Castle Paradox

St. Ajora · **Bloody Angel** Joined: 29 Sep 2004 Posts: 98

http://stajora.castleparadox.com/DH-Reminiscence.mid
http://stajora.castleparadox.com/DH-Haunted.mid
http://stajora.castleparadox.com/DH-Battle.mid
http://stajora.castleparadox.com/DH-Boss.mid

I have been trying for weeks to compose a theme song for Deviant Hearts, but to no avail. Here are the collected results of those efforts, though. You just can't control inspiration, I suppose.

Comments? Critiques? Flames? Trolls?

Joe Man · Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 1:18 pm Post subject:

Well, I like it. I'll edit this, but I wanted 1st post.
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Last edited by Joe Man on Fri Dec 13, 1957 1:21 am; edited 2,892 time in total

Iblis · Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 1:47 pm Post subject:

St. Ajora · **Bloody Angel** Joined: 29 Sep 2004 Posts: 98

Iblis, thanks so much for the comments. Re-listening to the battle and boss themes, I found myself agreeing with you. The battle song sounds awful if it's much faster, so maybe I'll slow it down and use it as an evil castle song. Good suggestion. As for the boss song, I might make it the regular battle song. Like you insinuated, it just doesn't carry that sense of urgency you want to feel with boss music.

And, yes, "Haunted" will probably be a forest song. ;) I agree that it's not particularly "haunted"-sounding. I think it's the "choir aahs" that prompted me to give it that name.

Oh, and Joe Man, thanks, I guess, but "I like it" really isn't useful.

Setu_Firestorm · Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 3:05 pm Post subject:

St. Ajora, I must say that I am impressed by your work. It has inspired me to do something. Please give me permission to put these pieces through Nuendo. I won't change them or anything, just make them sound more real.
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Calehay · Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 4:29 pm Post subject:

Nice graphics, nice music, nice idea... I'm sure your game will be wonderful.

Reminensce- I really like this one, but make sure it works in MIDI2BAM. BAMs have a way of ruining everything.
Haunted- I like this one, but I feel the snare hit is in a bit of an awkward place. That's probably because MIDI snares are so demanding to the ear. It puts me in mind of a trifle dungeon more than a forest. I think your MIDI orchestration is the best in this one.
Battle- I think this one would be better if the drums burst out into a full drumbeat. You seem to like putting the snare in interesting places, but I think the feel of this would be better if the drums were more in motion on the B section at least. I think it's going at a fine tempo.
Boss- I would love to hear some drums on this. It just feels like that type of setup to me. If it's like a last battle that uses the main theme, then I wouldn't because it would have certain sentimental values.

This game seems like it's going to be very good. Since the quality of everything else seems so good, I would create motifs and themes to place throughout the music in the game.
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St. Ajora · **Bloody Angel** Joined: 29 Sep 2004 Posts: 98

I would love to hear these songs in MP3 form, Setu. Go for it.

Calehay, I wouldn't be much of a composer if I didn't thematize the music, would I? The boss music reminds me a little of the battle music, personally, and I think I finally have a good melody line for the game's main theme, so that'll be popping up in the game's various other songs.

And don't worry about the BAM conversion. I originally had them optimized for the conversion. These are the "messed-with" songs for MIDI optimization.

Thanks for the comments, everyone!

Setu_Firestorm · Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 2:29 pm Post subject:

I thought you'd say that. Big grin

http://www.castleparadox.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=39624
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St. Ajora · **Bloody Angel** Joined: 29 Sep 2004 Posts: 98

In the future, I'll try not to put these up one at a time. I thought I had more ready.

http://stajora.castleparadox.com/DH-World.mid

St. Ajora · **Bloody Angel** Joined: 29 Sep 2004 Posts: 98

http://stajora.castleparadox.com/DH-Theme.mid
http://stajora.castleparadox.com/DH-Freedom.mid

Moogle, you did not mention that WinJammer eats your track names. Calehay, you did not mention that Noteworthy screws up my songs.

But WinJammer is easy to work with, so I can live with eaten-up track names until I get my files ported over to this computer.

Oh, and what's this? Deviant Hearts has a theme song now! And... it doesn't loop? Surely I am some sort of crazy!

More are on their way soon, though I have partially shifted my focus back to graphics work now that I got my new monitor set up. The old one only worked in 256-color mode, which was fine for the OHR itself, but no good for working with the editors I need.

Iblis · Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 4:19 pm Post subject:

The theme is a little dull to me, but I like it well enough. I like the part after about 1:10 a lot better.

Freedom is great. I think it would make a much better world map theme than the one you previously posted (though that one was cool too, this is much better). If you're not using it for the world map I'm not sure where else you could though.

St. Ajora · **Bloody Angel** Joined: 29 Sep 2004 Posts: 98

"Winds of Freedom" is the full title. It struck me as more of a boat/airship type song. I don't think DH will have an airship, though, so it'll probably be the boat song.

And, yes, the theme is a little dull, but it's easy to work into other songs, which is important.

St. Ajora · **Bloody Angel** Joined: 29 Sep 2004 Posts: 98

More songs again.

http://stajora.castleparadox.com/DH-Compassion.mid
http://stajora.castleparadox.com/DH-Truth.mid

And a redo:
http://stajora.castleparadox.com/DH-Boss.mid
...with a fuller guitar and the drums you wanted so badly.

Ooh... "The Moment of Truth" is my favorite so far. That makes nine finished songs in all; four more are partially done and two are on paper.

---

I suppose now is as good a time as any to announce that I have commissioned Setu to remaster the OST. It will go on sale around the time the game is finished.

I don't expect to get rich off of it; in fact, I'll be surprised to earn back the money I paid Setu for it. It's for me as much as anyone. If you buy it, though, you're supporting independent game design! Big grin

The MIDIs will be free, as will the game, of course, and I'll probably include samples of the remastered OST on the website from time to time.

The finished OST will probably fill most of a CD. I'll probably include some extras, too, such as original art and wallpapers, much of which will be exclusive content. Basically, it'll be my way of saying "thanks" to any fans the game might have.

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Anyway, your critiques are welcome, as always.

St. Ajora · **Bloody Angel** Joined: 29 Sep 2004 Posts: 98

More more.

http://stajora.castleparadox.com/DH-Revolution.mid
Reminds me stylistically of Chrono Trigger. Sounds like a "last dungeon" to me.

http://stajora.castleparadox.com/DH-LazyPianist.mid
Reminds me stylistically of Seiken Densetsu 3. In fact, the instrumentation reminds me a whole lot of "Different Road," the mountain theme.

Is stylistic mimicry a bad thing? Yes and no, I think... Yes when it looks/sounds like everything else, no when it's nostalgic, as in Trailblazers, or is of an atypical or unexpected style. Particularly, I like the jazz/techno/rock mix that I've got going with this OST so far. Chrono Trigger and Seiken Densetsu 2/3 all have traces of jazz, very postmodern for the RPG genre.

LeRoy_Leo · Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 9:08 pm Post subject:

First~
Compassion was pretty balanced. It was a solemn but happy song. A bit too slow and dragging for my tastes, but it would fit as a character's theme pretty well.

Truth sounds nice... And long. If I want a song on repeat I will put it on repeat. Hah. This is a pretty and ambient song, though. I unknowingly left it on for over an hour while I was working with the OHR... o.o

Revised Boss... This song has better instrumentation than the previous one. It's bit faster, too. The timpani drum's slow thumping either drags it along or gives it a lumbering feeling. Dunno' if that is what you wanted to come across. Just thought I would tell you. Ah. This is also short and sweet. Thank you.

Next~

Revolution has a good feel to it. This sounds like it would make a good air ship theme or some sort of flash raid. Yeah. I think so...
No real qualms about this piece.

Lazy Pianist sounds nice, but I can't say that I would have chosen such a name. It feels more soulful than lazy. It has a powerful support and structure, but it is missing something. Maybe an ambient drone in the back ground would tie this bag together, eh? Just my feelings. Keep up the great work. This is impressive stuff. o.o;
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