Collision

[Muramasa]

After having listened to this track a few times, I think I've extrapolated enough from it to at least express an opinion. Music is certainly not my background. At the very least, I can only talk about what I like, what I don't like, what I thought worked and didn't work, in the most basic terms. I hope that at the very least, you'll find these words encouraging.

To start off, I did enjoy listening to it for the most part. I'm always a fan of chiptunes; the melody is catchy enough, and it has a pleasant, but somber feel to it. The introduction reminds me of intro of Meridian Child from Seiken Densetsu 3, though yours is obviously more "softer". I think the best part starts around 2:40 when you introduce the organs, and it's great how the tempo(?) builds up at around 1:50 because it gets me pumped to hear how it lead into what I thought was going to be more "epic". At the 40 second mark, I'm still conflicted on whether I like that tinny sound you have going there. The sound is unsettling, but not in the Akira Yamaoka sorta cool way. It might be just me, I find it more annoying.

I guess that's that. Now, what intentions did you have for this work? I presume you were trying to create something ominous and somber, but what was the "feel" you were trying to achieve with this track? Overall, I enjoyed listening to it, and despite the fact that you mentioned that it was 80%-90% done, it sounds completed to me. Once again, that's for letting me listen to it.

[Captain Galaxy]

Thanks for listening. I basically just let the creativity flow on this one. It works more as a sampler for my "talent" than anything else. I basically just found some tones on Garage Band and let the song flow from there. When I discovered it also had a bit-crusher, it was over.

What I mean when I say its only about 80-90 percent done is that I still want to add some melody. You may have noticed that there are large segments in the song where the rhythm melodies just keep repeating for a while. I want to record driving melodies over that. I need something that builds up into that chiptune segment, cause everything after that I'm very happy with, especially the heavy bass and 8-bit feedback I got going on there.

I find it very interesting that you thought it sounded like Meridian Child, because a lot of people have compared the beginning to the soundtracks of RPGs, like Final Fantasy. Even when writing it, it felt strongly atmospheric to me. I couldn't help but picture some isometric map. I even came up with a setting about a town named Rotuma (the name of the main instrument at the intro) on the shore of a Crystal Lake. Given the dance nature of the latter half of the song, I think it has to do with some kind of coming-of-age festival that takes place in that town.

I think if I can come up with a comprehensive enough title, that story would come across through the music.

As per your feedback, you listen to music and you're human, so your opinion more than qualifies, and I thank you very much for it. If movies and music were made only for filmmakers and musicians, there wouldn't be any point to it. So thank you.

I initially didn't think the "tinny" sound would be annoying, but now that you mention it, I really see how it could be. But to me, it still somehow expresses a moving emotion, some kind of thematic/cinematic transition. But to be very clear, I had no intentions for this work, it just sort of drove me, I felt all sorts of emotions while writing it, and in the end I think it was more about letting it flow naturally rather than deciphering some verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus template. I guess it would qualify as an instrumental stream of consciousness. In fact, after the 1:23 mark, the whole song keeps using the exact same chord progression, and every melody that comes thereafter is based around it.

Pretty much, when I write music (and probably when everyone else does), a million different melodies spring into my head. This song would be a good example of how many different melodies you can create using the same exact chords, and still sound like the same exact song. To clarify, I think this song would be a good example about the language of music, and how unlimited it can be. I can't wait to see how the final product will sound like, even I don't know what the final melodies will be.

Thanks again for listening, and for your feedback. I really appreciate it.

[Muramasa]

Aug 21, 2011 23:49:57 GMT -8 Captain Galaxy said:

I find it very interesting that you thought it sounded like Meridian Child, because a lot of people have compared the beginning to the soundtracks of RPGs, like Final Fantasy. Even when writing it, it felt strongly atmospheric to me. I couldn't help but picture some isometric map. I even came up with a setting about a town named Rotuma (the name of the main instrument at the intro) on the shore of a Crystal Lake. Given the dance nature of the latter half of the song, I think it has to do with some kind of coming-of-age festival that takes place in that town.

Heh, it's interesting. I more envisioned the aftermath of a tragedy of some sort playing out during the latter part of the song, which is why I say it's sounds somber. I bit of this was derived from title, I felt that at some point, some neat instantaneous conflict had happened, the music is a pensive reflection of those events.

Ah, I'm blabbering. Anyways, if and when you have more stuff, I wouldn't mind listening to it.