Music to be Added/Replaced?

[Totoplus62]

@Krobonil: Amazing !

@OzoneOne: The last part of you song is really really good but the first part doesn't really sound "snowy" imho

[0zone0ne]

I've extended the Snow Peak music, I think the second half is closer to your expectations. I'm still trying to figure out how to really get that "snowy" feel.

Also, here's a lossless (24 bits per sample! ) version of Shifting Sands for no justifiable reason (very big file): http://sta.sh/download/5188169740233105 ... 1387852697

[Auria]

For the snow track, sorry, I don't think it sounds much more snowy than before? Especially the first of the intro does not really fit. I think you should concentrate on the part that starts from about 0:50 and ends around 1:15, and the ending, those parts are best and fit the mood perfectly

For shifting sands, instead of lossless, could you perhaps upload a very high-bitrate ogg? We like to keep near-lossless version of the files, just in case

[Arthur]

I thought we preferred lossless for media repo... in case we ever want to do an edit, remix or whatevs.

[Funto]

Dude, was it you who made the songs in the original Crash Bandicoot series? Seriously, that's totally it
The "snowy" feeling comes from the Christmas bells-sounding instrument IMO. I think it's ok if it's not "snowy" during the whole track...
Maybe you can try to take inspiration from Christmas songs, I think that could give you a snowy feeling

[Totoplus62]

@OzoneOne: Your new version of Snow Peak music is better than your previous one .

[0zone0ne]

Dude, was it you who made the songs in the original Crash Bandicoot series? Seriously, that's totally it

Haha no, that DEFINITELY wasn't me.

Hopefully it sounds more "snowy" now. I'm trying to also give it a kind of rocky, mountain-like feel, which is difficult because I don't actually know what that sounds like. This is what the first section consists of, before 0:50. I have also extended the music to its full length.

[Auria]

There's good stuff in there, but I think the intro may need to be changed a little, and I would also add that for this one you may need to change your habits a bit and reduce the drums a bit In my opinion there's just too much percussion in there for a snowy song. The change doesn't need to be huge but I think they should be slightly less prominent

[0zone0ne]

What is it, in particular, that you think actually makes music sound "snowy"? Do you think that it's the instrument choice, or something related to the way it's actually composed? I'm just a bit stuck here for the intro, I don't really want to change it much but I think that I may have to replace it in order to get what you want.

[Funto]

I think instrument choice is the most prominent "source of snowiness"
In particular the one that arrives starting at 0:12.
The chorus that you put around 0:50 too (people singing Christmas songs in chorus, "Joy to the world", etc )

I agree that you could reduce the volume/amount of the percussions (but not change the beat), but I'm ok with the way it is now. It has to be at the same time rhythmic, because it's a high-speed race, but snowy...
Maybe you could introduce a theme, like you did with the one from TuxRacer, but from a Christmas song? Personally I love Carol of the bells (used in Home Alone - very snowy and Christmasy film ).

EDIT: I'm listening to the song right now, and it's quite epic...maybe you could search in the "epic" direction for your song - just a thought

[Arthur]

I also like the percussion rhythm as it is because it adds speed to a otherwise not very fast song. Though yeah it could probably be pushed a little more into the background - but not too much.
Good work.

[0zone0ne]

Am having trouble making the intro (first ~ 12 seconds) sound snowy enough. Otherwise I've pushed the drums back a tiny bit (maybe not enough, tell me if they need to be quieter) and made some of the melodies are prominent.

[Auria]

It's better. I wonder though, is the first part with only drums and bass necessary at all? I wonder if the Tux Racer theme couldn't start earlier. I somehow simply never expected a snowy song to start with a drums and bass intro. I think the best part of your songs are parts where there are more instruments - so maybe the bare drum'n'bass intro could be modified to add melody from more instruments. Other opinions welcome, especially from core team members

[leovilok]

I really like the tux racer quote

[0zone0ne]

I somehow simply never expected a snowy song to start with a drums and bass intro. I think the best part of your songs are parts where there are more instruments - so maybe the bare drum'n'bass intro could be modified to add melody from more instruments.

There's actually a clavinet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clavinet) and a xylophone in the intro as well, so I think I'm starting to notice the problem as being bad instrument mixing on my part. I'll try to "separate" some of the instruments out a little bit and see if it sounds any better.

[0zone0ne]

[Auria]

hmm okay clearly we're not really understanding each other - I know you've made a lot of efforts, so I'll try to be really clear so there can be no misunderstanding. I think the first 25 seconds need to change, and I don't mean a slight remix here, or playing with sound levels. I think it needs to be modified to be really different, melody needs to be added, likely on new instruments (strings perhaps). Around 0:25, when the strings kick in, the song changes its mood quite a bit; I think the first 20 seconds especially (and perhaps the first 50 seconds overall) should sound more like 0:50 to 1:20 - this part of the song really has the right feeling. From 1:35 to the end also sound pretty good. Do you think you can make other parts of the song, especially the intro, more similar to these very good sections?

[0zone0ne]

Ok, I'm sorry it took this long for me to understand what you were saying.

I've replaced the first 12 seconds and added strings from 0:12 to 0:24. The intro is in the same key the rest of the music now, so there's no jarring modulation stuff anymore. I still need to do a bit of messing around with the volume levels, but I think this is definitely an advancement. What do you think?

[Totoplus62]

Now the ending of the song really fit with the beginning of the song. This is better when the song has to be played several times during a race.
Well done.

[SuperMat]

The new version much better than before.
Good work.

[XGhost]

Wow, I like it. This version is by far the best!

Great job!

[Auria]

Well done, congratulations!! Everyone seems to agree, this one is the best by far

Could you please share a version with very low compression, we like to keep a lossless (or near-lossless) copy around

[0zone0ne]

I just changed the strings a little bit and made some very minor adjustments, and now it's finished!

snow7.ogg

(2.14 MiB) Downloaded 469 times

Lossless: http://sta.sh/download/983934014287777/snow7_by_0zone0ne-d711w7u.wav?token=2a7bc93b92e947500056983d580e5e6f3a00510b&ts=1388981115

You mentioned something before about keeping them as high-quality .ogg's rather than true lossless, is there confirmation of this, or are .wav files fine?

By the way, what are you naming these songs in-game? Just the names of the tracks?

[Auria]

Hi,

thanks. Regarding lossless versions, we take either wav or very-low-compression oggs.

Regarding name, if you provide one, I will use it. Otherwise i will make something up from the file name or name of the track it's made for. So if you have a cool name, just tell me

[Arthur]

In my opinion we should encourage using FLAC for lossless versions as it takes less space than WAV files yet is not as lossy as even lightly compressed Vorbis.