Description



Summoner of Sounds is designed to be a series of interactive community events where video game music will be celebrated by the means of craftsmanship and community interaction.

Community members with experience in music production will be dared to participate in challenges testing their ability to perform well as a versatile video game composer, while the game developers with other areas of expertise are encouraged to to analyze the challenges, and provide the composers with commentary, feedback and constructive criticism.


Table of contents:

  • 1. Event Outline

  • 2. Event Schedule

  • 3. Licensing Rights & Submission Guidelines

  • 4. RMN as a Platform. What do I have to gain?

  • 5. Post-Processing Submitted Material

  • 6. Role of the Composer - Becoming the Summoner of Sounds

  • 7. Role of Other Developers and the Audience - You are not NPCs!

  • 8. Picking Favorites!?

  • 9. RMN Music Pack 2 and Guardians of the Groove







Summoner of Sounds consists of a periodically recurring series of challenges presented to the composers to participate in and for the developers and audience to engage in throughout the year.

Participants aren't obligated to participate in every challenge, but the more challenges you participate in, the greater the reward.

Presented challenges will test the composers' abilities to perform well as versatile video game music producers in a changing environment. Each challenge will introduce a different set of rules and restrictions, and a new concept where the composers will have to find a way to express themselves in.

The challenges may restrict and determine the video game genre that will need to be composed for, the game world setting to be composed for, a specific game instance to be composed for, or a specific manner to be composed in.

While the challenges will present a number of restricted aspects, each challenge will offer choice of freedom and room to stretch around in some of them.

Summoner of Sounds will be running for several months in total and challenges will be issued roughly once every month, or on a similar pacing.

Each challenge of the series will run approximately over the course of one month and the deadline of each challenge will be stated as the challenge and its ruleset are announced.
























Any work submitted to this event will be disseminated under a creative commons license as publicly usable in any way the end-user wishes as long as they attribute the work to the artist in their credits and that they also do the same themselves with any derivative work based on the artist's.

End-users of this material, and any derivative material, will not, however, be able to legally make any money from anything containing these tracks without the artists' express permission.


All works submitted to the event have to be 100% original work of the participants and must contain no copyrighted material, either compositionally or in terms of sampled sounds. Submitted works must contain no arrangements of any material of a different author, and they can not lift motifs from anywhere else, except possibly from the participant's own works.

Submissions should contain as little audio quality loss as possible, WAV file format being heavily preferred.





The RPG Maker Network offers an extensive network of gamers and game developers, both hobbyists and professionals.

This event series is designed to help the composers of the game development community come together, challenge their know-how and showcase their creative efforts, and the rest of the community to come in contact with the composers.

This event series won't have a panel of judges, and there won't be hand-picked winners. Participants are encouraged to challenge themselves and work together towards solving the presented challenges.

During the course of the event series, the composers will be creating video game music in various forms and manners, and build themselves a diverse portfolio while doing so.

The rest of the community is encouraged to provide feedback and impressions on this material and to be in touch with the composers, possibly giving them ideas, or request something specific from within the given ruleset.

RMN will bring the participants visibility, and the yields of each challenge will be shared on RMN's social media during the course of the events.



Each composer has a completely optional step to sign up for post-processing their submitted material.

In the post-process, the composer will be in touch with the event organizer who will help them personally by offering them feedback on composition and mixing details and assist them by creating alternate, OGG file format versions of their tracks with a coded-in looping point, which will enable seamless looping of their songs in the RPG Maker VX and RPG Maker VX Ace engines.

Enabling looping for the songs requires them to be composed in looped structure, with recurring sections.






Summoner of Sounds as an event series will present a series of challenges that will test your abilities as a composer to express yourself in a wide variety of restricted environments. This will help in readying you to have the tools and confidence to perform well as a composer in a wide range of video game projects.

Each challenge will introduce a different scenario where you may need to compose music for different game genre, imply a different game setting through instrumentation, cultural, and musical genre references, or approach the the task by expressing yourself with a very specific perspective in mind.

Some of these scenarios may, and most likely will, require you to research and learn new ways of designing video game music, but they will also encourage you to test yourself, and express yourself in ways that you haven't before, and you will experience the joy of discovering new sides of your creative self.

Summoner of Sounds is an event series that will be running for several consecutive months. It may sound intimidating at first, but you can decide which challenges you want to participate in. However, the more challenges you undertake, the greater the rewards.

If you want to achieve the very best yields, then the series will also test your ability to perform under pressure as you'll need to be undertaking all the challenges.

It will test your ability to practice your trade under discipline, not only when you are motivated, and it will test your adaptability at the times when you'll have to find your creative freedom and inspiration while you still have to make your visions meet with a set of pre-existing rules.

Remember, you are not alone! This is a collaboration event. You may work alone if you wish, but you are allowed, and encouraged to collaborate with other members. Do you have the same Digital Audio Workstation as the other participant? You can work together! And if you feel like discussing how to approach any of the issued challenges with the other participants, then nothing stops you.

Building an extensive network of colleagues and other practitioners of your trade will also work greatly in your favor!

Will you be able to take on the challenge? Can you become the Summoner of Sounds, or even something more?

Introduce yourself at the Composer Introductions!





Video game composers wouldn't be composing music for video games if there were no video games, and video games with no music, or audio, would offer us only an experience with half of the things to sense, than what they do with audio, so let's agree that sound design is an integral part of game design.

Video game audio does not only offer us audio clues on game mechanics, but music activates large parts of our brain on fast rate and communicates us a great variety of information, which married with the visual material will bring the gaming experience to a whole new potency.

That being said, video game directors should not underestimate the importance of solid audio design, and advanced communication with the audio designers plays a major factor at what the end product will communicate to the consumer.

Music helps to communicate ideas which aren't visually present, it may also underline and empower the visual ideas present, or it may change the way we perceive the visual clues completely when the marriage of the visuals and the sound refers to a completely new impression than what either part of the combination would carry across alone.

Video game directors need to be able to communicate their vision to the sound designers and together with them, find a way to communicate this idea to the consumers.

While the Summoner of Sounds challenges will introduce composers to predetermined rulesets, the rest of the community may still engage in the process by discussing each challenge and the methods fit to completing the challenge.

Everyone can take the role of a critic. You don't need to be educated in music theory or terminology to be able to tell whether you find a musical piece fitting for a specific game genre, instance or setting. Communication matters, even if you don’t have the most optimal tools for it.

Express yourself with your own words and impressions. A composer will be glad to hear any of it. Tell the composer what their music communicates to you: feelings, impressions, visual images or atmosphere, for example. Does their track fit the description of the given ruleset?

Everyone may also post ideas of any themes they would like to hear. If the ruleset permits, a composer may very well decide to compose your idea.


While there isn't a panel of judges, or winners for the event, everyone is still encouraged to show appreciation for entries submitted to the event.

Simple feedback and commentary alone is welcome enough, but if you really like some track, give it a star to mark it as your favorite! You can give stars for multiple tracks if you wish. Stars play a part in event visibility and achievement mechanics.

To reward composers with stars post a reply to the event explaining which track, or tracks you want to give favorites for. Attaching a star image to the post helps the process.

Image code for the star:
[img][url]http://rpgmaker.net/media/images/events/sos/sosstar.png[/url][/img]







As of today, one of the biggest, if not the single biggest achievement of the composer community of rpgmaker.net still is the release of our RMN Music Pack!

It's a great quality pack of music that we can be proud of, and an achievement that we were able to put together with collaborative effort and all thanks to the network and community that RMN is.

Reception of the RMN Music Pack was overwhelmingly positive and it has been a good while since its release, so it is time we set our sights on the future, and to the release of its successor, the RMN Music Pack 2!

The journey for RMN Music Pack 2 begins with Summoner of Sounds.

Summoner of Sounds is designed to work as a count down and prepare us to bring RMN Music Pack 2 to a whole new level.

While Summoner of Sounds works also as the countdown for the RMN Music Pack 2, Summoner of Sounds will still be the greatest undertaking of the RMN composer community as of today and it will challenge everyone's creative abilities.

Summoner of Sounds will be creating composers a portfolio, but it will also be creating the community a whole lot of great video game music!

If you like what the composers of the community do and you want to show your support to them, you can be directly in contact with them, but if you want to show your support to the community as a whole and help us arrange events such as the RMN Music Pack, Summoner of Sounds and the RMN Music Pack 2, you can now become Guardian of The Groove and donate to the cause!

Every penny counts and the money will be used first and foremost to have artwork to go with the music and then to offer rewards for participating members. Any extra funds to the cause will be spent on future RMN Music events.

To get the Guardian of the Groove achievement you have to PM Happy after the transaction goes through, so that he knows to apply the benefits to your RMN account.

Thank you everyone! Let's do our best!

Illustrations: カラカモ @ twitter / 烏鴨 @ pixiv
Event concept design, visual design, direction and supervision: Happy @ RMN / Matias Heimlander @ tumblr

Details

  • 05/01/2015 06:57 PM
  • 07/01/2016 11:59 PM
  • 3
  • Happy

Achievements

Registration

You must be logged in to sign up for Summoner of Sounds.

Teams Members Entry
Team Happy!
My Composing Stick is Ready
Team Meat
Sum On Her Off Sow And
Team Failed Harmony
Team Where Am I?
Team The Team
Out of practice, so let's get back in practice!
"Insert Team Name Here"
I'll Do My Best...
Chaos Harmony
Symphony Of Enthrea
Super Merengue Bros.
The Spoony Bard
Music for humanity
Bring back the dinosaurs
How do I Music?
Team Drass
Ark of the Arts
Team Koi
To the Beat of a Different Drummer
Team Toni!
Dysergy
Jingle Jangle Jingle
Ylmir
Azhthar
Team Amazing Hotdog
Firah
Team Last Minute Production
Ogarth Munchies
The One-Ghost Gaggle
Team Giznads
Fungus Happy
Maat Wants His Cap Back
Misoundthropy
Rastapopoulos
Sweaty Angle~~~ <3
OneByOne
Toms Introduction Team!
Team Midi
Legion of One
FoxAudio Creations (AKA Team Oh God Who Let the Furry In Here)
Happy Rainbow Panda Bears
Team Curry
Acidbath
Jar Studios
Aersia Sound Team
Plastic, Meat, Smoke, Metal, and Sugar
Team Megollyen
Niyane's Team
Team Unhappy!
The Sword Of The Crest Heart And The Bird That Learnt That Hope Would End One Day
Team Neutral!
Team Probably Not Appearing In This Event
Scion Genesis
Without Creativity
Team Random
Team Cheese
JStewartMusic
No Excuses!
Team currently busy but what the hell
Team Yup
Uncanny Warriors
Team Jawns AKA Boring Team Name
A Team of One
The Singularity
The Duke's Jukebox
Sound Master
Entry Status Key
  • - Pending
  • - Validating
  • - Accepted
  • - Rejected

Posts

author=Happy
I'm looking to buy some more world instruments at some point

I'd suggest RA. That's the one I use whenever I need to make world music.
Thanks for replying in such detail ymir and to happy and fulmini-ictus as well, yeah I'll probably get some kind of a DAW - I have a mac desktop easily available so I was thinking logic pro might be ok as I wouldn't need to use VST plugins as they already have an ok sound font (I think it does at least). Does anyone have any experience with it?
author=Happy
I compose my tracks with FL Studio's piano roll interface. I find it the most informative and easiest to use UI personally.

I'm also a bit curious what sound libraries others use, and are there some specific ones you recommend?


I use FL Studio as well, and while I have a small midi controller to experiment with, I use the piano roll for input. In terms of libraries, for classical instruments I use Kontakt and for the most part I use the free libraries available (requires the full version of Kontakt, not the player).

For the free libraries, I've been using the Stroh Violin from Impact Soundworks, pocketBlakus cello, and the
Total Composure Orchestra for the other instruments. Getting a good solo Viola, proved difficult since the only one out there for Kontakt seemed to be Solo Viola Lite by Northern Scoring Tools, which could work at times, but I generally had huge problems getting it to sound right. I primarily just used the viola ensemble from total composure until I broke down and bought the Embertone Fischer Viola, which made everything a whole lot easier.

If you have the full version of Kontakt, you can get a lot of good sounding free instruments from google for pretty much anything you need, but usually you'll be limited in how much you can vary the instruments (eg: they'll support legato, but the vibrato will be fixed).

For paid libraries, I'm a huge fan of Impact Soundworks, but they have a limited selection for classical (really good for drums, bass, and guitar though). I've used Furia from them, but only for staccato bass. I also have their brass library, but I haven't used it enough yet since I'm mainly working with strings. I'm also a big fan of Embertone, and I really want to buy the rest of their solo strings, but I'm holding off for now.

So in short, stuff from Impact Soundworks, Embertone, and "X kontakt free" in google.
author=Calicer
I was thinking logic pro might be ok as I wouldn't need to use VST plugins as they already have an ok sound font (I think it does at least). Does anyone have any experience with it?

First, I don't think Logic Pro uses soundfonts. Soundfonts is actually a quite old format which isn't standard anymore : the SF2 files just lack most of the features professional composers are looking for nowadays in modern sound libraries, and the .sfz files are impractical to work with when creating large and complex libraries with advanced features like true legato (it means the makers of the sound library actually recorded the transition between the notes when playing "attached" notes), round robin (having more than one sample per note, to avoid the "machine gun effect" when repeating the same note over and over - especially noticeable with staccato or spiccato samples) or dynamic layers (being able to crossfade between a section playing loud or softer), for example. I'm mainly thinking about virtual orchestras here, but some of these can apply to other virtual instruments as well.

On Mac, you actually won't be able to find VST Plugins (these are for Windows), but if I recall correctly you will be using AU (Audio Units) instead. I'm not a Mac user, so I'm not really sure. Anyway, most of the professional VSTs, including Kontakt or EWQL's plugins, have an AU version, so you should be fine with them, but for anything else, be sure to triple-check before buying if you can use it.

Finally, Logic Pro comes with some sounds, probably good enough to start doing some things, but most of the time, sounds that come with a DAW aren't great, or you'll lack something. Logic Pro seems to have woodwinds, but I haven't found any mention of a strings or brass section, for example. (source : http://www.apple.com/logic-pro/plugins-and-sounds/)

By the way, from what I've read on it, Logic Pro is a pretty good DAW, you should be fine with it.


author=Happy
Oh CineSymphony does seem rather good. Do you prefer using it over Kontakt orchestral libraries?
I might need to consider getting it... Someone lend me $2500 so I can get the full library. :)

I only rarely use Kontakt's factory instruments. The VSL instruments included in Kontakt have a good sound, but in terms of dynamic layers or round robins (see the first paragraph above if you don't know what these terms mean), they are way behind. You might be interested to know these VSL folders are actually a cut-down and outdated version of some of the libraries from... VSL.

When I talked about CineSymphony in my previous post, I wasn't referring to their big bundle, but to the smaller instrument called "CineSymphony Lite", which is also a cut-down version of their other products. And since it's much easier to get realistic sounding sections with it than with the Kontakt Factory instruments thanks to the various features I talked about, yes, I prefer using it. If you consider buying it (the Lite one), be aware you only have sections, no solo instruments. By the way, it's a sample library that runs into Kontakt, so you'll basically be using the same software.

If you want to take a look at other professional companies offering orchestral sound libraries, you might want to take a look at Spitfire Audio, Audiobro, Orchestral Tools, ProjectSam... Actually, there's a lot of other companies selling sound libraries, and you'll see most of these actually run in Kontakt (Full or Player) - this is why Kontakt is often recommended. ^^

By the way, given how expensive some of these libraries can be, I'd also recommend you to try before you buy when you can. If you can't, spend as much time as you need to sort out what are the pros and cons of each library, what makes it stand out, what are its biggest flaws, what exactly are the included instruments... You don't want to make music with something you aren't comfortable with, and you don't want to be disappointed when you'll install your new library because the piano you were interested in is actually not a part of this library. You can read reviews or opinions on forums, watch videos, listen to demos (preferably naked if these are available), take a look at the user manual (in music production, these manuals are actually helpful. And sometimes fun.)...

Another last piece of advice : When I (or someone else) talk about sample libraries, don't take it as an absolute truth. When it comes to sample libraries, making a choice isn't easy, and sometimes, personal tastes and experiences can influence one's decision. For example, I made the choice to ignore the lower price range because of some bad experiences I had, but I may have overlooked something interesting. In the list of sound libraries I'd buy if I ever win a million dollars, I have chosen some sample libraries not because of their reputation, but because I liked their sound more than the most popular libraries out there, but maybe you are looking for something else. Some libraries will sound rich, some will sound epic, some others will be subtle. There is (almost) no "good" or "bad" library : It all comes down to what you do with it.

Finally, when I say "It all comes down to what you do with it", it applies not only to what sound to want to achieve, but also how you use the library. Learn to know your tools, learn how to use them, and you'll be able to create realistic sounding tracks even without having that expensive library everyone dreams about. Here's an interesting read taking this subject further and giving some tips on orchestration and realism, since this post is already long enough : http://mattiaswestlund.net/?page_id=696

Sorry. I think I just got carried away while replying. xD

PS @ Beaker : Yay, I'm not the only Embertone fanboy out there ! \o/
Happy
Devil's in the details
5367
The event deadline has been extended to May 15th! Let's try and get some orchestral music done! Don't hesitate to ask if you need feedback or help with anything!
I think the reason why there isn't a lot of entries for this one is because the word "Symphonic" might be a bit intimidating. To "symphonic", one can easily associate the idea of "good sound quality" and specific styles or structures, and this can detract of what we're trying to achieve : Expressing emotions, moods, stuff.

Maybe we should talk a bit about what we're looking for with this challenge, and maybe even with the Summoner Of Sounds in general. Do we want something that really respects all the codes of classical symphonic music with a top-notch sound, or a more liberal approach of the theme where people tried their best to make the sounds they have shine and to express themselves ? :p
Actually, "orchestral" music (since it's what exactly is written into the guidelines) can also be much broader than classical music. Here are some examples, just in case this can help some people to get started.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaMpLQbM-DI
This one (from Steins;Gate Symphonic Reunion) already covers a lot of different possible directions, since it's a medley, so maybe it'll give you some ideas to start with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyI1aacezx8
And if I'm including a link to this version of the Dragon Quest soundtrack, it's just to remind you that you shouldn't be afraid of the theme just because your sounds aren't perfectly realistic. ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oALSvOTxUVs
Here's another one from Final Fantasy. To me, it could clearly be played by a symphonic orchestra without a lot of changes to the track itself. There's probably better examples, since I'm not sure this one still works for the challenge (I'm thinking about the bass sound, for example), but that's the only thing I could think about this evening.

I also found myself staring at a white screen for the whole day, some days ago, when I was saying to myself "Okay, so now, write something that sounds symphonic". And that's perfectly normal, since it doesn't give you any direction to begin with. This also means you have an almost complete creative freedom : You don't have to "find" something, you just have to choose something. It can be anything : A given mood you'd like to share, a scene you have in mind involving, let's say, the death of the hero's girlfriend, or a cat, or something inbetween. You could go for a victory fanfare, for an adventurous track when our 10-year-old hero leaves his pathetic village to explore the vast world and eradicate anything evil, maybe something for when he, in turn, becomes evil because he discovered someone stole his candies while he was away mercilessly killing random stuff. It can be anything, really. ...well, almost.
If you really have no idea, just play a random game, and say, at some point "Ok, I want to try working on a track for the next thing I see on the screen". Might be hard if you happen to choose Tetris though, I wouldn't want to be asked to compose a theme for a square made of four blocks. No, this is NOT an idea for a challenge.

Anyway, I hope my crappy scenarios gave you some ideas, and I hope it'll motivate people to send something, especially with this extended deadline :p

PS : Now that my motivational speech is over, I have only one last thing to say : JUST DO IT.
...sorry, I had to.
Welcome back!

I want to submit a track, but I completely forgot how. Either that, or the button disappeared.
Edit: Nevermind, uploading now, lol.

So I took all the criticism to heart(sorry for the ear explosions). I've been using headphones while mixing. It turns out that mixing on headphones is different from mixing on speakers. That's a mild pain for me, since I'm a mobile composer(just using my phone). I may have to find some way to connect my phone to my speakers, otherwise I have to transfer the song from my phone to my PC every time I change it.

Anyway, the theme is orchestral this time, so for me, that essentially boils down to only using instruments from the Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra! (because I'm poor)

Arise, Humble Hero!

I hope there's nothing ear-shattering this time. I made substantial use of reverb and delay(hopefully not too much). I even reduced the highs for the instruments that had ear-popping highs.
If you want some general advice about mixing, it is usually recommended to listen to your track on as many different devices as you can, and to adjust you mixing accordingly : Depending on the device you'll be using, the same track can sound drastically different, and even between different pairs of headphones.
Another good thing to do is trying to learn the strengths and weaknesses of whatever you usually use to mix, may it be a pair of headphones, speakers, or something else.
Just to give you a small example of how important it can be, some weeks ago I worked on some sound effects for a game we were working on for a local gamejam, and on my headphones, one sound effect sounded particularly bassy - it was intended, so I thought it was ok. And then, I heard the same sound effect on my friend's gaming headphones. These ones were so bassy I felt like I was hearing a down-pitched toilet flush sound.

By the way, your track is really cool ! I won't give my opinion on the mixing for now, even if I feel it could be improved a bit : I'd prefer to give it later, when I'll be less exhausted. ^^
I'm working on a composition now, but I'm getting a lot of grief from Kontakt since I'm using four large sample libraries and they're taking up a lot of memory. First, it was a 32bit vs 64bit FL Studio issue, but now I'm getting a bunch of other random crashes.

I'm busy this week, but I should be able to start again next week. Hopefully, that will give me enough time to finish.
author=volke_locke
My submissions are:

Sky Armada
- It attempts to use feelings of anxiety, malevolence, solemn moods (like that of the calm in the eye of a storm, those precious minutes before dawn, or the feeling of waiting for a cataclysm or battle to arrive.)
(Also, it seems that my upload is corrupted... I'm attempting a reupload)

Threnody of the Second Wave
-It attempts to implicitly induce feelings of grief, sorrow, or simple pain. It may also be anxiogenic, but to a lesser degree.

I think both of them would do better when presented with a visual format (as intended.) It isn't the easiest for simple listening. Both are introspective ambient songs. Do to their length they require the use of lengthy scenes or areas.


now this is the rpgtown music ive been wanting
author=Beaker
and they're taking up a lot of memory

Same here. Well, it's not crashing in my case but the sound is lagging a lot due to the memory issue which means that I can't listen to the piece while I'm composing it. That's why I'm always splitting it up into smaller parts. This works since I never use all instruments at once. Maybe you'll be able to make it work this way.
I think this will be my final entry for the event. I hope you enjoy this orchestral piece ;)

Summoner of Sounds Opening Symphony

Made this song in this composing streaming session
author=Shade_Hunter
Summoner of Sounds Opening Symphony


The first thing I noticed was the violins/viola section panned at 100% on the left, and the cellos that sound too centered because of that. You should keep the violins/violas a bit more centered : Hearing an orchestral section with only one ear is unrealistic.
author=Ylmir
author=Shade_Hunter
Summoner of Sounds Opening Symphony
The first thing I noticed was the violins/viola section panned at 100% on the left, and the cellos that sound too centered because of that. You should keep the violins/violas a bit more centered : Hearing an orchestral section with only one ear is unrealistic.

Hmm, I see Ylmir. Thanks for the feedback. I think I will not do any more changes, but I can see why you see that way.
---

Alright, I took some time to listen few songs and now I'm giving my feedback. These will not go in any specific order. I happened to listen in this way. I written few thoughts which came while listening. Really short ones, but better than nothing I suppose. I hope you'll find this useful and constructive. Without further ado... These are the songs I reviewed.

2 starts have been given

> Arise Humble Hero - Cats777 *
Mystical Atmosphere throughout the whole song is well performed. Slightly determined tune. There are really nicely done parts with wind section. Only thing I'd have to say about the song is that those goods parts end too soon and start to repeat themselves, but that's just more and less nitpicking. Good work. I'd definitely use this one in a game. Worth of a star


> A Grand Epiphany - Megollyen
Sad cello & piano music in this one. Good for storytelling scenes to be sure. Tune is little static and there is hardly any catchy melody part -only harmony. But if this was the intention, I think it serves it's purpose.


> Dance of Emptiness - Bobhostern
Combination of wind section and strings. Violin/Viola was the one taking melody forward. I like the change at 0:50. I believe part after this line had some interesting elements. Minor to Major change is well made. However back to Minor change is little bit rushed. Overall I think it is a good piece tough.


> Feeling of Smile - Cats777
At the first seconds it makes the listener to be happy. It gives smile on your face. Uplifting drum and flute combination. Saddly after the beginning it hardly goes anywhere else, which is shame due I like the atmosphere built in beginning notes. But as a BGM would work really well.


> Battle Hope - Calicer & Lucent_Aurora *
Intriguing approach. Has interesting style to be as a battle tune. Beginning does not engage that much into later playful parts, which are well constructed. I have to give this one a star.


> Behind You - acidhedz
This song has an obscure beginning to be sure. I think in some way the spooky effect in music works. Not in every horror games I believe, but the atmosphere of weirdness may work due it's length. Good piano work at 9:00. I didn't recognize any specific melodies, but perhaps the intention was that all along. Who knows...


> Exploring and Open Field - curryisnice
Longing tune played by flute. Music box part is really nicely done. However the flute part does not convince like the other parts. Melody is ok, perhaps it's the sound. Background music for an open world, hmm. To my mind this feels more like scene music than bgm. Depending on the location it might work.


> Ogarths Morning - blinktjp
Feeling of the morning has been captured well. Short and sweet. Feels like fitting music for an event, I believe it can work in game scene. Only criticisms I have to say are that it doesn't quite move from where it left off, and it is quite short. Still I believe it can work in game scene quite well.


> Options Maybe - Kunsel
Ongoing beat and synth chords. Good as an option menu music. Calm tune. I think it does well where it is meant to. I can't really find anything to criticize. It's simple but effective theme.


> Market Yard - chenbaiwan
Has an bit medieval feeling in it. Catchy melody to say the least. I can imagine this in background of an market yard. However, it is quite static. The atmosphere presented in the beginning hardly changes to any direction which may make this too repetitive. But for the right environment, this song is useful.
author=Fulminis-ictus
author=Beaker
and they're taking up a lot of memory
Same here. Well, it's not crashing in my case but the sound is lagging a lot due to the memory issue which means that I can't listen to the piece while I'm composing it. That's why I'm always splitting it up into smaller parts. This works since I never use all instruments at once. Maybe you'll be able to make it work this way.

My problems seemed to do with using 32bit FL or 32bit plugins. Once I started using 64bit FL and 64bit kontakt (instead of just a wrapper around the 32bit kontakt from when I started), the crashing stopped. Memory usage is high in my case, around 7gb, but I have 8 and it seems to be using it all now, so I should be able to hopefully finish the compositions tonight and then finish the automations tomorrow.

In the meantime I have some entries I created during a game jam over the weekend:

Puzzle loop
Story

The first one was the main music loop for the game, which was a metroidvania puzzle platformer, while the second was intended for the introduction cutscene, but that never materialized during the jam. The story one is very short, and the loop is just a minute of music, with the same composition played again but with more accompaniment. It was a game jam, so I only had a few hours to devote to making the music, so it's as simple as I could make it.

Edit: I've kept tweaking this one for a while, but I think it's as good as it's going to be. It's a fairly simple string orchestra, and was fun to do after getting Kontakt to finally behave (for the most part at least).

SOS Ending
I'm finally done! Here it is.

Took quite some time to complete this since I had lots of other things to work on this month. As soon as I have time I will also make sheets to provide the full experience of reading along while listening to an orchestral piece. Feedback would be appreciated as always! I'll provide some feedback myself in the next few days.
Here is my submission for the current challenge. Actually, it's unfinished, but this is all I can do for now. I've been too busy lately do to anything, and I actually began working on it last night. I tried to get it to loop properly and it's more or less mixed, but you'll probably be able to tell where I had to cut unfinished parts.

By the way, yes, it's heavily inspired by the Elder Scrolls soundtracks - I even thought at some point that the first chords were actually something from Skyrim's soundtrack, and I listened to more than 2/3 of it just to check if I wasn't inadvertently copying. It looks like I wasn't.

Anyway, enjoy ! :)
Happy
Devil's in the details
5367
It's done! The ninth symphony has been completed! Your final chapter has begun.


Artwork by PeteMohrbacher @ Deviantart.com




Chapter X: Rock Off Against the Void


You are a journeyman, a Disciple of Sound and you have been tasked to solve a series of mysterious disappearances of Sound in the Realms of Melodies by the Regal Musicians Network.

In the previous chapter you were called in aid by the network, your task being to complete the ninth symphony of the network's late composer. The symphony is now complete and the concert series arranged for it was a big success! Everything's well!

Until suddenly, the scenery before you starts to twist and distort. Everything around you starts to dismantle into particles of prismatic light. What is this!? Is this the notorious curse of the ninth symphony!?

Your sight now completely consists of strange light, glowing in different colors. Abstract shapes and forms construct and dismantle everywhere around you. It's dark, it's light and then you discern outlines of something akin to a humanoid, forming in front of you. A voice in your thoughts speaks to you "I am void and now you shall become a part of me."

You automatically reach out for the holster of your instrument, but your hand trembles and the instrument falls to the ground, sending out a couple of disjointed notes. You can't help, but to notice that as a result of this the outlines of the humanoid form falter slightly.

You pick up your instrument and begin summoning the Sounds.

"You have composed your ninth symphony already, Summoner! You have created enough! This is your final destination!" The voice inside your head yells.

You continue playing your instrument valiantly, harnessing your imagination to repel the powers of the void. The form in front of you starts lashing out into different shapes.

"No! You cannot defy me! Come forth my minions! Lady Excusas! Deadly cyborg: Procrastinator Mk. 3!"

The rock off against the void has begun!

Composer: You pull out your big guns. You begin summoning the sounds fitting for battle!

Developer: It's time to rock out! What are the best battle themes? What even makes a good battle theme?


Challenge:

  • Composers: Your challenge is to compose a piece of video game music for a battle scene. The choice of video game genre and music genre is free!

  • Developers: What battle themes do you enjoy the most? What are the elements in them that stand out for you?



Track restrictions:

  • Impression: Fitting for a battle of any sort.

  • Instrumentation: No restrictions

  • Game World Setting: No restrictions

  • Video Game Genre: No restrictions

  • Game Instances: A battle scene


Submission rules:


  • Render a track with as little audio quality loss as possible

  • You may submit as many pieces as you wish, but rememeber that quality is what matters.

  • You may update your submissions with further versions.

  • You may contact event organizer and sign up for post processing of your track.

  • You may collaborate and interact with all the rest of the community to any end you wish. You are encouraged to share tips, viewpoints, references and material for inspiration.

  • The challenge will run for one month and end 17th of June 2016

Good luck everyone!
Happy
Devil's in the details
5367
Alright everyone! This is the final chapter: the battle against the void! Let's see what we can do with battle themes.

I was sure I'd complete something for the previous chapter, but at some point other things started taking over again. A good thing is that it still got me creating a lot of stuff, though.

I will be posting feedback on the entries of the previous chapter at some point as well. In the previous chapter I was really glad to see some good tips and assistance being provided here.

This will be the final chapter of the event, so let's try to make best of it, yes? Can we reach the same multitude of entries that we were able to pull off in the opening chapter?
@Team Koi
This is honestly a really good composition in my opinion, although it came a little to close to pirates of the Caribbean at some points. I especially like the contrasts between the rhythmical parts and harmonic parts, like at the very beginning in the first twenty seconds for example. It loops pretty nicely as well. The snares are just a little too loud, especially the roll.

@Cats777
This piece really does a great job at mimicking a real orchestra. I really like the melody as well. I just started playing “White Knight Chronicles” and could totally see it in there. The only point of critique I have is that the biggest part of this piece consists of this one melody which might make it too repetitive after a while. Making the piece a little longer and varying/transforming the melody might get rid of that.
Here, have a star ^^


@Shade_Hunter
I’ll definitely watch the stream recording when I have time!
This one has a nice atmosphere and nice melody progressions. It does sound a little chaotic at some points though because it feels like the instruments are battling each other instead of complementing each other. Some accompanying instruments, especially the strings, are too loud and therefore interfere with the melody instruments. And my left ear hurts from the intro, but that’s just because I’m wearing headphones ;_;

I just started to get into making metal again, so that’s quite a fortunate coincidence. Just wish I already had “Ministry of Rock” ;_; The introduction really got me hyped for making this piece, so I'll give it my all!