thecraftinatorx wrote:-Hey adso, do you use an specific level design tool?
I build the levels in the CryEngine editor. What do you mean exactly?
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Shrooblord wrote:Can't wait to hear #3; I don't think I've ever heard your brother perform yet. Quite intrigued to find out!
It's actually very subtle. I'll be featuring him more prominently in some later tracks that focus on the violin.
Shrooblord wrote:1. The Land of Unimportant Proportion - "Various Ventures"
0:03 - I'm feeling something Zeldaey.
Haho, someone said the same thing in the original 2012 (part 22) version of the track which didn't even have that intro section.
Shrooblord wrote:1:40 - I'm well into the feeling of this. It's upbeat, got interesting chord progression and grandiose, even though it's supposedly about a miniature land, right? Nice contrast.
It's a hybrid miniature/regular/macro land, given the name of the world. Nothing is sensibly scaled, but that somehow works just fine for the land's inhabitants.
Shrooblord wrote:2:38 - The theme of the song carries well into the third minute; not repetitive and plays very nicely with the other subthemes and motifs going on.
I'm actually surprised how long some of these tracks end up being, because I feel like they're going through very fast, brief motions, and yet somehow a repeat of a small three-section motif ends up being like two and a half minutes.
Shrooblord wrote:4:05 - Why does "Hans Zimmer" spring into my mind??
Lolo, I'm not quite sure, but I'm glad it worked.
Shrooblord wrote:2. The Dream Forest - "Urky Murky"
4:45 - Clean opening. Can someone pick up that phone, please?
Oh yeah, it does kind of sound like that. Ask 2010 me why, since this one is a remake of a part 8 track.
Shrooblord wrote:5:10 - Three-part marimba. Heavy yet still light. Love the sound of wood instruments.
That
Project Sam: True Strike percussion kit I bought back in 2013 was one of the best purcahses ever.
Shrooblord wrote:8:00 - Overall I feel this track is a nice, "easy listen". Non-intrusive and relaxing, but not boring.
This one is the perfect example of what I said earlier: I have no idea how this track is actually four minutes and not like 2-2.5.
Shrooblord wrote:3. The Dream Forest - "Half-Light Shanty"
8:45 - ALL NEW AND SPARKLY HERE IT COMES
9:05 - It feels somewhat zen/spiritual. I like the backgrounds of birds' song.
I was hoping you'd notice, but: notice that the birds are actually from the Rayman 2 Woods of Light ambience (I think only used in Revolution - it's on RayTunes).
Shrooblord wrote:10:00 - Ah-ha!!

hn yes
Shrooblord wrote:10:45 - Your vocals are always so ethereal. Eerie vibe but in a calming way. how do you give me these weird conflicting emotions??
I usually try and make my voice sound as childlike as possible for things like this, and I guess children are real evocative

(they are for me

)
Shrooblord wrote:4. Canyon of the Lost: The Spirit Mist"
(...)
13:20 - Loving the overall vibe of this. It reminds me of the Sanctuary of Rock and Lava soundtrack (my absolute favourite in the entire score Chevalier did).
Does it? I'm curious, can you elaborate?
Shrooblord wrote:15:35 - Sweet harp. I can't get mine to sound that crisp!
They're just from the Kontakt factory library, so you definitely can! I want to Skype you soon..!
Fun tr(f)ac(k)toid: this was the second track I ever arranged, on my MO8 back in January 2010, in part 2. It kinda rips off OneRepublic - Apologize a bit, and the funny thing is, this remake actually rips off Apologize's sound way more than the 2010 version does.
Shrooblord wrote:5. The Penumbra River - "Dark Green" 16:15
(...)
16:55 - Faraway brass echoing from caves in the distance. It's remote.
Ah yes, the brass effect, which I do by distorting a (suitable) synth (kind of) and then rolling it off.
Shrooblord wrote:19:15 - Is that the sound of a cave's heartbeat?
I sort of pictured the sound of water sloshing against the inside of a small open cavity in the cave, creating little pressure pops and the like.
Shrooblord wrote:19:58 - Woah. E---eeww--ew very nice. Quite creepy.
This has become something I do a lot since I started working on my ambient album, and I love the sound, since it makes me think of strange underwater creatures communicating via sonar through dense walls of water.
Shrooblord wrote:6. The Penumbra River - "Fluoral Garden" 20:27
21:00 - The Penumbra River tracks all have this "darkness" and remoteness about them. They're murky, deep, endless.
Aye. It's all about the mystery and beauty. The idea that each of these worlds have so much more to offer than you'd ever get to lay your eyes on, despite the vastness of the areas you're already able to explore. The idea that you/Rayman could just set up camp in any one of these worlds and forget about the outside world, for all intents and purposes.
Setting up camp underwater though? Well, shortly before this level begins, Rayman gets a power that allows him to breathe underwater. As much as I love Whale Bay, its atmosphere and music, I really wish games would allow you the freedom to explore their underwater worlds without worrying about having just enough time to bolt from one breath source to the next, especially considering the fact that underwater environments can house some of the most beautiful and timeless visuals imaginable.
Shrooblord wrote:21:30 - I can imagine a vast cavern, a deep well, or maybe even the emptiness of outer space.
Speaking of environments, I can give some insight:
Dark Green takes place in the second area of the Penumbra River, where you're pulled deep into a trench and are navigating through pitch-black rock and dense curtains of seaweed (hence the "dark green") (inspired by the beginning of Finding Dory), illuminated by lantern fish swimming up and down.
This track's title is a pun on flowers and fluorescence, implying, of course, that the plants glow

It takes place shortly after Dark Green, where you find yourself in a garden of highly dangerous but beautiful underwater foliage, before you arrive at the final section of the level (a sunken ship).
Shrooblord wrote:22:00 - There's a lot going on here in this scene. Something captivates the eye, something wondrous. Maybe terrifyingly crushing to the heart, but wondrous or great in stature or importance. There could be a dramatic reveal here of sorts. Or maybe it's just the environment's inherent epicness.
Like a few levels in the game, this is one of those where Rayman's only goal is to navigate through it from beginning to end - nothing of narrative interest happens aside from whatever you make of it. It's all environmental.
Shrooblord wrote:22:45 - Love the subtle vocals as always.
;D
I actually use recorded vocals very densely in a lot of tracks, but they're very background and ambiguous - I boost the trebles a lot, and they often are what adds a lot of the "whooshing spice"

. It allows me to very easily create massive washes of treble that swell in and out, since the automation is all done with the vocal cords, of course. This track, for instance, has at least 3-4 vocals going simultaneously during 22:45. Fun in the Snow had seven going at once in multiple places.
Shrooblord wrote:23:25 - That's a real recorded flute right?
Aye.
Shrooblord wrote:24:10 - The themes of the song return now with bass and piano and more pronounced choirs(?); your reprises are very satisfying. Never boring.
25:00 - I can hear so many instruments subtly mixed in or only playing the one note they need to play to complete the track.
I know how much you love that kind of thing.
One of those subtle instruments is a really mellow jazz guitar, which is responsible for some of the right before each downbeat. You can hear it quite clearly at 25:40 and onward, on the downbeats.
Shrooblord wrote:25:05 - I wanted to listen to this flute solo twice. It's beautiful. Distant, emotional, it's weeping. It carries you with it in its phrase.
Part of that is actually aided by my relatively mediocre flute skills, which make it sound kind of shaky and sharp, almost as if it were weeping and crying out. Of course, if I were better, I could be doing those things intentionally if I wanted to, but here it's one of those cases where I'm turning a negative into a positive.
Shrooblord wrote:Overall, I'm still mega jealous of how polished and 'produced' your music always sounds.
Hue! Well, for me, the effects are just as important as the composition itself, depending on the track. Tracks like Dark Green were "composed" on the spot in all of 10-15 minutes, and the other four hours or so were spent on production and automation. Morphing very basic synths to create a soundscape and sound however I want them to.
Shrooblord wrote:Forget that Hans Zimmer masterclass I was looking into, I want one from you!
Lolo! Well, like I said, I'd love to Skype with you again and show you some neat stuff.