Musician Archive
Thread: A quick way to diversify musicians
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sweatyclimber
Wed Jan 26, 2005 11:32 pm
#1
bah it posted w/o text lol... trying again:
So here is my thought for the revamp or now if possible...
Take the different sounds that the (same/ different) instraments have and assign them to one song. Then take that instraments "sound" and apply it to the same flourish set of all the songs... like a keyboard instrament irl would do essentially. This way SOE takes the same assets and instantly diversifies the songs while adding a reason for all the instraments. In theory this could take little dev time (but thats from a non-programer lol). It would certainly add a lot instantly to our prof.
One problem I see is the mando sounds however :/... also who would want an organ in ballad? but who knows 
steel drums in sw1 could be cool.
steel drums in sw1 could be cool. anyway, shoot holes in the idea ect...tell me you love it or hate it... I'd love to know what you think.
Message Edited by sweatyclimber on 01-26-2005 11:36 PM
Obed
Thu Jan 27, 2005 8:10 am
#2
I don't have a problem with several instruments playing the same tune (slitherhorn/fanfar, for example) If we had 6 unique horn tunes, bands would easily create a muddy, indistinct sound. I have this problem with my RL band... we've gotten so big, that it's tough to sound decent without serious arrangement issues.
What I WOULD like to see is that the instruments with the same tune have different tones. A slitherhorn might sound like a saxophone while a fanfar might sound like a clarinet, for example. A fizzz might sound like a trumpet while a kloo horn sounds more like a trombone. These are all MIDI-generated tones, anyway, and it's easy to diversify tones with MIDI.
If all the slitherhorn-type instruments were different woodwinds and the fizzz-types were different brass, that'd be pretty cool. Or vice versa.
And maybe the omnibox and bandfill could have different bass/drum combos. Maybe one sounds more like an upright bass with hand-drums and the other sound more like an electric bass with a drum kit.
sweatyclimber
Thu Jan 27, 2005 6:57 pm
#3
Obed wrote:
I don't have a problem with several instruments playing the same tune (slitherhorn/fanfar, for example) If we had 6 unique horn tunes, bands would easily create a muddy, indistinct sound. I have this problem with my RL band... we've gotten so big, that it's tough to sound decent without serious arrangement issues.
What I WOULD like to see is that the instruments with the same tune have different tones. A slitherhorn might sound like a saxophone while a fanfar might sound like a clarinet, for example. A fizzz might sound like a trumpet while a kloo horn sounds more like a trombone. These are all MIDI-generated tones, anyway, and it's easy to diversify tones with MIDI.
If all the slitherhorn-type instruments were different woodwinds and the fizzz-types were different brass, that'd be pretty cool. Or vice versa.
And maybe the omnibox and bandfill could have different bass/drum combos. Maybe one sounds more like an upright bass with hand-drums and the other sound more like an electric bass with a drum kit.
that is essentially what i was saying, I think you just said it beter.
Tiaga
Fri Jan 28, 2005 12:46 am
#4
They aren't MIDI tunes, actually. The music is sound samples played back together. Adding new sounds means recording new sound clips.
Fragpuppie
Fri Jan 28, 2005 6:55 am
#5
Tiaga wrote:
They aren't MIDI tunes, actually. The music is sound samples played back together. Adding new sounds means recording new sound clips.
You are correct that they are not MIDI in the game files, however, I'd bet that they were sequensed in MIDI originally before being put into the game. Yes, one would need to go back beyond the code in hand for the devs, but whoever has that MIDI source could generate a track of the same music in a new voice in seconds.
Fragpuppie Uber
Master Musician/Master Entertainer
Obed
Fri Jan 28, 2005 8:19 am
#6
Yeah, I'm not a programmer, so I don't know what they are in the SWG code, but I know MIDI, and those tones were definitely originated with MIDI. I mean, there's no way that's a REAL horn on the Fizzz. It was made with a good MIDI synth, but it's still MIDI.
Fragpuppie wrote:
Tiaga wrote:
They aren't MIDI tunes, actually. The music is sound samples played back together. Adding new sounds means recording new sound clips.
You are correct that they are not MIDI in the game files, however, I'd bet that they were sequensed in MIDI originally before being put into the game. Yes, one would need to go back beyond the code in hand for the devs, but whoever has that MIDI source could generate a track of the same music in a new voice in seconds.
Fragpuppie Uber
Master Musician/Master Entertainer
Hairycarpet
Sat Jan 29, 2005 11:42 am
#7
er, MIDI has nothing to do with the sound, its just a standard interface for telling a tone generator to play a note of a specific pitch, duration, volume, etc using a specified voice number. GM or XG (or others) specify a voice map (voice 001 is a Grand Piano for e.g.) such that a GM or XG MIDI file can be played on any tone generator supporting that standard and sound more or less the same. But there is no sound data in MIDI, sound data is carried in sample wave forms.
The tones in the SWG music are electronic in origin rather than 'real' instruments and no doutbt somewhere they were laid down and arranged using MIDI but they are sound sampled waves now and to change them would require new samples. Its a real shame SOE did not simply rely on the fact almost every soundcard produced in the last god knows how many years has supported MIDI (GM/GS/XG) and used that rather than sample based music, it would then be SOOOooooo easy to change the tone, shame
The tones in the SWG music are electronic in origin rather than 'real' instruments and no doutbt somewhere they were laid down and arranged using MIDI but they are sound sampled waves now and to change them would require new samples. Its a real shame SOE did not simply rely on the fact almost every soundcard produced in the last god knows how many years has supported MIDI (GM/GS/XG) and used that rather than sample based music, it would then be SOOOooooo easy to change the tone, shame
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