THE RPG MUSIC CHALLENGE - PHASE 1 RESULTS!

Haven't yet decided what to vote for I know my personal top 3 mp3 songs IMO but I havent yet considered which fits the theme best.
Also I have to probably listen to MIDI and the OGG entry in another computer since my browser freezes when I try to click them.
(My computer sucks)
So far My top 3:
Entry 27
Entry 33
Entry 12

I'm saddened to see how many rmn regulars haven't voted at all yet!

I am not a regular, and i'll vote!

Very awesome pieces. A lot of them were (specially 27), but not all convey that fiery theme. My favorites were 11, 13, and 28 for this challenge.

I thought 28 to be the best though. At first I thought 11 but it was a bit too playful for what I thought to be a temple. 13 is awesome as well, but the piano lows really took away from some spots. Overall I think 28 marks a sacred place for a holy flame.

My Vote: 28

Entries I felt fit a "temple" theme:

16 - the instrumentation and texture DOES remind me a lot of FF - good job!
18 - wow, this could be applied to so many scenarios - very very good!
1, 4, 6, 14, 20, 29, 30, 33 as well.

Entries I felt fit a "lava" theme:
13 - nice, ambient piano, with fitting drums :)

Entries that fit both:
24 - this one is crazy! I can picture everything from the lava chugging along to traps and other surprises lurking around every corner of the temple! excellent work!
26 - awesome! I can picture the temple from the pipes and the gushing lava from the racing drums - I especially like the transition half way through!

Considering theme and composition, I have decided to cast my vote to Entry 24. Musically however, my personal favourite was Entry 18 - a very ominous and majestic theme!

Other mentions:
23 - There was a change of flow with this one. I felt really serene and peaceful listening to it, definitely stood out as a special one.
27 - Awesome use of chiptunes - a very unique entry! In a different context this would have been a strong contender for me I think.
31 - This one was... interesting xD the composer was very experimental with this one! Very interesting..

To everyone else - keep up the good work!!

Standout entries for me:
Entry #5 -- Melodic and fit the theme, but lacking a "hook"; also the drum line was unnecessarily repetitive. I like it though.
Entry #11 -- One of the highest quality entries for sure, but more "jungle caveman" than lava.
Entry #12 -- I really dig that bass line, but the rest of the song is kinda messy (and more than three instruments I think).
Entry #20 -- One of the better pieces, but unfortunately it's pretty far from "lava", IMO. Either an ice palace or a burnt-out ashy wasteland.
Entry #21 -- I like it! Fits the theme, and it's a great relaxed, inoffensive BGM for tinkering in the menu mid-dungeon. I can visualize slow lava flows.
Entry #31 -- I had to highlight this one for its unique sound. I like the brushed snare, but it sounds more like a reimagining of the floating castle from FF1 than a lava palace.
Entry #32 -- One of the strongest musically, but it just doesn't fit the theme as well as #21. Great piece.
Entry #33 -- Interesting combination of sounds.

Several others fit the "lava" aesthetic well, but lacked a solid musical theme, in my opinion.

My vote: Entry #21 for sure!

I'm writing these comments as I listen to the tracks. So for shorter songs the comments might be shorter. I might revise or not later. We'll see. You'll also see a certain progression where I'm most likely more enthusiastic at first and later I'll just write one-word comments. We'll see.


Song #1
It's...
a midi track.
I bet my comments will be brutal towards midis because well I don't know. Maybe they won't. This track is well. It's pretty low, which I kinda like, gives that cavey feel. But other than that. I don't know. On to the next track.

Song #2
Dingdongdingdongdrums. And then a melody. It's songlike. I don't know how it'd work as ambience though. The drums really are all over the place. It's an enjoyable piece but... There's something slightly off about it.

Song #3
Are these the same drums? This sounds like some kind of march. I guess I could see something being lowered in lava in this. It's bombastic and stuff. I can see cults and whatnot.
Alright what just happened there. Still cutscene material I suppose. Alright here in the midpart it kinda falls apart. I think it's looping now so it was at the very end it fell apart. What was that thing?
Bombastic but didn't quite get to what it was going for.

Song #4
Well this is a nice ambient thing. I can see temple. I can't see lava. But what the hell. How do you see lava and temple anyway? Maybe it's just the fact that it's so damn cold out I can't see lava. Repetitive but that's kinda what game music is supposed to be after all. I like the basic theme it's going for. There's something there that I'd like there to be lyrics to or something. I wouldn't know.

But yeah. This is pretty good.

Song #5
More battly it seems. Mayhaps.
Alright nothing's happened yet. It just seems to be a buildup track without a payoff. Though I suppose with game music you can kinda expect that. Hmm now it's getting a bit of a cute melody going for it.
It's not templic or lavaic. Or I don't think it is anyway. But other than that it's getting there. Now that I'm past the halfway mark the drums-things are getting to my head a bit. If they were muted or something. I don't think I could read dialogue in this! It's too battly to be background but too mellow to be battly!

Song #6
Dingdongdingdongdingdong. Well this sounds classic. It has something familiar to it. More nice buildup. Much more energetic than the last one, yet less battly. Though I don't think I could live with this as background either. But cutscene material definitely.

Song #7
Well this doesn't say much yet. This sounds like some song I've heard before. Just exchange that one sound with lyrics. This is one of those things that would kinda fit as a song-song. But I guess now it's really getting to the lava vibe. And templic too! This probably fits both things! And would probably work as background too. If it wasn't for that verse or chorus or whatever part where I just want some goth-popper singing...

Song #8
Battly. Maybe? Oh it had an intro. This changes so much it has to be cutscene music. DUNDUNDUN Boss! I don't know. I don't understand this at all.

Song #9
So the first MP3, and it sounds like another midi. This is pretty nondescript bells going dong dong. And the track doesn't go anywhere either. Oh COME ON! SOMETHING HAPPEN ALREADY.
Not for me.

Song #10
Well this. Could be horror. Fortunately not anymore. But it's kinda of an airy flowery lava temple. You know, the kind with butterflies flying around. Not exactly Sauron's Mount Doom.
Hmm. This doesn't go anywhere either. Maybe a bit there at the end. Butterflies.

Song #11
Well, well, well, starts out good. This is lavawhatthefuck.
This sounds just like that... Gerudo Valley or the thing in Zelda 64. Maybe it's just the instruments used. Well the zelda track and gerudo are some of my favourite tracks so I guess this is really good too. It has a certain orangey feel to it, which is lavaish. But maybe doesn't quite live up to the initial promise. Maybe I'm just demanding too much of this one.

Song #12
Is this two songs on top of each other? Was there some mistake in the editing? My mind is confused. One of these songs is pretty good and the other one is just really in the way. And a lot in the way too. It stops me from enjoying what is otherwise a perfectly good piece of music.

Hmm this ending is pretty coo... oh what is this slowdown how is this going to loop?


Song #13
Sweet noir action! With a fedora on Lava Street solving crimes. Oh yeah there was supposed to be lava somewhere too. But I really dig this otherwise. This'd work nice as background too. And the longer I listen to it the more I see some of those lava pools. Though I also see a fedora and trenchcoat. Must be impractical with a trenchcoat in bubbling lava though.
What just happened. I thought it was looping already and then this happens. I can dig it though. It's always better with a longer track looping than a shorter one. Unless it really fucks up the ending I'm going to like this.

Hmm, did it just fuck up the ending? No it's back in business! Damn man! I like this.

Song #14
Well. Now we're in space! Landing on a lava planet! Has a bit of BSG to it maybe. But maybe too much of a song-song. I don't know how this would loop. But it's very good as maybe a companion to an establishing shot. As we go through the atmosphere into the LAVA PLANET.


Song #15
Dumdippidumm. Doesn't say much. Though maybe the awesomeness of the last two tracks have just been kicking my ass. It's like the Eurovision. If an average track comes after something pretty good then it's just hard to find any kind of emotion whatsoever for it. I guess it's capable.

But not really very good.

Song #16
Now this is that kind of thing that grabs me immediately. Now if only it would start. And get where it promises to go. Oh... It was over already. Well that was a bit of a bummer.

Song #17
Alright! Some real tunes! I could dance to this. Don't know how lava temple it is though. Maybe it's some kind of disco inferno. Though it's not quite disco, it's never than that but let's not split hairs here. I know nothing about music. It reminds me of some pop song or something though. Maybe. That was a definite end point. How's that going to loop?

Song #18
... Yeah... Organ. Woo. Scary. Where's Dracula... Hmm... Now it's dracula and my phone is getting messages at the same time. Better check... oh it's part of the song is it. I guess this is pretty predicable. Except for the constant text message barrage.

Not for me. Though It'd probably work just fine in whatever game it'd be in. SO MANY TEXT MESSAGES.

Song #19
More music to move around to. Maybe. What's up with these drum-things. It's going to be like this the whole way isn't it? I guess it's that flute that does the lava-feel. Because other songs have had it too and made it all lava-ish. No. These drums just take up too much space for me to enjoy it properly. The dingdingding in the background would be enough. Maybe. I don't know. I bet the creator tried that too and it didn't work out either. Maybe a bit battly. Maybe.

Song #20
Now all these are starting to sound the same. Nothing wrong with whatever synth-sound is the melody in all these but isn't there something else to use? I guess it gets it a bit lava-ish and templish.
See now it gets more piano. I much prefer piano in my music. Hmm wasn't this melody done in another track too? But with different instrumentation. Man the parts where the piano is properly heard are really nice. But the rest just gets on my nerves.

Song #21
Just as I said it all sounds the same this sounds a lot less the same. Some door-knocking. Maybe not quite lava. But could be. Who am I to judge? They should just have some guy saying lava in the background, that way I'd know it was lava. This is a light enjoyable track. But maybe those drums would get on my nerves if it played in a puzzle-environment.
Some of these drum/beat-heavy tracks are really hard to read dialogue in.

Song #22
And this one sounds like the rest. At least at the start.
This doesn't really go anywhere. It's so... average. It's not intrusive though. I guess it's because of not having those loud drums. So it'd work well in a game, but it'd be instantly forgettable.

Song #23
Hmm. Nostalgic. Mayhaps. Flashback to lava temple maybe? In those blurry still image scenes. Let's wander this burning place in slow motion. With us filled with retrospective and inner monologues. Nice and friendly I suppose. It grows on me. Gets better all the time. Still very flashbacky. There's no real danger in this lava temple.

They probably all died a long time ago.

Song #24
Is that Cthulhu? Trying to sneak past a cultist summoning. Very temple. Very lava. These parts it does get very well. I like it even if I do not have a lot to say. These drum-things in the end are kinda misplaced though.

Song #25
Hmm... It has had buildup. But since I think the rules said something about amount of stuff. It's not like it can build up any more. Nice background stuff. Much like loads of other stuff I've already written about. Thankfully only about ten left.
The startup drums sound like some pop song just about to start :)

Song #26
Interesting start. There's lava flow. Hmm. Has some things in common with that gerudo valley-like one. Now one minute in it's really getting somewhere. I can dig this. Lava and shit everywhere! And now it did something weird. But still decent. The flute-thing has a nice thing going for it. But again after a couple of minutes the drums hurt my ears. Maybe I've heard too many of them!

Song #27
Well. Game music. This kind of music always reminds me of shooters though. Maybe going in a spaceship through lava temple level shooting my lasers at monsters. I'm fond of this kind of music. I guess everyone is. It's more oldish game music of the kind some of us grew up with. And the two parts of it work fairly nice together too. To make it very loopable. Since it's kinda two songs playing and changing. So one builds up then the next takes over and builds up too and it's a constant build up. Like it should be when you're killing things in a few colours.

Song #28
This would probably be good if I didn't have Eurovision syndrome again. Hmm, that thingamajig there could go for lava. A nice-ish hollow melody. Loud drums I suppose. But not as annoying as it has been in the past. I can see the finish line.

Song #29
What is that sound. That loud shrieking sound? It's not pleasant in my subpar speakers! Argh. This could probably be alright if it wasn't for this foul... choice... of... instrument.
Hmm... Now it sounds alright. Maybe it was only in the start it was horrible. Now that the song is almost quiet all is well again. NO THERE IT IS. ARGH.

Song #30
This song crashed my plugin! Let's try again.
Friendly. Slightly nostalgic maybe. Butterflies again? I just don't see how butterflies fit into a lava temple. Maybe they're fire butterflies but then they'd be more dangerous and less... Serene.
This melody-part is kinda nice. But still. More butterflies.

Song #31
Interesting start. Sounds like walking through dry leaves. This sounds like something really big. And purple. Going "ho humm, adventurer, what are you up to?". Maybe a troll. A lava troll? It does sound a lot like a character's theme. There's a personality behind this more than there is a location behind it.
Hmm... Now something happened. But only briefly it's still firmly placed in character territory.

Song #32
Alright. Nice start. Especially with that slower track previous. Lively stand-alone track that I can happily get behind. Not sure how templic or lavaic it is though. But I'm thoroughly enjoying it. It has a bit more tempo and some happy stuff in it. I guess that's what I want in my things. Maybe there's a bit of lava. Though more it has a bit of Bowser in it maybe. And Bowser tend to drown in lava all the time. It's fairly partyic.

Song #33
Didn't I already hear this? This is a combination of one previous track and mariachi. It sounds incredibly, incredibly familiar though. And I have to admit that the organ in the background is more distraction than fitting. Maybe it's supposed to give a temple feel, but it doesn't quite work. Otherwise this is most excellent though.

Song #34
So it had what sounded like a real violin (or whatever those instruments are called) and then combined with that weird synth violin wannabe. Also wasn't the next one supposed to be orchestral. This sounds very very orchestral. This is like some kind of ride of the rohirrim or something. Yeah I don't know. It doesn't seem to fit with the others. Though I suppose on its own it's alright.




So there were the tracks. Yeah...

I guess my favourite was Entry 13, Murder on Lava Street.

Some comments might be incomprehensible. Probably even to me.

Last minute voting!

EDIT: In cast it isn't clear from my disjointed comments some of my other favourites were:
Entry into Lava Planet (a.k.a track 14)
That Valley (a.k.a. track 11)
Lava Pop (a.k.a. track 17)
Level 3 - Lava Cave (a.k.a. track 27)
Running Through Lava Land (a.k.a. track 32)

author=geodude
0. kill me

Done.

Congrats to anybody who actually GOT a vote!

everybody seemed to be hung up on lava *shrugs*