zirconMusic

Hakan Tutorial Video, Otakon Tomorrow

zircon — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:31:57 +0000

If you enjoyed my Super Street Fighter IV ReMix “Time to Oil Up” (feat. Jillian Aversa), check out this video I recorded showing how it was done:

Also, if you have some free time this weekend and live in the Baltimore area, I’ll be attending Otakon starting tomorrow through Sunday. Otakon is one of the biggest anime conventions in the country, but it also has a lot of video game and music elements these days. I’ll be part of an OC ReMix panel on Saturday from 6-8pm. We’ve done 4 of these panels before and it’s always a blast, so come check us out!

Impact Soundworks’ “Koto Nation” Unveiled with Behind-the-Scenes Video

zircon — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:10:21 +0000

One of my big projects over the last year has been the creation of a new sample library for Impact Soundworks. While Shreddage, my electric guitar library, has been a big hit, I’ve had an even bigger project in the works: Koto Nation: Classical Instruments of Japan! Check out some of the behind-the-scenes work on this project at the YouTube video below, and more info after the jump.

I’ve always found traditional Japanese music to be extremely beautiful in its tonality, as well as the instruments used. Many of my tracks have extensively incorporated sampled Japanese instruments, such as Flying Heaven, The Koto Chill and Bushido Blade. I noticed that while such samples existed as part of larger collections, they were all lacking in detail, and very few dedicated collections existed.

Koto Nation is a spiritual successor to the classical Indian instrument library I co-designed, Sitar Nation. Incorporating koto, bass koto (never before sampled) and jiuta-style shamisen, this new library includes thousands of recordings performed by master koto player Masayo Ishigure, who worked with John Williams and Yo-Yo Ma on the score for “Memoirs of a Geisha”!

I’ll be posting more about this massive project over at ImpactSoundworks.com as well as VI-Control and KVR Audio, but I’ll post here again when it is to be released in August!

Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge – Now Available!

zircon — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:07:10 +0000

The remastered, enhanced remake of the classic LucasArts’ adventure game Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge is now available for demo or purchase on XBLA, PSN, Steam and iPhone/iPad! As I mentioned earlier this year, I was part of the team of composers and arrangers that worked on the completely reworked musical score for the game, which features literally hours of interactive music.

The reviews are just starting to trickle in, but so far reception of the game and its audio has been outstanding! One reviewer said the new music is “beautiful”, and another praised it as “alarmingly good.” We really put a lot of time into the music, staying true to the spirit of the original MIDIs while breathing life into the production and arrangement by using modern samples and live instrumentation.

Whether you’re a casual gamer or diehard fan of the original game, I’m sure you will enjoy MI2:SE and all it has to offer. If you already have it, post here and let me know what you think!

ZirconTrax Production Music Library Launched with 100+ Tracks

zircon — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:38:58 +0000

ZirconTrax, a new website devoted entirely to one-stop music licensing for film, TV, video games, ads and other media, is now online and features over 100 tracks from an entire roster of artists and composers! The online catalog, which features searching/sorting by artist, genre, subgenre and tags, has an advanced project-based ‘matrix’ which creates quotes based on desired usage. So, getting a track for a podcast is much cheaper than for an international film trailer!

Our team so far includes myself, Jillian Aversa (pixietricks), Will Roget, II (bustatunez), Jimmy Hinson (Big Giant Circles), Danny Adler (sgx), Mike Worth, Joshua Morse, Jordan Aguirre (bLiNd), Chris Getman (Mazedude), and Jeff Ball, with more tracks and new composers being added all the time. Needless to say, if you’re a fan of OC ReMixes and the people who make them, this collective is a dream come true for your original music needs.

I’m really excited for this project, as it assembles some of the best talent I know, and all the tracks are hand-picked. Having worked for many libraries myself, I can safely say our bar of quality is quite high and our offerings very unique and diverse. Hope to see you there!

FL Sidechaining Tutorial, More Text Guides

zircon — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:43:38 +0000

I get a LOT of questions about how to do sidechaining (or, more accurately, sidechaining compression in FL Studio 9. This is a very common effect in dance music, so I recorded a short video explaining how it’s done. Check it out below, or on the Video Tutorials page! I’ve also added two new written guides to the Guides page for those of you interested in the business end of music.

Just Hold On Eternal – New Album Preview

zircon — Fri, 28 May 2010 02:27:13 +0000

If you’ve used FL Studio 9, you probably already know about Just Hold On, the progressive trance song I wrote to demo the program (with additional writing + performance by my wife, Jill!)

What you probably don’t know, however, is that “Just Hold On” was based on an instrumental called “Dreamer” I wrote over a year and a half ago. As part of my upcoming album, I’ve decided to go back to this song, now called “Just Hold On Eternal” and finish it, integrating the vocals from the FL version of the song.

There will also be new vocal parts and the whole thing will clock in at an epic 5+ minutes. This is almost like a successor to Antigravity and I’m really excited about it! Check out the MP3 below for a preview –

zircon – Just Hold On Eternal (Demo Preview).

New Written Guides Section Added

zircon — Sat, 08 May 2010 02:40:08 +0000

Are you a composer, songwriter, producer or any other kind of DIY musician, hobbyist or professional? If so, you’ll be pleased to learn about my revamped Guides page! All video tutorials can now be found in the Videos subsection. The new written content thus far is being ported from SoundTempest, but I’m planning on writing and releasing tons of new stuff too.

Got a request for a new guide, tutorial or video? Let me know and post here!

Written Guides for Musicians, Songwriters, Composers & Producers

Video Tutorials

7 Video Game ReMixes Uploaded – Listen and Download for Free

zircon — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:42:55 +0000

The video game remixes player has just been updated along with the Free MP3s VG remix directory. You can now stream and download all of my 2010 video game ReMixes thus far!

* Mega Man 9 – High Pressure System
* Mega Man 9 – Daft Drafts
* Mega Man 9 – Tornado Man Goes Clubbing
* Mega Man 9 – Charge My Shot Up
* Final Fantasy 6 – Desertion
* Team Fortress 2 – Electrodispenser
* Super Street Fighter IV – Time to Oil Up

Enjoy!

50 zircon Tracks (and Counting) Now Available for Licensing

zircon — Sat, 01 May 2010 21:55:46 +0000

I’m pleased to announce that over 50 original tracks (many of which have never been released) are now available for licensing at my Licensing Store! This collection includes tracks from Antigravity and Fittest, plus original instrumental hip-hop, dramatic orchestral pieces, subtle underscore, New Age/world and more.

The new licensing store, provided by LicenseQuote, allows anybody to easily browse my collection of available music by genre, tag and description. Upon finding the right track, a quote can be generated by using the intuitive licensing calculator, which determines an approximate fee based on the type of usage and a number of other factors.

So, if you have a film, video game, advertising, TV, DVD or any other kind of media project, no matter how big or small, check out the new store! I’ll be updating it regularly with new music from now on, so if you have a consistent need for music, keep checking back (or shoot me an email to talk about custom/exclusive compositions.)

SUPER Street Fighter IV Remix – Time to Oil Up

zircon — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:59:44 +0000

Having never remixed a game from the previous generation of consoles (PS2, GC, Xbox, DC), I decided to just skip it and debut my first Xbox 360/PS3 remix, “Time to Oil Up” from Super Street Fighter IV! Yes, SSF4 did just come out, and in fact I created this remix the week before the game was even released, simply based on OST YouTube videos! It’s an arrangement of “Theme of Hakan”, the Turkish oil wrestler who has become my new main character in the game.

The style of the mix is psytrance with lots of Middle Eastern and other world instruments, inspired by artists like Infected Mushroom and Juno Reactor. My wife even contributed some Middle Eastern-style vocals! I had a ton of fun creating this one, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the response; Capcom-Unity. OC ReMix and Shoryuken both posted it, and the original composer for SSF4 himself commented (via Twitter): “Holly Sxxt! This mix is enough to be paid much! gonna be embbed on my blog!”

So, if oily Turkish psytrance is your thing, check it out on YouTube below!

Download the MP3!