Description

Official album artwork commissioned from Yaichino. (Facebook | Instagram | Deviantart







All composers and game developers ahoy! For the following next few months we'll be collaborating to create a collection of at least 60 tracks of original, royalty free video game music for game developers to use in their video game projects and other media.

RMN Music Pack 2 will follow in the footsteps of the first pack's concept, aiming to provide game developers loop-able background themes for various game instances, mainly focusing on the JRPG genre, but possibly including some tracks that can also work in other media types as well.

The first music pack release has been well regarded and widely utilized, and RMN Music Pack 2 has been long awaited. Now we can switch the gears and begin realizing this great sequel.





This time around we'd prefer having the development and discussion of the album be more open and interactive. Join our discord channel at https://discord.gg/2YfdJNg to request music or instant feedback for your track. The goal is for everyone to work together in their best ability to bring the quality of the final collection as high as possible. If you are able to give feedback and pointers, you're definitely recommended to do so.

  • Game developers: now is a good chance to leave some requests for themes and styles you'd like to hear. There can be various game scenarios that might not all occur to a singular composer at the first thought, and even more to choose from where it comes to stylistic perspectives to approach the themes from.


  • Composers: first things first; the first music pack had certain standards, compositionally and mix-wise, for the submitted tracks to meet to be included in the final collection. Same applies this time around, though this time we will also have an additional release available on the RMN Music Pack 2 page, that will contain all the event submissions that didn't make the cut to the final collection, though did still fit in the event concept criteria.

    You will benefit of having a versatile digital audio workstation, rights to licensed libraries of virtual instruments, several years of experience under your belt, and the know-how of composing loop-able video game music. All the submission guidelines can be found further on.

    You'll also agree to the terms that anyone can use your music for free in their non-commercial purposes under creative commons by-nc 4.0 license as long as they credit you in the process. If any of the submitted music is requested to be used in commercial purposes, it can be done only by asking permission directly from you, the original author.

    The final collection will be made publicly available for download on multiple social and media online fronts utilizing the community's connections and channels, and it will be available for free in its entirety as a lossless collection, as well as alternate versions. The event will run for a few months, until we have 60 finalized and accepted tracks or more. (Room to flex up to 75 or so, if needed.)



  • Create a piece of music that can be used as a background track in video game, preferably in J-RPG genre. Instrumentation, style, and intended in-game use are at the discretion of the composer, but you can see to what members of the community are requesting and where the submissions so far are lacking.


  • The track has to be entirely your own work. It may not use unlicensed libraries and it can't lift thematic motifs from works of others. You can make tracks in collaboration with others, though this does not mean simply remixing previously distributed material.


  • The track has to be previously undistributed. You can submit material that you have been working on prior to this event, but which hasn't been made publicly available in its complete form before.


  • You agree to withhold from releasing your submitted tracks outside of RMN Music Pack 2 in their complete form before the music pack is complete and available for download.


  • The track shouldn't be a "fixed time track." Eg. it shouldn't ask for the listener's attention constantly by introducing too many major changes in terms of tempo, melody, or overarching scales, overall choice of instrumentation and whatnot. This doesn't mean your track can't be lively and varied - just keep the progressiveness and inclusion of themes in check and focus on establishing mainly a single theme per track.


  • The track has to meet certain standards where it comes to structure, tonality and balance of the mix. Make your instruments audible, yet contributing to a balanced space in soundscape. Make the leading voices clear, and ensure the mix has presence. You can listen to any current gen. professional soundtracks for mix reference, or if needed, ask help in Discord at https://discord.gg/2YfdJNg .

    You can also check the quality of the previous RMN Music Pack here to see which tracks were accepted in the end. We're of course looking to improve and bring up the over all mix quality even more where possible, but it should still give you a fair idea.


  • Your track has to loop - it has to return to a previously occurred section. After all the new compositional material has been introduced in your track it has to return to a previously occurred section from where it can start playing again. To demonstrate this in the song, you need to include the re-occurring sections from where the song starts playing from again, to the end of your pattern for at least 15 seconds or so, excluding any fade-out. Any fade-outs, software coded loop-points for game engines to utilize, and etc. will be added in the post processing of the album by the judge and event manager.


  • Render and submit your track as a .wav file. If possible, with 32 bit output and with the highest choice of re-sampling available to you. You can upload it to the event page and ask for feedback here, or as preferred, post it in our Discord channel at https://discord.gg/2YfdJNg .


  • You agree that anyone can use your music for free in their non-commercial purposes under creative commons by-nc 4.0 license as long as they credit you in the process. If any of the submitted music is requested to be used in commercial purposes, it can be done only by asking permission directly from you, the original author.


  • Open communication is recommended! When you're starting a specific type of theme, it may be a good idea to give a heads up to the other participants so that we know something of the specific type is already in the works! You can also introduce yourself here and let us know your preferred genre or choice of instrumentation, if any.


  • Once you have submitted a track to the event page it will be checked by the event manager: Happy, who will then provide feedback if necessary and proceeds to check the track as validated once it meets the submission standards.




Making a complete collection of great video game music is an award itself, but as a bonus there's also some additional prizes up for grabs. Prize amounts may increase if we receive additional monetary support!

  • Top contributor, community's choice: 125$ to the top contributor, chosen by community vote after the event.

  • Top contributor, judge's choice: 100$ to a different top contributor than community's choice, chosen by the event manager: Happy.

  • Luck of the draw: 75$ to a randomly selected participant with an accepted submission to the event.






The support of RMN's music events have been great so far. With our combined efforts we have so far managed to put together the funds for the artwork of both albums and generated some participation prizes for the entrants.

If you'd like to show further support to our music events, you can do so by donating with this link and your donation will be directed to increase the lucrativeness of RMN Music Pack 2, and in turn, generate more quality music. All support is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Details

  • 07/01/2019 12:01 AM
  • 12/31/2019 11:59 PM
  • 2
  • Happy

Achievements

Registration

You must be logged in to sign up for RMN Music Pack 2.

Teams Members Entry
Mankai
Psycom Sound Team jdk
The Spoony Bard
Sibelius Take The Wheel
JP Soundworks
You'll like these
Team Who Let this Goddamn Furry in Here
Team Why am I even here
Xcalnarok
Auron_Silverburgh's Team
The Magic of Hazelsoft
Dark Rukkurt
Denn
Fanta
Chronicle of Tales
Joel Steudler Music
T. Fairchild Musick
Sensemayá
Magically Musical
World On Pixels
Team I Don't Have Time For This Right Now But Hope Y'all Have Fun
Virtuoso Ultima
JStewartMusic
guess i'll try something even though i'm not great at music
QZ Productions
I'm PROBABLY going to solo this
Brown Note
uhhh frostix :)
djRyoji
letsDOit
Slaleky
ENDgames
VGMMarkH
All Ideas No Time
Entry Status Key
  • - Pending
  • - Validating
  • - Accepted
  • - Rejected

Posts

Aaugh, the deadline is looming and I've only just got home to the studio and got my PC fixed (came home to a PC that wouldn't start up - that was fun)... I really wanted to make a good handful of tracks for RMN Music Pack 2, too. Hopefully I'll still have time to make and submit something polished.

EDIT 01.10.19
SKY CITADEL
Finally gotten around to giving that roughly-sketched track a good fleshing-out. Its name - Sky Citadel - comes from the mountaintop dwarven fortresses from Pathfinder lore, which provided partial inspiration. The track could work for any city or castle in the sky, whether supported physically or otherwise, or it could also fit certain types of dungeon - perhaps one of a magical nature, or one placed in as lofty a vantage as those dwarven fortresses.

Loop points for conversion:
LOOPLENGTH 9799024
LOOPSTART 851708

EDIT 29.10.19
Updated to Sky Citadel v0.02
Mix tweaks, quality of WAV reduced to actual bit depth and sample rate to save on file size (24-bit, 48kHz)
I have a few I want to put in but where do I submit them?
author=Hazelsoft
I have a few I want to put in but where do I submit them?
you first have to sign in for the event. if you scroll down on the vent page you can see that you can sign in as a team somewhere. then you have to put your artist name in there and you will be able to upload tracks at the top right on the event page pictur. right now you will only see DETAILS. if you sign in there will be the MANAGE, SUBMIT and MY TEAMS buttons too

DESOLATE PASS
Turns out I'm on a roll this week. I've got a second track made and submitted - since Caverns was by far my most popular entry to the last RMN Music Pack, I figured I'd better do another dungeon theme; though this time, I thought I'd go for something a little different.

I composed Desolate Pass whilst envisioning the hero's arduous traversal of a rocky, high-altitude desert, or the scorched, acrid rim of a fiery volcano. Neither place is without its hazards, be they steaming pits or flame-bodied monsters, yet the dangers of both are belied by their natural beauty. If anyone reads this, I'll be interested to see what maps they might make to set this tune to.~

Feedback on both this and Sky Citadel is, as always, welcome and encouraged. I'll also try and find the time soon to give some feedback of my own, should anyone desire it.

Loop points for conversion:
LOOPLENGTH 13486829
LOOPSTART 421464


EDIT 11.10.19
A MOMENT'S RESPITE
Track number three! This one's an event theme with a simple premise: the party have trekked and fought for hours on end, but finally, they have come across a place of safety where they may rest and reflect upon their journey. Perhaps an unexpected deluge has forced them to stop and take shelter; perhaps they've camped for the night and are discussing the adventures ahead; or perhaps they find themselves in a friendly town, its once-bustling streets empty beneath the cold night sky.

Full disclosure - this started life as a slight variation on the RPG Maker 3 Editor theme, as I'd thought to myself, "what if this were an entire piece, rather than this simple little loop?" So, yeah, should anyone notice it, the similarity is somewhat intentional.

Whatever people use it for, I'm happy with how it's come out. I was trying another new compositional technique, composing most of the track first in one instrument (pipe organ, none of which remains) before reassigning its various parts. It's streamlined the process a surprising amount, and led to less cluttered-sounding accompaniment.

Loop points for conversion:
LOOPLENGTH 8294400
LOOPSTART 691200


EDIT 29.10.19
Updated to Desolate Pass v0.03
Mix tweaks, quality of WAV reduced to actual bit depth and sample rate to save on file size (24-bit, 48kHz)

Updated to A Moment's Respite v0.03
Compositional tweaks (felt the fiddle trills added a bit too much punch for its part, so removed them and went for smoother expression), mix tweaks, quality of WAV reduced to actual bit depth and sample rate to save on file size (24-bit, 48kHz)
I don't see the option to submit my tracks despite the end date of 11/01/2019. Maybe I didn't know the timezone that it ended. Did I wait too long to post my final submissions? I hope not, I spent a lot of time working on my music...

EDIT:
Looking at my post time, I'm guessing that the submission deadline was GMT. Next event should probably call out the time zone.
Happy
Devil's in the details
5367
Hey, you can still submit your tracks! The event will have a slight extension! I will update the first post and the general status as well!
Technically the event time zone is the time zone you've set on your profile. (defaults to UTC)
I think I'm gonna have to bow out, I've been in a major creative rut since I finished my last game + work / life stress. You can take my name off of the list because I don't think I'll actually be able to write anything ffff
author=Happy
Hey, you can still submit your tracks! The event will have a slight extension! I will update the first post and the general status as well!


Great news, thanks for extending the deadline!


I submitted three different tracks:
Clash of the Blades
I pictured this as a heroic character's theme, fitting for a scene with their dramatic return or something.

If I can get my recording setup to sound right, I might try going with live rhythm guitars at some point. For now though, the sampled guitar sounds good enough to me. I might also rerecord the solo to clean it up.

Nature's Prayer
I picture this as music for some sort of mystical forest. It's peaceful, but has a bit of tension vs hope themes. So I don't picture it as a completely safe place, but perhaps a slight refuge from more dangerous lands.

I wrote the original version of this when I was first trying out Ableton, and it's the main reason that I bought the software. It was expensive, but I don't regret it.

Steel Soldiers
It didn't seem like anyone was working on battle themes (which I tend to find easiest to write). The idea here is that it's some sort of dramatic boss battle. I think it's too short for a frequently occurring theme, but I pictured it used for maybe a specific character or group (think Atma Weapon's music or The Battle with the Four Fiends, although I'm not saying that in terms of quality).

I came up with the opening riff, and immediately decided to turn it into a full track. Like with Clash of the Blades, I'd like to add live guitars at some point, but my recording setup doesn't play well with rhythm guitars. It's hell to play live though.

Any tips or suggestions are greatly appreciated! With the added time, I'll probably work on a few more tracks.
LULLABY

This here's a very small, very simple one. It was partly an experiment to see if I could get a track's key, chords, rhythm, etc across with a melody alone. I liked the result enough to submit it. Many have commented on its suitability for a flashback scene. I also think it could work for other quiet moments in a story, though it would probably be too sparse a theme for use outside of such events. I'm willing to be surprised, though!

Loop points for conversion:
LOOPLENGTH 3659294
LOOPSTART 440471


STRATEGIC THINKING
This was a lot of fun to compose. I'm finding this "notate everything in one instrument first" technique to allow for a lot more complexity in chord choice without fear of everything blurring together. The track started with a very simple idea: to create a theme for a tactical battle system, whether for a TBSRPG or simply for tactical battles that appear within a more traditional RPG. It could also work as the theme for a cocky tactician or an enthusiastic soldier. Depending on the tone of the game, it might also fit as a castle theme or even a world map one.

Loop points for conversion:
LOOPLENGTH 9567457
LOOPSTART 414916
Hi, I've submitted two tracks using themes I picked from the suggested list:

Armies Advance
(Battle, epic war scene)

Certain Defeat
(Battle, Tense battle, sure of defeat)

Both can be set to loop at 2min.

This is a great project, I hope I'll have time to compose and submit a few more tracks before the deadline.
Greetings!

I uploaded two battle themes a World map and a Town theme as I picked them up in the suggested list.

- Blade of Unwavering Hope (Small, typical random encounter)
I wanted to create a short and simple battle theme to make the player feel comfortable when fighting an enemy. I tried to make it not too rocky nor too saturated. The piano means the beauty of the dexterity when using a blade that carries the hope against the calamity.

Loop codes for conversion:
LOOPLENGTH: 4370439
LOOPSTART: 827849

- Seething Blood of Strife (Boss Battle) (It can also be a Mid-game boss or a super boss battle)
I had the idea on implementing a more energetic feel to this, combining the sense of danger and adrenalin when fighting a formidable foe. The piano parts were composed in a way to make you feel that you can do it despite how strong the enemy is.

Loop codes for conversion:
LOOPLENGTH: 6138674
LOOPSTART: 1064544

- Edge of the World (World map, unknown lands or grandiose, exhuberent)

I mixed this theme with relaxed parts and bombastic hits in certain points, I imagined unknown lands in this one, like a new continent or another dimension, the ocarina and woodwinds is telling you how far you've come in your adventure. It can also mean the different cultures tho.

Loop codes for conversion:
LOOPLENGTH: 10976055
LOOOPSTART: 941325

- Divine Heritage (Religious city)

I tried to go baroque on this one, but also wanted to add some celestial choirs to add that religious feel, however, those sudden diminished chords means the hidden or the small "evilness" that people can have even if they are "religious".
I know that the last seconds are bugged, (sorry, had some export problems) but at least it loops just before it reaches that part.

Loop codes for conversion:
LOOPLENGTH: 5853636
LOOPSTART: 200851

I tested the loops and everything was ok, take in mind that the codes may not be precise tho, at least I have that feeling. Gotta check twice before converting each track. (add the "start" and "end" tags just in case)

One more thing, if my tracks are accepted, refer to me as Rukkurt, not DarkRukkurt, that's only an alternative name lol.
The names on mine should not have that underscore followed by nonsense letters and numbers. Those only seem to have appeared because I deleted them and the replaced file was the same name as the original.
Hi

I submitted my tracks:

============

1. Working Title 'Bossa'
___Just a silly riff on a Bossa Nova chord progression

2. Working Title 'Sneaking into the Fortress'
___Wrote this at the beginning of the event. Didn't have time to incorporate any feedback I got on it because I'm a loser

3. Working Title 'Experiment'
___Featuring Williams Paek on Saxophone. Once again, not changed from what I shared on discord (sorry!)

4. Working Title 'I don't know'
___Eh I wasn't going to submit but I thought why not. I'll get better at violin I promise (also sorry if the melody is cliched)

5. Working Title 'Dungeon'
___Wrote this a while back... it's kind of like 3 songs in one? I don't know if it holds together but hopefully others can find something good to use with it

6. Working Title 'Graceful Tenacity'
___Man I suck at battle themes. Again hopefully someone else can use it somehow, hence its appearance here

7. Working Title 'Tropical Paradise'
___Just a chill town theme (because we don't already have enough of those lol). Not a big fan of the trumpet part but eh

===========

Cheers everyone! Hopefully you enjoy the tracks even if they don't make it into the final pack/you don't find them useful in your games.

Looking forward to the next music event!
Happy
Devil's in the details
5367
Hey! Will take a few days to go through submissions, ensure we'll have the files as .wavs, create loop points for .ogg versions etc. If you still have late submissions, just send them directly to me!
I added one last-minute entry, Kings Of Ancient Realms. It's intended as a character theme for noble kings. The Submission button seemed to still be active, so I assume it went through (it said it was successful) but I can send direct if necessary. It loops as-is, or cut just slightly shorter.
Hello!

These are the tracks I submitted:

Haunted Mansion:
As the name suggests, it's meant for a cursed place of sorts, but can also work for some ancient ruins or other eerie and unsettling dungeons.

At the Black Market:
It's meant to describe a sort of exotic, maybe even esoteric place. Surely there must be something michievious going on though, given the sneaky or outright dissonant moments. For this reason it could also fit a character wich reflects these traits.

Grieving:
Again, this is quite self-explanatory: it depicts a melancholic scene with a longing undercurrent.

Rejoicing Mood:
This is a complete contrast to the previous track: a merry jingle that could be used for a menu, in a scene or as a cheerful character theme.
I'm getting anxious, too. I wish Happy would at least give us an update to let us know whether it's on hold or what. I'm considering withdrawing my tracks if this silence continues for much longer, and releasing them through my own channels instead.
Update:

Okay, so I'm talking to the other mods and seeing what they think about getting a panel of a couple of people together to listen to the tracks and finalise a set for the completion. It won't be exactly what Happy had in mind but will be similar where possible. I will keep you all in the loop and ask for just a little more patience as we get this worked on and sorted. As it stands, I'm taking over the organisation of the event to make sure it gets pushed through. I'm giving it two weeks tops on a wait - I need to familiarise myself with what's there and get a group to listen. If anyone would like to volunteer to be on the panel of judges, please DM me. I understand that there are those who have their own tunes in the mix - we can finagle it so that they get checked by others so there shouldn't be a conflict of interest.

As to the monetary prize... I'm not sure where to go from that. Happy is the only one who has access to the money, unfortunately. He was trusted with it last time without issue and I didn't see a need to mistrust him with something that was already set up and worked. I'm rethinking my policies on monetary prizes and where the cash is kept in the future. Usually it's whoever is running the even that handles it but, well, once burned... (For what it's worth, I don't think he did the dirty and scampered with it or anything. It's just unfortunate that whatever has happened has happened in this way, so I doubt theft is at all anything to do with this.)

That said, badges will be awarded when finalisation is complete. I'm sorry that it has taken so long. I'd hoped against hope that Happy would just appear and go "Hey, sorry for the wait!" because he has got issues and has, even if been a bit disappeary before, always come back when needed. Unfortunately, I'm not willing to wait any longer. It should not have been left this long and for not getting on it sooner, I am very sorry.

Thank you so much for your patience, guys. It's really appreciated.