I did this a while back for a game I was working on and I'm actually quite pleased with it. Now my question is, what do you think of when you hear this MIDI?
rcr.mid (http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/rcr.mid) (3,53 kB)
This was my intention:
Spoiler
It was supposed to be played in a cheesy hotel lobby/recreational room-like place
I liked it up until the end. This MIDI reminds me of music from the Shenmue games. Something you would hear when entering a shop or something.
I'm not a music expert, but it was gentle on my ears. :)
Snuckeys!
That I vi ii V chord progression is practically the definition of elevator music. Good job! :)
EDIT: Oh, you might try adding strings sustaining high octaves later on in the song.
The whole concept and the vibraphone part are great--however, I've a few more technical comments, if you don't mind. First, the bass is a bit high. Typically, an electric bass would be playing an octave lower than this. My other comment is quite nitpicky, but it did stand out to me: the drums. It's not really evident, or unplayable, or even bad-sounding, but it feels somewhat unorthdox to me: Currently, the beat is held by a rimshot, with hi-hat playing rather freely around it. I'm not really an expert in this type of music, but as far as I know the roles would typically be somewhat reversed, with the hi-hat playing a straight, predictable rhythm, along with a few ornamental off-beat rimshots (and quite possibly bass drum on accented beats). The avarage listener probably wouldn't have any objections, though, so don't worry. Overall, good job indeed.
Some valid points there. Since play some bass myself I am very aware that the typical bassline is one octave lower than this. In this particular case though, I think it sounds better in this octave. But that's just my opinion.
As for the drums. I must first explain something. In the scene (the cheesy hotel lobby) where this music was supposed to be played there were two people playing piano and vibraphone/xylophone. So the idea was that they were playing along to pre-recorded bass and drums.
The rimshot was supposed to be like a metronome ticking. I choose it because it sounded the most like a metronome on my setup. And to be honest, the hi-hat "notes" were more or less entered at random so I guess that's why they sound a little corny. :) I'm not too satisfied either with how it sounds so I might consider replacing the percussion part. Or we could just pretend that the cheesy piano player who programmed the pre-recorded music was just as much in hurry as me. ;)
Anyway, thanks for your comments - it's appreciated. I'll see what I can come up with.