well. it was just the first song, and it was pretty good, the next song will be a masterpiece... i'm sure! for the final of the song, i'm sure that 2 other instruments will make it rock.

i can play every instrument, so feel free to use everything. Anyway, like wariowoods said, i often start playing with the bass, but it's not a problem beginning with orher things.

Alright, I sent two options over to you Sean... one subdued tuba and an even more subdued violin, just pick one or the other to use. Delete the black belt who is just standing there -- that's necessary so I could save after having gone back to the menu. They are both a bit odd... but quiet enough so that they shouldn't be prominent in the final mix; you and Metriod will have to take the spotlight.

Groovy, I'll check 'em out in the next couple of days.

Hey Sean, just sent that back to you replacing my violin with a piano -- as I imagine you noticed, the violin was no longer audible at all over your saxophone -- you know that the angle you hold the remote determines the volume on that instrument right?? Just kidding, although I rarely play any instrument full volume unless it's a big finish or other stand-out section of the song, I do like your sax part, it's just that with you playing at full volume, that violin had to go; the piano fits much better now anyhow, so it's definitely a change for the better.

I'm hoping you hadn't sent it over to Metroid Italia yet for his part, but if so, I can send him the amended version myself (so far only sent to you), unless he's already worked on his part. Let me know, in any case.

Yeah, it's really hard to find a balance with instruments like that. The violin gets lost so easily. Ditto the ukulele, the galactic piano, and a few others I'm not remembering right now. I DO wish there was some kind of "mixing board" feature, but at the same time it's not such a bad thing to learn how to work around it.

PS Wario...is that actually your Twitter, or just some thing you're interested in advertising?

Yeah, that's my Twitter, and it's hard to describe why I write those, or why I feel compelled to encode vague allusions in the form of unusual palindromes, but it's an amusement I picked up lately. I suppose I enjoy word play a bit too much. Just to give you a glimpse of how sometimes nerdy the hidden allusions are, that one attributed to "Tolian S." refers to Dr. Tolian Soren, who said to Picard in the film Star Trek Generations: "time is the fire in which we burn." There are plenty of references to more academic matters as well, psychoanalysts like Lacan and Zizek, the Marquis de Sade, or poets like Celan. But again, it's just a useless past time I picked up, coming up with palindromes in my head whilst driving, waiting in line, etc.

As for the mixing board idea -- that would indeed be quite useful, to be able to adjust the relative volumes of each instrument after the fact, in particular since I tend to prefer the tone of certain instruments at different dynamic ranges -- the violin and cello, for instance, I always play very quietly, because the 'attack' on each note is too harsh sounding when it play it louder.

Sorry about the volume, I just got in the habit of playing it up; I do really like your violin though, so I'll try another cut with a lower volume -- nice bass work Chicken!

I did already send it on to Metroid Italia, though I've not heard back yet.

I also still intend to use the tuba version -- I don't see why we cannot have three goes at the one piece, it's a nice one!

No problem -- I actually prefer the piano to the violin now, so I'll maybe send it over to Metroid Italia later with a note, as an alternate choice in case he hasn't already added his part.

That tuba is also super-quiet, so I know that it'd be hard to make a full arrangement where it is still audible in the resulting mix... I must have just been in a subdued state of mind when I recorded those parts, ha, keeping everything to the low end of the dynamic spectrum.

Well, I did it anyway and I trashed the original one I did in favour of it (I also prefer my performance). I think the violin is more audible for sure.

I still intend to tackle the tuba anyway!

ok, i'm going to listen the song.

it's fantastic, i like it..

Now i'm going to perform something with the drum.

do you like the group Faith no More?

I like "We Care a Lot" off the first album!

So Metroid, dude, if you do the sax please use the second one I sent with the sunburst album cover so we can hear Mr. Woods' lovely violin.

That's no problem, maybe I'll try to throw in another quiet fifth instrument on the final recording, if I can think of something complimentary -- the violin can just sit in the background of the mix

Dudes, that came out great. Any imperfections can be chalked up to the fact that...well...we recorded each part without any real communication. I'm proud of it, much better than our first attempt!

I still have to watch it, but now the Chicken has me expecting good things!

I just got Wii Music earlier for £5 and I have to say I'm enjoying it so far. Count me a fan

That's a great deal, Terranigma, and I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it. Want to add my console number? I'll add yours and we can swap videos.

Yeah, it was a pretty sweet deal, got it off my brother's friend. I now have all the released games in the Wii series. Moving on though, I'll add your code in a sec. Haven't created any good videos yet but I'm trying

I'll send you a few. My personal goal with the game is to try to create something that sounds good, but as little like the original song as possible. Something that actually stands on its own as an entire separate piece of work, rather than a loose cover. Sometimes I've even succeeded. So I'll send you a few I've done that I like. Get Wario to add you, as well, and you'll get even more exploratory goodness. Between us you'll get a taste of how open the arrangements can be...and then I hope to see you producing great stuff too!

That sounds excellent. I certainly hope I can produce some great stuff too, I'm gonna experiment a bit first to create something good. I'm just adding your code now.