment. Guess I'll have to dust off some of my slower, cleaner tracks. I really enjoy doing the orchestral and the ambience, but I have to admit I'm more of an old rocker. Once in a while a little blues or some fast picking dulcimer. Anyway, very good, I enjoyed the listen.

@Rob: Welcome to the site. Overall a great bunch of hard working guys and gals here. For some reason not so much interest in the music side though, as you can tell by the number of posts here over time. You've done some interesting things. I especially liked "If Then" and "Agent 26". Very close to game type material.

Glad to see some actual posts here, I hope the trend continues...

/Terry