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Tune Contest 57 ~Racing Game (Melody)~

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

Okay, so, what we want here is a racing track. A great racing track. Now, to be extremely clear - this does not mean something super intense and driven. Mario Kart has great racing tracks that are light hearted and quirky.

I wont pigeon-hole anyone with requirements on instrumentation or stylistic choices, however, i would like it to be something more suitable for a game from pre-2000. So even if it's just acoustic guitar, try to achieve the feeling that those games held musically. Consider what made some of that music so memorable and timeless. Now, again, this is not necessarily a fixed requirement, simply a suggestion that will lend you to my favor.

Which brings me to the only actual requirement. Melody. I listen to all the tracks that get submitted on these tune contests, and there is a lot of promise and a lot of great ideas being put forth. But one thing that is often lacking is a real stand out melody. A strong melody can be an elusive mistress at times, that can get neglected when we have a lot of other cool parts happening in a track. So let's not do that. Find her, and lead her to the pearly staircase of sound and show her off like the true debutante she is.

The trend of 1 minute for track length is fair, but I'm not going to get hung up on track length. I'd like to hear it looped once if possible.

I think 3 weeks is a fair amount of time. So April 16.

Also feel free to describe the course. Or draw a picture of it. Neither of these are necessary but encouraged!

RED LIGHT. YELLOW LIGHT. GO GO!

Sounds interesting, think

BigHeadClan

Joined: Jan 20 2012

Sounds interesting, think I'll jam out to some Gan Torismo OST before jumping into F-Zero or Mario Cart 64

@tigerchild - Nice. You're

iamHoustonian

You don’t need to see my identification…

Joined: Oct 03 2011

@tigerchild - Nice. You're right about the prominence of melodies in VGM. At least in action games, a solid melody can really intensify a level or race. Maybe I'll give it a go :-) see if I come up with any cool melodies.

@Bigheadclan - F-Zero is quality :D but Gran Turismo US version is just pop music right? or do you listen to the Japanese OST?

@iamHoustonian i just thought

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

@iamHoustonian
i just thought it would be good to make melody a point of emphasis. it can be a challenge to really find a melody to build on. especially when you're layering all these things. but that should be the focal point of any track. particularly with video game music, where you have brilliant melodies that are surrounded with really wonderful counter-melodies.
i had a few other ideas for contests but this was where i landed. i hope at least a few people are into it. haha.

@BigHeadClan
yep, great places to draw inspiration from.

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

@iamHoustoninan Mm there is a

BigHeadClan

Joined: Jan 20 2012

@iamHoustoninan Mm there is a fair amount of rock as I recall on the OST, most of which was great tunes to get a person pumped up. I'm going to be looking around for a few days for some inspiration regardless.

Top gear is the first thing

CpxAzn

Lurker

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Joined: Sep 21 2007

Top gear is the first thing that pops in my mind when I think about racing themes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAMvfv6X8xs

Unfortunately I had something good in my mind at work but completely lost it when I got home. Can't really say for sure I will participate in this.

Re: Top gear is the first thing

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

battle your memory and draw it out like so much snake venom from an ankle! (also never try to suck snake venom out after being bitten, it is not a thing to do).

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

Haha I was going to say

BigHeadClan

Joined: Jan 20 2012

Haha I was going to say sucking snake venom out is a bad thing in most snakes. Although a few it's ok as long as you don't have any cuts in your mouth, still not recommended though!

only suck snake venom out of

Jacob31593

Location: Tampa, FL

Joined: Jan 04 2009

only suck snake venom out of a snake's mouth

Re: only suck snake venom out of

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

like a gentleman.

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

so should i just devour this

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

so should i just devour this contest? is anyone interested?

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

unlike my past promises of

Jacob31593

Location: Tampa, FL

Joined: Jan 04 2009

unlike my past promises of participation that produced zero results, i have actually at least started an entry this time!

Re: unlike my past promises of

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

well i'll take that as a sign, that you will potential rule this contest!

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

with victory now inevitable i

Jacob31593

Location: Tampa, FL

Joined: Jan 04 2009

with victory now inevitable i have decided to halt all work on the tune contest entry

just kidding, im sure at least maybe one other person will enter possibly

Hope to make a submission,

BigHeadClan

Joined: Jan 20 2012

Hope to make a submission, just had a guy fired at work and 2 others on vacation though. soo we shall see I think I can make it though.

I've been busy lately but I

iamHoustonian

You don’t need to see my identification…

Joined: Oct 03 2011

I've been busy lately but I have had an urge to record some jams I've been noodling around with on guitar. Usually my stuff is more ambient, minimalism. So it would be a welcome task to try to come up with something that has a deliberate melody. I just haven't tried yet haha :-)

@iamHoustonian - do it do it!

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

@iamHoustonian - do it do it! channel that ambient energy into some racing magic!

@BigHeadClan - that's shit! well, if you can it'd be great!

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

Heres what I came up with:

Avaruussaha

Location: Finland

Joined: Nov 13 2013

Heres what I came up with: Surf

Some kind of a surf/hoverboard stage I guess?

Haha I had the same idea as

BigHeadClan

Joined: Jan 20 2012

Haha I had the same idea as you to use the count-down timer, really fun and bouncy tune Avaruussaha. I gotta get a move on for mine already ><

surrrrfff

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

oh my god an entry!

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

The thread looked so lonely

Avaruussaha

Location: Finland

Joined: Nov 13 2013

The thread looked so lonely =( Should have finished this one sooner, I liked the requirements. Felt like I had something I'm not very confident in to work at.

BOOMsomething simple

xuwawa

god of empty NES

Location: san antonio -ish

Joined: Apr 22 2009

BOOM

something simple finished off from earlier attempts

edit: oh yeeeeaaah..... melody... i only remembered "racing tune"... maybe i can mess with it some tonight

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two entries! we officially

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

two entries! we officially have a contest.

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

I failed to lead Mistress

iamHoustonian

You don’t need to see my identification…

Joined: Oct 03 2011

I failed to lead Mistress Melody anywhere in this one hehe :-D I think I went way outside of the requirements both with my song and my idea for my "race"... but for the sake of music and me actually having some chill time alone to do some recording, here it is

FORTRESSPASSING

I wanted to do something with this weird little "Bowser fortress"-esque rhythm part I came up with. I tried my damnedest to get a solid melody goin but I just managed to layer more atmospheric stuff, pretty much haha

For my race I imagined a side scroller race through a Super Mario bros 3 Fortress with a shit load of Thwomps and at the end Bowser forces the winner to solve a Rubics cube within a 2 minute time frame haha in which all you win is freedom because everyone was trespassing in Bowser's fortress.

splat

xuwawa

god of empty NES

Location: san antonio -ish

Joined: Apr 22 2009

splat

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well tomorrow is apparently the day.

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

do we have any one recording still? because this contest is a bit skeletal at this point :/

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

Mhh I startet something, but

Brody

Location: Germany

Joined: Feb 24 2013

Mhh I startet something, but I think I can't finish it. Maybe I let you know tomorow, if I think I can finish it in a few days.

^^^ This

BigHeadClan

Joined: Jan 20 2012

^^^ This

well take your time.

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

in a few days, we'll see where we are all at!

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

Mhh I think I can't finish it

Brody

Location: Germany

Joined: Feb 24 2013

Mhh I think I can't finish it and now comes the easter weekend :O. But it's semi-finished I'll post it, that we have more songs in this contest ;)
racing

Whelp if I don't have a

BigHeadClan

Joined: Jan 20 2012

Whelp if I don't have a submission feel free to move on, lost a day due to working late ><

Hopefully I'll have something though.

is there a reasonable amount of time to extend this by?

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

it felt like the date came pretty quickly. and obviously the submissions are not coming in droves. obviously im not in a hurry. but if someone is really anxious to start another contest there's no reason to let this drag on.

what do we think?

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

If the people yet to submit

Avaruussaha

Location: Finland

Joined: Nov 13 2013

If the people yet to submit (or submit complete stuff) still enjoy the idea of this one, I'm all for waiting. Although the first few weeks were eerily silent who knows why, its no wonder there's a drop of activity during the easter.

Re: If the people yet to submit

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

yeah. funny how the nature of the internet is. sometimes forums on sites are abuzz with activity and other times...nothing.

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

Re: If the people yet to submit

xuwawa

god of empty NES

Location: san antonio -ish

Joined: Apr 22 2009

yeah i was wondering if participation had dropped off or what since i hadn't been here in forever

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Re: If the people yet to submit

jit

Joined: Mar 04 2009

xuwawa said

yeah i was wondering if participation had dropped off or what since i hadn't been here in forever

Pretty much depends on people's schedules and how intriguing the contest's prereq(s) are I assume. That usually dictates how much effort/motivation one is willing to put in, at least in my case.

i never have time to do

Jacob31593

Location: Tampa, FL

Joined: Jan 04 2009

i never have time to do anything but look at mildly amusing pictures

well.

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

i think it might be time to put this contest out of its misery. i think we have 4 entries. so unless someone is on the brink of finishing or someone new wants in and can work fast. maybe i should just wrap this up in an ugly little bow and see what's what.

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

Added some Super Mario Bros.3

iamHoustonian

You don’t need to see my identification…

Joined: Oct 03 2011

Added some Super Mario Bros.3 sound effects, so here's a new link to my little song.
FORTRESSPASSING

I don't usually see an insane amount of activity in these tune contests anyway... this one wasn't that bad, was it? hehe

Re: Added some Super Mario Bros.3

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

maybe the last one was happenin' because everyone did RPG themes and it was more open to interpretation. haha.

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

Hmm it probably seems a bit

BigHeadClan

Joined: Jan 20 2012

Hmm it probably seems a bit small because last one had a fairly large turn out, that said I'm annoyed I
couldn't get anything together. I need to find my writing groove again, been out of it forever it seems. ><

well no time like the...whatever

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

SO HERE WE ARE. it seems we had a fairly traditional F-Zero match with four racers. i appreciate all the entrants for participating. but there can be only one Captain Falcon.

(this contest also made me want to go back and clean up some of my old racing tracks i'd done last year. perhaps i will and maybe post one or two)

the rundown -

iamHoustonian/FORTRESSPASSING - i really like what you have. a lot. but i keep waiting for it to shift into something greater. to pop the clutch and go into high gear (i dont know if that means what i think it means). and not even necessarily become a more raucous track, but having a simple melody and percussion coming in to drive it forward, but still keep it sort of honest and ambient could really be wonderful.

Brody/racing - aside from my disappointment in your uninspired title choice ;) i like this. it's clear it is unfinished, and also clear the amount of potential it has. especially when the distorted guitar comes in. the dynamic at that point is really starting to hit on a place that feels familiar but also new. plus i could hear a clear melody breaking out of that section, like a red turtle shell to the back of the luigi's head to overtake him for the number one spot moments before the checkered flag. ah the possibilities. i'd encourage you to finish if you feel at all inspired.

xuwawa/BOOMsplat - i like the rhythm and feel of this one a great deal. and i can definitely feel a race in this. the track is ripe with its fruits, and within those fruits lies a pulpy, delicious melody. but you must be bold and pluck that fruit from the tree and rip it open! spill it all over the track! sorry that got a little weird. my point is, i like the track a lot. it has the absolute right feel, and is perfectly suited for a standout melody to ring from ear to ear and stick in your head long after you put the controller down. you just need to find that melody!

Avaruussaha/surf - it's always strange when you're not very confident in something and somehow turn in some of your strongest work. i can absolutely feel the coastal cruise happening here. be it in a little hoverboat or whatever. plus i have a real weakness for wind instruments. the guitar is really nice as well (curious what you use for the rhythm part?). it loops nicely. a song to keep you cool in an intense battle for that golden cup.

wish we'd had more entries. i felt like the topic could have been a good challenge. melody continues to be a tricky and fickle beast. putting video game music together - even music that is enjoyable - can often be neglected a great melody. so for all those who joined in the party, and all those who did not - keep working on melodies! they are what we remember. lots of people can make music to accompany images, but only the great ones make melodies that stay with you forever!

so with that, the sun sets on this competition, to the tune of Avaruussaha. from the opening countdown flourish to the sweet beach-side groove, your track had a strong melody that i whistled to myself after the first listen. so with the final watercraft pulling through the finish line, the wakes hit the shore and wash away the castles and marks in the sand - a clean leaderboard - for a new race.

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

Alrighty, gotta figure what

Avaruussaha

Location: Finland

Joined: Nov 13 2013

Alrighty, gotta figure what to go with in a day or two.

Theres (quiet) acoustic picking in the first phase and strumming on the second, which stack quite nicely with 1-2 clean/light distortion guitars in this case. I'm a bit hesitant with using 3 overlapping guitars, but sometimes it just happens... I even played the bass line on electric guitar with -12 pitch shift from my pedal, but it sounded like ass if one focused on listening to it, had to scrap that. Nice as a placeholder though.

Nice, I thought Avaruussaha's

iamHoustonian

You don’t need to see my identification…

Joined: Oct 03 2011

Nice, I thought Avaruussaha's sounded like a legit water race track too.

I think most of my original stuff is like that haha It builds up to a point where it sounds like it's about to get epic but then it plateaus...haha I'm fine with it though because, being someone that has zero musical teaching, I'm not trying to act like I'm some outstanding musician or anything :-) One thing I have been missing for a while is percussion. Been doing a little research on programming drums for a while, but all of the good ones cost too much money. It's hard for me to rationalize spending 100+ bucks on something that I don't even know much about. Might as well get a cheap drum set and just learn to play the physical drums haha probably equal to the time I'd have to spend learning to program them haha whatever I'm content :-)

Re: Nice, I thought Avaruussaha's

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

well not that i condone such things *cough cough* there are always ways of acquiring software. drum software is definitely something i've been reluctant about spending any great amounts of money on.
also, i am totally happy to work together on ideas if you want. if you ever have melodies or things in mind and we could create some music. might be some collaborative fun to be had. plus it's always cool seeing some of your ideas come a bit more to fruition.
i've never had any proper musical training, either. so it's just about having the ideas and finding ways to bring them into a tangible world. or...i guess not tangible. auditory world?

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

All of my drum tracks are

BigHeadClan

Joined: Jan 20 2012

All of my drum tracks are written by hand, although I have EzDrummer now I haven't dug into it yet. Will probably just use it to make my own tracks sound better *shrug*

Re: All of my drum tracks are

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

by hand as in you are sitting at a drum kit?

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

Hah no no just trial and

BigHeadClan

Joined: Jan 20 2012

Hah no no just trial and error with guitar pro, I guess "by hand" is pretty deceiving. lol

Re: Hah no no just trial and

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

ah yes. i have an electronic drum set i neglect. sometimes i use it with looping pedals when im doing live stuff. but mostly it just sits, untriggered and unloved. i just use a bunch of different software and stuff and create all the beats i do.

this was the last track i recorded that could be a "race" kind of song. but it's not really a racing game song.

Star~SURFING~

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road

Nice, tiger child. Makes me

iamHoustonian

You don’t need to see my identification…

Joined: Oct 03 2011

Nice, tiger child. Makes me think of a Gradius-esque Silver Surfer game.
I'd definitely be open to do some sort of collaborating. Maybe a VG song from the SNES era? I'll let you know soon if I have time to focus on completing a recording.

Ez and Superior Drummer are the programs I'm looking at. Probably Superior Drummer. I really need more drum knowledge in general, like sicker fills and gnarley polyrhythms. I can play some punk beats, sludge metal beats and weird shit on the drums haha but I want to know more. I hone in on the drums when I listen to music sometimes but the lack of knowledge just leaves me guessing "which tom was that?" or "what symbol are they playing?" haha Tis' why I am searching out a drum program. Building my mental database of drum sounds :-)

Re: Nice, tiger child. Makes me

tiger child

Joined: May 31 2012

thanks!

and yeah, whatever you feel inspired to do, let me know. whenever. you can add me on fb or something if you like for that unbridled line of communication.

i remember looking into superior drummer. seemed like a lot of cool things. couldnt justify the price tag and couldnt find it another way at the time. i have plenty of other software and just toy with things. for me with percussion, i just hear the sounds in my head and then i try to figure out how close i can get to them. drums are weird.

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this music is my greatest accomplishment
-brick road