Welcome to the fiery dance floor. ;)

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Genre(s): Electronica (peppered with a mixture of Psytrance / Trance, Dubstep, Anthem EDM, Trip Hop and "Happy Hardcore" [i.e. Nightcore])

BPM: 160

Key: D minor

Time Spent: ~ 24 hrs

Tracks/Channels Used: 16

Mood: Dance!?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czcqx17yQJI

2nd Source Used, Heat Man Stage Theme (Mega Man 2 - NES):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OJphbcA9SY

Focuses This Round:

* Just Playing Around with Genre Styles...

Notes:

- ...Hope you enjoy. :)

Full Title: The Sinking Old Underground Empire (Upon Her Shores, Watching as She Slips into the Cavernous Seas...)

Really wish I had a hurdy-gurdy, lute and gospel choir to hand for this...Soup, let me borrow yours. :( Pretty proud of this one, despite the horrendous struggle with 3/4 time signature and lack of track space to add even more instruments and complex layering / cuts to it. Hope others find it pretty and interesting. :)

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Genre(s): Bardic / Medieval Renaissance / Hymnal Litany vs Classical Orchestra (Full Ensemble)

BPM: 100

Key: Bb Minor vs F# Dorian

Time Spent: ~ 15 hrs

Tracks/Channels Used: 16

Mood: The haunting melodies of Metroidvania, Diablo series and Souls-like games

2nd Source Used, The Sinking Old Sanctuary (Art Tower Ver.):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRrJQiYR5Gw

Focuses This Round:

* Instrumentation 'Realism', 'Live' Sound, Balance & EQ

* Use of Full MIDI (No Loops or Samples Used At All)

* General Composition Depth & Breadth

Notes:

- Original thought was to make the song a weird pirate sea shanty with funk elements or hip-hop with trance elements thing, but I saw yesterday that everybody else pretty much did the same sort of ideas, give or take (except Souperion I believe), so I totally changed my mind altogether and took a step his and Anachromium's usual direction (thank you for the inspiration, my dudes).

- Used my favourite Castlevania song of all time, 'The Sinking Old Sanctuary' (the Art Tower version from Legacy of Darkness) as an intertwined piece with 'The Great Underground Empire - Track 08'. Hearing the latter in a slower BPM seriously reminded me of Castlevania...

- There's a theme and idea behind the composition. Likewise with Shinobi III & Rise of the Robots, where it was supposed to give a very alien yet enigmatic, sinister allure as the piece goes on, in "building" some kind of tower or idol to the sky for darker forces whispering into your very soul; this song is supposed to be dualistic on purpose.

- 'The Great Underground Empire' part I composed to be whimsical and lightweight, reflective of better times--the peak of prosperity and commerce when the great empire below was vast, flourishing and wealthy. A tale of its golden age. 'The Sinking Old Sanctuary' is supposed to give the feeling of that slowly wasting away, like Atlantis when it fell into the sea. The cavern crumbles. Gold and riches are ancient relics of the past. Building, art and sculpture erodes with time as the empire's people abandons her. Hopefully the dichotomy of sounds amplifies the comparison and contrast between the two points in time, but are melded together well enough not to sound too discordant.

- The song is purposefully faithful to the source, lacking any form of heavier percussion, cymbal or drumwork with the exception of some bells and a tambourine--even though I adjusted the repetitive beat's note velocity and rhythm to be a little more entertaining than the original from Zork.

- Solo violin with harpsichord & string accompaniment was inspired by 'Opposing Bloodlines', the intro title song from the Castlevania 64 series (and in Rondo of Blood, too, as a way more jazzy / hard rock piece). And the song's intro is inspired by 'Movement VIII. The Waterfalls of Agharta', from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

Opposing Bloodlines:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu4MN5C6Hao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jnLMJvoYvs

VIII. Waterfalls of Agharta:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BCT5OzGrhc

Please, stay awhile and listen. <3

*Shrugs*

...I tried. <3

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Genre: Electronica / Electric-Orchestra

BPM: 85

Key: C Major

Inspiration: The Glitch Mob

The song beckoned for both some kind of '80s retro synthwave feel and goofy, TV show, astronaut-turned-bionic-cop-commando-action-funtime. . .

I answered the call. ;)

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Main Focuses this Round:

• * Playing & Enhancing MIDI Sound Quality
• * Quick Composition
• * Small Mixing Tweaks

Notes:

1. Fairly simplistic additions to the actual song, but I hope it's a fun trip to listen to with the vox samples used!
2. Inspired by: Mega Man (NES era / '90s cartoon TV show) & Synthwave & 1980s New Wave (esp. in Japanese Anime and American Sci-Fi Movies & TV Shows)
3. Kept mixing and EQ play lowkey to kind of simulate the feel of old school television in older stereo, possibly mono (so no panning this time.)
4. Time spent on creation: < 8 hrs
5. Channels / Tracks Used: 16
6. Key: C Major / BPM: 160
7. Genre: Dark Synthwave

Side-Note:

EQ messing about was also fast due to time constraints...

Enjoy! <3

When Kirby's feelin' that funky, poppin', electro-dance beat in the sky...

Please enjoy the little surprises throughout, especially the ending. ;) <3

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Main Focuses this Round:

   * Composition Simplicity (e.g. Simplistic Loops w/ MIDI, Simple Cuts & Layering)

   * Use of Space (i.e. Limiting Layering & Overlapping of Instruments and/or Loops & Samples - Yet Still Using Max 16 Tracks in BandLab)

   * Simple EQing & Mixing

Notes:

   - I tried to keep the sounds to mid-higher ranges, with a "light" and "fluffy" feel, befitting a Kirby gaming experience, whilst still adding on that sort of "Pop n' Fresh / Funky" dance beat to the song.

   - Really [tried to] focus on the "MnP" part of this exercise, (not really adding too much to the song that either broke it up too much in the middle or made it too unrecognizable, but still spicing it up towards a different genre and using synths for the MIDI).

   - The song is supposed to give the feeling of "dancing in (outer) space"...at least that was the intent for it.

   - Song is 130 BPM, in the keys of A major vs A minor, (at least, from research, I THINK the main song is A major, lol). Genre: Electro-Pop / Euro-Pop

   - The song was 6:20 or so, but I cut out the 2 mins of ending for a shortened version, (in desperately trying to keep to the MnP...although the cooldown / slowdown appropriate for dance beats tangent was nice. It was a basic reverse / reflection of the beginning section. I did want to keep it but, meh, need to learn when to curb my enthusiasm sometimes.)

   - Didn't have a whole lot of time for this one, but I did the best I could, in trying to be restrictive and creative at the same time...

   - Song MIDI starts @ ~00:30 (bassline for 'Candy Constellation')

   - Was tempted to use vocal chops in the song, but restricted myself to just Kirby game noises.

   - Includes SFX / soundfonts from:

    + Kirby's Super Star / Dream Course (SNES)

    + Super Smash Bros. (Melee / Brawl for GCN and Wii)

    + Kirby Sounds from TerminalMontage YouTube videos / Kirby: Right Back At 'Ya! cartoon

What happens when everyone in band class wants in on your group's after-school jazz slam session? ;)

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Main Focuses this Round:

• * MIDI Instrumentation 'Realism' via 'Humanizing' all MIDI notes, Interplay & Balance (between Foreground, Midground, Background, Left & Right Speakers)
• * Sample Cymbal Runs & Drum Kit Syncronization
• * 7-Band EQing & Tweaks

Notes:

1. There is some 'freedom of expression' and 'improvisation' a la most jazz & blues forms, but keeping 'close to the collar' with the original (i.e. adding notes and layering notes here and there). I wish I could've done a bit more free-form expression, but it's rough and difficult to without an actual instrument to hand.
2. No heavy re-interpretations, 'going outside the box', or mixing with other sources (although it was considered with either "Spear of Justice" or "Waterfall" from Undertale, or perhaps "Ancient Chozo Artifact Ruins" from Metroid Prime, but it was out of my expertise to sync their time and key signatures properly with "Ruins").
3. A tiny bit of vol & pan automation, (if I got around to it, but was low on the priority list.)

Side-Note:

The bit of free-form 'creative' liberties of slightly mismatched drum samples patched together was reminiscent of, and I guess a bit of an ode to how my father used to free-style in drumming to songs, especially by jazz artists. He'd play around not only with consistent beat keeping, but frequent change-ups, utilizing not just a basic drum ensemble but other percussion attachments as well, like cowbells, triangles, wooden blocks / glocks, bongos, etc. As much as we have our differences (and I am no longer very fond of the man), he was very (in)formative in my early years of appreciating music.

This song is for him, although he may or may not ever get to hear it.

Man this one was a doozy...

 

As promised, I managed to incorporate both songs into this, as well as

a bonus third one.
 

Here's the song chosen, also from Estpolis 2 / Lufia II:

 

"The Final Battle" / "The Last Duel"

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYE9buVw3kM

 

Here's some TL;DR:

 

* Might've over-shot ambition / expectation-wise due to skill level

and DAW used, but it's my hope the idea behind everything came across

OK and people enjoy the piece.

 

* Tried to focus more on mixing and mastering, but had to formulate a

lot for the composition, which might've cut the time for the song to

'cook' a bit short, (plus I mistakeningly thought this was due on the

8th of Feb, not the 5th...so I'm just thankful the due date was pushed

back a bit to get this done.)
 

* This is heavily experimental
 

* The idea behind the song is it's supposed to be a sort of medley of

sorts, inspired by 80s cartoons and sci-fi / fantasy OSTs; it goes

from the hero's theme / journey theme to the evil-doer's theme /

march, and finally rounds off with a heralding of the hero's rise & a

sort of ending theme / victory fanfare thereafter -- hence the length

 

* If I had the ability to do sweet guitar solos during certain

sections of the composition, I would've, but the instrument VSTs for

electric-sounding guitars in BandLab are extremely poor quality and

pretty shitty

 

* Total time spent on the project: ~ < 2 days

 

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** FULL-LENGTH SONG IS ON SOUNDCLOUD **

 

https://soundcloud.com/angelique-vodou/rave-racer-lufia-ii-tekno-saviour-the-one-who-will-fight-to-the-last-duel-1

Welp, here's the fun story behind this little tid-bit, about how I re-did this song about 3-4 times before finally giving up and doing this in the end:

 

1. Scrapped the dubstep / rave dance version I had an idea of because it was colouring too much outside the lines of MnP, and the song proved too complex / difficult for my pea-brain mind with BandLab Online's shitty limited selection of pre-made loops and samples and MIDI instruments to handle;
2. Scrapped the fast Latin dance w/ blazing Spanish acoustic riffs (a la FF IX's Vama Alla Flamenco (de Chocobo)) because not enough time, and see above;
3. Settled for option 3 / 4. I tried, but some Chrono Cross songs are too complex to bend to my will without breaking the spirit of MnP.

TL;DR: 

 

Couldn't add much to the song besides a bit of drum & percussion creativity and a sprinkle of vox and ingenuity because of limited things to work with. The song took me, chewed me up and spat me back out worse off for it. My brain power is out of juice, haha.

 

Feels bad, man.

 

It's a bit (way more) laid back and minimalist than my usual flavour--and the sounds might be a lil' too sharp--but my brain's melted to a puddle due to current events at present IRL. However, I hope it's fun to listen to nonetheless, at the very least. ♥

This is a bit of a showcase piece to go along with 'The Rain Won't Stop the Beat'. Aesthetically, it is practically a sister-tune to it (insofar as a more Eastern / Japanese beat). But practically in every other way, it's far different, in tone and tempo. It's like...the Yin to Rainy Turtloid's groovy Yang.

Since we could turn in up to 3 songs, I decided to post this one too, as a kind of hmm, "celebration" of sorts of me coming out of my proverbial shell again and striding out for new horizons with my artistic stuff. This is actually the 3rd song I've ever produced, after a remix of Metal Gear Solid 3's 'Snake Eater' and NieR's 'Song of the Ancients', and it is my first ever original song. I try to be real proud of it, considering I had 0 clue about anything to do with DAWs, loops, VSTs, LFOs, SFXs, samples, midis, etc, and literally jumped into the deep-end of the pool with no life preserver. I just went on the internet, spun a wheel with which MM series I should do and the 'type of stage' (is the Robot Master a fire-type, or water-type, etc), got pinned with MMX & Wood/Forest Maverick, and here we are.

It's also the first of a series of things I was going to do in my spare time, sort of 'What Ifs...' scenarios where if I made a song for a game / franchise, how would it go? So to go along with the kinda weird Mega Man (X / Zero) theme, I present this. :)

Welcome to the Stage of Halcyon Hare - Buried Angkor Wat.

Hope you enjoy. ♥

I said originally in my post for this PRC that I was going to go buck wild and crazy and try doing a 4-in-1 song remix of Castlevania themes. Although I still have the WIP, I quickly found that although I'm loving what I've done so far for it, I feel like I need more practice in the more technical and 'musical' (harmony & melody) side of music production before I step into that territory. I want it to be polished AF, and real awesome, and because Castlevania is one of my all-time favourite VG franchises, I wanted to put my best and all into it and not come at it from a completely n00b standpoint and do the classic and genre-defining songs no justice (plus, I found it to be quite overwhelming to get done within a week and a half or so, with being busy with Xmas & New Year's).

 

And so, I defaulted to something I can do a bit of professional practice on whilst producing something cool and fancy and a bit different. :) Bundeslang sparked this idea in me after seeing and listening to his 'Snakemania' (Mega Man 3) piece, so I decided to make a remix of the stage theme from one of my favourite Mavericks in the whole MMX series. ;) Hope ya'll recognize the tune, and apologies if it sounds a bit wonky at all. This will be my first time utilizing a 7-band EQ to its fullest!

 

I thought the title was apt for New Years as well. ;) Let's not let the rain stop our beat.

 

Keep jivin' and groovin' into and through 2021 fellow musicians!

In winter's night, on the solstice, this is the music by which the wolves howl to, where ice becomes tintinabulation, and wind the flute of the soul.

 

Lyrics (based on Ethereal Vox vocal chops):

 

'Little girl, all night.

Sister for life.

Go rest, alright?

(Ohhh, ah ah ah ah ah ah ahhh...)

Go rest, alright?'

 

The remix of A Wish, done in the styles (and inspired by) the band God is an Astronaut, and The Wingless' (from OCR) song, The Scarlet Halls of Night: https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01459. It's a mix of a classical waltz and more ambient electronica, to try and shift gears a little and see if I can do things that are much more softer, quiet, and thought-provoking.

 

I want to say more, but I shouldn't until voting is over. . . Maybe I will afterwards. ♥ TY for listening. It was an honor and experience in remixing this song.

 

It gave me a lot more meaning to make this song than I thought the exercise / challenge would. . .

Inspired By: Infected Mushroom & this song from the band I never heard of before. :D

♥ Samus Vibin' in the Jungle Underground ♥