Topic: My websites got updated! :D

[Pumo]

Exactly that, both of my websites (the Pumo Software and R.a.M. Land ones) were recently updated with lots of interesting stuff!

Pumo Software (http://www.pumosoftware.co.nr) website got simplified and more straightforward, now only in English language and for all Pumo Mines followers, it now includes a small 'news' box for each individual project section (i.e. for Kartsal Mot., Mineral Valley, Muchikuche, etc.), so you can check how the progress is goin' on each project.

And also (this is important!) I added an all new 'Descent Misc. Downloads' section with LOTS of stuff (mainly tools and utilities) for all 3 Descent titles, including some rare programs from the old days (like D3Tool 0.17 that supports D2 POL model importing into D3 ), and also the original source codes of D1 and D2, so be sure to check that out.

And BTW, I also closed both the Forums and the Blog of Pumo Software as they were mostly inactive nowadays, TBH.

-
And on the other hand, the new R.a.M. Land website (that has a new url: http://www.ramland.co.nr) has been totally updated with a better layout and now it includes both a Free Music section (including Pumo Mines music, yay! ) and a Music Store if you want to 'contribute' to R.a.M. Land (aka Me  ) with a few bucks by purchasing a couple of songs, albums, etc.

Hope you like the new stuff!

[Kaiaatzl]

Awesomenesses.
Checking it out right now.

Xaihyv is downloading all the Pumo Mines music too

Loving the level 13 track.  Haven't listened to the others yet.  Also is it just me, or does each of the pilots have their own subtly different music style?

[Pumo]

Well, TBH, I didn't noticed that the styles are different with each pilot, but it's a bit logical if it happens that way, as the music is inspired on the actual levels (as I got them on my mind) and their story, so as a side-effect the music may be indirectly influenced by the pilots as part of the story as well.

[Kaiaatzl]

Hmm...
There are some exceptions, but:
Pumi's levels seem to have the general "Pumo Mines" classic upbeat techno-trance-house style.  And I noticed that Moonlight goes back (mostly) to that style even after Hole's first two levels.  Which is interesting considering that the music for Pumi's last two levels before level 15 are "Civilizations" and "Distant", which are the two exceptions (in fact, they're more like Hole's music...).
Scorpia-EX's level songs are a bit more breakbeat-ish and bassy, or offbeat in other ways, and they're more mysterious.  Especially... well, all of them actually.  From Colonies to Shine.  I thought that kind of reflected the mysterious nature of... her character.
And Hole's songs are a little bit slower, darker, creepier and more "dramatic" than the rest of the soundtrack.  And it seems to use "classic" sorts of synths like those classic "futuristic" synth basses and saw wave leads a lot more than the other music.  (And of course there's "War" which is almost entirely "real" instruments)  I don't know enough about Hole's character to say what this would symbolize .
Maybe I'm reading too much into it.

I also noticed that the secret level music makes heavy use of one instrument that seems to be purposefully absent from the rest of the soundtrack to give it that alien feel (the replacement of real instruments on the soundtrack with alien-sounding synths actually does help a lot with the immersion in the story, btw).  I can't believe that relegating that one instrument only to secret levels wasn't intentional.

Oh and predictably, Contingency is now my favourite PM song.  It's also exactly the same length as the PM song that was my favourite before I heard it.

[Pumo]

Mmh, I think that there's a relation between the story, the pilots on it and the actual history of the songs (as to how I made them and when).

If you check out the original composition dates of the songs (that data is available in the songs as they are uploaded here in PlanetDescent gallery) you'll see that the differences are mainly related to the year those songs were composed, as I experimented different styles.

i.e. Civilizations may sound a bit different in comparision to other Pumi songs as it was composed some years after the songs from the first levels (1 -> 3, 5), that are levels that go before ScorpiaEX inclusion in the plot.

Also the secret level songs were composed recently, on 2011/2012, that's why those may have some specific instruments you won't hear on other songs, as I didn't had that instrument (or VSTi in this case) back then.

Also, the songs for levels 1,2,3,5 were the first songs I composed for Pumo Mines back on 2004, and were indeed composed with Pumi in mind, as when I started to make the project I wasnt' completely sure if I would put other pilots during the story.
(just for the record, the very first song I composed for Pumo Mines was Surviving, but it didn't had a real melody until 2007).

Then, later in 2005 I started with the ScorpiaEX and Hole songs, and just two Pumi songs (levels 12 and 15), although the level order and the story was a bit different.
Note that the original Level 15 song is roughly inspired by my own songs from Round Universe from 2003 and the old 'Active Planets' (if you still remember it) song from 2004, much like the first Pumi songs, so that's why it sounds indeed as 'Pumi style'.

If you wish, I can send you the very original MIDI files of the songs in the original level order, as they were goin' to be used in the old vanilla Pumo Mines project for you to analize.

[Pumo]

Oh well, I decided to make a complete package with all the good old MIDIs from the original Pumo Mines : Kartsal Mot. project for you (and anyone here) to check it out!

http://www.planetdescent.net/index.php?action=media;sa=item;in=1010

It has been added to my Pumo Mines album here on PlanetDescent.

Read the included [PM_MIDI-Readme].txt file for complete info (including composition dates and original level order, etc.)

[Kaiaatzl]

Meaning Civilizations and IL-12 are the only real "new" ones like what you said in the flp of Colonies you sent to me.
Although some of the midis are fairly different from their final versions.

I wonder if I took one of the old midis into FL, how close could I get it to sound to your version? ...

[Pumo]

And also the Secret Level ones were fairly new.

And yeap, you could import the MIDI songs to FL to make tests with them as much as you want, and I would be glad to listen to the result.

After all, my works have a CC license that allows derivative works for everyone, so feel free to play with the MIDI files!! 

[Kaiaatzl]

I can definitely hear "Active Planets" in Moonlight with the harp riffs.
Speaking of Active Planets I'd still like to have that song and the level 7 Muchikuche song whose name I forget, and the secret level song that I never finished listening to (Xaihyv did and he told me it was very good).