Author Topic: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai! [2010.10.13 Fairy War March (Preview)]  (Read 22080 times)

Lloyd Dunamis

  • aka Amanie
Welcome to Lloyd Dunamis' Music Thread, "Venture! Timid Youkai!" :3

Ahah, I didn't really see this coming, making a music thread of my own. It just happened that I love Touhou/'s music and was honored IP over a one-night inspiration --overflowing me with unexplainable joy. Now I have a constant something to work on and contribute to the community |D

I generally have little to no idea what musical style I have? Shmup-like stage themes? Nnn, I'd rather quote a fellow MotK musician:
I listen to videogame BGMs a lot, and that may have more or less effect on my style. Also, I'm still only learning a lot of stuff generally used in music making, so don't expect these to be top quality.
I dream of making orchestral-ish music as well, but I'm not capable of such musical caliber yet.

Knows not most of the musical terms. Ask me to detail *thinks*? uhh, sequencing or? or sequencing, I'd go totally ":D?" on you. (I'd hit google for definitions and stuff, but I'm talking about musical stuff I learned from the past o_o;;)

In short of what I could/couldn't detail, I am walking in the dark as I pursue this?uhh, musical hobby? eheh~ :ohdear:. But thanks to fellow musicians and music analysts/opinionists in MotK, I now have companions to walk through the dark there's a step of improvement in each day of working on a piece |D

I am more than willing to accept comments, criticisms, and "Oh, its melody sounds like --title of music--".
Thank you very much for appreciating music! *bows*



Musical Pieces

PCB-themed Fanfare, Triumphant Blaze ~ PCB's Deep Mountain Petals  [ AlternateLink | MIDI ] *newest*
Musicbox arrange, Musicbox of a Deserted Hell  [ AlternateLink | MIDI ]
Thread-inspired Original, Sound Effect  [ Alternate Link | MIDI ]
Original, Venture! Timid Youkai!  [ Alternate Link | MIDI ]
UFO-themed Fanfare, Triumphant Blaze ~ UFO's Cosmic Mind  [ Alternate Link | MIDI ]



Pieces Description

Sound Effect
Where'd that come from? -- Dedication
Reading Esifex' The Road to Self-Enlightenment jumpstarted me to making this piece, followed by some as-serious entries in the Graet Raeg thread. My mind sank to a portion of their situation and? well? made me worried =x=;;
It's rather short -- I was having mixed conflicting feelings of happiness and sorrow coming from different influences? Maybe because we really don't have all day to worry?

What's up with the title?
Effect -- an effect? of something about a person's state of mind or something.
Sound -- calmingly positive, or some enlightening statement to believe on? is what I thought.
It came from Esifex's name, actually, which sounds like SFX, which translates to sound effects.
? Why does the title sound positive in contrast to how mellow the piece is? o_o;;

Sounds like a stage theme! -- Influence
This sounds more like a BGM you would put in mellow situations in RPGs than some stage/boss theme in a shmup.
By melody, I don't recall remembering any game theme that sounds like this during composition. Please do tell me if the piece or part of it sounds like that certain BGM from that certain game.

-----
Venture! Timid Youkai!
Where'd that come from? -- Dedication
Well, I thought "I couldn't possibly dedicate this one to any existing chara if I didn't think of that chara while composing the music in the first place", so I named it like how I named my music thread, "Venture! Timid Youkai!"

What's up with the title?
I just get whatever was flying in my head.
Though I guess for sentimental reasons, I kinda had captured words that tells something about myself, Touhou/Gensokyo, me being in MotK, and having my first effort-turn-product -- in this case, music -- shared to everybody.

Then, since it's Touhou-inspired / heavily Touhou-influenced, this theme could be about? a timid little youkai who have just begun to open up and discover that this is such a big world or something -- which is again pretty much how I'd describe myself =_=;;.
The exclamation points adds stress of confidence and strength to the words -- influenced by how Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! named each of its episode/stage.

Sounds like a stage theme! -- Influence
This piece is heavily influenced by MoF Stage1 "The God that loves people ~ Romantic Fall", being my most-loved stage theme and all.
0:44, I heard a little of PCB Stage4 "Ancient Ruins" play in the melody.

-----
Triumphant Blaze ~ UFO's Cosmic Mind
Where'd that come from? -- Dedication
Dedicated for being selected as one of the winners in IP Contest: Design us a flag!
I was sooo overjoyed, I thought of making a fanfare!
Why Byakuren's theme though? When I was taking a bath, Cosmic Mind was playing in my head, or probably my cellphone was playing it. My thoughts of victory and the theme alternated, eventually mixed together, then this fanfare came to fruition.
I put a little of the Player's Score theme on the calm part, to put that mysterious feel, not to mention the Player's Score theme being one of my favorites.

What's up with the title?
Triumphant, obviously, because it's a fanfare and a victory-dedicated music. Blaze is just something amazing-sounding I thought that Triumphant will modify.
"Blaze, eh. Razgriz' flight lead comes to mind."
Then I attached the title of the boss theme it's themed to, with ownage to UFO because I planned on making a victory fanfare themed to fellow Touhou games.


Software:
Anvil Studio (initial compositions)
SynthFont (accuracy, varying volumes, using VST's)
Audacity (Final edits and encoding)



Original OP

Anyway, due to my recent victory feeling and self-confidence boost, I have dedicated a victory fanfare! xD Woohoo!
Triumphant Blaze ~ UFO's Cosmic Mind

I feel very proud of this, being the first short Touhou remix-ish I've ever done? *heart pounding* I've always wanted to compose / remix!


Then there's this one Stage 1-like music I've composed and experimented by trying Anvil Studio, keying in that mental melody that passes through my mind only once. It's probably finished now, but I haven't found a character's stage to dedicate it to, or a title, so I'm labeling it as preview for now. Touhou-inspired, of course |3
Preview(?) - piece001

Using the most basic of, uhh, MIDI instruments here, so don't expect anything of ZUN quality. Now there might be subtle jumps, cuts, or chops in the MP3 recording due to MIDI late beat-synching, slow disk writing, or something. Do excuse my dinosaur PC ^_^;;

If not for Drake c/o Muffin-fin (can't remember who exactly, but eh) mentioning Anvil Studio somewhere, in some very old post I think, I wouldn't have started singing my melodic thoughts. Thanks!

Comments & Criticisms are very much appreciated, as I am only a Novice, uhh, composer :3
« Last Edit: October 14, 2010, 06:55:29 AM by Lloyd Dunamis »
2010.1212 <Sakana> The only time wasted is the time in which you really do nothing at all, not even enjoying yourself
You may send me suspicious files that could be infected/a trojan, and I'll try analyzing it for you. :3 -Mo?ware, your personal Anti-Malware Engineer

PT8Sceptile

  • All hail Giant Catfish!
Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2010, 01:11:39 PM »
Quite good for a novice. Sounds way better than the stuff I made back when I first started sequencing music about a year ago. The Stage 1 -like theme is especially quite nice. Definitely keep it up!

Bitz

  • So Moe!
  • *heart attack*
Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #2 on: August 16, 2010, 05:07:13 PM »
Don't you dare tell me you've had no experience with music before, because this stuff is just too good for an utter novice to have composed. :V

Actually, after listening through the stage theme a few times, I'm starting to get a Mardek RPG vibe from it... could be pure coincidence though, for all that matters. The victory fanfare follows a very "traditional" layout, i.e. a fanfare followed by an experience/gil/loot-obtained-screen music, which I like.

flamezero16

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Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #3 on: August 16, 2010, 11:40:56 PM »
Ya done good son. Could definitely use better quality and I think PT8 could help ya with that, but the composition itself is great. Ya should definitely do some more.

Lloyd Dunamis

  • aka Amanie
Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #4 on: August 18, 2010, 05:55:38 PM »
Eheh~<3
I plan on remixing / composing more stuff. Your responses give me such large encouragement and confidence boost. I really appreciate it! *bows* >w<

@Bitz: By experience, do you mean the composition of music itself or the educational background? Well, lessee?
* Lloyd Dunamis now ponders?
Quote from: Lloyd Dunamis Narrating
The first music education I ever received was from Grade 1 Elementary? no wait, I think that was Kindergarten? Eh, I guess it doesn't matter -- I didn't pay much attention to the lessons back then x_x *shame*
? I do remember the notes -- whole, half, quarter, then rests? DO RE MI & that sharp thing? and a few singing lessons I used to brag to myself. I had such a nice little voice back then~<3 *cough*

Then there's this small school teaching music lesson for kids, which I don't remember staying even for a month. Distraction of PC games there got the better of me. That Mario keyboarding game was given playable to us as a reward for doing good on the music lessons. There goes my attention =_=

After that, I have not received any music instructions in any form.
I am fascinated by music. Listening to one song/soundtrack lets me automatically analyze how each notes were played, how they were harmonized, and oh especially how they fit in each beat! My love in the number of beats makes me love drums as well~<3
From all that analyzing, I had no idea what those musical terms I've randomly heard/read like? uhh, chords, C major, and those things stand for.

With all that said, I could say? No, I had no experience with music before :3
? Maybe I should call myself a rookie or something, eheh~ |D *cough*

Onwards,
Perhaps the stage theme must have sounded more or less like one music in that RPG.
Yes, making the fanfare in a "traditional" layout is my goal? or rather, I thought the combination of melodies I mixed sounded nicer in a calm one than continuing the lively feel. Glad someone noticed that |D

@flamezero16: Yeah, I don't want to stick to basic MIDI quality forever x_x
I could use any help I can get at this point. The obstacle though: my PC's Win98SE handicap would be somewhat difficult to handle, seeing most computers 'round our place run WinXP and up, or for several people here Linux and the likes. Software and drivers I can use is limited.
2010.1212 <Sakana> The only time wasted is the time in which you really do nothing at all, not even enjoying yourself
You may send me suspicious files that could be infected/a trojan, and I'll try analyzing it for you. :3 -Mo?ware, your personal Anti-Malware Engineer

flamezero16

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  • Whats up amigo?
    • My Youtube
Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #5 on: August 18, 2010, 07:03:14 PM »
Haha sorry amigo ^^; wish i could help, but as far as musical engineering goes, im useless. But were in the same boat as far as musical theory. About all i know is the EADGBE strings. Other than that im totally self taught, and learnin the names of notes and chords is borin XD I just wanted to play. So, just cause ya dont have any formal education doesn't mean your worse. Just that ya learned a different way.

Lloyd Dunamis

  • aka Amanie
Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #6 on: August 21, 2010, 12:19:28 PM »
It's awesome learning to play guitar, being polyphonic & all. I anticipate my tone-deaf but avid guitarist-dreaming YoungerSis to learn guitar soon <3

I felt a little proud of having no formal educational yet making nice music |D
Lately though, I feel something is lacking without someone of high music caliber, or simply music teacher, teach me. The original stuff I try to compose from my head are actually melodies of other games' music, or any music I've heard of. I'm kinda worried I might not recognize that the melody I've written sounds like other games', a little off-tune or not.
A clip of what I've composed, and the music to which I recognized it to a day later.

As far as music education goes, I still have a looong way to go. For now, I guess Imma flow to wherever all these random melodies in my head will take me |3

For what I think I need to attain better music quality?
-Some soundfont-playing software > Synthfont that Muffin-fin mentioned is a little laggy on some parts of my stage 1 music ;_;. I can't record chop-chop music.
-Soundfont itself > Drake's ZUN soundfont is absolutely nice, but it's killing most of what little space left in my harddisk ;_;? and I'm not after exactly-Touhou-like instruments in my music anyway. But if it's PC-98 Touhou soundfont?
-and those reverberation effects.
Nothing about hardware for now.

Currently experimenting with Hydrogen that Tengukami mentioned. Oh gee, this drum machine is just? awesome!
I'll have to find a work-around on saving files though. It crashes everytime I try to save in WAV.



Meanwhile, UPDATE!!

  • Updated Music: "Venture! Timid Youkai!", promoted from being just a sequentially-numbered title, piece001.
  • Updated Music: "Triumphant Blaze ~ UFO's Cosmic Mind"
  • Description added for "Triumphant Blaze ~ UFO's Cosmic Mind"
  • Added alternate links.
  • Will include MIDI file with the recorded MP3 from now on.

Eh, just did some minor edits.
In Triumphant Blaze, increased the volume of the strings and Byakuren's theme on the calm part.
In Venture! Timid Youkai!, erased the piano in the beginning part, and more minor edits.
2010.1212 <Sakana> The only time wasted is the time in which you really do nothing at all, not even enjoying yourself
You may send me suspicious files that could be infected/a trojan, and I'll try analyzing it for you. :3 -Mo?ware, your personal Anti-Malware Engineer

PT8Sceptile

  • All hail Giant Catfish!
Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #7 on: August 21, 2010, 02:04:37 PM »
Lately though, I feel something is lacking without someone of high music caliber, or simply music teacher, teach me. The original stuff I try to compose from my head are actually melodies of other games' music, or any music I've heard of. I'm kinda worried I might not recognize that the melody I've written sounds like other games', a little off-tune or not.

You're not the only one who has this problem. It's been troubling me for a long time whenever I try to make something original (which, by the way, might be one of the main reasons for me only arranging stuff lately). Doesn't still take away from how good the clip is (sound quality still needs improving as you said, but the melody is pretty nicely done).

For what I think I need to attain better music quality?
-Some soundfont-playing software > Synthfont that Muffin-fin mentioned is a little laggy on some parts of my stage 1 music ;_;. I can't record chop-chop music.
-Soundfont itself > Drake's ZUN soundfont is absolutely nice, but it's killing most of what little space left in my harddisk ;_;? and I'm not after exactly-Touhou-like instruments in my music anyway. But if it's PC-98 Touhou soundfont?
-and those reverberation effects.
Nothing about hardware for now.

Cakewalk SFZ is what I've been using for playing soundfonts lately (you can download it just by clicking the link at the bottom of the page, filling in your information is completely optional). If your DAW (Digital audio workstation, ie whatever program you use to make music) supports VSTs (which I assume it does), I'd recommend you to try it out. It's quite lightweight, and if you're dealing with a large soundfont, you can just switch the mode from "SF32" to "PR32" where it loads only one instrument from the font per plugin instance instead of the whole font (there might also be a similar setting in SynthFont too, so another option could be looking for one). And if the fonts are still taking too much CPU, turning the "effects" -option off seems to save a lot of power too, if it doesn't worsen the sound too much (you can always try out does it make a difference with every instrument).

Also, if you need VST effects or instruments for your DAW, I'd recommend checking the KVR audio site. It has a pretty comprehensive list of both free and commercial VST plugins available, so you can just open the database and search for whatever you need (there's an option for only free plugins). If you need a reverb effect, just set the search for free VST reverb effects, try out whichever ones looks interesting and save the best ones for later use. As for what I use for reverb, currrently I mostly use Reverberate LE (the free slightly dumbed down version of the commercial plugin reverberate) and the native reverb plugin of my DAW (Zverb in Podium Free).

And according to my short one-year experience the quest to attain better music quality seems unfortunately pretty endless, as your standards get higher over time. Too bad, since it sometimes distracts me from actually learning to mix/compose better...

rfw

Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #8 on: August 25, 2010, 08:45:56 AM »
A suggestion for your UFO-themed fanfare: I think the ambient part should be perhaps a little more slurred and quieter. The piano in in the foreground is perhaps a little too heavy-handed and you should replace it with something warmer, my recommendation being a Warm Pad or something, or just slurring the piano a little. After all, victory fanfares should be (somewhat) relaxing after a long battle.

Music isn't really my forte, so forgive me if this is awful, but here's a high quality mixdown of your fanfare theme, to which the original intention may have been lost due to my continuous retooling and whatever (I don't think it even sounds like a victory theme any more -- I'm dreadfully sorry if I ended up ruining it, I removed the brass and replaced it with two synth choirs after all :ohdear:): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2880866/piece006%20UFO%20Fanfare.mp3

As for your other piece, I don't really have any recommendations to make about it, but here's a high quality, less ruined mixdown of Venture! Timid Youkai!: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2880866/piece001.mp3

And, as many others have suggested, use a high quality soundfont -- nothing's worse than the Microsoft GM softsynth! One of the high quality (free!) soundfonts I'd recommend is SGM-V2.01, which you can obtain from http://www.geocities.jp/shansoundfont/. As for what I used to synthesize, I have a copy of Cubase which is possibly the best piece of software for composing music on the market. The $500 price tag isn't cheap, though, but well worth it if you want to delve deeper into the world of composing music on your computer. But DAWs, including Cubase, tend to need a lot of RAM and processing power, so it's probably not the best option for you.
« Last Edit: August 27, 2010, 10:42:29 PM by rfw »

Lloyd Dunamis

  • aka Amanie
Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #9 on: August 28, 2010, 10:25:41 AM »
Oh, oh wow, so many! I'll see what nice music I can produce with all these~ *_* Thank You very much!

Don't wait -- I'll prolly take a long while before I hear the instrument sounds I'm looking for. The large number of knobs & sliders that look like what DJ's adjust in real time is puzzling @_@;
Hnn, lessee? Now if I adjust one knob or one slider at a time, and listen to the changes? *completely has no idea what he's going through with all these* :D?

I'm venturing around SynthFont a little longer before I give it up. SynthFont seems to have a nice potential but interface is quite messy.
I'll try turning the "effects" -option off.

SGM-V2.01, 200-ish MB!? T.T Something tells me high-quality Soundfonts are really this large filesized by default?
Well, no use slumping here -- let's make room for a Soundfont! >w<

A suggestion for your UFO-themed fanfare: I think the ambient part should be perhaps a little more slurred and quieter. The piano in in the foreground is perhaps a little too heavy-handed and you should replace it with something warmer, my recommendation being a Warm Pad or something, or just slurring the piano a little. After all, victory fanfares should be (somewhat) relaxing after a long battle.

Music isn't really my forte, so forgive me if this is awful, but here's a high quality mixdown of your fanfare theme, to which the original intention may have been lost due to my continuous retooling and whatever (I don't think it even sounds like a victory theme any more -- I'm dreadfully sorry if I ended up ruining it, I removed the brass and replaced it with two synth choirs after all :ohdear:): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2880866/piece006%20UFO%20Fanfare.mp3
Yeah, you did ruin it! The foundation of the calm part which makes it UFO-ish is gone :<

Eh, kidding aside? Now that you've said it, it does sound heavy still. I'll have to work on setting the instruments to different volumes next time I remake the UFO fanfare to higher-quality instruments or something.

Meanwhile, I'll take note of an ambient-ish Victory Fanfare -- maybe PCB's.

Thanks for the re-recording and feedback |3
« Last Edit: September 07, 2010, 05:48:08 AM by Lloyd Dunamis »
2010.1212 <Sakana> The only time wasted is the time in which you really do nothing at all, not even enjoying yourself
You may send me suspicious files that could be infected/a trojan, and I'll try analyzing it for you. :3 -Mo?ware, your personal Anti-Malware Engineer

Anunsew

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Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #10 on: September 01, 2010, 04:05:27 AM »
I made a remix of your Venture! Timid Youkai:
Venture! Timid Youkai!
Mirror

Mp3 is lossy~ -_-
But no one would probably download a 100mb wav file :(

I hope somebody likes it. XD


@Lloyd
You are a Great Composer. ^^
I wish you would post more on this thread. XD
« Last Edit: September 02, 2010, 02:24:25 AM by Anunsew »

Lloyd Dunamis

  • aka Amanie
Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #11 on: September 03, 2010, 03:34:05 PM »
Aaaahahah, I am honored! *_____* Th-Thank you!
This is in addition to "I can't stop looking at and be fascinated by Anunsew's avvie."
Ahah~


Getting that aside?
o.o;; Well, the MP3's quality is 192kbps -- it's decent enough. Normally I encode MP3s to 192kbps. The stuff I uploaded are an exception -- encode to 160kbps, because there's not much awesomeness to hear on basic Microsoft MIDI instruments, ne?
And what's wrong with MP3? :3

You did get that I included two loops of the piece in the MIDI, right?

The soundfonts you just used are Drake's (<-- very old thread BTW, remember not to hit the reply button). You oughtta thank him for that some time :3

You have no idea how much I want to post more.
I kinda decided to postpone posting new ones until I get sounds as awesome as yours and others? Though if you and others will insist?

T^T It's just one piece, and I'm already receiving such honors. Tell me that when you have listened to future original compositions. But regardless, I appreciate your appreciating >/////////////////<
Also, your Rin Satsuki theme was an original composition, right? Honestly, I think that's more worthy of praise than mine >////////<


EDIT: Lazy, so I'm quoting ^^;;
I'd like to draw thy attention to this thread. All musicians and artists should come together and create this awesomeness. Totally.




  • Awright! SGM-V2.01 Soundfont equipped! This sounds cool. Thumbs up! |3
  • Getting used to Synthfont, and I found a way to record the music coming from it w/o Synthfont lagging.
  • FL Studio seems to show lots of promise, at least from its screenshot, and how other musicians used it. Now if only FL Studio wasn't another +200-ish MB fellow?
    Oh wait, it doesn't work in Win98SE in the first place... nevermind :V
  • I'd like to make a fast-paced melody sometime -- it's one thing I can't seem to solidify in my compositions/remixes...
« Last Edit: September 03, 2010, 03:48:02 PM by Lloyd Dunamis »
2010.1212 <Sakana> The only time wasted is the time in which you really do nothing at all, not even enjoying yourself
You may send me suspicious files that could be infected/a trojan, and I'll try analyzing it for you. :3 -Mo?ware, your personal Anti-Malware Engineer

Anunsew

  • No errors for 5 seconds!
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  • Currently fueled by Infinite Love!
Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #12 on: September 04, 2010, 02:38:59 AM »
FL Studio is good, since it doesn't compromise too much memory to render pieces.
Very good, since I only use a Cafe computer...
The only pain it has is that it uses piano roll. I don't know how to use piano roll. T_T

I'd like to hear your compositions with those Soundfonts sometime. XD

Lloyd Dunamis

  • aka Amanie
Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #13 on: September 05, 2010, 03:37:19 PM »
o_o Wow, I acknowledge your desperation to create music, Anunsew! My mind gets disoriented when I sit on a netcafe, time pressured and all.

Ooooh, if only I could, I'll fund you a computer, send it to you immediately! >/////////<

So you're more used to working on notes instead of the piano roll? Aaaah, more musical skill to Parsee on~ >/////<




I decided to submit stuff even if the instruments and effects aren't perfect yet, and every time I submit, expect some improvement in the quality. Some kind of a progress indicator or something :3
So it's settled! >w<

? Eeeeh, no finished pieces yet though o_o;, but I'll give you a text preview of what I'm currently working on (also to encourage myself that I should finish the pieces to avoid "Aww, you didn't finish it :<"):
  • The Road to Self-Enlightenment-inspired lonely piece
  • The Road to Self-Enlightenment-inspired jumpy piece -- could double as a world map piece??

? Uhm, I'm thinking of doing one song with a vocal. Would remixing an already-made Touhou remix w/ a singer be copyright infringement or something? Because I'm keying in & have been meaning to sing
Spoiler:
I don't wanna spoil 8D
already.
2010.1212 <Sakana> The only time wasted is the time in which you really do nothing at all, not even enjoying yourself
You may send me suspicious files that could be infected/a trojan, and I'll try analyzing it for you. :3 -Mo?ware, your personal Anti-Malware Engineer

Lloyd Dunamis

  • aka Amanie
Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #14 on: September 07, 2010, 05:37:35 AM »
UPDATE!! [2010.0907]
  • New Piece: "Sound Effect"
  • Modified the OP a little.
  • ... Wait, I left the MIDI version o_o;;

Thread-inspired Original, Sound Effect || Alternate Link

Where'd that come from? -- Dedication
Reading Esifex' The Road to Self-Enlightenment jumpstarted me to making this piece, followed by some as-serious entries in the Graet Raeg thread. My mind sank to a portion of their situation and? well? made me worried =x=;;
It's rather short -- I was having mixed conflicting feelings of happiness and sorrow coming from different influences? Maybe because we really don't have all day to worry?

What's up with the title?
Effect -- an effect? of something about a person's state of mind or something.
Sound -- calmingly positive, or some enlightening statement to believe on? is what I thought.
It came from Esifex's name, actually, which sounds like SFX, which translates to sound effects.
? Why does the title sound positive in contrast to how mellow the piece is? o_o;;

Sounds like a stage theme! -- Influence
This sounds more like a BGM you would put in mellow situations in RPGs than some stage/boss theme in a shmup.
By melody, I don't recall remembering any game theme that sounds like this during composition. Please do tell me if the piece or part of it sounds like that certain BGM from that certain game.


Ahah? Ahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahhhah?

で?できた~!! (I... I made it--!!)

* Lloyd Dunamis faints



?*coughcough*
Pardon, I overflow with joy after finishing the piece. Next pieces might receive the same reaction from me ^/////////^;;;;; ahah?
Another reason of fainting for Sound Effect is that I tried the soundfont, paired with an Ambience VST reverb. It? Maybe it's just me, but I think it doesn't sound so MIDI at all now |D Yaaaaaaaa~~~<3

Composing in SynthFont's Piano Roll is so difficult -- there's no shortcut keys and stuff to change from one tool to another x_x. Welp, I think I'm starting to realize the difficulty in piano roll type of compositions now :x
2010.1212 <Sakana> The only time wasted is the time in which you really do nothing at all, not even enjoying yourself
You may send me suspicious files that could be infected/a trojan, and I'll try analyzing it for you. :3 -Mo?ware, your personal Anti-Malware Engineer

Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #15 on: September 07, 2010, 11:19:08 PM »
Welp mediafire keeps breaking for me :V

Anyways, not a professional by any means, but ta intervals near ta beginning sound... weird. Cause I think ya aiming for some 'quiet introduction' feel, why not just add one main line; that intensifies ta melody more, or somethin.

Parallel octaves in one track sound sorta... weird (darned Baroque chorale rules :V); when it's between two different instruments or with accompaniment, it's probably alright, but it sounds really hollow with just those two notes. Maybe add them after ta violin part starts kicking in?


Though if ya aiming for that hollow feel... well, I suppose it's quite alright then.

Finally, at 0:25 and 1:11 I really expected something... larger ta happen (such as bass notes in ta piano :P), but as I said, if ya aiming for that feel it's brilliant.

Anunsew

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Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #16 on: September 08, 2010, 06:07:09 AM »
Truth to tell...I love RPG styled themes better than danmaku themes.
ZUN should make an official Touhou RPG. XD

@Lloyd
The emotional release after making a piece is awesome, isn't it? XD
« Last Edit: September 08, 2010, 06:08:55 AM by Anunsew »

Chaore

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Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #17 on: September 12, 2010, 04:26:59 AM »
Finally get around to listening to these- They're pretty awesome, hell they sound pretty professional... Sound Effect seems to give me incredible FSN flashbacks to that extent, as if something I'd expect from the game. Wonder why?

Pretty much makes it a favorite though! :V

Keep on musicin', Lloyd!

Lloyd Dunamis

  • aka Amanie
Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #18 on: September 13, 2010, 06:49:34 AM »
UPDATE!! [2010.0913]
  • New Piece! "Musicbox of a Deserted Hell"
  • Added "Sound Effect" MIDI
  • Will upload to Tindeck.com from now on -- thanks to Squiddie >w<

Musicbox arrange, Musicbox of a Deserted Hell
|| AlternateLink | MIDI

Where'd that come from? -- Dedication
A piece that started to melodify itself on a sleepless, frustrating night. It was a slumpy moment, not being able to continue other involved pieces? So I took a side step to something simple but purposeful.
Lullaby of a Deserted Hell is one of my most favorite stage themes, followed by/tied to/following Romantic Fall.
The musicbox intro of Tales of Destiny 2 (PSP)'s opening song "Key to my Heart" is what inspired me to use the Musicbox instrument and arrange it this way. It's really tear-jerking, I tell you ;_;
Furthermore, I'm in to Koishi and the Chireiden family lately, so I took it to my advantage while it lasts! x3
Also dedicating this to one of IRC conversations I had?
I?want to cry! Just?just let me cry? for real?! T/////////T?

What's up with the title?
Lullaby was apparently replaced by Musicbox. Musicbox of a Deserted Hell. It's kind of like what Orin let played when she and Okuu apologized to Satori.
It could've been "Musicbox Lullaby", but I'm a little concerned about the title being too long? and it's more than just a lullaby.

This sounds a little off -- Arrange Notes
?Oh? You're saying the piece is not complete? Hnn? Perhaps Orin was unable to fully wind the musicbox?or someone else was listening, felt a tear in her eyes, and held the musicbox just before it finishes.
I-it's supposed to be touchingly surreal or something?really?



I am hoping for a certain someone to hear this and feel goosebumps, too >////<
Just when I thought I had finished the piece, slapped in ID3 tags in the MP3 and all, new ideas and corrections come. For a simple musicbox piece, this received 4 revisions in a day o_o;;. That just shows how uncertain, undecided I am finalizing a musical piece or something? I think.

?I was frustrated in the Piano Roll composing of Synthfont, and the basic MIDI-only sounds of Anvil Studio =_=;
Welp, at least it produced a product of one of my favorite stage themes! |D
Ooooohoho, best effin' stage theme ever! >/////////<


Though I did say it doesn't sound as much as the bottom-quality MIDI, it might be because my standard in self-composed music quality has been, well, brainwashed/corrupted by too much listening to MIDI itself, that I get to the point of saying "MIDI sounds good enough". Quality standards in just listening feels totally different from quality standards in listening to your own composed music?

I swear. Musical software is limited for me, but that doesn't stop me from producing high-end musical results! >w<

Will be trying the next set of DAWs / VST hosts in my next piece!
Automatically dropped because Win98SE not supported:
-DarkWave Studio
-Podium Free



@Mushyrulez
Hnn, good point about the interval. Now that I think about it, it kinda feels like I fit the kind of music I wanted it to be in the available measures within the short 1:44 time of the music >_<;?
Kinda figured someone would comment about those parallel octave notes, because I think it's weird, too. Inhuman, at that :V
Ah! Bass notes! No wonder it sounds lacking... Hnhnn, I guess it deserves a re-mastering then...

Thanks for the comments! ^_^ *bows*


@Anunsew
Hnn... I pretty much game-bloomed from RPGs, so I guess RPGs do have a larger and longer-duration influence in my compositions...
But then there were other old-school shooting and action games whose BGMs I also liked as well, so?

ZUN's drunk-busy creating the shooting games already, not to mention Touhou literary, but a ZUN + fans = Touhou RPG doesn't sound so bad either |D.

Yeah, I felt "released" from some heavy load. I hope others from the Graet Raeg thread were able to do the same, too?


@Chaore
>////////////////< OhMyChicken, Chaore in my music threa---

... *coughcough*
Waaai~, Thanks sooo much, Chaore! I feel so honored!
I-I don't think I'm ready to take the Professional title yet, but this makes me sooo happy! >////////<
« Last Edit: September 21, 2010, 01:12:43 AM by Lloyd Dunamis »
2010.1212 <Sakana> The only time wasted is the time in which you really do nothing at all, not even enjoying yourself
You may send me suspicious files that could be infected/a trojan, and I'll try analyzing it for you. :3 -Mo?ware, your personal Anti-Malware Engineer

flamezero16

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Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #19 on: September 13, 2010, 06:52:43 AM »
I think I need a TLDR for your post amigo xD But the song itself is lovely. Great job.

Lloyd Dunamis

  • aka Amanie
Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #20 on: September 13, 2010, 03:40:36 PM »
I can't help it, though I guess I do need to shorten my words a bit >_<...

Anyway, thanks~! :3
2010.1212 <Sakana> The only time wasted is the time in which you really do nothing at all, not even enjoying yourself
You may send me suspicious files that could be infected/a trojan, and I'll try analyzing it for you. :3 -Mo?ware, your personal Anti-Malware Engineer

Coin Spire

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Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #21 on: September 14, 2010, 02:32:23 AM »
@Lloyd Dunamis
You DO have talent.

Keep up the good work. ^^

Themes:Aiki/Shiku

Anunsew

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Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #22 on: September 14, 2010, 02:53:22 AM »
@Lloyd
Your Midi sounds great. Music box is love, but you should try the 'Marimba' as well, it's good for making that metallic sound you are looking for.

♛ Apher-Forte

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Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #23 on: September 14, 2010, 07:02:35 AM »
When I am done listening to all this... I think I will convert to the Lloyd religion.
  <-- my artwork thread, click me!
[ Find my cosplay photos here. ] OMG I HAVE TUMBLR FOLLOW PLZX Will You Remember Me... ?

Anunsew

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Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #24 on: September 15, 2010, 05:10:19 AM »
Requesting permission to study the latest piece to improve my work!
*salute

...I am so Parsee....>.<
« Last Edit: September 15, 2010, 06:21:31 AM by Anunsew »

Lloyd Dunamis

  • aka Amanie
Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai!
« Reply #25 on: September 15, 2010, 05:08:37 PM »
I had the ambient PCB Victory Fanfare ready at some point? Let me keep it for myself for now -- my melodic thoughts might let me decide on yet another revision/s >_<;;

Speaking of revisions, Imma revise Musicbox of the Deserted Hell a little ^^;;


@Anunsew: But the Musicbox instrument has the very musicbox sound already~
Anyway, sure, I'll use Marimba sometimes, when I feel it's fitting in a piece :3

*tests Marimba*? Uhh, Marimba's that metal bars percussion instrument used in symphonic street bands during some festival, right?? Oh wait, that's a Xylophone?
Aww heck, *googles Marimba*? Oh, they're pretty much the same :x
?That said, A NEW MUSICAL PIECE IDEA HAS EMERGED!! YYYYYESSSSSS!! >xD
Awright, which piece/Touhou BGM is going to be Festival Street Band-ized or something? >w<
Thanks, Anunsew! *huggles*

For your 2nd reply?
I didn't put the MIDI link there just for display, did I? ;3
I already told you, you don't have to ask permission from me to do something on it :3
Study it, mess with it -- do with it as you please. Heck, a new musical idea or two might even strike you or something! >w<

@Shirai Kuroko: OhMyChicken, even A-F is here now!?
Th-thanks! >///<

Nooo! Your drawing skills will go down lots of levels if you convert to Lloyd religion! >.<
I'm thinking of long-term changing my display name to something not linking to a game/anime's character name, too :<

@Coin Spire: Thanks! >w<


An Amateur Musician's Thoughts -- you could totally skip this part, really ^_^;;
I think I figured out some of my weaknesses -- chained weaknesses at that. It might not seem visible in my currently-publicized works, but what I wish you to think about here is the "thought process" that happens during the composition:
-adding in the other supporting instruments & their tunes to the main instrument & main melody.
-I seem to be sensitive to crowding the piece of lots of melody playing at the same time, hence the little number of instruments I use.
-Furthermore, the supporting instruments tend to get similarly tuned to the main melody -- only either in a higher/lower octave or at a lower volume.
?Though part of me tells me this could be a strength, too.
« Last Edit: September 15, 2010, 05:15:58 PM by Lloyd Dunamis »
2010.1212 <Sakana> The only time wasted is the time in which you really do nothing at all, not even enjoying yourself
You may send me suspicious files that could be infected/a trojan, and I'll try analyzing it for you. :3 -Mo?ware, your personal Anti-Malware Engineer

Gpop

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Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai! (2010.09.13 - Musicbox of a Deserted Hell)
« Reply #26 on: September 15, 2010, 05:19:21 PM »
Ah...stealing you away was a good thing~! I stole a talented moe Koishi fan~

HakureiSM

  • Reimu is all of it
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Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai! (2010.09.13 - Musicbox of a Deserted Hell)
« Reply #27 on: September 16, 2010, 02:47:56 AM »
No you freakin didn't :<

Lloyd the stuff you have here is ~excellent~
I'll need more time with it later.

Also get on IRC.
[20:45:19] Ciryano: come and behold why they call it the Panzerfaust
[20:45:39] Hakurei Reimu: ... because it shoots once and then you throw it out?
                                                                                   .

Anunsew

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Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai! (2010.09.13 - Musicbox of a Deserted Hell)
« Reply #28 on: September 16, 2010, 05:18:23 AM »
It's nice that I could help. ^^

Try to test all of the musical Midi patches, you'd be surprised at what you can do. ^^

Especially with harpsichords. Harpsichords are love.


My envy for your skill is inspiring me...XD
« Last Edit: September 16, 2010, 05:28:13 AM by Anunsew »

Solais

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Re: [Music] Venture! Timid Youkai! (2010.09.13 - Musicbox of a Deserted Hell)
« Reply #29 on: September 16, 2010, 09:22:33 AM »
Beautiful musicbox music is beautiful.