Mr. John Doe's Music [Updated July 22 2014]

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Mr.JohnDoe
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Mr. John Doe's Music [Updated July 22 2014]

Post by Mr.JohnDoe »

Hello guys. I like to make music (it's one of my few hobbies that have kept my interest over the years). I wanted to make some Ace Attorney styled music with my own twist on them and share them with you all.
If you want to offer some constructive criticism, I'd love that, but don't feel obligated to.
So far, I only have this song as I finished it today.
Spoiler : My Ace Attorney Custom Soundtrack (Work in Progress) :
Cross Examination ~ Moderate 2014
Uncreative and simple, but I'm unsure how to make an original sounding cross examination track...
Thinking Man's Logic
I'm kinda meh about this one. I thought it sounded nice and original, then noticed that the GS orchestra's rendition of the Logic theme for AAI sounds very familiar. Bah.
Objection ~ You're Lying!
For when you feel like a boss when you point out a contradiction.
Cross Examination ~ Allergro 2014
Just an edited version of the Moderate one. Once again, creativity limited here.
Pursuit ~ In Our Hands
For when you nail the killer.
The Court Demands the Truth
For when the killer confesses the bitter but real truth.
If you want, feel free to use my music. Just give credits.
Also please don't hotlink if you do.

---
Thank you for taking your time to listen :)
Last edited by Mr.JohnDoe on Wed Jul 23, 2014 5:16 am, edited 7 times in total.
Broocevelt
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Re: Mr. John Doe's Music

Post by Broocevelt »

Hey Mr.JohnDoe,

First of all, let me tell you that the quality of the track is quite good! When it comes to instrumentation and the composition, it does sound like a consistent and interesting song :) However, I think this particular track doesn't fit quite well the intended situation.

From my point of view, an 'X the truth' track should transmit a feel of revelation or shock, or feel like it would fit one of these situations:
· The attorney just revealed to the court a contradiction that opens a whole new point of view to the case
· New information has just been found out, and points at somebody completely unexpected
· The culprit begins breaking down and confessing (Ace Attorney Investigations like)

To me, 'The court demands the truth' feels much more like it would fit a situation like this:
0:00
Culprit: 'Heh... I never knew you would get this far, Mr. Attorney.
You were looking for your precious truth, and there you got it.
How do you feel now, huh?'
Attorney: 'It really was you, wasn't it? You killed X.'
0:22
Culprit: '...... Indeed. I am responsible for everything. I am the one who did it.'
Witness: 'But why...? Why did you do it? Why did you kill X?!'
Culprit: 'There was no other option. I had to do it.'
0:44
Culprit: 'Don't get me wrong, I do not regret my actions.
However, don't you think I'm proud of what I did.
It was him/her or me; how do you think I was supposed to act?'
Witness: '... X...... Was he/she really trying to kill you...?'

It's more like a sad truth, but it doesn't really sound like revealing the truth or asking for the truth. To me, it feels more like the confession of a bitter truth coming to light. I'm highly confident this is because the song is kind of slow for what it's supposed to be and also kind of relaxed. From my perspective, an 'X the truth' track should litteraly be 'waking up' the player, and keeping them on their toes.

Nonetheless, as I said, I really like the composition and instrumentation, and did listen to the whole loop a couple times while I was writing this. That's enough proof it's a good track, I believe ^^
Mr.JohnDoe
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Re: Mr. John Doe's Music

Post by Mr.JohnDoe »

Thank you so very much for your response! I agree wholeheartedly with what you said about the situation I intended it for. It does indeed seem like something that would be better fit for a bitter truth coming to light rather than something to keep you on edge.
Nonetheless, as I said, I really like the composition and instrumentation, and did listen to the whole loop a couple times while I was writing this. That's enough proof it's a good track, I believe ^^
That is a huge compliment, thank you :)
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DeeYo
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Re: Mr. John Doe's Music

Post by DeeYo »

Also that intermittent strings/cymbals at around 0:43 don't sound right to me. The strings are the lesser problem; those interrupted cymbals are quite disorienting.

(And I like the mini-drama Dan has created to fit your track.)
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Re: Mr. John Doe's Music

Post by Broocevelt »

DeeYo wrote:(And I like the mini-drama Dan has created to fit your track.)
Well, I'm just trying to come up with what scene I think this track would fit the best, at least off the top of my head xP I really like to imagine that for almost every track I listen to, mostly no exceptions. It's a good way to test if that would really feel as intended, or what the track you're listening to really transmits :P
Mr.JohnDoe
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Re: Mr. John Doe's Music

Post by Mr.JohnDoe »

I was unsure about the hihat (if that's what you're talking about) but I decided to leave it in. I think I made the wrong call there xP
I'll fix that in a bit. Thanks for listening! :)
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Re: Mr. John Doe's Music

Post by Broocevelt »

I think DeeYo means 0:51, I've heard a couple pieces where the cymbals are abruptly interrupted like that, but I can see where he's coming from. It does break from the 'continuous' and legato feel of the song.
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Re: Mr. John Doe's Music

Post by Mr.JohnDoe »

Ah, I see. I made a couple changes and made the closed hihat an open hihat because the "tss" fits better than the "tck" and also changed the staccato cymbal crashes to regular right hand cymbals, since I wanted to keep crashes in some how to accentuate the end of the phrase.
I think it sounds a bit better now. Thanks for the feedback guys.
Mr.JohnDoe
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Re: Mr. John Doe's Music

Post by Mr.JohnDoe »

I hope I'm allowed to double post for when I'm making updates.
I made a new song.
Pursuit ~ Captured
I'm not creative when it comes to names at all. ._.
It's basically the cornered/caught/presto/whatever type of song :)
I didn't use a drumset because I felt that the orchestral percussion fit more.
Last edited by Mr.JohnDoe on Tue Jul 15, 2014 1:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
Zohar the Shiny
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Re: Mr. John Doe's Music

Post by Zohar the Shiny »

For some reason, Captured sounds to me like what would happen if you mix a "pursuit" song with a "truth" song, and then slow it down (it's pretty similar to The Court Demands the Truth, in my non-musically talented opinion). Speaking of, you seem to prefer creating slower, less aggressive songs than some others I've heard. It's an interesting style (maybe one that could go in a half-triumphant, half-depressing trial?)
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Re: Mr. John Doe's Music

Post by Mr.JohnDoe »

Yeah, definitely :) Most of my music is a slower, triumphant style. I haven't worked it out on expanding my style very well yet, haha.
Thanks for listening!
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Re: Mr. John Doe's Music

Post by Broocevelt »

Since this is the 2nd track you've posted, I can now kind of grasp a clear idea of your composition style which I would define as Zohar said, so I will be judging the track from that point of view :) As last time, the instrumentation is pretty good, and I really dig the composition in this one; there are a couple set of chords I specially like ^^ My favourite part is the 2nd half (0:16-0:48), but those chords I'm talking about are the 0:16-0:22 // 0:32-0:38 ones, I find the 3rd one specially fitting and pleasing/motivating.

It does feel like a Cornered/Pursuit theme to me, if we stay within the 'slow and majestic' boundaries. That's because I feel like it puts the player in a higher position and is kind of... elevating and motivating. You got the right feel for the song ;)

From an Ace Attorney OST point of view, it may lack the oomph the rest of the pursuit tracks usually have. Usually they are a lot more upbeat and don't usually act as a mere elevation for the player, but also make you feel like you are putting pressure on someone by being far more aggressive. Here, it feels more like an RPG track to be honest, but since it's your composition style, I think it's pretty satisfying as a Pursuit track. Congratulations!
Mr.JohnDoe
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Re: Mr. John Doe's Music

Post by Mr.JohnDoe »

Thank you much for the response! ^^
I would definitely tend to agree that the song doesn't quite have the same upbeat motivational aspect as the official AA OST.
That wasn't quite the style I was going for however (bah, excuses, I just have a hard time branching styles)
It's funny that you would mention how it sounds more like an RPG track as people have mentioned the same kind of thing to me in the past.

Thank you for listening and the comments, it's much appreciated! I will continue to work even harder to convey the feeling of the AA style (with my twist of course :)) properly!
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Re: Mr. John Doe's Music

Post by Lind »

Honestly, I think the tempo is way too low for it to be a Pursuit theme, but it would make a fantastic Objection theme.
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Re: Mr. John Doe's Music

Post by Broocevelt »

By the way, just out of curiosity.

What programs do you use to produce music, if you don't mind sharing? And where did you get those high quality sound banks? They really sound great :)
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