Remake for "David03.ogg" WIP

[Destructavator]

I began re-working my older tracks, as I had told Winter I would in another thread, after many upgrades, new hardware and software was put in place in my personal setup.

I think this sounds much better for a re-do of the first air combat track on the Geoscape, although I'm still working on it and wouldn't call it a finished product quite yet:

http://www.destructavator.com/public/UFO_AirC_1_5.ogg

I think I might do another take with the very first guitar part that comes in at the beginning, and I'm also working off of Psawhn's idea to make it loop better, although this rendered version I just linked to doesn't fully implement that yet, as I've been comparing different methods of reducing the "seam" when it loops.

I also did work to make the drums sound more lively and less dead, although if they sound too bright please let me know so I can make changes for the next version.

For the musically inclined, I did this on the ESP EX-400 Explorer with EMG-81 and EMG-60 Pickups.

For the non-guitar players, that's a type of electric guitar, or, alternatively, just ignore that last sentence.

As always, anyone is welcome to comment as far as I'm concerned, although Winter and the other official head developers (BTAxis, Mattn, etc.) have the final say in what will be done.

[BTAxis]

That's actually David04.ogg.

[Destructavator]

Oops.  Sorry.  Thanks for pointing that out, my mistake.

[Destructavator]

http://www.destructavator.com/public/UFO_AirC_1_7.ogg

This one should loop better than the past ones, I also think this track sounds much better than the old version it was re-made after.

If Winter and BTAxis approve, I'd say go ahead and replace the old version with this one, I think this version is just about done.  If not, please tell me what it needs and I'll try to fix it soon.

[Destructavator]

Actually, I just played that last one back and it seems that on the high-quality rendering settings the guitars came out a little too loud, I also noticed a few other tiny issues.

Here, if Winter approves when he gets back from vacation, I'd say go with this one:

http://www.destructavator.com/public/UFO_AirC_1_9.ogg

[blondandy]

Winter was on IRC today, BTW.

I like it. I particularly like the plucked string synth around 2 min.

still not a fan of the chord progression around 40s.

[Destructavator]

still not a fan of the chord progression around 40s.

I'm not sure exactly which part you're talking about here - could you please elaborate on that a bit?

I'll go play back that track again tonight and see if I can find what you're talking about, right now I'm logged into a machine that doesn't have that file or a soundcard that can play it (currently have Linux fired up, and there are no Linux drivers for this soundcard.)

Edit: I pulled up the file on my other computer - did you mean the part that starts at about 1:40?  If so, I can change that part, but I'd still like to hear from Winter first, unless BTAxis and the others agree that something should be done with that section.

[Destructavator]

Is this better?

http://www.destructavator.com/public/UFO_AirC_1_10.ogg

[BTAxis]

Is this track finished now? Should I update it in SVN?

[Destructavator]

I was under the impression that Winter needed to comment on it first, although if an OK from you, BTAxis, is enough than I'd say go ahead and put either of the last two in the SVN trunk, either UFO_AirC_1_9.ogg or UFO_AirC_1_10.ogg.  As far as I'm concerned on my end, both of these last two are done enough that I would call them finished.

If you do commit them to the trunk, please let me know which one you picked, so I can upload and link to the source DAW project files for building the track.  (I believe I did this in the other thread for 1_9 but uploading 1_10 would not be a problem.)

[Winter]

Is this better?

http://www.destructavator.com/public/UFO_AirC_1_10.ogg

Hi Destructavator, sorry for taking so long to get back to you. I'm trying to catch up on all my affairs with a borrowed laptop, and I'm not really managing it. :p

I like the changes you made in this version, but it's not quite as polished as the other. The long-ish, trembling note at 1:51 seems a bit aimless and is letting down the really nice finisher that comes immediately after it. In general this section seems to fit the track slightly better, however, since the whole song is more of a wailer than the throaty riffs that were there before. Don't get me wrong, I love the throaty riffs as well, but the change of pace they provide is already covered by the synths that follow after.

If you still want to play with this track I'll be more than happy to listen to another version. If not, I think http://www.destructavator.com/public/UFO_AirC_1_9.ogg ought to be our final choice.

Regards,
Winter

[Destructavator]

OK, I'll see if I can clean up the "...1_10" a bit and see what happens - thanks for dropping in with the quick reply.

Hope you've been enjoying your vacation,

- Destructavator

[Destructavator]

http://www.destructavator.com/public/UFO_AirC_1_12.ogg

For this one I did a few more adjustments to the guitar sounds - I compared my tracks with various other tracks and commercial music and realized that my guitars have been a bit washed out with too much EQ effect, with this latest revision I think I've fixed this.

Winter, if you like this one, you can go ahead and commit it.

Edit:  Actually, after taking a good night's sleep and coming back to it, now that I play it back I might have added a little too much delay FX on the guitars, which slur the notes together a little bit.  I can fix this easily, although if you think it is fine as it is, then you can go ahead and use this one.

[Winter]

I think you did go overboard with the effects there, although they would be effective if you scaled them down. It's something that you need to be careful with to keep it fitting in with the generally clean, electric sound of the track.

I'm a little bit disappointed with the changes you made to the solo at 1:37. The clear, high tones were great and the wailing finish masterful, it just needed a tad more work. I miss it now.

'Course, I'm not the guy doing all the work . . .

Regards,
Ryan

[Destructavator]

I think you did go overboard with the effects there, although they would be effective if you scaled them down. It's something that you need to be careful with to keep it fitting in with the generally clean, electric sound of the track.

Yeah, after playing it back one more time myself, I really think you're right.  This is actually a common problem in music design, adjusting things over and over until the composer's sense of what sounds good goes to hell.  That and the fact that I made the last adjustments when it was late in the evening and I was then half brain-dead certainly didn't help.

Fortunately after taking a break since I didn't work on it since last night, this issue should be easy to fix.

I'm a little bit disappointed with the changes you made to the solo at 1:37. The clear, high tones were great and the wailing finish masterful, it just needed a tad more work. I miss it now.

OK, I can put that solo I had before back in, perhaps with a new take, it shouldn't be too difficult.

'Course, I'm not the guy doing all the work . . .

Actually, you're doing a very important and vital part of this process with your judging and feedback.  Without that, it would be like creating a cooking recipe for a dish and publishing it without having anyone taste it and judge it first.  Heck, even musicians signed to major labels have producers and internal people who judge and ask for "more of this" or "something different about that part" before it gets put on a CD or encoded for a download to be purchased, etc.

That said, I'll get to work on it.

- Dave