A few weeks ago, during a vacation, I managed to re-install and play around with FL Studio. In a on-going attempt to improve at... well... something, I thought I would post some of the things I have done since then and get some hints on what needs work. Most of these are just short clips of soundtrack/mood music that I thought to use in games. So don't expect a lot in the realm of composition ;) Just a quick little atmospheric song. test_005.mp3 An old MIDI song I made with Anvil Studio now with better instruments. test_006.mp3 Just another fun song. 8-Bit Credits.mp3 Something about this one bothers me. I don't know if it's the lack of instruments or just something in the drums that is off-beat. The AAB is kinda boring too. Maybe a bass-line in in need? test_013.mp3 Ok, while reading through the tutorials I found a piano-roll that I liked an promptly wrote a song around it. (So I can't really take all the credit here) However, after a few hours of composition I began to work out the mixing. Three weeks and about 20 versions later I'm still not entirely happy. The guitars seem to be all over the place in the sound spectrum and it always sounds too hollow and shrill. I tried EQ-ing and compressing the hell out of them but now I think I may have squeezed the very life out of the song. And general tips? test_015.mp3 Just a fun little techno version of the previous song =) 8-bit.mp3 More mood music here. test_016.mp3 Another old MIDI song brought to life with VSTs. Overall it's kinda boring but I like it. Two things still bother me though: The violins still seem like they kind of appear of of the blue and there is a really garish high note around 1:36. I tried working around it but it just feels like I painted my self in a corner with that one. test_021.mp3 This is my current pet project. Yet another MIDI from years ago, although it has been vastly re-arranged. I've been listening to it non-stop for a couple days now and I think I am starting to loose perspective. Any ideas where I could take this? How about the mixing? I'm starting to worry about the guitar again, but I don't want to compress it more than I have to. I'd also like to work some more chord variation in there somewhere. test_020.mp3 This really isn't up for a critique. I just like testing things with this song and posted it for fun =) turkish.mp3

Well I listened to most (not all) and they seem pretty decent, nice job. You're well on your way to being a fine composer, but not quite yet of course. A lot of your tracks sound A-list (aka very good choices) for sega, nintendo, etc. games but nothing of a newer generation. The reason is that your lead instruments seem too outdated or midi-ish. The listener is only impressed with something if it sounds real(even w/techno!) so choosing your patches is important. The drums also sounded a bit loud on some (like the one you didn't like as much). But the drum tracks sounded better than most other parts imo. But other than that you had some good ideas! Good work.

(P.S. to improve on your music theory (you stated earlier that you didn't know a lot about comp.) try learning an instrument... guitar or piano if you don't already. That'll help a ton with composition)

Good luck and keep it up!

I agree with PwnedByRyan, a lot of the sounds in your music sound very similar to the General MIDI sounds if they aren't actually GM sounds. The composition is nice, but pick up some better VSTs!!!

I appreciate your time listening and your comments. They help a lot. I don't fancy myself any kind of composer (this is all just programmer art really) but it's nice to sit back, learn something new and get better at it. So I'll keep at it.

You both have a point about the patches, I only have perhaps three VSTs worth anything and I'm still not very good at using them. Most of these songs use an NES sound emulation instrument and the rest used various free sound-fonts. This combined with some poor mixing probably made things sound less than stellar. If you have any suggestions for free or reasonably priced patches, by all means post 'em! [grin]

BTW: I've played various instrument in my life, the longest being a violin in school symphony for eight years. I've never been good at any of it. That's when I decided it might work better if I make my computer do the performing ;)