I'm taking requests, for anyone who's interested. I mostly enjoy creating character themes, but I also enjoy composing for locations and events.
If you're an artist, I'm more than willing to trade works.
My songs are listen in order of composition. The mediafire links are more up to date than the youtube videos.
A battle theme I wrote using the chord progression of Downcast Eyes. It was heavily inspired by classic RPG battle themes, and that shows in many parts. Though the structure is the same as Downcast Eyes (and the two can be played on top of each other), the harmonies are much more rhythmic, and the melodies are more energetic. To make the connection between the two songs stronger, I added a track playing Downcast Eye's melody.
Despite being one of my earliest pieces, this is probably my favorite one.
My first commission, from YoshiBlue. I tried to make it as strong as a western sound as I could, using as many western chord structures as I could find (which wasn't many), as well as instruments normally associated with western media. I think the harmonica is too strong, but overall I love the way it came out.
Originally composed for Qoxolg's PSA-jam, I decided it deviated too much from the assigned theme. Still, it came out pretty great. This time, the theme I used was for a summer beach party. Somehow, this one was heavily inspired by many fun Mario songs. I used an approach that I tried and failed at in Wild Blue, and gave each instrument the chance to play the melody, as well as changing the mood of the song at that point. Despite being my most repetitive song, each part of it has something new going on for it. Definitely my catchiest song so far.
This is the song I ended up entering to Qoxolg's PSA-jam. I thought since I already tried to make Downcast Eyes as aquatic as I could, I'd be borrowing too much from that. But this one definitely has its own flavor that Downcast Eyes doesn't have. This is a deep sea theme. I have a bass and cello doing conflicting motions to simulate the ebb and flow of the current, and had the harp play a third above those two for an unsettling tone. The flute plays a subdued melody, contrasting with the energetic sound the flute creates. Overall, I think this piece lives up to its name. It ended up creepy and beautiful.
This was another piece composed for Qoxolg's PSA-jam. All of the songs I used as inspiration were far too short for me to use for a long piece. If I had to try this again, I would try to make the piece shorter and catchier. I'm not planning on going back to it any time soon, though.
My goal was to simulate the skills of child of a person learning the piano. At the start, many mistakes are made. The pianist quickly becomes more skilled, and is eventually joined by his student.
This was my backup for the PSA-jam Nostalgic Journey was supposed to in. This is simply a remix of Downcast Eyes. The chords were changed to their major thirds, and a plucked violin and bell give a cheerful rhythm to the piece. The melody is largely untouched from the original song, except for a few notes which couldn't be played in a major key. Despite how well I believe it came out, it took only a few hours to complete, making this by far my quickest piece to compose.
My second commission, this time for a friend of mine. He was as enthusiastic about this one as I was, always overloading me with things to add so much that they started conflicting with each other. This one is simply his character's theme. Since his character is a hybrid aztec/hispanic special ops, I was able to do some interesting things for this one. First, the first half is an ambient stealth section, using mostly tribal instruments. I have to tell you, it was a pain getting the right sound, both from the instrument selection and the notes themselves. One of my constraints was that there wouldn't be a melody, which was really difficult for me to do. And later on, I kind of failed at that. But still, I managed to pull through. The eerie, empty sound is created by using a different mode of chords, dropping a flat where it's not supposed to be.
The second half is the ambush section. This uses more upbeat tribal music mixed with a spanish style. All the chord progressions are taken from spanish styles. I don't have too much to say about this section, other than I love making battle themes.
This is a bard's song about Torva, the protagonist of my fifth dream. I need to thank Skyrim for giving me both the inspiration, and giving me a bunch of junk to steal. I'm sure this one sounds much simpler than my others, but it wasn't any easier to do. To do this one, I wrote a poem, then add a melody to the poem, and add interesting but simple chord progressions to the melody. This is also the first time I had to work with a human, which was a pain. He just couldn't sing the right notes or put the right emphasis in the right areas. I'm never going to work with myself again.
A song heavily based on various Dark Falz encounters in the Phantasy Star universe. I used a low piano to simulate genesis bass notes, and had it play smooth and rough beats. Violin, Oboe, and Organ play against each other in mismatched and sometimes non-existent chords to create an evil atmosphere. I wanted something creepier, but I don't seem to have the skillset for that yet.
A commission for Sayara, I tried to capture Tingle as well as I could. Skittering strings pluck away inhumanly fast, while bass and viola create beautiful nonsense together. Periodically, lucid bells chime in innocence, and a mad organ roars to remind you of mad truth.
A commission from Shinureal for a game he's working on. He told me to write for some silly hijinks in the jungle, and that's what I did. A tribal drum beat and a fun bass lick keeps the jungle vibe, while a panflute and trumpet plays silly melodies against each other. It was tons of fun to write, but unfortunately, it doesn't have as much staying power as my other pieces. After a the one minute mark, I couldn't add anything substancial to the piece. I may come back to this and throw some stuff in it.
A warm, calm piece to celebrate time with your family. A guitar strums calmly, while flute and viola sigh in relaxed enjoyment. A gentle shake of jinglebells moves the piece forward.
A harsh, repetitive piece focusing on chaotic rhythms, fast melodies, and shrill instruments. This was a commission from Neith for his character Teika, who has violent impulses and fights aggressively. I thought a metal battle theme would fit her well.
A haunting piece, made for a horror game of a team mate. Uses piano, strings, and a music box (glockenspiel, really) to create a pained, nostalgic piece.
Changelog:
Spoiler!
3/25/14
Added "Ghostly Echoes" and "Stolen Memories" to the list. Added a work in progress to the thread.
12/12/13
Added "Bananigans" and "Warm Hearth"
12/08/13
Added "Captivating Madness"
11/29/13
Updated "Downcast Eyes", now at v3. Expect a v4 sometime in the future.
11/21/13
Added "Vile Pandemic"
10/19/13
Added my notes of each piece, for people to get a summery of it without listening to it.
9/02/13
Updated Beauty of the Battlefield. Both parts are up now.
Tested some soundfonts with Peripheral Gaze. I uploaded the results.
8/15/13
I started a changelog.
Added Mediafire links to the thread.
Updated the Mediafire links with an updated Downcast Eyes, Peripheral Gaze, Nostalgic Journey, and Playful Guppy.
Renamed Playful Guppy to Timid Guppy. Because Levia is not playful.
First song reminded me of something but i couldn't put my finger on it. Did have a music box tone to it though. Nice overall. Now to brace thyself for people asking for themes.
May 15, 2013, 03:05 PM
VANNO
This is pretty awesome!
May 15, 2013, 03:59 PM
Zorafim
Quote:
Originally Posted by yoshiblue
First song reminded me of something but i couldn't put my finger on it. Did have a music box tone to it though.
Not surprising. I used a really popular chord progression. I think it's most similar to "Heavenly Flight" from DQ3. But you said it specifically used a music box? I'm not sure what that could be... Alan and Cerl, from BoF1?
Quote:
Now to brace thyself for people asking for themes.
I will gladly trade themes for drawings of Levia. Just as long as people realize it took me three days of grueling work to get each song out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by VANNO
This is pretty awesome!
Thanks. I worked pretty hard on them. The second one especially. I think for every note I wrote in the first one, I wrote three in the second.
Strange though, I never really had to push myself until the MP4 conversion. Everything sort of just flowed.
May 15, 2013, 05:11 PM
Sayara
The program (?) you've used to make the music really makes the first ones lonely ambience work very well. That sadly didnt do as much justice for the 2nd one.
You gotta get yourself an orchestra to play your music maestro Zorafim!
May 15, 2013, 05:58 PM
Zorafim
You know... you're right. The second one is too empty. As it stands, it doesn't have as many channels as the first, and it needs more. I could add a counter-melody and a rhythm line. I also need to rebalance the bass and fix up a measure or two in the melody.
I guess I still have some sprucing up to do with it.
And... my program is really outdated. I'm using Finale 2004. It does what it has to, but not much more than that. I have a friend that can tell me what program I want to be using, but there's something about using a program you're used to...
May 15, 2013, 06:17 PM
yoshiblue
I did find the other song I was reminded of. Try to find the song im reminded of will keep me up all night. Heh heh
Oh of course, It took me a while to adapt to SAI and PScs5.
May 16, 2013, 02:38 PM
qoxolg
It's nice to see some more music here :D I think you have some strong melodies. Maybe just a few notes I didn't like.
You might wanna look more into the mastering part (which is probably one of the hardest parts of producing a song). Try to play more with the stereo image, though you'd need some good speakers to get that part right.
Also, you can just request a drawing of me without a song in return, you can make someone else happy with that.
May 16, 2013, 03:31 PM
Zorafim
Quote:
Originally Posted by qoxolg
It's nice to see some more music here :D I think you have some strong melodies. Maybe just a few notes I didn't like.
Funny. My melodies are actually the parts where I worked least. All that I really focused on in the melody were rhythm, and moving to the next chord. From there, the melody just came.
Quote:
You might wanna look more into the mastering part (which is probably one of the hardest parts of producing a song). Try to play more with the stereo image, though you'd need some good speakers to get that part right.
Yeah, I'm having trouble with this part. All that I've been doing is converting a midi file to an MP3 file, editing the volume of that MP3 so that it's not so soft, then convert it to an MP4 to prepare it for upload. I'm not quite sure what editing I can do to increase the quality besides that.
Quote:
Also, you can just request a drawing of me without a song in return, you can make someone else happy with that.
...
...
...
=^.^=
May 16, 2013, 04:53 PM
NoiseHERO
SEND THE STEMS LEMME MAKE A REMIX
/will do a terrible job
May 17, 2013, 04:23 AM
Zorafim
Uh... do you take .MUS files? Or can I just send you the .mid?
May 17, 2013, 06:24 PM
NoiseHERO
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zorafim
Uh... do you take .MUS files? Or can I just send you the .mid?
I have no clue, I use FL studio, probably though.
May 18, 2013, 12:06 PM
NoiseHERO
By the by I like this composition this is really fun to mess around with *________ *
May 18, 2013, 04:42 PM
Zorafim
Let me see what you've got when you're done with it.
Do you mind if I share this? I've always wanted to tell my friends that I've had a dance remix made of one of my songs.
...
Okay, no I haven't. But it's a neat thing to be able to say.
May 19, 2013, 06:33 PM
NoiseHERO
Go for it!
I only uploaded it as private because you're still the creator and dunno how to credit your existence, but yeah you can share/let people download it.
May 21, 2013, 09:35 PM
Omega-z
Zorafim, Rock Eastwood - the song would be awesome for the Finale Boss battle, like with "TPD" going from melody to remix would be cool.
May 22, 2013, 03:13 PM
Zorafim
Ha, that's what I wrote Peripheral Gaze for. I see what you're saying though. I love it when songs normally heard in mellow areas are used in intense areas. I'll get right on it once I program a game.
Jun 21, 2013, 12:36 AM
Zorafim
I'm, erm, having some trouble. I'm about ready to upload another version of the songs. But, it's really freaking soft. Any attempt I make at increasing the sound just causes distortion. It seems like Finale just likes soft notes. Is there any way I can modify my starting midi to be not as freakishly soft?
Jun 21, 2013, 05:44 AM
qoxolg
Maybe you have DC offset. In that case the soundwaves of some or all instruments are off center. This will result in the magnets in speakers to either only pull or only push, with the result of low volume with a large chance to get distorting.
DC offsets can be fixed with the free tool 'Audacity'. Same goes for maximizing the loudness without any clipping.
Jun 21, 2013, 03:56 PM
Zorafim
Stupid Finale... You were right about the balance. I normalized all the tracks, and I was able to make the songs much louder. I'm not satisfied with the quality of sound, but I think this is as good as I can make it.
Anyway, I did some more work on each song. I added a few tracks, found some new programs to make it sound nicer, and asked for some help from my parents. Turns out it's not that bad being the son of a composer and a musical doctor. This is what I have so far.
A bio sure, a genre not so much. Would be a struggle between Western, Jazz and Classical. Going to pass on the piano lessons. My bro and I are already trying to prefect our Toccata and Fugue. Fun stuff. :D
Jun 27, 2013, 04:11 PM
Zorafim
Mixing Western and Jazz. Not too hard. Classical, a bit harder. I'll try to work in what I know. When you say classical, do you mean true classical? Or are you referring to romantic or baroque?
I have to say, I'm kind of excited about working on a western piece. How does western guitar, harmonica, and whistle sound for instruments?
Jun 27, 2013, 04:23 PM
yoshiblue
While preferably baroque, I mean all of classical. So romantic, baroque and other works like Franz Benda and Alessandro Besozzi.
Sure, i'm down with those. I'll get the bio in eventually.
Jun 27, 2013, 04:25 PM
Zorafim
Baroque, I can do. The others, might take some work.
Jun 27, 2013, 06:47 PM
Vintasticvin
I enjoyed your Levia music which had me feeling like a tidal wave of greatness hitted me then I made the mistake of going looking at your other videos and drowned in the wonderful selections of music.
Tell me what you think of this. If there's anything you don't like, or anything you want added, let me know. Once I have more of a grasp on what you're trying to give off, I'll be able to put more detail into the song.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vintasticvin
I enjoyed your Levia music which had me feeling like a tidal wave of greatness hitted me then I made the mistake of going looking at your other videos and drowned in the wonderful selections of music.
Thank you for the compliments. It's a great motivation to know that people actually enjoy what I do.
Jun 28, 2013, 02:04 AM
yoshiblue
Sounds pretty good, I like it. The only thing that concerns me is the trumpet after :44 but that may be because of it's speed or the abrupt stopping of the trumpet.
As for anything added, i'm not sure how to put it other than MML code. Its sloppy but it gives a general idea. I have a habit of pressing enter after every rest. Easier to modify areas of the songs.
The trumpet (would you believe that's supposed to be harmonica? It'll sound better once I get past the writing phase) part, I'm not so satisfied with. I'm thinking of rewriting it. I'm going to listen to more jazz pieces for some motivation on what to do with it. From what I'm hearing, I should hold out the notes more, and have them play faster and more off-rhythm.
Jun 28, 2013, 02:28 AM
yoshiblue
Maybe. I just wrote it up quickly so I didn't modify all the notes. Originally, the ones with the longer rests played longer but I made the rests to space it out a bit. Bleh forget about the tempo if I ended up making one play at 250. Lol
I'm not going to add too much after this. Let me know if you want anything changed. Once I get your go-ahead, I'll start working on improving the quality of sound.
Jun 30, 2013, 03:42 PM
yoshiblue
Sounds awesome, can't wait to see the final product!
Jun 30, 2013, 03:56 PM
Zorafim
Good. Because it's done. I might have gone overboard with the baroque at the end, and I couldn't really find a good sounding whistle sound. But here it is.
If you want a youtube link, send me a picture you'd like to use. Preferably one of your character, but I'll take anything. And if you want any changes, now's the time to say it. Things get tougher to change after this.
Jul 2, 2013, 07:14 AM
Hrith
Yus, I like your stuff, especially that Wild Blue track.
I need an artist name to add to my database!
Jul 2, 2013, 12:27 PM
Zorafim
Um, Michael Montgomery. I'm surprised it's not on the songs. I thought I put them on there...
Fishy McFishman is also a valid name.
Jul 2, 2013, 01:21 PM
gigawuts
You should turn those spam posts into lyrics.
Jul 4, 2013, 12:25 AM
Zorafim
Here's your youtube link, Blue. I'm glad you asked for it. It makes it easier to have my songs sorted and sharable.
I did a practice drawing with levia in it, I should post it here when Im done with it but its an ugly to decent looking rough sketch :P You can blame World Of Warcraft for killing my drawing skills
Jul 4, 2013, 01:31 AM
Zorafim
WoW is pretty ugly... But I'm always glad to have different renditions of Levia. I'll be looking forward to it.
Jul 4, 2013, 05:08 AM
NoiseHERO
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zorafim
Here's your youtube link, Blue. I'm glad you asked for it. It makes it easier to have my songs sorted and sharable.
and dunno how you got 2 stars but gonnan push ya to 4
Jul 6, 2013, 05:14 AM
yoshiblue
So who's next on the list?
Jul 6, 2013, 09:05 AM
Zorafim
I'm about halfway through a song for Qoxolg's monthly contest right now. After that, I have a friend that had a commission. Then I've got another character to write a theme for (hopefully before the 17th). Don't worry, I'm keeping busy.
...
What D?
Jul 11, 2013, 10:43 PM
Zorafim
Here's Summer Bay. I originally created this for Qoxolg's contest, but it strayed too far from the water theme. Still, this is one of my favorite songs. It's my first upbeat piece, and probably my last for a while. Keep an ear out for the slap bass solo at the end.
Studying up for this piece was hard. There aren't many good water themed songs, and the few that are good are really repetitive and don't give many good tips. I ended up stealing a lot of what's in here.
Ah... forgive my use of whale. I needed a way to ease in to the song, and build the right mood.
Jul 13, 2013, 08:34 PM
yoshiblue
Sounds nice. Reminds me of Castlevania for some reason though. Some nice Banjo Tooie thrown in. Have you listened to the Living Sea's soundtrack? That Imax movie.
Though what your looking for in a good underwater theme may vary, there's also these that I have on my fav list.
I planned heavily for the song I was going to use for Qoxolg's competition this month. Once I finally got back to my computer, I worked hard to get the sound I wanted, and experimented with different techniques. Eventually, I got into a rut, and couldn't think of any way to continue. So I gave up on that song, and used everything I learned to remix Downcast Eyes. The remixing took a few hours, and came out much better than my first piece. Here it is, for anyone to listen to.
Now, I just now learned that you can listen to an MP3 directly from mediafire. Is there a way to embed that to the PSOW page? If I can, I'd have no reason to upload to youtube. Which is great, because it's really time consuming to upload to youtube.
Also, what do you guys think I should do? Keep the youtube videos up there, or switch to mediafire links? I'm asking, because the mediafire links are easier to update. So, while I'm unlikely to work on a song shared from youtube, I might update them if it's on mediafire. In fact, some songs on mediafire are already updated compared to the youtube version (Downcast Eyes especially).
edit: Eh, I just did both. Choose your pick. Youtube's easier, Mediafire's more up to date.
Aug 15, 2013, 04:48 PM
yoshiblue
I like it. Gives a good home/hometown feel. Instant adventure, just add ocean sounds.
Aug 15, 2013, 05:04 PM
Zorafim
Huh. You're right. Neat.
That means, I successfully remixed Levia's theme into a water theme, a battle theme, and a hometown theme. Those whole remixing thing is easier than I thought.
Aug 15, 2013, 10:21 PM
Zorafim
I renamed Playful Guppy to Timid Guppy. Because Levia is not playful. Not a huge difference, but a few choice notes are changed, and the download link is different. So it might have messed with some things.
Also, I uploaded the song I was working on before this one. You'll notice I pretty much stripped all the interesting things from that song, and put it in this new one. You'll also notice why I decided to scrap it and start over. Which, now that I think of it, is something I've done in every Qoxolg contest.
I'll probably tweak a few notes or rhythms here or there before I enter it in this month's contest. I always seem to make small adjustments after formally uploading the song somewhere (which is why I prefer using mediafire to youtube). So I want to play with it before committing.
Aug 29, 2013, 07:17 PM
Zorafim
It's been a while since I've updated, so here's something I'm working on now. It's a commission from a friend of mine. I'm still only half done, but some update is better than nothing, I suppose.
Q's jam got me excited, so I tried out some new soundfonts on Peripheral Gaze. I guess for fairness I need to use the genesis one, but I'm strangely drawn toward the NES one.
Freakin' sweet, especially the NES one. You and Polly should do some amazing chiptune collab :O
Keep up the great work, I know I haven't really commented here yet but you're composing some really amazing stuff. I definitely get a dark, watery vibe from a lot of your recent stuff and I dig that atmosphere.
Aug 31, 2013, 02:47 PM
Polly
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zorafim
Q's jam got me excited, so I tried out some new soundfonts on Peripheral Gaze. I guess for fairness I need to use the genesis one, but I'm strangely drawn toward the NES one.
The Genesis sound font is a lot closer to the genuine article than the NES one and I quite like it.
The sounds of the NES soundfont aren't quite right. Something with the low-end (can't tell if it's a triangle wave or not) and being a little too mid-rangey. Have you tried playing with trackers at all? FamiTracker is what I use to work with NES/Famicom accurate sounds and limitations, and it comes with the ability to use specialty sound chips certain publishers used back then like Konami's VRC-6.
Aug 31, 2013, 02:50 PM
Zorafim
I stole a soundfont off some guy's site. That's literally all the work I've done.
Aug 31, 2013, 07:39 PM
yoshiblue
I like the NES one. The melody isn't being overpowered in that version and has nice notes.
Sep 2, 2013, 01:11 PM
Zorafim
I updated Beauty of the Battlefield. The second half is uploaded now. I'm really not pleased with the quality of the instruments, or the lack of tempo changes. But overall, I really enjoyed composing this one.
Now, I just need to get a good shot of the commissioner...
I finally got my sound working again and thought I'd check out your music and I'm impressed with what I found. You have a great talent, I'm looking forward to whatever else you share with us:D
Sep 2, 2013, 08:18 PM
Zorafim
Don't look forward to it too much. It takes me a huge amount of time to write each song. I seem to update about twice a month.
I really appreciate hearing that, though. Getting started was pretty nervewracking. The only thing driving me was jealousy over all the self portraits I've seen in this section.
Sep 3, 2013, 12:08 AM
yoshiblue
Gives me an Age of Empires vibe. Cave men natives, etching their way into history.
Turns out I ran into a problem. My microphone sucks, and my room makes a terrible recording studio. So I went through all the struggle of writing a 500 word poem, writing a complex supporting instrument and melody, and learning the vocals, only to have my voice end up sounding terrible.
Or maybe I just have a terrible singing voice. I've never heard myself, so I wouldn't know. Anyway, finally updated.
Here are the lyrics:
Spoiler!
A child born of modest means
Like any other that you’ve seen
A joyous smile,
Brightest in miles,
That’s who we’ll visit in this dream.
Her mother fair, with heart so kind
Her father strong, with clever mind
The day they met,
Their lives were set,
They were then ever intertwined
A village dear
Many friends near
They play each morning, each has their fun
Her chores she dreads
For daily bread
But she’ll hunger if they aren’t done
The stage is set for my humble song
This town simple, this people strong
All lives elate
Who enter this gate
Though all seems blessed, this won’t last long.
A group has wandered
To this place
Each one has squandered
His God-given grace
They heft the weapons
Which each bore
Their gazes threaten
They shout songs of war
The gates opened to this cruel flood
Their victims fall into the mud
A father fights
Falls to their bites
And so his child lay in her blood
*instrument solo*
The child lay helpless there
To join the many fallen
The wild men who felled her
Had left to meet their brethren
While bleeding from her many wounds
She cried for simple aid
One heeding such an anguished cry
In dream is how he came
In red nightmare did he appear
His face was but a shadow
She opened to, he did come through
And so her wounds did shallow
Did rise did she from her stupor
Her wounds leaked glowing pillars
Yet frighten did she as she turn
To face her newfound killers.
At that one sight she did give flight
And intent on more murder
Two men did run for to rewrung
The neck of this one youngster-
Her newfound friend at this time lent
His hand for her protection
And in so did he thus then rid
This world of this infection.
With water did he thus display
A dazzling act of bloodshed
And falter through a forest calm
Walked she to safety ahead
Sympathy did the village next
Act with to child needy
Military they did give to her
To save her village sleepy
*instrument solo*
She returned as an army’s host
And rescued who she loved the most
Safe in her bed
She did instead
Yearn to know more about her ghost
In dream did they communicate
And thus did he learn of her hate
To rid the lands
Of evil bands
Of vagabonds would she be sate
She trained for years
With divine aid
Through blood and tears
Her skills were made
A warrior
With crushing lance
Two souls with her
She was enhanced
She wandered from town to town
Every evil she did cut down
With only such
As an angel’s touch
She ran through every fiend around
Murdered are those who’ve made her cry
Her fury craves genocide
Hatred fuels her strength and her pride
Where did the child go
Oct 21, 2013, 07:01 PM
yoshiblue
For anyone just starting out, i'm sure it just takes some getting use to. Practice makes perfect and all those chicken mc'nuggets. Not sure how to help you with studio shindigs though I do know that you can make your own pop filters for a low cost.
Oct 22, 2013, 01:07 AM
Zorafim
Or I could just borrow a microphone from a friend and have it magically solve all my problems. I reuploaded, it should sound much better now. Though, considering how much work I put into it, and how poorly it came out, I think I'm going to have to agree with Sayara here.
I also added composer's notes to the first page, to give my thoughts on each song. My plan was to give the reader an idea of what they're about to listen to before they bother playing the song. But it also let me share my mindset when I composed each one.
My submission for the November PSA-jam. Heavilyplagiarized inspired by various Dark Force and dungeon themes throughout the years. I had fun with this one.
And, uh, I don't know what's going on with Mediafire. Can anyone else not hear it off the site? Is new stuff happening that I don't know about?
I was unsatisfied with the quality of Downcast Eyes, so I redid it. The Mediafire link was updated, but the youtube link was out of date. So, I got rid of the youtube link on the front page.
I also added some notes to Vile Pandemic on the front page.
Nov 30, 2013, 09:53 AM
Sayara
Vile came out really nice. The cameo apperances of songs is a nice touch
Nov 30, 2013, 07:05 PM
Zorafim
I'm glad my dark song pleases our resident demon.
Really, almost all of the song is cameos. It's more of an irresponsible medley than anything else. But I was too busy loving how it sounded to care about it.
This one's for Sayara. I hope I captured Tingle well enough.
Dec 8, 2013, 01:42 AM
Sayara
We approve of this.
/ expect an art cover for this work
Dec 8, 2013, 01:44 AM
Zorafim
You know, I was actually considering asking you for it. I looked around your DeviantArt and couldn't find anything abstract with Tingle in it. A custom piece would work beautifully.
Dec 8, 2013, 01:52 AM
BIG OLAF
That's really neat. Captures her quite well. Reminds me of BGM for a villainous monologue in a video game or something of the like.
You're good at this. But you knew that already. Don't even make an inkling of denying it.
Dec 8, 2013, 01:59 AM
Zorafim
I really want to. But while snowed in, I've done nothing but listen to my music while looking at cats.
It's nice getting a second opinion though. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just full of myself.
So how much longer until I get an unfillably long list of commissions?
Dec 8, 2013, 08:49 AM
BIG OLAF
Depends on how you advertise yourself. If you're talking paid commissions, I couldn't say. I don't have experience with that stuff.
Dunno if this url tag is going to work. They're finicky.
Dec 12, 2013, 01:25 AM
Zorafim
Oh. You can't directly link through https. That's why it didn't work. Anyway,
Well, I maybe have another one? This one was commissioned by Shinureal, for a work in progress of his. I was told to orchestrate this, so this is what I came up with. I may have worked too hard on it, as some parts feel kind of forced. I'm not quite sure I'm done with it, but I don't quite know where to go forward with it.
Jeesh, I never even named it. Something about, monkeys? Geeks? Bananas? Shenanigans?
Bananigans? Is that a name? Maybe I'll call it that.
I seem to be getting faster at these. This one barely took me two days. This is my submission for this month's PSA jam. I remember when it took me weeks of dedication to enter these.
I also replaced the links for "Game Thingy" with one with an appropriate title. And I updated the song with an ending, for easier listening.
Dec 13, 2013, 08:26 AM
Sacrificial
I really like warm hearth. It has this classic hometown rpg feeling.
Dec 13, 2013, 06:40 PM
Zorafim
I guess the village theme from FFI and Balamb Garden were a pretty major inspiration for this song, so it makes sense that it gives off that vibe. Or maybe rpg hometowns are what I think of when I think home.
Anyway, thanks for your feedback.
Dec 15, 2013, 04:42 AM
Zorafim
I'm bored, so I'm going to point out what falz themes come where in Vile Pandemic.
1:04, PSO Dark Falz
1:23, PSI Dark Falz
1:42-1:51, PSI, Final Dungeon
2:10, PSIII, Dark Force
2:39, PSO, Ruins
3:01, PSIV, Laughter
3:44, PSIV, Ooze
4:17, PSO2, Darker's Den, PSE burst
Dec 19, 2013, 09:49 PM
Zorafim
I'm not quite done with this next one, but I couldn't resist sharing. This one is for Neith's character Teika. Looking through her backstory and how she's portrayed, I thought she needed a good battle theme.
I'm bored, so I'm going to point out what falz themes come where in Vile Pandemic.
1:04, PSO Dark Falz
1:23, PSI Dark Falz
1:42-1:51, PSI, Final Dungeon
2:10, PSIII, Dark Force
2:39, PSO, Ruins
3:01, PSIV, Laughter
3:44, PSIV, Ooze
4:17, PSO2, Darker's Den, PSE burst
Really like the rendition of Laughter. Nice song.
Dec 20, 2013, 12:13 AM
Zorafim
Yeah, Laughter has been one of my favorite PS battle themes for quite some time. I've been dying for a high quality arrangement to come out for quite some time.
And so I made one.
Dec 20, 2013, 09:13 PM
Sacrificial
I'm looking forward for the full version of violant fantasies.
btw make it be able to loop, as it seems now it would be a good loop song if the fadein/out is correctly. (if you were not already planning to do so.)
Dec 21, 2013, 12:42 AM
Zorafim
Loop how? I suppose I could cut out the last measure with audacity or something, so that the last and first measure don't have any space between them. But then it's up to the audio player whether or not it's a seamless transition.
I guess I'm done with the song. I may go back and spruce it up a bit, but for now I'm calling this good.
Okay, now I'm done with it. I guess. I changed the ending (I didn't like it very much), and changed some notes for the rhythm guitar. The second part is hardly noticeable, but trust me when I say it sounds cooler.
The same download link should have the updated copy of the MP3. I love Mediafire.
Dec 23, 2013, 01:15 PM
Neith
Thanks again for taking the time to do this, it suits Teika's personality perfectly. I'm kind of surprised how fast you turned this one around, only took a few days :wacko:
Dec 23, 2013, 02:50 PM
Zorafim
Yeah, I am too. I don't know what's happened, but I've gone from taking weeks per song to only a few days. I guess something just clicked. It's nice having time to work on several songs per month now without getting burnt out.
I'm glad I got her personality right. I honestly have just been wanting to do a battle theme for a while, and your character seemed to want one.
Dec 30, 2013, 11:59 PM
Zorafim
In preparation for ice month, I shopped around for some instruments I could use. I think I found a few I could use. The struck glass doesn't sound too good low, but I may be fine with a higher repertory. The voice sounds good wherever. I'm kinda worried about the rubbed glass, but I'm sure I'll be able to get it to work once I know what I'm writing.
Trying to spread my roots for more listeners, I made a Soundcloud account. In an attempt to share everything I have, I'm trying to keep all my sites connected. So, here's my Soundcloud account.
I'll update the front page when I feel more energetic.
Jan 18, 2014, 11:00 PM
yoshiblue
I like this. Would make for some good (creepy) ice level music. Or heroic test music.
Jan 19, 2014, 06:08 AM
Zorafim
I got some inspiration from Skies of Arcadia's ice level, along with Link Between Worlds'. For everything else, I had to work with the limitations of my instruments. And there were quite a few. It's really hard to manipulate rubbed glass, as it turns out. Too loud, or too busy, or too many notes at once, and it just ruins the sound. Pitch was also a problem, too. You may notice the rubbed glass starts sounding screechy when it got too high. I originally had it go three notes higher than that, but it sounded terribly. And the struck glass sounds too mechanical when it gets too low. The voice was also hard to work with, too. I can't seem to get it to sustain as long as I would like many times.
But, I like the way it came out. Maybe too soft, but anything louder would ruin the sound.
Jan 19, 2014, 07:06 AM
Sacrificial
nice, another classic rpg themed song ('w')b
Jan 29, 2014, 01:04 AM
ThaiSoup
I really think you do deliver on what you aim for as far as character music. I think oddly enough I enjoyed Timid Grumpy because your choices of instruments. As uncharacteristic as it is of me, it reminded me of some nostalgia as well but hit me with that N64 Yoshi story feel. A lot of this definitely feels like something that would be in the background during some certain event.
Violent fantasies however would get my personal choice. As cliche as it is, I'm a man of action and this stands out as your very upbeat track that I would like to witness more of.
Not to take away from you(Zora), but I actually really enjoyed Rock's.
All in all, I like a lot of base in most my genre's of music.
As for myself in High School and College I had my share of use in FL Studio and held my share of frustrations trying to get that right sound you have in your head but can't get it to sound the same out of your speakers; so I really hold that appreciation for those who do such a craft. Keep it up.