Remake of the music of the Privateer

Opinions from a professional musician:

- You need more dynamic range in your orchestra. Right now background ostinatos are overpowering the "melody" in many parts of the track.
- Your timpani sound very weird. Someone said that they need more reverb - incorrect; they need more sustain, so they sound like real timpani. The power behind a timpani note is not in the attack, it is in the sustain. When I play timpani, I can usually feel the sustaining notes vibrating through my body. Also, and maybe this is just a side effect of the lack of sustain, are you sure you have the timpani playing the right notes? They sound wrong to me. If you want I can get you the correct pitches.
- Your cymbal sample is awesome. Make sure the cymbal roll stops at the downbeat of every climax; sometimes it crescendos slightly longer than the rest of the orchestra.
- I love the Refinery Theme. The pulsing base is perfect, the haunting higher notes are even better.
 
One idea that might be better suited to WCU music, would be a remake with a more modern sounding, heavy on percussion and bass track. You might want to download some Thievery Corporation mp3's for an idea of what I'm thinking. I was just playing one of their songs, "Sign", from their DJKicks album. Some people love em, some hate em, but they certainly have well arranged tracks; clean sound; eastern, western and african rythms excellently merged. Not for the music at the bases, which should stay eerie and mysterious, but for space, and specially during fights, their rythms would fit in well.
Another of their songs: Desert, very bluesy and moody. Too much so, but remove the harmony, and insert space music harmonies and melodies from Privateer, and it would kick. Another song that could be picked for rythm and bass: Gus Gus, Polyesterday; also for space; but perhaps only used when the player is visiting a system for the first time, as it has a feeling of "exploration", like a mixture of fear and excitement ... for me anyways.
They also have a song called "Exploration", but it doesn't have that feeling for me; and only Dems should listen to it, anyways... ;-)
Their song, Janine, also from DJKicks album, I'd almost throw it in the way it is. It's almost like it was composed for an action game in a mysterious setting.
 
Yes, well, actually I'm techno/electro musician myself. If the Privateer (or any game for that matter) should ever have soundtrack that would fully please me, it would sound very different ;)
And, the orchestrations were made very quickly at the middle of the night and mixed with headphones. I listened them myself with loudspeakers last night and yes, they sounded like crap. Will do better...
 
If the Privateer (or any game for that matter) should ever have soundtrack that would fully please me, it would sound very different ;)
Click to expand...
Fundamental advise to artists in general (musicians, writers, game creators, whatever) that I read somewhere and made instant sense to me: Create art as if the rest of the world does not exist, and you are your only audience. The "others" that one imagines, don't exist anyhow. And the critical attitude one imagines only serves to embody one's irrational fears of ridicule or whatever. Artists who manage to lose this inhibiting, imaginary audience are the artists that in the end are actually most respected and least criticized. Trying to please others just dampens creativity.
 
An opinion from a non-musician, non-audiophile:

Do not do techno. Do not do techno.

For all except the pleasure planet, it ruins the atmosphere. Winds and brass would seem to work better.

And, well, the pleasure planet seems to beg for bad 70s music.:)
 
if you're doing music for the remake....continue like you are. doing really nice and accurate re-orchestrations with your gear. personally, i really can't stand techno....and it would seriously ruin the entire feel of privateer.
 
I don't see the need to remake the music, i clearly hear the differences in your tracks compared to the original and i don't really like all the little changes you made. Orchestral music was nice for Wing Commander 1-X's military style but not for privateer.

Compare the launch theme:
original and from pas

Compare the refinery theme
original and from pas

For future music samples please post also a link to the original track so that people can compare and give you an accurate feedback.
 
Penta2 said:
An opinion from a non-musician, non-audiophile:

Do not do techno. Do not do techno.

For all except the pleasure planet, it ruins the atmosphere. Winds and brass would seem to work better.

And, well, the pleasure planet seems to beg for bad 70s music.:)
Click to expand...

Indeed, Chick Corea's Elektric Band, their song "Cool Weasel Boogie", I suspect, was a big source of inspiration for the original pleasure planet music...
 
JohnC: Don't know where you got that version of the launch tune, but the one you labeled "original" is actually a dumbed down Adlib-version. :)
This is the original version of the launch theme recorded from the General MIDI version.
 
oh well then we maybe used some more dumbed down adlib versions in the remake nice to know... but they start differently, do you have a complete version of that launch music file?
 
This is the beginning of that tune. Combat5-1 is the "intro" piece while Combat5-2 is the part that is looped while you fly around (untill you meet some baddies that is). I made it like this so it would be easier to add the music to the game.
 
Done. Don't use it in the game though, or it'll sound weird. :)
All the other Oggs in that directory, except for launch.ogg, are the General MIDI versions.
 
Hmmm... aren't those just the same midis played with a bit better synthesizer instead of some lame MS Wavetable that comes with WinXP?-)
 
dan_w said:
Fundamental advise to artists in general (musicians, writers, game creators, whatever) that I read somewhere and made instant sense to me: Create art as if the rest of the world does not exist, and you are your only audience. The "others" that one imagines, don't exist anyhow. And the critical attitude one imagines only serves to embody one's irrational fears of ridicule or whatever. Artists who manage to lose this inhibiting, imaginary audience are the artists that in the end are actually most respected and least criticized. Trying to please others just dampens creativity.
Click to expand...

It's not actually the public opinion but the feel of the game music. I do compose quite original music (I like to think so) but I also KNOW that they won't suite very well in a game like this. Other aspect of making these is the will to learn diffirent types of music. I don't want to just stay in my very very small genre.

Yeah, and to all who think what I mean by electro and techno, you're very likely very wrong.. try artists like Alexander Kowalski for techno and Fischerspooner for electro(rock) Well, all this doesn't really matter. What really matters is the Privateer soundtrack.

An opinion from a non-musician, non-audiophile:

Do not do techno. Do not do techno.

For all except the pleasure planet, it ruins the atmosphere. Winds and brass would seem to work better.

And, well, the pleasure planet seems to beg for bad 70s music.:)
Click to expand...

To me, refinery theme and some other theme's are VERY electronic, not techno but electronic. The original composer didn't use orchestral sounds in every theme so why should I? Or anyone else? I just changed volume and the expression of sounds to little more "techno" side.

I think the credits tune should be left as it is :D

I haven't done any tracks or any fixing to those I posted before. I'll try to find some time next week.

DJ Pas-2
 
Acimus: I recorded them with a Roland SC-55 which was the same synth used by Origin when creating the MIDIs.

The themes used on the bases did have a very synthy feel to them. They used mostly real instruments such as guitars and so on though since the General MIDI specification doesn't have a lot of artifical instruments.
 
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