My collective body of stuff (a.k.a. music) - slight revamp!

[ShiverMeSideways]

Hey, guys, I thought that, instead of making one thread per song I might think is interesting or worth noting, I could make one thread for my entire body of work, thus giving people a lot more to talk about. Since AGS has some really awesome musicians, it would be awesome to get some C&C for my stuff, if you guys would like to help out .

To start off, here are my first two "albums"/"eps"/"whatever you want to call ems":

* DeVoid was a conscious effort to make the most experimental and diverse music I could at the time. Being my first outing and also learning the ropes with Guitar Pro and music in general (knowing 0 theory at the time) it might've backfired on me. The total playtime is just under 10 minutes, if I remember correctly. I made it about almost exactly one year ago, I see the dates on the files are around 1-4 november 2008... The cover art was made for me by Blight3220, if anyone remembers him. Yes, he's still alive (for the most part) and still my real-life classmate (occasionally), if anyone cares.

* Iron Monger was a more concentrated effort, a concept record with somewhat of a pompous premise: an instrumental documentary of a sci-fi storyline. It basically revolves around a somewhat anti-fascist riot in 2050 on Mars or something, if you guys really want to, I can detail further. The total running time is 15 minutes, and it is an uncomplete work (short of two songs) because I got really bored with it, and I felt I needed to focus my efforts elsewhere. The overall genre is a more straightforward Industrial Metal approach, but there is a good degree of experimentation in there. Alongside the tracks there are txt files which describe the image the song is trying to put across. Cover art (ugh) is made by me (because it's obviously crap). Most of the music was done almost right after DeVoid, but the "record" was released around February 2009.

(addendum: Iron Monger is also superior to DeVoid  in that it actually sounds like an album; I realised I forgot to point that)

A period followed when I concentrated more on my guitar-work, putting together a real-life heavy metal band, and ciselling my overall musical skills (if they can be called as such) so that recently I've restarted my solo composing. I made a 12-minute song which was really fragmented and tried my hand at a reorchestrated cover of Depeche Mode's Black Celebration, both of which didn't yield any satsfying results...

Recently, having no Internet connection for a few days and out of a desire to compose smaller, non-metal songs, I composed two tracks, The Chamber I (download) (Newgrounds) & II (download) (Newgrounds). They are named so, because I consider them to be my definition of chamber music. I tried to give the compositions more subdued and improvisational feelings, and I hope to include deconstructed versions of these songs alongside other such versions of my future (and past) songs on a separate record. Kind of my attempt at making a Still-like album, like Nine Inch Nails did. They also have a more jazzy leaning IMHO, 'cos I've been listening to a lot of Zappa as of late.

Tune Contest Songs

Vendetta - Won
Symphonic Metal

(download mp3) | (listen on Newgrounds) | (view on Youtube) | (visit tune contest thread)

Cold Breath of Death - Didn't win
Symphonic Prog Metal

(download mp3) | (listen on Newgrounds) | (visit tune contest thread)

Volatile (feat. Jonathan Sjöblom on vocals) - Didn't win
Groove Metal

(download mp3) | (visit tune contest thread)

* Jonathan is known as jon_swe on the forums and can be found frequently on irc (if you want to tell him how awesome he is - which he is); he is also the vocalist of the Swedish death metal band, Corrosive Carcass (check out their myspace)
* Main riff ripped off from Pantera's "Walk"

Hope & Despair - Didn't win
Hard Rock/Heavy Metal

(download mp3) | (listen on Newgrounds) |  (visit tune contest thread)

Harmony to Disorder - 2nd place
Light/Modern/Acoustic

(download mp3) | (listen on Newgrounds) |  (visit tune contest thread)

The Destroyer of Worlds - entered in current tune competition
Symphonic Metal

(download mp3) | (listen on Newgrounds) | (view on Youtube) | (download midi version) |  (visit tune contest thread)

* Story: The Destroyer of Worlds has arrived on Earth. Despite all the heroes who challenge him, he cannot be stopped. Imagine that every warmer, "nicer" bit of the song is another of Earth's heroes trying to bring down the massive intergalactic planet devourer. But no matter how they try, they are eventually killed and our little blue-green planet is obliterated and the Destroyer of Worlds moves on to yet another celestial object to consume.

Hourgame songs

* By The Hour, a punkish affair. (mp3)
* My Skeleton In Your Closet, a more 80s metal feel to it. The track on download here is actually the extended version of the song I originally made for the hourgame compo, which includes more jammin' organ sounds (that sounds... wrong) and a detuned 7-string guitar towards the end, huzzah! (mp3)
* Overture. I intended to make this a solely orchestral piece, but put in a melodic guitar solo for extra epicness.

HARDSPACE - MUSIC TO SCREW A UNIVERSE TO
My first ever musical score for an AGS game has arrived! Before I link to my stuff, I will link to the actual game: >>> Click and play the game! <<<.

A big thank you goes out to ProgZMax for giving me my first "break" into "the scene" of AGS composers; without him and his game, there would be no soundtrack.

Click here to download "Hardspace - Music to Screw a Universe to" - the official soundtrack to the official (and highly orgasmic) game.

NOTE: the soundtrack is not 100% exhaustive. It is a compilation of all the main songs and lacks small snippets, bits and loops that people won't really care about.

Tracklist:



Please tell me what you think, don't be shy!

All compositions created with and executed by Guitar Pro 5, a wonderful bit of software.

Anyhoo, that's all for now, so friends, Romans, and AGS-ers, please, lend me your ears, and then kick me with your C&C boots!

PS: I encourage categorisation of music into genres! So, please, slap on genres on my music, so that if all else fails, we can discuss that. (not being ironic)

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Normally I don't really offer feedback on music because it's such a subjective medium (one man's trash is another man's treasure) but I listened to a few of your songs and I think they're quite good!


Vendetta:

This actually sounds a lot like some of the faux-80's rock I've made with Renoise except you've clearly put more thought into the melody and where it's going.  It sounds like it would be at home in a Biker game or a movie about Bikers.  I like it!

The Cold Breath of Death:

It's an interesting composition and I liked the buildup more than the actual release, mainly because it sounded like it needed more bass or perhaps some hi-hats or other backup to fill it out.  The last bit with the guitar is really good, giving it an almost sad finale.


By the Hour:

I think the midi soundfonts I have impair what could otherwise be an interesting sounding tune, and that's exactly why I hate midi.  The guitar riffs in particular sound really bad on my realtek.

My Skeleton in Your Closet:

I normally don't like midi because of the iffy quality but sounds ideal for an intro or title tune for a game, and the organ bits remind me of The Doors for some reason.


I don't really have time to listen to the albums but I definitely think you've got talent.

[ShiverMeSideways]

Thanks a lot for the comment and the kind words, Progz!

I've uploaded the mp3 versions of By the Hour and My Skeleton in Your Closet for you and all other people who might have the same problem, you guys want to hear the original versions. I don't know if mysoundfont is better or not, but I find it at least acceptable.

Regarding the organ sound, I've been trying to get that 70s dirty Hammond feeling, by combining several types of organs already available in Guitar Pro: Hammond with Church organ, the dubious sounding Rock Organ with a Church or a Hammond. Anyhoo, nothing too conclusive yet .

Also, I've made the download links for the Chamber I and II more visible, 'cos I like being positive about the fact that nobody has downloaded them .

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Skeleton definitely sounds better with your soundfonts than it did with mine and it makes my subwoofer kick!  Have you ever considered going over to a tracker or a program that uses vsti's?  No matter how good you are at making midis you'll never beat the sound of real instruments.

[Matti]

I like the skeleton song. Reminded me of Zappa in parts, which is a good thing. In fact, I'm gonna listen to him right now. 

[ShiverMeSideways]

Updated the first post with the latest two songs: Overture and Volatile.

I like the skeleton song. Reminded me of Zappa in parts, which is a good thing. In fact, I'm gonna listen to him right now.

Glad to hear that, Mr. Matti .

To follow Progz's advice, I will try and search for such programs and see what will come of them. Until then, I'm pretty comfortable with Guitar Pro and I want to focus more on trying to incorporate real, recorded guitars in my songs. The results of such efforts will hopefully be made public soon .

[ShiverMeSideways]

BUMP! Added the soundtrack to Hardspace - Conquest of the Gayliks! (check bottom of first post)

[ShiverMeSideways]

BUMP! Added a few more songs, and pimped up all my Tune Contest entries with links; I also made that whole section a little more functional. The Chamber I and The Chamber II are now also available on Newgrounds!

Please inform me about any broken or just plain wrong links!

And of course, don't forget to tell me what you think of the tunes! (and maybe the layout of the first post?)