[Showcase] Instrumental Covers

[HeavyMecha]

Greetings fellow members...

...screw it, I'm just going to cut to the chase. I had a long introductory planned out for this with a story of my past, but nobody wants to read that kind of crap.

Anyways, I don't have a computer anymore, and being as I have tinkered with quite a lot during my years so far, I managed to get into game design (RPG Maker, A-Map, etc) and music production/editing (Audacity, FL Studio, etc). Luckily, there are people out there who have taken the time to port some programs over to Android (and iOS).

While I can no longer do any kind of design or hacking, I can still apply my music experience, and with that said, I hope to use it as a way to give something (if anything) back to the gaming community.

So long story short, I will start doing instrumental covers (NOT REMIXES) of various Pokemon themes, as well as some others if I get to them. But since I don't have a computer, I'll be recording the instruments I have at my house (keyboard, acoustic guitar, drum kit) along with the help of a few Android programs to edit and test music tones.


Here are some songs I have already planned out:


+++Trainer Battle Theme (Red/Blue) ; Looking to add some kind of soundscape feeling to it, making it a bit more "zen" and not as energetic.

+++Unown Theme (Pokemon Crystal) ; As with the same above, every game has just enough of a small subtle difference that it seems to stand out to me. Looking to maybe Jazz this up... or something.

+++Lavender Town Theme (Yellow) ; As with the song above, minor differences seem to stand out to me and so I'll be working with this variation, rather than the original Red/Blue version. I'm looking to see if I can make this a little less eerie and more melancholy.



I also plan on testing my luck with other themes, such as:


+++Gourmet Race (Kirby Super Star) ; A fan favorite of many, I'm thinking of doing some acoustic guitar work on this.

+++Overworld Theme (Super Mario Bros.) ; Not entirely sure what I have planned for this, but I'm thinking of something.

+++Costa Del Sol (Final Fantasy VII) ; Looking forwards to adding even more guitar to this and probably some drum work. Not 100% sure yet.




APPS I'M USING:

+++FL Studio Mobile
+++PhoenixStudio
+++G-Stomper
+++WavePad
+++Lexis Audio Editor

INSTRUMENTS I'M USING:

+++Acoustic Guitar
+++Keyboard
+++Drum Kit



In case you wanted the backstory of why I'm doing this...

Spoiler:

As a kid, I was pretty fascinated by music, and for a while, I devoted a lot of time and effort to it. However, I had an oddball learning curve. Unlike most people to learn through memorizing the notes on the instrument, I memorized the sound.

In other words, while I cannot tell you what A-FLAT and B-SHARP are, I can find a good place for them in almost any song composition.

Anyways, as a kid, I took quite a few classes. Thanks to this, I was able to get some experience in quite a few instruments, such as:

-Acoustic Guitar/Electric Guitar
-Flute
-Piano/Keyboard
-Drum Kit
-Violin

Now, although I did tinker with all of them, I never pursued music in a professional way, so while I did gain some good experience and understanding, I never mastered the art.

That said, I continued to pursue them up until I got into college. To which I then put my music interest on an indefinite hiatus. During this time, I then took up learning game design. For that, I began to tinker with a program called RPG Maker.

After a while, I did produce a few game demos, my most memorable one was trying to re-create Final Fantasy VIII on RPG Maker 2003. I didn't get very far with it, mostly due to my first computer biting the dust and 95% of my progress being lost (I managed to get all the way up to where Squall and Rinoa were in space). So, that was a major kick in the junk and well... let's just say I gave up on RPG Maker for a while.

After that, I managed to save up enough earnings to buy a laptop. So, then I decided to pursue tinkering with the program A-Map and began making some ideas for possible games. Well, eventually the laptop broke. I'm honestly not sure what killed it, but it refused to turn on and when it did, it would stay as a black screen.

So, once again, another kick right in the junk. Safe to say, I gave up on that as well. After a while, I returned back to my music interest, but since I didn't own a computer anymore (and still don't), I had to find some way to record and edit my ideas. But thanks to the many dedicated companies and fans of these companies, quite a few windows programs have been ported over to Android.

Well, at this time, I got into mobile gaming and then found all these music editing apps available. Needless to say, I bought a few and once again got back into music. Now, jump forward into present time, it's been almost a year and my music interest got put on hiatus again. But now that I am pretty much back into that mindset, I have decided to pursue my music ideas and loaded up the apps.

So, what's the plan now? Well, I already pulled my instruments out from the dusty closet and have set them up around my room, and I have some fairly decent software readily available on my phone. So... what the heck, I'll give it a shot and continue what I started back in 2009.



(In case you're wondering why I was using RPG Maker 2003... long story short, I liked the look of it. I could have gone with VX ACE, but wasn't as into it.)

So... questions? Well, view the spoiler tag below or just ask.

Spoiler:

Q: How come you do music in a weird way?

A: I haven't a clue. To me, music is an art, and like many artists, the "preferred" way isn't always the easiest. With me, I hear the tones and subtle differences in the sound, which in turn helps me narrow out what sounds good when used with different tempo, beats, and structure. Think of it as the Daredevil (Marvel Superhero) of music, I can feel the music in a way that many others cannot, it's kind of like intuition... but for music.


Q: How long have you been playing these instruments, and can you play a song using just them?

A: Since 2005 and the answer is no. I can do bits and pieces, I'm not that talented. If I could do it all entirely with just my guitar or keyboard, then I'd be a well-known youtuber by now (like LittleVMills).


Q: When did you get into RPG Maker?

A: Mid 2009, started with RPG Maker 2003 cause of the art style. Eventually I did try all the others, but 2003 just clicks with me.


Q: When did you get into A-Map?

A: Honestly... I have no idea. I'd say probably 2015... I think? Not sure, I didn't get a lot of time to use it.


Q: So, why have you now decided to contribute something to Pokemon?

A: It feels weird taking all the time and giving nothing in return. I feel that I should at least give my own insight and expression of some of the songs so others can use them if they want.


Q: What kind of work will you be doing?

A: More or less... just some heavy tone and vibe changes of the original songs. However, it'll take a good round of trial and error as always. Luckily, I have already started, so I'm in the process of releasing a demo.


Q: Will you share it with us?

A: The demo? Maybe. I don't know yet, I need to iron out some weird sound I keep hearing in the middle of it.

(I'll update this thread with links for downloading the music and hearing them on YouTube as soon as they are made. This includes demo songs.)

 

[HeavyMecha]

https://youtu.be/sIClecphUeM

FF8 cover

 

[moon]

Hi! I'll move your thread to Art & Design, as we've discussed and thought that creative musicmaking like this fits better there than in this forum where people mostly discuss commercial stuff. Their rules still say otherwise ("Only Art here!" kinda) but don't worry about it, we'll probably update them soon.

As for your FF8 remix, I haven't heard the original so I can't say much about how different or creative it is, perhaps. But it was nice enough! I felt like if you want, you might be able to do something more interesting with the lower tone(s) though?

I'll put a gallery tag on your thread too. Good luck :D

 

[HeavyMecha]

NEW COVER



Costa Del Sol (FF7)
https://youtu.be/w_t95UMySic

And another new cover



Together We Ride (FE)
https://youtu.be/G5rzsT_m9Mg

 

[HeavyMecha]

Lavender Town Theme
https://youtu.be/G61xQcdoIwU

Crystal PalaceTheme (LoD)
https://youtu.be/iUU5n9asv8o