February 18, 201115 yr Hi folks! I should have posted this earlier but my schedule has been a bit hectic. I recently worked on a fun little iPhone game called Supastar that you may want to check out if you get a chance. I tell you why on my weekly column here. Anyhow, the music was an opportunity for me to reach for some very bright, happy synthy sounds, which I don't often get to do. I had fun with it. You'll notice that the tracks don't loop on here...I was too lazy to make double-looped cuts of each so use your imaginations. Most are fairly short and show up in themed stages as per the titles. Supastar! Enjoy and make sure to give it a listen in context too if you have the chance. :happy:
February 19, 201115 yr This is great Marius, really enjoyed it. What samples/vsts did you use? If you don't mind me asking.
February 19, 201115 yr Author Thanks, Daniel! :happy: Most of what you hear is NI synths (FM8, Massive) and probably a few others that I'm forgetting now. The percussion is generally samples from Tonehammer or from some drumkit or other that have been processed.
February 20, 201115 yr very well done marius, i especially liked the groove on city theme. the desert theme is totally divine divinity desert track too, if you didn't play that game then its amazing you came up with the same instrumentation, managing to blend synth and ethnic sounds. was there a particular thing you did with your mix to make it sound crisp like this? i know that synths usually don't require to create a virtual space(locations in room etc).
February 20, 201115 yr Author Thank you! :) Making the mix crisp is, as you well know, something I almost always strive for. When it comes to working with synths, my rules of thumb are basically "orchestrate them" and "modulate everything". Getting a clean mix for this score actually required very little effort though, since it's largely FM synthesis and that tends to sparkle and cooperate very favourably in a mix.
February 20, 201115 yr Marius, you marketing genius. Because of your verbal trap to listen to it in context, I must buy it now. Btw, when you say, "Modulate them" for mixing, what do you mean exactly? Do you mean, modulate everything to it's own frequency to fill out the spectrum? Mountain theme: 0:02, Love the high pitched 16th notes. So cute. Love how your main synth elements are really cute, but they're backed by funky percussion and instruments that have a marius sound to 'em. Good lead into the loop. Did you mix these for the iphone speakers or for headphones? Sky Theme: Good theme. Fun with a kind of worldly feel. I love the delay with the second instrument bouncing around our ear drum. Everything is still clear. Good mix man. When the drums come in at 0:30, the heavy beat feels a little out of place without some low bass sound. What if you had a cello or double bass that a legato bass line? Legato feels like soaring and you'd help out your drums a bit. Cool stuff. Menu Theme: I now have diabetes. Thank you Marius. I've learned that you probably didn't do those fade outs at the end as the actual loop point but your loop point's a bit before that Sea Theme: With your Deep Project, I have some expectations with this one. Nice texture. It's creepy, but not scary. One of your buzzy sfx at 0:18 is pretty badass. Really thick sound. Sounds more like a marsh, but works for sea as well. City Theme: Also excited with what you can do for the City. Nice and busy. These textures are a little thinner than I'm used to hearing from you. Was that due to the iPhone's speakers, the project, or a combination of the two? Lava Theme: Nice beat. The synths definitely make you feel like a cute star. Teehee, love the castlevania organ lines. Funky guitar? Genius! Solid man. Every sections like a new surprising style. I'm liking it. Space Theme: Fun man. Very fun. For that main accompaniment that's doing the fast lines, is that an arpeggiator or are you playing those notes out? Desert Theme: Sweet. Love the drums and the synth on this one. You nailed the mode without being too "Arabian Nights". I'm pleasantly surprised how well desert and synth-pop styles fit. Kudos, Marius! Game Won: GAHHH! DIABETES!! So, I've finally noticed that common wind sound backing most of your tracks. Interesting. Why'd you decide that that sound would be in most of your tracks? Sweet work, Marius. See what I did there? It sounds like a fun project. Do a bunch of styles, throw in some synths and make it happy. Were you writing these in a miserable mood or can you only work on this stuff when you're chipper? Peace, Marius, -John
February 20, 201115 yr Author OH GAWD IT'S SO LONG D: (she said) Okay. Good questions about the mixing. When I say "modulate everything" I actually just meant leave no synth sound static. Acoustic instruments being played by humans always have subtle tonal and timbral shifts...so that rule of thumb basically just says make sure to simulate that with synths too. Sometimes a completely static tone is what you want, but typically I've found that sticks way out in a mix. Mixing was a delicate process of making it sound good on both the iPhone speakers and headphones. Hence the thin sparkly bits that translate well to the speakers and the warm basses that are invisible until you're on headphones and then make everything sound just a bit nicer. Good thoughts for a bass in the Sky Theme, but I didn't want it to sound too grounded since it's supposed to evoke flying. Besides, that bass would have been mostly inaudible through speakers anyway. :P Gotta love the iPhone's tinny garbage speakers. Sorry about the diabetes, but you're right about the fade endings. All of these get snipped and properly looped for the in-game versions, of course. I'm really glad you noticed that buzzy sound in the Sea Theme. I took the original synth line I had playing there and lofi'd it to get that fuzz and thought it was awesome. City's kinda thin...for no particular reason. The direction was to keep it propulsive but unobtrusive so I kind of channeled some of my inner Mario Kart mixed with...city. I dunno. It fits pretty well in-game. Lava was my moment of crazy in the project. It's all over the place and I had a hugely fun time with it, as you noticed. I wish I had like 3 minutes for that track. Space's arpeggios are done with an arpeggiator if I remember correctly. I normally play fast lines in (slow tempo, play, bring tempo back, voila) but in this case I was in a hurry and the patch made it easy to toss that pattern in. The Desert track was channeling the approach I used for the Desert theme from Spectraball, which was one of my absolute favourites on that score. Turns out that desert + synth works REALLY well together if handled properly. Give it a try sometime and you'll see what I mean. While you shoot up on insulin, the common sound was essentially in there to provide something subtle that tied all the disparate styles together. I've found that when I'm bashing a huge number of genres together into one score, having a few ties like that keeps it all sounding cohesive, so I make a subconscious habit of it I guess. My mood during the project was mostly positive, but I'm lucky enough to be able to say that my mood doesn't really directly affect what music I can or can't write. More just affects what I feel inclined to write, but it's funny how money and deadlines can make those concerns go away. :P
February 20, 201115 yr Very compelling. Thanks for the advice, Marius. I think we're all better people for reading that reply =) Peace, -John
February 20, 201115 yr Author Got a link to the game page? When'll it be available, if it's not already? :) Good point. Here's one and I'll add it to the first post too. Supastar (Game Link)!
February 21, 201115 yr Dude... this game is hard. The music is, like, Ritalin-calibur happy. But then if you play the game, you understand it fits perfectly. Very natural, very fitting. They set the sound levels in the game a tad too low, though. Not your fault, obviously. Menu Theme:I now have diabetes. Thank you Marius. qft. :lol:
