NEW DIGITAL RECORDING OF THE LSL1VGA SOUNDTRACK!

[Ari]

shad0wfax has recorded a new version of the Leisure Suit Larry 1 soundtrack from his Roland Fantom XR. It was converted from the original MT-32 score for the XR, then encoded in High Quality (192 kbps) MP3 format.

You'll find the new XR version on the same LSL1 digital soundtrack page, with links to each song file added below the existing track.

Great work, shad0wfax!!

[Alistair]

My response is the same as the last time- lovely instruments, just poor conversions at times. For example- I was just listening to 'Lefty', and the mixing was out.
Instruments in almost all 18 pieces of one kind or another sound too loud, others too quiet. Lots on wrong octaves.

Still, that said, it sounds nice.
(Eg taxi ride- well done! you proved your point about electric pianos.
AND Casino lounge- v. nice!)

Oh yeah, and track 4, the medley- did you extract MIDI from the game or something? Because the speed for all 6 parts is too fast.

Damn, I want a Fantom. Except I get the distinct feeling from Shadowfax's recordings that it has some of the most boring instrument sounds I've ever heard.

EDIT: An obvious question: Why didn't you use the General MIDI soundtrack? I hated Tom's CD for LSL1, I dislike lots of bits of the MT-32 score. I prefer his GM conversions! ANd he converted it properly.

EDIT 2: Two more things. Can you give the tracks different names, or at least put a '0' before the tracks 1-9, and not use MP3 either? Your nice recordings suffer from being 192 kbps MP3 files.

EDIT 3: Burned a LSL1/2 CD today, been meaning to for ages. Thanks a lot, SFax.
I used these tracks of yours: 6,7,8,9, 12b, 14, 15, 16 and 17. Didn't much like the others, they must've been the ones with problems.

Regards,
- Alistair

[shad0wfax]

Thanks for your comments, Alistair. It's great to hear that, in general terms, you like my version, despite the weaknesses you find (anyway, it's almost impossible to make a "perfect" conversion which everybody likes). I simply tried to make a conversion that I like. By the way, I don't understand very much your comment about "a lot of the instruments in wrong octaves" (?) I always set the instruments in the same octave than the original, with very few exceptions (almost 2 o 3 in all the soundtrack). So, there cannot be "a lot" of wrong octaves, as long as you also think that the original was also wrong, I think.

[Alistair]

As I've told you before, the MT-32 is a very unique module. It uses different octaves to General MIDI/GS/Fantom, etc.

So- the conversion is 'wrong'. If you use the same octaves all the time, that is wrong, despite the fact that the original soundtrack is 'right'.
It is what it says- a 'conversion'. I.e. you convert it so it sounds like the original, with equivalent instruments.
Same goes for velocities. I get the feeling some of your instrument choices are fine, but they lack because they are set to way low velocities (which some MT-32 instruments require). Both of those I learnt from Tom.

I don't like a lot of the original MT-32 sounds in LSL1VGA, I prefer a lot of SC-55 sounds for the music. That's why a XR conversion has great potential. But it should improve on it. Some of the recordings sound.. weird. Anyone who compares track for track will know what I mean straight away.
So, I don't want a 'perfect' conversion. I don't want flat brass instruments/horns. I just want faithful AND improved recordings. Tracks such as the main theme and Lefty's have mistakes. Compare the drum volumes of any Lefty's recording and your recording. Compare the drum volumes in your main theme and the original.

But yeah. Some tracks, like 'Easy Listening Radio', totally rule. Very nice. I like the Hooker and the Casino Lounge a lot too, as conversions (and the Lounge stand alone). So yeah, I like your style. I wish you'd just get instrument volumes to convert right. Lefty's sounds like it's missing the drum channel, almost.

- Alistair

[shad0wfax]

Ok, I think I get the idea. Regarding the volume levels, there are two different questions, one on them is relatively easy to fix, and the other harder.

First, there are the volume levels (volume and expression contollers). You can adjust them in order to try to follow the original or to adapt it to your tastes (for instance, I wanted the guitar to have a greater presence in Lefty's).

But there's a harder problem. The Fantom is a very advanced synth, capable of having patches of up to 8 elements, and with complex filters and envelopes. This is usually used to build sounds with great expression capabilities (from pianissimo to fortissimo, with sometimes radical tonal changes between them). So the sound is very affected by velocity, much more than in a MT-32 or a Sound Canvas. That's why some tracks can sound weak and others too loud, despite volume levels are "right". Fixing this can be a very hard task that has to be made by hand. I already tried to do some of this work, in a limited way.

That is, the Fantom is great for composing music, with great expression, but it can be a ***** for converting music

[Alistair]

I know you wanted the guitar to have presence. I like the guitar patches you used! I just don't like that the drums can't be heard.

Ah, I had no idea about the velocity sensitivity! Awesome, but I guess it kinda sucks as the same time. I must say, I just find many instruments flat in your LSL1/3 recordings. The patches don't sound bad, but they don't sound good either.

And have you used any reverb?

- Alistair

[shad0wfax]

I can guarantee that most Fantom's patches are everything but flat. I suppose I still cannot get the most from it, or maybe the original compositions aren't suitable enough to highlight Fantom's strong points. In any case, if you've got the opportunity, I recommend going to a music store and try a Fantom X for a while (it doesn't matter if you try a keyboard version such as X6, X7 or X8, or the XR). I guarantee you'll be amazed! and you'll realize that the word 'flatness' is not appicable to Fantom's sounds

Regarding the reverb: actually, I'm not a "reverb fan"; I tend to use it in a limited amount, because I think that too much reverb doesn't improve the sound, but actually it gets it muddy. I used reverb in all the tracks (almost), but in small doses.

PS: Ari, thanks a lot for your work!! I'd appreciate very much some comments about the soundtrack.

[Ari]

I have to listen to it once more. From what I remember, though, I really liked the guitars in "Lefty's", and I like the instrument choises in general.

I think the XR would make superb conversions of GM soundtrack, and I'd love to hear an SQ5 soundtrack conversion, or a Betrayal at Krondor soundtrack conversion.

I'm not as familiar as Alistair in LSL soundtracks, so I couldn't say how this one compares to the original. I'd have to hear both several times in order to make such observations.

I do agree, though, that some of the tracks lack a little reverb, but as this is a matter of personal taste, it's just our word against yours.  :wink:

On the whole, I really like what you've done. Good job!

[Tom]

That is, the Fantom is great for composing music, with great expression, but it can be a ***** for converting music

And basically, that's why we buy synths -- to create music.  It's a nice bonus when a synth is also able to convert music nicely from a different format.  I know that if I bought an XR, it wouldn't be for the purpose of converting music files between formats -- it would be used for composing.  And I very much liked hearing how the XR sounds in action.

[Alistair]

I never called the XR flat, or seriously criticised the synth. I think it'd be awesome. I just don't know that Shadowfax knows much about it, yet.

And although I agree with Tom, we're talking about conversions here, not compositions, so the conversion quality IS relevant.

- Alistair