OPN ripoff (rough cut, looking for critique)

I made this song entirely with the presets on a Panasonic SX-KC211, which is just a crappy MIDI keyboard that's probably worth 10 bucks. It's not finished yet, the levels and panning need worked on quite a bit. But I thought I'd post it here to get some critique (and praise if you like it!) on it, especially in terms of sound space usage and levels, and specific parts that need touched up. It probably won't change much structurally, but I'm open to suggestions.

https://soundcloud.com/the-holy-band-of-god/sx-kc211-rough-cut

Also, I basically ripped this off of Oneohtrix Point Never.

I love this kind of stuff, keep it up! I also like how the dryness of the MIDI sounds makes it sound "off", the abrupt crescendos in the second bit, the weird background noises (is that a sound on the Panasonic? cool) and the tropical sounds around 5:00-6:00. My favourite bit is the corporate sounding thing with the pitchbending pads that repeats two or three times throughout the track.

There are some plucked strings somewhere that hint at an Age of Empires 1 vibe too (love the midi version of the ost).

i don't think it sounds like a ripoff of him at all personally, it's definitely done in the same style of music that influenced 0pn. I like it quite a lot, i'd rather listen to this track than anything off R+7.

edit: the only section that feels weak to me is the final 3rd, sometime around 4:20 -6:16. I like the track when its more straight forward and melodic. I think i'm just not a fan of these types of sounds being used in conjunction with sort of awkward stops and starts, and i understand thats something 0pn fans like, i just don't think it works or makes it stronger. But overall its a very nice effort, you should seriously make more.

Thanks for the thoughts guys! I doubt I'll take out the abruptness completely, but maybe I'll try to smooth out the parts with the "random" stuff a bit, make it more "accidentally on purposefully" melodic. I have not exhausted the aesthetics available on this shitty keyboard, so I'm thinking about making a short EP with this as the last song (actually I'll probably make this the last two songs, with the last song being 6:22 to the finish).

4:20 to 5:04 was my favorite part actually. keep it.

FUCKING NAILED IT

Keep it up and you'll get as good as this guy:

Love those Mario 64 pyramid level sounds right before 5:30.

lol nice video

Should I bitch bend the mario-esque sounds a bit?

  On 11/16/2013 at 12:38 AM, gmanyo said:

lol nice video

 

Should I bitch bend the mario-esque sounds a bit?

I dont know if it'll fit with the song, but

absolutely

well that was a nice typo. i dont think ill change it.

edit:

sheatheman, I live in columbus btw

One thing I will say is that I like whole/complete/singular things. I like that across many mediums of art. I just prefer it. I generally don't like abruptness. I firmly stand against that movement in my own music making, unless I am being 80% or more ironic. I will let you do it because I like almost all of the sounds you use, especially the plucked string jam.

The only sound I don't like, and I have one of the highest thresholds for MIDI sounds, is the least MIDI sound of all -- the semi-super saw in the beginning. If you would present it differently I would like it, but I don't think it sits right in the mix. Other than that I think it is a really good ripoff, and I will forgive that because I know you have been into that type of MIDI stuff since long before R + 7 came out, so it's not really a ripoff at all.

edit:

gmanyo, I know you live in Cbus. I lived in Athens up until the end of April.

I just assumed it was a phrase people say. pitch bend is for pussies

edit: @ gmanyo

Haha thanks guys. And I totally agree with that actually, sheatheman, I plan on changing the saw thing, or adding to it, or doing something to present it differently. I have been planning that for awhile because it's bothering me but wanted to keep moving forward with the rest of the track before going back to it. Thanks for backing me up there.

and I'm definitely saying bitch bend from now on

  On 11/16/2013 at 12:57 AM, sheatheman said:

One thing I will say is that I like whole/complete/singular things. I like that across many mediums of art. I just prefer it. I generally don't like abruptness. I firmly stand against that movement in my own music making, unless I am being 80% or more ironic. I will let you do it because I like almost all of the sounds you use, especially the plucked string jam.

 

The only sound I don't like, and I have one of the highest thresholds for MIDI sounds, is the least MIDI sound of all -- the semi-super saw in the beginning. If you would present it differently I would like it, but I don't think it sits right in the mix. Other than that I think it is a really good ripoff, and I will forgive that because I know you have been into that type of MIDI stuff since long before R + 7 came out, so it's not really a ripoff at all.

 

edit:

gmanyo, I know you live in Cbus. I lived in Athens up until the end of April.

Hm, but that saw sound is really cool when it becomes that weird chord after around 0:50, one of those MIDI pads of doom.

As for the abruptness, I love things that are short and snappy, and besides I think the charm of corporate sounds is that they're barely there, either half-remembered from some crappy film or part of a commercial that's over before you know it. The track does seem to be a bit more structured than jumping from one thing to another, though...

I prefer to live in the 1 bar flourish that you happen to hear when you are walking out of walgreens in 1993 after buying a Dr. Wells and a water noodle, to make a world out of it. It's about granting the wish of wanting things to be less fleeting. But we can both agree on the Age of Empires strings.

  On 11/16/2013 at 1:08 AM, poblequadrat said:

 

  On 11/16/2013 at 12:57 AM, sheatheman said:

One thing I will say is that I like whole/complete/singular things. I like that across many mediums of art. I just prefer it. I generally don't like abruptness. I firmly stand against that movement in my own music making, unless I am being 80% or more ironic. I will let you do it because I like almost all of the sounds you use, especially the plucked string jam.

 

The only sound I don't like, and I have one of the highest thresholds for MIDI sounds, is the least MIDI sound of all -- the semi-super saw in the beginning. If you would present it differently I would like it, but I don't think it sits right in the mix. Other than that I think it is a really good ripoff, and I will forgive that because I know you have been into that type of MIDI stuff since long before R + 7 came out, so it's not really a ripoff at all.

 

edit:

gmanyo, I know you live in Cbus. I lived in Athens up until the end of April.

 

Hm, but that saw sound is really cool when it becomes that weird chord after around 0:50, one of those MIDI pads of doom.

 

The weird chord is actually the same as the saw, just a chord. I don't plan on taking it out completely, just changing it or adding to it when it is only arp+saw.

it's not like OPN owns video game music styles

I love that bit in the middle with the oscillating pad and the voices

I quite like the segment between 4:20 - 6m, great build up. Vibes reminiscent of age of empires (as mentioned) and actress

I see no reason to change this. Cool track. I like the subtle pitch bends and stutters here and there.

I'm not a fan of OPN at all, I absolutely despise his most recent album. That being said, I really enjoy your track here.

You're like OPN, minus the pretentiousness.

Oh question:

In the section from 1:00 to 1:30 (and at 6:23) the "arp" thing (which is actually manually programmed) is repeated 4 times (every 8 bars I guess). I really just did this lazily so that I could come back later, the first 3 are exactly the same. I wanted to make it only repeat twice but go for 16 bars, or at least if it repeats 4 times have it change more. Does that make sense? Should I try to change it up a bit, or is it actually better like this? I'm not a huge fan of lazy repetition.

might as well have zero repetition since the only real repetition are the quick loop and drone elements, which count as 1 sustained note.

Make the whole thing through-composed.

Or just change a few parts of the arp.

heh nice stuff gmanyo, I liked.