Omnimaga
General Discussion => Music Talk and Showcase => Music Showcase => Topic started by: DJ Omnimaga on August 04, 2014, 03:31:57 am
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Heya, here is another new song from me, called "Destination 1999 A.D.": http://www.reverbnation.com/q/4xmtxg
The title is inspired from the fact that I had this song idea in my head since 1999 and it is heavily inspired from F-Zero X for the Nintendo 64. However, the title would also fit well with the music theme, because the song is about going back in 1999 to find the key (Elemental Cross?) to save the world in the future. The travel back in time is done in extremis, as demonic creatures are approaching to eliminate what's left of humanity, including you, who were busy listening to the song.
Since that song is meant as some sort of album intro, if it was made into a real band song, it would be instrumental, hence why you hear a keyboard solo through the entire song.
http://www.reverbnation.com/q/4xmtxg
I also made another similar song (that was started in 2012, although I got the chorus idea back in 2004) a few days ago, which I posted in news as well. It's called Elemental Cross and is also available through the link above.
Anyway, enjoy! :D I now need a custom album cover art though. <_<
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Hehe, i like the beginning :P
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I'm liking it :D
My only criticism is with the drums; Granted, I'm not a drummer nor am I well-versed in power-metal (I'm more into my prog - 170bpm's my limit as a guitarist), but they seem to lack variation - on their own, how would I know where each section (verse, chorus etc.) is?
I'll give you an example: This is part of the drums stem to one of my songs, "To Arms, Brothers... pt II" - [link (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3TSk-nwSlepM2VtMG53R0o3anM)] - you can easily tell which section is playing just from the drums alone.
Similarly, I don't know what kit you've put together (kick, snare, etc.), but it doesn't sound like there's a lot of things being played - I'm hearing a kick, a snare, two cymbals and a ride? When I'm writing the drums, this is the kit I tend to visualise (http://i.imgur.com/KX3TXKw.png) (I play everything left-handed to it'll be the wrong way around for anyone who plays right-handed) and while I don't go crazy with the drums, I try to use as much of the kit as possible where needed (you gotta at least have the hats).
My advice would be to get a MIDI of a couple songs, open them in something like FL Studio/REAPER (just to look at the notes) and recreate them note-for-note (kind of like what I did back in the day :P). Alternatively, just watching on YouTube doing a drum cover of a song could help in understanding how a drumkit works. In my opinion, when it comes to songwriting, it's usually best to learn from previous examples and then build on them.
That is, if you are going for a more "realistic" style of drumming. Otherwise, ignore everything I just said :P
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That's very true with the whole variation thing. Varying the cymbals you use, the cymbal pattern, the snare hits, and the kick pattern for each section really makes a piece more interesting. As for when to use toms: In most types of rock, jazz, and *shudder* pop, toms are almost exclusively used in fills and solos (eg. Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson, Muse (older stuff), Buddy Rich, Other jazz drummers, and I'm not even going to name a pop group) and to accent hits (in jazz, typically), while in prog metal, and some other types of metal, toms are more used, typically outlining the melody (eg. Dream Theater). I have no idea about drums in power metal, though. That said, toms can be used as part of a main pattern in rock (eg. the song MK Ultra by Muse). It really depends on what you're trying to do.
Also I'm a percussionist/drummer, so I have figured this stuff out by now :P
EDIT: Also nice song. It's like you must be a chart topper or something *runs*
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I'm liking it :D
My only criticism is with the drums; Granted, I'm not a drummer nor am I well-versed in power-metal (I'm more into my prog - 170bpm's my limit as a guitarist), but they seem to lack variation - on their own, how would I know where each section (verse, chorus etc.) is?
I'll give you an example: This is part of the drums stem to one of my songs, "To Arms, Brothers... pt II" - [link (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3TSk-nwSlepM2VtMG53R0o3anM)] - you can easily tell which section is playing just from the drums alone.
Similarly, I don't know what kit you've put together (kick, snare, etc.), but it doesn't sound like there's a lot of things being played - I'm hearing a kick, a snare, two cymbals and a ride? When I'm writing the drums, this is the kit I tend to visualise (http://i.imgur.com/KX3TXKw.png) (I play everything left-handed to it'll be the wrong way around for anyone who plays right-handed) and while I don't go crazy with the drums, I try to use as much of the kit as possible where needed (you gotta at least have the hats).
My advice would be to get a MIDI of a couple songs, open them in something like FL Studio/REAPER (just to look at the notes) and recreate them note-for-note (kind of like what I did back in the day :P). Alternatively, just watching on YouTube doing a drum cover of a song could help in understanding how a drumkit works. In my opinion, when it comes to songwriting, it's usually best to learn from previous examples and then build on them.
That is, if you are going for a more "realistic" style of drumming. Otherwise, ignore everything I just said :P
Thanks for the feedback. And yeah the issue is mainly the fact the song is almost entirely made in Music 2000 (in fact it's two Music 2000 files and a smaller one that was edited in Audacity for a pitch bend effect), so sound memory is minimal. I could probably add more variation in the drums regardless, though, although I need to make sure it doesn't detract too much from the power metal style and also avoid doing strange time signatures (Voivod comes to mind).
Of course the alternative would be to use real drums, but then the appartment landlord and neighboors will kick me out :P
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Both songs are pretty good, as an experienced listener I can recognize some of your usual paterns in them. :P