Space Saga Returns (incomplete version)

This is a makeover from an earlier version. It is entirely electronic, er, MIDI, which got me confused as to what category to put this in. Anyway, I do have a completed version somewhere, as well as other works, so maybe I'll find them someday... :(

Please let me know if it sounds too simple, or has too many instruments competing (that was the problem in the first version :sweat:) And anything else would be helpful. Thanks! :)

Space Saga Returns.mp3 - File Shared from Box.net - Free Online File Storage

Angelina,

I always use lots of instruments, so I am not one that would say there are too many.

What synths do you use in this one and the other one?

I try every now and then to do some synth work in a few of my pieces so I know very little about electronica, but it seems like these are older samples.

If you are not aware of Omnisphere, check it out. I'm sure it will go on your wish list like it is on mine.

An excellent free synth is made by Yellow Tools and is called Independence Free. It is available by download and has 2 gbs of free sounds with a great engine to run them.

Once again, Welcome to YC.

Ron

This has a very upbeat feel to it. I am flawed in my attempts to make "happy" music. :P I liked it and I can say that the arrangement and instrumentation in fine. It does have a minimalistic style to it, but that is fine for incidential music such as video games which I feel this does sound like it could be in an old 80s/90s game, sure.

Nice work.

Angelina,

I always use lots of instruments, so I am not one that would say there are too many.

What synths do you use in this one and the other one?

I try every now and then to do some synth work in a few of my pieces so I know very little about electronica, but it seems like these are older samples.

If you are not aware of Omnisphere, check it out. I'm sure it will go on your wish list like it is on mine.

An excellent free synth is made by Yellow Tools and is called Independence Free. It is available by download and has 2 gbs of free sounds with a great engine to run them.

Once again, Welcome to YC.

Ron

:laugh: You would be dead right about the synth samples! For most of my older compositions, I used a Windows '95 version of Cakewalk Pro Audio, and the samples were from a Roland Sound Canvas (not sure if that's the name of the model). But, I believe the samples for this piece were from my brother's cheap MIDI keyboard from the late 90s, which probably had most of the same library. :sweat: I'm really worried people won't look past the crappy sounds to the actual compositions, but I guess I don't blame them; they do sound silly!

Thank you for the synth suggestions! I may try Independence Free. I looked at Omnisphere. Wow, it looks amazing! And if I save up, maybe I can afford it in ten years, unless I marry a doctor ;):laugh: Thanks again!

This has a very upbeat feel to it. I am flawed in my attempts to make "happy" music. :P I liked it and I can say that the arrangement and instrumentation in fine. It does have a minimalistic style to it, but that is fine for incidential music such as video games which I feel this does sound like it could be in an old 80s/90s game, sure.

Nice work.

Thank you! :D I have the opposite problem--it's a lot harder for me to write something serious! Thanks for your thoughts. Well, I was trying to tone down the activity from the first version, but another reason I didn't use more tracks was because of technological limitations. For some reason, my crappy Windows 98 PC would slow down if more than a certain number of tracks were played at the same time (which wasn't many), which also caused most events in a track to not play at all (I think the sound module actually might have been the problem). If I get better equipment, it would be awesome to rewrite this piece (again) w/ a little more character. :)

For some reason, my crappy Windows 98 PC would slow down if more than a certain number of tracks were played at the same time (which wasn't many), which also caused most events in a track to not play at all (I think the sound module actually might have been the problem).

Actually, I have this same problem and so does everyone else, except that my computer can probably stand a bit more than yours. I have a year old HP with a Core 2 Quad processor and at a certain point I suffer the same limitation. The problem is the RAM; my computer has 2 GBs of RAM, but when using samples from libraries like Project SAM and EWQLSO it gets used up quickly. What I usually do at that point is:

1. Increase the buffer length (the time it takes for samples to load)

This makes rendering and loading take a lot longer, but it's worth it since you can use more samples. Your DAW that you are running the samples and VSTs through should have an option to configurate this.

2. When playing back and working on a piece in a notation program or DAW try temporarily turning off instruments that you are not focusing on at that time, specifically percussion samples as those tend to eat RAM up like a pack of pringles.

3. On the rendering, there is a basic concept to remember:

Quality v. Instruments

You will have to compromise between the two and see how far you can push your computer.

From my understanding, most big sample products (in the GBs) recommend several computers to run perfectly with many instruments and top notch quality. For most of us, that is not a tangible recommendation unless we feel the need to acquire a debt. So, we are forced to compromise.

Hopefully, this is useful. I would recommend getting a better computer though, even if it's not fresh from the factory. 98 is a little 90's. :P

sswave,

Wow! Thank you so much! That info will be immensely helpful. I'm sorry I wasn't specific. I do have a "newer" Win XP PC (which will soon be a little "00s":D), but at the time of this piece in 2002, I was using the evil Win 98 pc. My new guy has 1 GB of RAM, but still not as good as yours, and I still notice problems with samples (the only app I currently have is Fruity Loops :P). I just really need to get a new sythesizer and other equipment. I'll be happy to play with the toys at school in Sept :laugh:. Truly, thank you again for the advice :nod:.

EDIT: Sorry, the laptop I'm borrowing for net access is 1 GB RAM, my desktop is 512 MB. Even worse!