Not sure how retro this was intended to be, but I feel the melody could've used some drums. Sounds like Super Mario Galaxy in some ways.
Reviews for "Cosmic Fire"
DanJohansen responds:
Glad you enjoyed it dude!
The song lacked the typical harmonies of a song where you would have lower notes acompany the higher notes. Because of this the song sounded more flat in placed (for example: 0:15 and 0:22). The drums where fantastic for this song (being video game).
I think what makes this difficult to use in a game is how the e-pianos and main synth are very high pitch making it difficult to concentrate on the game. Its amazing how much damage can be done with high pitch high frequency bells and synths.
All in all I would change the main synth to be more sawtooth based (but a mega drive brass could do well there). At the same time I would add extra bass layers to really bring out the lower end of the song and make this track complete.
DanJohansen responds:
''The song lacked the typical harmonies of a song where you would have lower notes acompany the higher notes'' - This to me sounds like formula working something I am against and I don't really like following set ways when making instruments work together.
I can understand how the high pitches can annoy some people, I don't have against tracks that has it personally, I kind of dig that moment of holy shit when it happens in tunes, but if it was places within a game and the SFX used interfered with each other, I think toning down the high pitch with EQ or a sound change would be in place. I would still want the OST released with this version in such a case though.
Glad you enjoyed it though!
Woah! I really like this theme! I am a newbie at making songs. So I would love to ask what chord progression this is. But I love this song. Really!
DanJohansen responds:
Glad you enjoyed it that much, thanks a million for the kind words! I am not really the one to ask for composing details, when I work with music I just step into a creative world where whatever comes to mind is what I make, I don't really think in theoretical terms etc.
Wow unique song :O Really good song
DanJohansen responds:
Glad you dig it!
Nice but the drums sound a little rigid and unhuman. Maybe fiddle about with velocity, etc...?
DanJohansen responds:
Thanks for stopping by! I think you must have misunderstood the intention of the track though. It's a video game track heavily inspired by the 80's and old school music styles, the stiff drums is part of the concept in this case, adding humanity to it would take away a lot of the charm. The drum sounds and the way they are played are intentionally robotic. Glad you enjoyed it!