Crimson Project (2?)

So, a while back I did a few short pieces (roughly 1 minute each) for a online game. The developers decided to "expand" on that. This time they want more ambient pieces and much longer. I'll admit I've become a bit prejudice towards ambient pieces over the past year, but now that I'm composing them I have changed my mind. Don't get scared though, I still like my pieces to have some form and I'm trying to keep them as melody based as possible.

Crimson Castle:

Start Player

Informational Channel:

Start Player

I will post the pieces as I make them. Any comments and/or advice are welcomed. Thanks for listening.

Since I'm having fun in a similar style myself these days, I figured I'd leave you a comment.

I really like the overall feel of it, though occasionally I felt like there was too much cymbal work going on.

Also, the pause at 1:30 was a little jarring - add in a swell effect or something to smooth it out. I get what you were trying to do, it just seems to cut off a bit abruptly. Also, the guitar right after it is annoying warbly; it sounds like this Crimson Castle was suddenly transported to a beach in Miami. It sounds like it might be live, so my suggestion is to just lose the warble and do it again - the part itself is fine, it's just the settings that make it annoying to my ears.

Also (since I'm assuming this is supposed to loop), make sure that your levels are constant at the beginning and the end. Right now, the ending is louder than the beginning, so you'll hear a noticeable volume jump.

Aaaaand I think that's about it, though I'm curious to know more about the game and/or this area so I can get a better sense of how it fits in. Right now it reminds me a lot of the style of the Diablo/Diablo II soundtracks.

Looking forward to hearing more

Bob

I think that this is one of the best I have ever heard from you.

The classical guitar opening is simple yet leads well into the rest.

The minor break that Marius saw, didn't bother me at all, nor did the warbly guitar, although the cymbals might be overdone a little.

Overall, I am sure they will be happy with this

Well done

Ron

To me the guitar at the beginning didn't sound ambient enough. Maybe add some chorus and reverb? For now it's like an instrument + lots of ambient. Make the guitar more ambient. For the rest of the piece, I really did enjoy it, and it kept my attention throughout. The electric/distorted guitar that repeats the classical guitar theme is awesome. That's the kind of ambient feel I was talking about. A tad too much cymbals there, you could change some of those to toms.

Overall, it's a really nice piece, I enjoyed it.

I agree with rolifer, one of the better things from you. Reminds me of Charlie Clouser's Saw theme, at least some parts of it. I don't have any major criticisms that haven't been pointed out already... Nicely done.

Originally Posted by Marius

Also, the pause at 1:30 was a little jarring - add in a swell effect or something to smooth it out. I get what you were trying to do, it just seems to cut off a bit abruptly. Also, the guitar right after it is annoying warbly; it sounds like this Crimson Castle was suddenly transported to a beach in Miami. It sounds like it might be live, so my suggestion is to just lose the warble and do it again - the part itself is fine, it's just the settings that make it annoying to my ears.

Also (since I'm assuming this is supposed to loop), make sure that your levels are constant at the beginning and the end. Right now, the ending is louder than the beginning, so you'll hear a noticeable volume jump.

Aaaaand I think that's about it, though I'm curious to know more about the game and/or this area so I can get a better sense of how it fits in. Right now it reminds me a lot of the style of the Diablo/Diablo II soundtracks.

At 1:30 I'll try to fill the pause a little better, but I don't want it to be too filled. I'll see what I can come up with.

The guitar that starts at 1:33 is actually not how I intended. I wanted a more distorted guitar instead of a highly overdriven one. it was suppose to have the same set up as the Wah section right after that except with less leslie. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone with the equipment and because of this that section actually feels much more barren then it
would have.

The game is almost like Zelda except with a much more mature feel and a bit more modern as well. It centers around guilds, which are technically used incorrectly as they are more like countries/nations/clans, and the drama that comes with there interactions. The tone of interaction is usually really serious unless it is with your own guild.

BTW, Thanks for pointing out the volume difference at the end.

Originally Posted by rolifer

Bob

I think that this is one of the best I have ever heard from you.

The classical guitar opening is simple yet leads well into the rest.

The minor break that Marius saw, didn't bother me at all, nor did the warbly guitar, although the cymbals might be overdone a little.

Overall, I am sure they will be happy with this

Well done

Ron

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
I may have overdone it with the cymbals, but the idea is that I'm suppose to create 'stress layers' which I did as I wanted too. When the electric guitar is introduced the ride and the cymbal are in separate layers of stress if that makes sense. I noticed it was a bit much so I tried to fix it by making them pan on opposite sides of each other. They switch sides after each hit.

Originally Posted by Nigel

To me the guitar at the beginning didn't sound ambient enough. Maybe add some chorus and reverb? For now it's like an instrument + lots of ambient. Make the guitar more ambient. For the rest of the piece, I really did enjoy it, and it kept my attention throughout. The electric/distorted guitar that repeats the classical guitar theme is awesome. That's the kind of ambient feel I was talking about. A tad too much cymbals there, you could change some of those to toms.

Overall, it's a really nice piece, I enjoyed it.

Glad you enjoyed this piece.
I actually wanted a fresh feel to the acoustic guitar, but I'm willing to add some more reverb to it. Thank you for commenting.

Originally Posted by Songjun

I agree with rolifer, one of the better things from you. Reminds me of Charlie Clouser's Saw theme, at least some parts of it. I don't have any major criticisms that haven't been pointed out already... Nicely done.

Lol. When I first came to this site you told me and continued to tell me my style is better suited for this and other modern types of music. Based on the critics, you may very well have been right this whole time.
Thanks for posting, Songjun. I'll post the updated verison of this piece with the edits at the same time as I post the next piece.

Updated - Informational Channel

I just noticed the update, so let me give you my thoughts on this new addition too.

The title confuses me a bit, and so does the piece's sound, since I was under the impression that the game takes place in a medieval-esque setting? Barring that strange inconsistency which is probably the result of me not knowing more about the game, I can continue on to talk about the piece.

It's got a very pleasant build to it. Sort of laid-back and enjoyable to listen to. It's unobtrusive too, which is probably perfect for the in-game setting. I've got no specific critiques about the piece other than the "ending" : is the "end" I'm hearing in the player the actual end? It seems to cut off really abruptly, and it doesn't seem like it's meant to loop...I've opened it twice now in case it was just a loading issue, but it goes till 1:54 or so and then cuts off.

Other than that, as I said, it's a solid piece and I'd be very curious to know a bit more about the game and these pieces' places in it so that I can get a better idea of how well they fit.

Good work, keep 'em coming!