(New W.I.P. track) Tell me what you think of this...

[Destructavator]

I fired up the good-old Gibson Explorer, and came up with this:

http://www.destructavator.com/public/UFO_AirC_3_1.ogg

It's just a start, really, but I'm wondering if it could be turned into another interception air combat track.

...And yes, the guitars are done differently, I've upgraded to using Speaker IR technology from real guitar amplifiers instead of the awful, digital-ish amp emulation I used before.  (If you don't know what that means, just ignore that sentence.)

I got this idea from listening to a remix of the original XCOM track.

Please tell me what you think of it so far.

[Destructavator]

Actually, considering I've upgraded my setup multiple times since the first track I put together that was used in the game, I'm wondering if I should re-do or re-mix some of my older tracks to make them sound better - I recently listened to the older tracks, and I don't think they are a match for my newer stuff.

[Winter]

I fired up the good-old Gibson Explorer, and came up with this:

http://www.destructavator.com/public/UFO_AirC_3_1.ogg

It's just a start, really, but I'm wondering if it could be turned into another interception air combat track.

...And yes, the guitars are done differently, I've upgraded to using Speaker IR technology from real guitar amplifiers instead of the awful, digital-ish amp emulation I used before.  (If you don't know what that means, just ignore that sentence.)

I got this idea from listening to a remix of the original XCOM track.

Please tell me what you think of it so far.

I like it, the first half in particular, but the main guitar riff in the second half of the song has an odd sound to it. The notes don't seem to work together very well. Also the pauses that tend to fall between some of your guitar notes tend to jar.

I think this could easily become a good interception track with a bit of work.

Remixing your old tracks could be a good idea, I do think this sounds a lot cleaner and less artificial than your previous stuff. I'd be more than happy to listen to anything you wanted to give another go.

Regards,
Winter

[Destructavator]

Here, this might sound a little better on the second part, which in this is now the middle part:

http://www.destructavator.com/public/UFO_AirC_3_2.ogg

I plan to add at least one more section to it, probably at least 2 or 3.

With this one I'm saving the drums for last, in these last two links I haven't spent much time on the drums, yet.

I still have much more planned ahead for this track.

I like it, the first half in particular, but the main guitar riff in the second half of the song has an odd sound to it. The notes don't seem to work together very well. Also the pauses that tend to fall between some of your guitar notes tend to jar.

This was because I was trying to compose and invent the melody while playing it (I had several ideas for a melody at once that I wanted to run with), and I ended up cutting and pasting parts of different melodic ideas together, resulting in pauses/gaps and some notes that don't connect right.  As more work is done on it, I usually redo such sections with a single, long take from the guitar.  This is a method I sometimes use when writing music, I slam parts together at first to get some idea of how the melody will sound, then I redo parts I like with a single take.  (Sorry I didn't explain that at first.)

Regarding the other tracks, I probably will indeed redo them at some point, but I'll take these things one at a time.

[Winter]

I like the new version a lot, this is probably the sort of track that they'd use for interceptions if X-COM were being made today.

Please do continue it.

Regards,
Winter

[Destructavator]

Will do.

Here's one with a little addition I'm a bit unsure of:

http://www.destructavator.com/public/UFO_AirC_3_3.ogg

I wanted to change the direction of the melody a slight bit in the last part of this one, although I'm not fully sure it is in the right direction, I'm wondering if it sounds a bit too...too...uh, ...cheerful?  (The last several notes especially.)  I can't quite describe it, but please tell me what you think.

On the other hand, if you think it works or is close, I can continue on from the final part with something to make a transition back to the riff at the start for when it loops.

[Winter]

I see what you mean about the cheerfulness. That's not a bad thing in itself, but at the moment the new part sounds like you're just picking random strings to see whether or not it sounds good, if you see what I mean.

It needs more cohesion -- maybe two solos working through each other for the whole thing, one fairly cheerful, one more menacing, but both in harmony with each other.

Also, solve world hunger plz.

Regards,
Winter

[Crinos512]

Very cool work youve done here!

[Chriswriter90]

Um, how do I open/Listen to those files?

[BTAxis]

Use any audio player that supports ogg.

[Destructavator]

A quick and dirty explanation (for more, try Google):

Ogg, or Ogg Vorbis files are compressed audio files, which can be sounds and/or music.  They are something like MP3 files, except they are a newer format, they can be better quality, and the format is free and without patent restrictions, unlike MP3s.

Personally, what I use to play them is the VLC Media Player, which is a free, open-source media player that plays just about anything and is also cross-platform.  Other media players can also play OGGs, but VLC is what I use.  (Look it up, if you find pages with an orange cone, you're in the right website, it is also a small download and it is clean.)  It also uses self-contained codecs, and therefore will not mess up any installed codecs on your computer (at least it shouldn't).

EDIT/UPDATE:  There is also a small plug-in you can download to play Oggs in Windows Media Player, but last time I checked it is very buggy and causes issues with Windows.

[Chriswriter90]

Thank's guys.

Up till now I was just using Quick-time & Flash Player on my Mac.

[Destructavator]

http://www.destructavator.com/public/UFO_AirC_3_4.ogg

This is what I came up with after a good night's sleep.  Personally I'm a little unsure of the very last part in this version, (is it lacking something?) but perhaps with a little tweaking, I feel better about this one.

I've still set aside working on the drum track for now, it is on my TODO list for this song, until I get the melody how I want it.

Edit / Update: Since posting this one I've got a few more ideas for this track, I'll work on them today and tonight and see how it turns out.

[Destructavator]

http://www.destructavator.com/public/UFO_AirC_3_6.ogg

I think, once the drums are done, something like this one might work.

I also think this one should be about long enough now, as air combat isn't supposed to be drawn out and lengthy if I understand correctly.

This also should loop OK in the game, although when I play it looped in VLC, the VLC player on my Windows system cuts off the start and end a little, stutters, then re-buffers the thing.

I'm not completely confident with the drum timing change around 1:42, I'm thinking about using a gallop-type of beat instead of simply jumping from a 1-4 to 1-8 beat.

I also adjusted the track volumes a little, along with a few other tweaks.

[Destructavator]

Here, this might be a little bit better:

http://www.destructavator.com/public/UFO_AirC_3_6b.ogg

As usual, feedback would be much appreciated, although the more specific feedback the better.