Shoot 'em up music

[Oz]

I composed this for a friend of mine who is working on a shoot 'em up (non-AGS). No experience so far composing this type of music, so I would like some feedback on this. Too busy? Should I leave the "to the rhythm" sample in there or does it sound weird? Tell me what you think gamers.

http://hem.bredband.net/galactic/lost_squadron.ogg

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Sounds good Oz, but from my experience playing many shooters this would be good for a title screen.  For the action itself, my advice would be to remove any voice samples and riffs and concentrate on hard beats and techno that gradually builds tempo.  I'd recommend checking out some music from Gradius, Lifeforce, Gaiares (genesis game), R-Type or their sequels.  Nice work.

[Oz]

Yeah, what I was after was something similar to the old-school Amiga shooters, like Turrican (melodic). I think I might try a different approach though. I can imagine this to be a little too obtrusive on the gameplay. Thanks for the crits ProgZmax.

[Gregjazz]

Nice! I dunno why this reminds me of Jazz Jackrabbit... but that's a good thing.

It'd be cool to hear a low sub bass in this song, but that probably wouldn't fit the video game style.

I think overall it's great the way it is. The "To the rhythm" sample fits game music, IMO keep it in.

Is there any way of making the drums more stereo-sounding?

[Oz]

Nice! I dunno why this reminds me of Jazz Jackrabbit... but that's a good thing.

It'd be cool to hear a low sub bass in this song, but that probably wouldn't fit the video game style.

I think overall it's great the way it is. The "To the rhythm" sample fits game music, IMO keep it in.

Is there any way of making the drums more stereo-sounding?

Yeah, the mix is very dry and compact. In this case though, that was sort of what I was after, but I agree that the drums could be tweaked a bit. As for the bass, I actually used a Prophet 5 bass for this track, but I can't seem to get it fat enough. It's a bit weak. I'll see what I can do about this. Thanks!

[Pod]

http://www.machinaesupremacy.com/discography.htm

they did the soundtrack for Jets 'n' Guns - a comercial Shump. Download the soundtrack for free. See what you think.

As for yours, it's actually pretty good. The hi hats are too loud though, and the snare too quiet. The whole thing should be a tad heavy and have more "punch". and take out the samples, it's a SHUMP background music, it shouldn't take focus....

oh yeah, make it loop

[Gregjazz]

Nice! I dunno why this reminds me of Jazz Jackrabbit... but that's a good thing.

It'd be cool to hear a low sub bass in this song, but that probably wouldn't fit the video game style.

I think overall it's great the way it is. The "To the rhythm" sample fits game music, IMO keep it in.

Is there any way of making the drums more stereo-sounding?

Yeah, the mix is very dry and compact. In this case though, that was sort of what I was after, but I agree that the drums could be tweaked a bit. As for the bass, I actually used a Prophet 5 bass for this track, but I can't seem to get it fat enough. It's a bit weak. I'll see what I can do about this. Thanks!

Here is a little studio trick to fatten up a track: boost a low bass frequency that corresponds to what key the song is in. Make sure that the bass doesn't actually play that note, though, or else it will be very loud!