Topics

Hey guys, just wanted to announce that we at Herculean Effort Productions just released our new website. We got a nice, short domain name, too:

http://www.herculeaneffort.com

Check it out!

I also set up a nifty new forum--which is SMF, just like this forum. I chose to switch to SMF over phpBB because I was getting a LOT of spammers and profile spammers on the old forum every day. The interface for phpBB made it inconvenient to go through the users and ban the spammers, so they just accumulated.

Anyways, the website is hooked up with PHP, so you can expect a lot more frequent updates and news posts.

Now, back to working on Super Jazz Man!

Here's the deal:

The content of my website is stored in a text file and uses PHP to display the text file in the webpage. I can use HTML code in the text file and it displays that all correctly and everything.

Now here's the deal, I want to be able to put PHP code within the text file.

Even if inside the text file I put a simple:

<?PHP
echo "test.";
?>

It doesn't run the PHP code.

How can I make this work?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/240642.stm

To listen to the soundfiles, you can use RealAlternative (thanks to Eric for introducing me to this nice alternative to the spyware-ridden RealPlayer)

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm

Enjoy! I like that first Mozart example the best. Pretty amazing compared to the other computer-generated music out there.

I wouldn't quit over it, but the thread title is just so much more exciting that way...

[Ambience]

Hello fellow music makers, our topic this week is:

Ambience

Being able to create ambient background music is a very important skill for game musicians and film composers. The goal is to try to make your entry convey as much emotion as possible without being assertive (I.E. it will sound like ambient background music and not necessarily an actual tune with a big, loud, imposing melody, etc.).

I imagine entries will vary from lush orchestral arrangements to moody electronic soundscapes.

As always, have fun!!

http://www.nymphusa.com/kisekae/kisekaeE1.asp

Not sure if the link will work the first time, so you may have to navigate a little--just search for the word "Kisekae."

You can create some pretty cool/weird guitars with this. Have fun!

Hey guys,

Here's a little jam based on Chameleon I was messing around for the last 45 minutes:

http://www.gregjazz.com/upload/chameleon.mid

Does the time signature (9/4) sound natural and relaxed? I'm trying to make it sound as natural as just a normal 4/4 funk tune, not jarring.

I just realized that my horn arrangement sounds terrible on standard GM soundset. Because right now I have any General MIDI in Cakewalk being played through a relatively nice (compared to standard GM soundsets) Sonic Implants GM soundset.

Please humor the keyboard solo. I used my 2-octave keyboard on my Ozone, so it's far from ideal, but you'll get the idea.

Browsing and I ran into this, so funny I had to take a screenshot:



What are the advantages of the Realplayer format again?

[Banana Slug]

Sometimes it's fun to write the title of a song first before writing the song. I find just a song title can spark creativity and imagination. So here are some song titles to pick from:

Banana Slug

Hide And Seek

Doldrums

Have fun and good luck!

(obviously I will be judging on how well the tune fits the title and how well composed/sequenced it is in general)

Check this guy out:

http://www.sonnyradio.com/chrisbliss.htm

It's amazing that he can keep in sync with the music and is that comfortable with juggling. It's pretty impressive!

Though I do like the humor of Bspeer's movie: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=24252.msg301467#msg301467

Okay, so here's the deal. Some music software (ManyGuitar) I did some sampling for has a review in Computer Music magazine. Computer Music magazine is a UK magazine, so we won't see it in the US for 2 months or so. I'm interested in obtaining a scan/scans of the review. Or maybe just mail me the magazine, though I'm not sure how long it'd take to go from the UK to California.

I can Paypal money to cover expenses if you have to purchase the magazine, or whatever...

Or perhaps if one of you in the UK already gets CM magazine, which would make it more convenient to scan the review for me.

The review is in CM issue 97. It's like you guys are living in the future...

Many thanks in advance!

This is an interesting intelligence test:

http://www.mensa-test.com/

I got 16/33 and now I'm really stuck... That's about as much as I can think of. But I'd be curious to know the rest.

Try the test first, before reading the ones I've figured out so far:

Spoiler

1. 26 letters of the alphabet
2. 7 days of the week
4. 12 signs of the zodiac
5. 66 books of the Bible
6. 52 cards in a pack (without jokers)
7. 13 stripes in the United States flag
9. 39 books of the Old Testament
16. 100 cents in a dollar
18. 12 months in a year
19. 13 is unlucky for some
21. 29 days in February in a leap year
22. 27 books in the New Testament
23. 365 days in a year
25. 52 weeks in a year
27. 60 minutes in an hour
32. 1000 years in a millennium

[close]

[- Track of the Day on 10 Jan 2006 in Jazz]

Hope you guys don't mind this. I know there are a few people on this forum who are fans of The Pyrotones...

If anybody is interested, my band (The Pyrotones) is selling a CD!

http://cdbaby.com/cd/pyrotones

In fact, we won some awards from Garageband.com this month, including:

- Track of the Day on 10 Jan 2006 in Jazz

- Awards for the week of 9 Jan 2006

Best Drums in Jazz
Best Bass in Jazz
Best Keyboards in Jazz
Best Melody in Jazz
Best Beat in Jazz
Best Mood in Jazz
Grooviest Rhythm in Jazz

These awards were for the song "Got Soul?", which is one of my compositions. It's on the CD.

I hope this wouldn't be to much trouble, but at the moment there are only 3 sound channels (or 6 channels if you get desperate and use the channels meant for music, ambient sounds, and speech).

In nearly every game project I'm always hitting the limit of sound channels and sounds are getting cut off or not played. It doesn't sound very pleasant when this happens.

Please, oh please is there any chance of getting a whole lot more sound channels? Really I can use all I can get, but even just a few additional sound channels would make things dramatically better.

Could anybody else use extra sound channels?

[Pick out any background entry from one of the previous Background Blitzes and write background music for it. Multiple people choosing the same background is okay.]

No more "leet posts" for me.

In this contest I wanted to do something practical--something that applies to making adventure game music.

Here are this tune contest's rules:

Pick out any background entry from one of the previous Background Blitzes and write background music for it. Multiple people choosing the same background is okay.

When you post your tune, please also post the image of the background you chose. The entries may be in MP3, OGG, or MIDI format.

Tips on what I will be looking for:

- Make it suitable for the background you choose. (obviously)
- I would prefer that it doesn't have a very obvious ending to it, for looping's sake. Though I do not expect you to create an entry that loops perfectly, just make the ending subtle.
- Good production. I want to see that you know how to use your music software/hardware well.

Good luck, and enjoy the contest! I will be giving out a prize to the winner! (or top 3 depending on how many entries there are) The prize will most likely be original loops/samples/soundfonts.

Guess who's doing the sounds for the new Windows Vista?

Apparently none other than Robert Fripp of King Crimson!

http://channel9.msdn.com/showpost.aspx?postid=151853

Finally Microsoft made a good decision, but I still question their budgeting...

Found this website:

http://www.jdempsey.com/2005/12/08/free-online-file-storagesending/

It is a big list of free file hosters, so if you're looking for an alternative to YouSendIt or RapidShare, this will be very useful to you.

Hope this isn't too spammy. Just thought I'd share this information with you guys.

This is a little jam song I was working on this afternoon.

Here it is, for your boogie-ing pleasure:

http://www.americangirlscouts.org/agsuploads/files/boogietothis.mp3

[Rules:]

Sorry for the delay in creating the next Sprite Jam, but it's probably better that we waited a little bit for the holiday rush to pass. I spent a while thinking of the rules and finally came up with something good. I'm not sure if these rules have been done already, maybe something similar to them, but at least it wasn't any time recently.

Rules:

Draw a sprite of a fellow AGSer!

Remember, these must be usable sprites. If you need ideas, the Long Overdue Post Your Picture Here thread could come in handy.

Restrictions
Max size: 128x128
Max colors: 32

Have fun!

How many bands can you name in this picture?



So far I have:

1. Gorillaz
2. Led Zeppelin
3. Jefferson Airplane ?
4. Alice in Chains
5. The Rolling Stones
6. Men At Work ?
7. Beach Boys
8. Guns 'n' Roses
9. Iron Maiden
10. Madonna
11. Smashing Pumpkins
12. Eminem ?
13. Radiohead
14. Talking Heads
15. Matchbox 20
16. Nickleback
17. Scissor Sisters
18. Dead Kennedys
19. Sex Pistols
20. Garbage
21. U2
22. Blind Melon
23. White Zombie
24. The Pixies
25. Blur
26. Lemonheads
27. The Eagles
28. Red Hot Chili Peppers
29. The Police
30. Spoon
31. Phish ?
32. Queen
33. Prince
34. White Stripes
35. The Doors
36. Barcode Brothers
37. Jewel
38. Spin Doctors ?
39. Black Flags
40. Counting Crows
41. Pearl Jam ?
42. The Cars
43. Traffic
44. Dirty Dancing ?
45. The Cranberries
46. The Byrds
47. Crash Test Dummies
48. Cowboy Junkies
49. Jet
50. Kiss
51. Korn
52. Mallrats
53. The Eels
54. Nine Inch Nails
55. 50 Cent
56. White Snake

EDIT:

57. Green Day

Would you buy it? I'm thinking it should it be sold as both a tangible CD and as downloadable tracks.

This would be completely re-arranged, high-quality orchestral music. Totally revamped. You would hear many recognizable themes from the game, but these would be complete songs with complete arrangements.

Opinions? Questions? Comments?

EDIT: To clarify, this would be a music CD.