Project 26 ~ 10 (Laguna)

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Project 26 ~ 10 (Laguna)

Author Comments

Hello once again, NG! This is the tenth -- yes, tenth -- of 26 submissions (or so) that I'll upload this year for a project entitled Project 26: Submission a Week. This project is in collaboration with NG user Chocosoda (check him out!) Each other week in 2011, I'll upload a musical piece for a total of 26.

It's March, and that means it's FFVIII month. But wait! Chocosoda's in San Diego this week, leaving me to do another solo submission. Time for a percussion ensemble-styled arrangement!

This is the battle theme during the flashback sequences featuring Laguna Loire, aptly titled "The Man with the Machine Gun." Even though there is no Spanish feel whatsoever in this piece, I like Laguna's name and I feel like sticking it to a reviewer from two weeks ago, so the full title of this arrangement is "Project 26 ~ 10 (Laguna del Loira, Ametrallador)."

Although I did say it's a percussion ensemble-styled arrangement, it should be noted that my experience of a percussion ensemble comes from my college (Glendale Community College -- go Gauchos!), and at GCC, our specialties include adding non-percussion instruments into our arrangements and completely changing ending. I opted to drop the latter specialty because this theme has no end.

But once again, it's quite the wild ride, just like a battle theme should be.

TIME/TEMPO: 2'38"/140 BPM (4/4 time)
KEY: A minor
ORIGINAL THEME: "The Man with the Machine Gun" by Nobuo Uematsu
MIDI TRANSCRIPTION: Jordan Davenport at VGMusic.com

SOUNDFONTS USED (* denotes a new soundfont):
-Ocarina of Time v2.99
-Xylophone (1,650kB) (Vibes, Marimba, Xylo and Glock)
-Piano Wurlitzer (Wurly Dry)
-Guitar Fender Distorted
-Bass Multiple Rock (Fingered Bass #1 and Harms)
-Musica Theoria (first time I think I've actually stated that I've used it, but it was my old GM of choice a few years back)
-Yamaha Custom Drumkit (Sticks, Snares On, Soprano Snare and Steel Snare Phase and Filter)
-Drum Set Real Acoustic Drums EXTRA
-Drums Love Kit*
-Instruments SPYRO'S Pure Oscillators (Square)
-Piano Grand Kawai
-Roland Orchestral Rhythm #2 (Slapstick)

Arranged and rendered in FL Studio 9.

Enjoy! Don't forget to leave a review and check out my other works -- and also check back to see the remixed version at the end of the month. Subscribe to the RSS feed of my submissions so you don't miss one! :D

~Joshy676

P.S.: Entry #11 will be out on time -- it's easy and I have everything ready to go for it.

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Gario

2011-03-18 20:47:34

Hell yeah, March is Laguna Month!!!

Last year, OCR had a flood of six (count em', six) Laguna WIPs (including my own). Some were better than others, but one thing's for sure Laguna gets more love on March than any other month of the year, thus I pronounced this month as Laguna month. This track continues that tradition unintentionally, lol.

I guess I should comment on the actual track while I'm here...

The arrangement is accurate, and the soundscape is full (if a little strange with the instrument choice - but understandable considering your background). I really like the percussion choices, personally, but the synths are a little wonky due to certain processing issues (lead has too much portamento, some synths have too much release that muddies the track, some synths have too much vibrato, etc.).

Nice percussion work. There's room for improvement in the synths. Love the source. Good work, overall.

paradiddlesjosh responds:

The portamento was purposeful. One final thing about my percussion ensemble: the conductor is also the electronic music professor on campus, and his deal with synthesizers is "the stranger the sound, the better." The "synth" with vibrato was actually someone's attempt to create the ocarina sound from the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time when activating vibrato (by holding the control stick down). I loved the soundfont so much when I got it, I'd made an effort for a long time to use it in everything. Often, of course, it doesn't work, but sometimes (like in this track) I like the timbral flavor it adds.

Your mileage, of course, varied, but that's not really too big a deal.

Being a percussionist, I'd kill myself for bad percussion work. xD

Thanks for your review. While it may be Laguna month elsewhere, I'm trying to give the whole damn game love this month. :D