Josh Whelchel
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Homepage: http://www.jwmusic.org
Posts by Josh Whelchel
Ramza was a cool dude, a remix appears!
Aug 13th
Final Fantasy Tactics Remix (WIP 2)
Forget what you know about crystals and wars with lions and this and that. It’s pretty safe to assume that anybody old enough to have actually appreciated this wonderful game understands that it has one of the most complicated and pleasing soundtracks of all time. The sheer complexity of most of the music, of course, is why we see so few remixes of it – and also why I simply cannot do it justice. But I’ll try.
This is an early draft of something I started working on about a month or so ago and hope to finish soon. I’m pretty pleased with the orchestration I’ve started with here, though there is definitely a lot of room for growth. I’m also a little frustrated how much I leaned on the main game motif, when it was originally going to be a remix of “Ultema the Nice Body.” But I’ll roll with it – let me know what you think!
A One Hour Challenge Song~ (OHC092)
Aug 9th
OHC092 – Sing with us, Our Alien Song~ !
Back in the day, one of my favorite things to do was to join in One Hour Compos (OHCs), where the whole point is to come into writing/producing session with a blank canvas and create something in an hour. When I did it years ago, we’d have a limited sample set to use, and we tracked – now it’s done with no limitations other than a theme or something like that.
Here is a short quick something I put together for a compo.thasauce.net OHC that was really rather fun. Hopefully someday I’ll rework this and use it for something, if that’s ever applicable. It features neato synths, toe-tapping musicality, and a pretty epic twist.
Enjoy! (;
The Making of GunGirl 2 OST: pt. 6
Jul 30th
Mastering, and preparing audio for in-game use is the usually last of the most important steps to preparing a soundtrack. Without the proper polish, even the best music can sound dull, and besides, there certainly has got to be SOME reason people get excited about “remastered” albums.
When I finish putting together a track for a game (or any track, really), I’ve got a well-mixed version that I wouldn’t mind listening to, but I often have to crank up the volume or play with it a little bit to be able to jam rightfully. Additionally, if I sent this track to a game developer, they probably wouldn’t be very happy with how the track looped in the game (assuming it to be used in a looping manner, of course). So how do you fix this? Well, have a listen and follow the jump to learn more!
Get to Know: Guitarist Rich Brilli
Jul 28th
So, there we were, staring at an empty canvas with one goal ahead of us… boss music. Rich has an incredible knack for disturbing the neighbors with grinding power chords, soaring solos, and screeching pinch-harmonics, but his talents as a musician go beyond his guitar playing skills. Rich also helped co-write several tracks on the GunGirl 2 soundtrack, including “Death or Destiny,” “Oblivion,” and “Sanctus Inferno.” Beyond writing, his lead-improvisations led to many of the most memorable moments in the score, including the responses to Rachel Denlinger‘s violin passages in “Anomaly.” Follow the jump to really get to know this up-and-coming guitarist.
2010 (so far…) in review!
Jul 26th
Well, July is almost over, and it looks like 2010 is flying by. I like looking back and seeing what I’ve accomplished and giving thanks to the people that helped me get here, so let’s fly through this January to July retrospective.
- January saw my first panel appearance at MAGFest 8, where I met people who knew who I was and even asked me to sign programs! I’m not sure I quite did anything to earn their respect to that degree, but it made me smile pretty big. I also met several people that I should have asked to sign my program – Jake Kaufman, Shael Riley, pretty much everyone at OCRemix, Zen Albatross, and several others, including Jayson and Patrick of Original Sound Version (whether or not they’re glad they met me, I do not know ;D). I gave a panel on indie composition, and a fun time was had by everyone!
Get to Know: Vocalist Stephanie Schönhofer
Jul 24th
Today we sit down with mezzo-soprano Stephanie Schönhofer, who appears on the track “Libera Me” in GunGirl 2, and as “demonic-extra” in other tracks. Stephanie’s experience as a performer goes back a long time, and I was super happy to work with her on this soundtrack – she brought a great dynamic to the studio and was extremely flexible as a musician. Her addition to the credits theme, and consequently, the trailer were a great asset in the success of the game and its soundtrack.
Read more to hear what Stephanie has to say!
Get to Know: Violinist Rachel Denlinger
Jul 22nd
I love musicians – those wonderful talented individuals who transform ink and shapes on a page into a brilliant beam of tangible, audible emotion. I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to work with so many of them everyday at school, on my soundtracks, and on the Songs for the Cure fundraiser. So, it’s only fitting that I point the spotlight at them in a fun new project I’d like to call “Get to Know,” where I’ll be asking musicians that I collaborate with a few questions about themselves for them to answer in any form they’d like. I’m proud to begin this series with my friend Rachel Denlinger, who first appeared on the GunGirl 2 soundtrack, but you can expect to hear from guitarist Rich Brilli, vocalist Stephanie Schoenhofer, and hopefully the scores of musicians I’ll be working with in the next few years.
More >
The Making of GunGirl 2 OST: pt. 5
Jul 19th
Mixing and Mastering is tough. And it’s annoying, too, because you sit down and write all of this really great music, but at the end of the day it can really all go to waste if it doesn’t have that “right sparkle.” And no, I don’t mean over-compressed limit-breaking overdriven mixes are the only way to get a good sound (see what I did there?). Still, nearly every mix can use some sort of sonic adjustment, and this holds true for nearly every type of recording. There’s nothing wrong with being a ‘purist,’ of course – unfortunately, in our age of composition, we are unable to solely rely on our wits, pen, and staff paper. Enter, stage-left, those swanky audio engineers who have a fine-tuned ear and gift for the precision of acoustics beyond our own ears, and beyond our checkbook. So we come to the question, how do we get the same edgy kick from our guitars, the uplifting soar of the strings, and that heroic heart-melting character from our horns?
Well, there have been many great articles on this subject, written by many a more gifted-engineer than myself. I will also confess that I believe true the same as many musicians, that there really is no substitute for someone else doing your masters. I am notorious for picking a sound or thinking something sounds really great that, simply put, sucks. I know I can do better, so that’s why I keep listening to new music, reading up on the subject, and practicing.
So, let’s get on with it shall we?
The Making of GunGirl 2 OST: pt. 4
Jul 14th
Let’s talk Gear, ya know?
But before I do that, I wanted to let everyone know that I’ve got limited edition GunGirl 2 Soundtrack CDs on sale for $8! I’d really mean a lot to me if you’d stop by and pick one up to support future endeavors of mine, or as a “thank you” for reading this blog. It’s got some incredibly sexy artwork by Amanda Appiarius along with a photograph of the team taken by Lauren Walsh.
But, okay, enough of that… let’s get on with it, read on for the equipment I used in creating the GunGirl 2 soundtrack…
The Making of GunGirl 2 OST: pt. 3
Jul 9th
Working with Live Musicians (ya know, the kind that breathe – let’s see your Roland do that!)
Just figuring out the best way to talk about this subject is a problem of infinite complexity, so I’ll be doing the best I can to discuss working with musicians as it applied to the GunGirl 2 soundtrack. While my two personally favorite tracks with live performers are “Anomaly” and “Libera Me,” I’ve decided to talk about “Heartless Abyss” first for it’s pretty straightforward approach and execution.
