Arcen Games: Music/Sound

[PVega8]

That's true, there is a lot of high notes and not much towards the end. I will say that most of the music at the end is subtle though. Not to loud and delicately played. Is it unpleasant because it's grating on the ear or just because it feels like it's missing something?

In comparison to most other pieces, it does lack a bass, but what I wanted was sort of a decaying effect towards the end where the music strips itself away. But, what you said is valid, and a good observation in the music. Tough to please everyone, but I'm really glad you like the music in general! Voyage to Zenith is more about the fusion of the original AI War Theme and Zenith Theme (which is more dominant towards the end of the piece). At one point, there's a cool piano duet playing both themes simultaneously which took quite a bit of work, but turned out pretty successful I feel.

Thanks for the comments however! Feedback of any kind is high appreciated

[Vinraith]

While the new version of Marisa is lovely, it seems to have lost some of the "oomph" of the original, at least to my ear. The sort of "rumbling" underneath the original track, punctuate by the occasional "thunderclap" of bass to punctuate certain moments in the melody, seem to have been downplayed or eliminated. The new track is still very pretty, but it's less... cathartic. It's about the only remaster I haven't completely adored, though, for what that's worth.

[PVega8]

A lot of the drone-y bass stuff has been taking out in the re-mastered tracks. Mainly because we've had complaints from people playing the game with lower quality speakers. That bass-y/drone-y sound that has been taken out was sounding like a lot of fuzz on their speakers and making the over all quality of the tracks sound fuzzy.

So, apologies for that. I actually am a HUGE fan of those bass sounds, but unfortunately we have to do our best to cater to everyone. At the worst quality possible, our music should still sound good to everyone.

Thanks for the comment For those of you missing that extra bass-y sound, I might have a "limited edition" set of tracks with that added back on!

[HellishFiend]

That would be great! I use high quality speakers and definitely am able to appreciate things of that nature, and miss them when theyre gone, as well.

[PVega8]

Sounds good!

There's a couple that are bass-less right now. If you have any in particular, I'd like to know.

So far:

1) Odyssey
2) Marisa
3) Energy Storm

[Vinraith]

A lot of the drone-y bass stuff has been taking out in the re-mastered tracks. Mainly because we've had complaints from people playing the game with lower quality speakers. That bass-y/drone-y sound that has been taken out was sounding like a lot of fuzz on their speakers and making the over all quality of the tracks sound fuzzy.

So, apologies for that. I actually am a HUGE fan of those bass sounds, but unfortunately we have to do our best to cater to everyone. At the worst quality possible, our music should still sound good to everyone.

Thanks for the comment For those of you missing that extra bass-y sound, I might have a "limited edition" set of tracks with that added back on!

That would be really fantastic Pablo, thanks for considering it! I certainly understand the need to cater to everyone, though those with really low end sound hardware are cheating themselves terrible with this game. 

[PVega8]

This is true

I wish you guys could hear it from my speakers. I remember the first time Chris came over and checked out my studio, he couldn't believe the difference from how it sounds here vs. through his computer speakers (and his are pretty nice!).

Sound conversion has been one of our battles, but I think we're doing a pretty great job now

[HellishFiend]

I certainly understand the need to cater to everyone, though those with really low end sound hardware are cheating themselves terrible with this game. 

On that note, I actually feel thats true about most music these days. People just dont seem to care enough about sound quality, and those of us that do care about it have to suffer the consequences. The Loudness war has ruined new music because marketing gurus deem it fit to cater to people using ipods with stock earbuds to listen to music instead of a decent sound system, or even high quality earbuds.

[RCIX]

That's true, there is a lot of high notes and not much towards the end. I will say that most of the music at the end is subtle though. Not to loud and delicately played. Is it unpleasant because it's grating on the ear or just because it feels like it's missing something?

It's not exactly grating, but more of it creates a sort of pressure on my ears (which is relived by lower tones). I think i get what you were going for though.

I certainly understand the need to cater to everyone, though those with really low end sound hardware are cheating themselves terrible with this game. 

On that note, I actually feel thats true about most music these days. People just dont seem to care enough about sound quality, and those of us that do care about it have to suffer the consequences. The Loudness war has ruined new music because marketing gurus deem it fit to cater to people using ipods with stock earbuds to listen to music instead of a decent sound system, or even high quality earbuds.

Well, see, that's the thing: i can appreciate a nice pair of Sennheisers (i got a nice budget HD 205 model right now), but i can also easily tolerate stock iPod earbuds. I've just never been very picky about how i hear my music.

And if you made a limited edition version of this music, i would so buy it.

[PVega8]

Well, what I'll do is make "limited versions" of the tracks, and when I put the albums on sale (after the regular tracks are released as free DLC), I will add those bonus tracks to the iTunes album. I will also put them up on MySpace: www.myspace.com/pablovegamusic and my Facebook Music Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pablo-Vega-Music/105436296179600

[eRe4s3r]

Actually Marisa (i haven't checked the others) have enough oohmph imo, the "hit" effect of each mid and low note on a piano produces a very noticeable mid-range pressure that you need good speakers to notice, but if you have them you won't miss the bass at all. Its just not using the subwoofer for the oohmph.

It does however, have a very squeaky high pitched noise , not sure what it is really, but its a really high note of some instrument , its not grating but very noticeable.. which i assume is what rcix means.

For reference, i am using a Teufel Concept E 400 5.1

That said, a full usage of the low frequencies is imo vital - people who don't care for good sound should be punished! 

[PVega8]

It might just be an equalization issue where I'll need to cut down some of the high frequency in the celesta. It has a very "pingy" quality.

[vonduus]

That said, a full usage of the low frequencies is imo vital - people who don't care for good sound should be punished! 

I agree!

[PVega8]

Alright everyone, I just put up the "Midnight" track on my facebook music page and on my MySpace page: www.myspace.com/pablovegamusic

I'm sure a lot of you heard it already in the YouTube Star Fields trailer that Chris put up. That sound file is in .ogg format. The ones I put up on facebook and MySpace are the .mp3, so the quality will be better.

Enjoy!

[PVega8]

For those of you interested, the release of the re-mastered tracks will be very soon!

They will be released through DLC, but if you want some additional tracks, they will be on sale through iTunes. More to come very soon!