Hey Guys,
I just wanted to get some second opiniones on some music I'm doing for a iPhone game. Its a strategy game so the music is rather subdued. As a little promotional thing I did it all only using iPhone music tools (slightly limiting but not so bad). Anyways, I'm no pro, just helping my friend out with his retro strategy iPhone game, (if you want to know more about it see our video at kickstarter campaign) thought I'd see what you guys have to say about it

heres some streaming versions:

Level4
Level1

I welcome any and all constructive criticism! We'll probably do some mastering on it when all is said and done. I mostly have experience with live instruments, so this is a fun but challenging change for me!

Azul

Personally I think your music sounds great for a puzzle game! Like you, I am no expert on the matter, I too create music on a handheld OS but I use Android , I don't use my music for any commercial reasons though. If you want to hear some of my work, my page is http://uloops.net/profile/shamrocker
I wish you guys all the best with RoboBlast!

I just pledged 5$. I know it's not much but I'm not loaded lol

Wow thank you so much sir!! Anyone who pledges gets a free copy and some other goodies as well! It looks as though we wont reach out funding but we'll still be making the game as great as we can and staying in touch with anyone who pledges.

I cant get audio on my current box but I will check out your stuff later!

Hey Guys,
I just wanted to get some second opiniones on some music I'm doing for a iPhone game. Its a strategy game so the music is rather subdued. As a little promotional thing I did it all only using iPhone music tools (slightly limiting but not so bad). Anyways, I'm no pro, just helping my friend out with his retro strategy iPhone game, (if you want to know more about it see our video at kickstarter campaign) thought I'd see what you guys have to say about it

heres some streaming versions:

Level4
Level1

I welcome any and all constructive criticism! We'll probably do some mastering on it when all is said and done. I mostly have experience with live instruments, so this is a fun but challenging change for me!

Azul

No expert, but the music doesn't annoy me. Usually I have to turn off volume to puzzle games as the music is terrible. I actually kept playing yours until the tracks ran out while browsing some forums. So I guess I would have to say it is above average at the very least.

Overall, I liked both tracks. Some more specific feedback:

The Good

• The synth sounds were generally pretty pleasant and worked well together
• Good use of low-end for warmth and a feeling of being "drawn in" to the track
• The mood of the tracks and the way they were clearly created with the game and its genre in mind was impressive - producing music is one thing, but having the discipline to limit yourself to ideas which will gel with the game is another skill entirely
• The composition and progression of the tracks was good - enough variety to keep it interesting without being distracting
  
  
  The Bad
  
  
  • Some of the synths sounded pretty noisy/tinny (perhaps due to the software you used)
  • I don't like the sound which comes in at 1:12 of Level 1 (the bleepy cut-short arpeggio), or the low "crunchy" sound which comes in near the beginning/0:51 of Level 4 (maybe if it was cleaner)
  • There wasn't much of a memorable hook or melody to either track - obviously you have to balance this quite carefully to keep from distracting the player and avoid cheese, but there were few melodies which were prominent and repeated enough for me to come away humming them
  • IMO, overuse of pan on Level 4
    • How does this sound on your target platform? I listened on studio monitors and as I mentioned the low/low-mid sounds pretty good - is this reproduced well enough through the iPhone's built in speaker? Does it still sound full? I notice you used only minimal percussion, and that's a perfectly valid artistic decision, but consider playing with some more in other tracks as I imagine it will be reproduced more faithfully and drive the tracks you want to put a bit more energy into

Thanks WavyVirus,
thats exactly the type of feedback I need. I appreaciate your input. My main goal was to go for mood that fits the game, theres slow sections when you plan things and then action sections so the music had to balance between those two periods (doing reactive music that changes with whats going on was just too hard on iPhone).

I see what you mean about the distorted bits. I was torn on those too.. most folks said they liked it, but a lot depends on what you're into (some dubstep fans said MORE DISTORTION LOL). And on the tiny iPhone/iPod Touch speakers the distorted bits dont sound quite so buzzy. I will be doing some mastering on them too in the future, which may make a difference.

Seriously, though, thanks so much, i am listening to it with a fresh perspective.

Personally I think your music sounds great for a puzzle game! Like you, I am no expert on the matter, I too create music on a handheld OS but I use Android , I don't use my music for any commercial reasons though. If you want to hear some of my work, my page is http://uloops.net/profile/shamrocker
I wish you guys all the best with RoboBlast!

I'm digging your stuff, the Croistal soldier one is nice a chill! I liked it a lot. Do you play the instruments live or is that done on Android too? If so, what do you use? It sounds really cool, although some of its a little lo-fi (i happen to like that myself!).

Its some really good guitar work in there, I used to only play live stuff until I moved to a tiny condo and have to relegate my music-making to the tiny space of my laptop and iPhone

Thanks man! Criostail Soiléir[font="arial, sans-serif"] was just something I threw together to test out a cable I made directly connect my guitar to my Android device. As far as I know there are no cables or leads on the market which allow direct input yet.[/font]
[font="arial, sans-serif"]I play the guitar live and record it using the Uloops app recorder, everything else is coming from the app. I have one Ukulele song on there too lol. [/font]
[font="arial, sans-serif"]A guy from the Uloops community uploads some of his favourite songs onto youtube. His user name is UlooperDanno, or search for "uloops".[/font]
[font="arial, sans-serif"][size=2]Anyway thanks for checking out my stuff, I really appeciate it and goodluck with RoboBlast! I don't have an Ipod/Iphone but hopefully one day I'll get one and waste away playing RoboBlast [/font]

Thanks man! We might port it to Droid in the future if its successful. We'll just see how it goes! Thats pretty awesome you built your own cable. I wouldnt even know where to start. Cool stuff.