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BrilliantVenture

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Everything posted by BrilliantVenture

  1. How's it goin' fellow pony folk? After watching the latest EQG movie "Forgotten Friendship" I decided to remix Daniel Ingram's latest track "Invisible." (Wallflower Blush's song in the movie.) This time, I've decided to go a tad bit "off-book" from my usual work, and I've created what can only be described as a 90's-esque electro-funk-hop track! Think Quincey Jones meets Junkie XL. Long story short, the instrumental is pretty much finished, and I'm looking for an experienced rapper, to provide vocals for a couple of short segments in the song! Requirements are as follows: 1.A good quality microphone/good recording abilities 2.Ability to rap with a decent amount of speed while maintaining the integrity of the individual words. If you fit the track, I'll send you the vocals, and instrumental, and we can discuss the collab details one-on-one! If interested, please send a sample of your work (current or prior) to brilliantventurepony@gmail.com! Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope to hear from you soon! Keep on Pony-ing on! -BV- (PS. The rap sections are clean, with no questionable lyrics or anything remotely lewd or foul. Just in case anyone wondered! )
  2. If anypony wants to talk music, life, or just needs a good m8 to listen to them. PM me, and I'll give you my skype/discord names.
  3. Absolutely! And to be clear, this fandom is still pretty fantastic, and I still love it massively! There is a small group of entitled groaners however who have unfortunately grown in number in the last few years, some more extreme than others...and bear in mind, when Twilicorn happened, around a fourth of the fandom at the time left the show...kind of a big schism for just one change...it's not a huge problem at this point though, just more of an area of concern. If anything I feel this episode was a "settle down reminder" to that small group, and a refresher to us not to get too carried away ourselves. Light hearted banter is fine, but as Julia Child used to say "everything in moderation."
  4. It's been a while since I did a real review or post on this site. Fear not my friends, in this time away from the forums, I have been a loyal brony...watching episodes, discussing them with friends/family, writing music...all that jazz. I've enjoyed the show these past 2 seasons rather immensely, and with such a "meta" episode occurring today, I felt like sharing my views on it with all of you who choose to read this. To me, this episode was important...very important. It feels that way to me, because (and I could be wrong about this, I'll admit that) I felt it was a reflection from the cast, the writers, the dedicated staff, and directors of the show, who wished to deliver a message to this growing community of pony fans. This episode in my opinion, was a reminder, from those mentioned above to all of us, on what this brilliant show's intention originally was...virtue. Now, I realize the word virtue has become tainted in some respects over the years, what with "virtue signalling," and the like. Here however, I am going with the classical definition. When I speak of virtue, I'm talking about morality, decency, love, and respect...I'm talking meaningful values, life lessons, sharing, caring, and wholesome entertainment. Let me give you a little back-story. I watched this show for the first time in early 2013, due to being linked to some stuff that the fandom had put out. I enjoyed some of the pony related fan-games, the memes, and most influentially, the music. Out of curiosity, I saw the first couple of episodes, (Friendship is Magic Parts 1&2) and found myself slightly underwhelmed. I remember watching it all the way through and going "meh...that was okay I guess...I see a little why people like it, but it's not for me." The following day was a boring one. I had the day off, my wife was working, and I didn't have any real plans to do anything. I was fairly tired and sore from the previous day of work, so I decided to use the day off to relax, and spend some time online. With nothing else really to do or watch at the time, I decided to give the show another chance. So I watched the next episode..."The Ticket Master," this time however...I began to notice a slight charm to the show, that I couldn't quite put my finger on...I just kind of felt..."happy" watching it. I then proceeded to view "Applebuck Season" and "Winter Wrap Up," "Fallweather Friends" and "Feeling Pinkie Keen" and the more and more I watched, the more I realized I had fallen in love with one certain aspect of the show...The positive message. Something I've long felt has been lacking in television, is content with good meaningful purpose. With practically everything on the screen now, it's all about explosions, not-so-subtle agendas, edginess, negativity, and how far a tv-show can "push the envelope." It's stale, low-brow, and in my opinion, lacking heavily in creativity. That's what made this show so refreshing to me. It had real messages, and not just any messages...but the kind of meaningful stuff we as human beings should focus on re-teaching ourselves every day! You know what? If I miss one thing more than anything else from prior seasons...it's the letters to Celestia at the end of each episode, and not just Twilight's letters, but the Mane 6's, and even the journal entries from later on in the series. Those moments were beautiful, because they were simple reminders that age-old lessons of kindness, civility, and self-reflection, are not just simply for children, but for adults as well, and they still have a very necessary place in this world. This was something the writers clearly enjoyed doing...and why wouldn't they? Helping others, and spreading good-cheer will make anyone joyful inside! However, as time grew on...the show became more popular...and with popularity and support from tons and tons of people, a feeling of duty to "raise the bar" suddenly became expected from the writers. Fans of the show (myself included) began to critique the show harsher than before. Yes, I was upset at the whole Twiley-corn thing...but not at all because of the writers. I was worried that the popularity of the show, had driven Hasbro to push toy sales harder, make the show more mainstream, and uproot it from its original charm. I feared that the show would lose emphasis on the morals, and go more for the fan-service route, in an attempt by Hasbro to cash-in on the show's success. Then again, we here in the fandom egged them on a bit...we have to admit it. Yes, it was great to see the fandom get a shout-out with "Derpy" and see some of our little memes become a reality, but we began to see it with almost an entitlement mentality. "The fans made this show popular, and made the corporation money, so they owe it to us! The show would be nothing without us!" By season 4, it was as if the fans were running the show, and the writers were just going along with our requests to make us happy...fans craved more action, more adventure...more pop culture, and trends, heavier detail in animation, more songs, just more more more... But what about what made the show great in the first place?...What about the good story telling? the effort to bring other people to a better place in their lives?...What about the simplicity of the original show's concept, before everything became so complicated, and the fandom became so demanding? The show is about friendship, virtue, unity, and fun...Truth be told...that's enough for something to be good on its own...But what did we do? We picked our best pony, and fought over whose choice was better, we began to focus too much on which pony was getting the most screentime, or whose episodes were better. We shipped characters with other characters, and got upset when the show chose a different pairing. We went to cons, and put more focus on what we wanted to see in future episodes, rather than being thankful for what we've already been given. My fellow bronies, don't you see yet?...when the writers and Hasbro see stuff like this...they're almost required to change their show's formats, to try and appease the audience, for fear of losing viewership...it's marketing 101...Guys, they gave us the 100th episode...and it was great! But let's let that be enough fan service for us all. Let's let the writers go back to writing, and the show runners go back to show running. The message is what's important, and that's why the show speaks volumes to so many people. Why do you think the show caught on so well with people in the military, and those struggling with depression? It's because there's a feeling of hope and innocence within this show...the hope that maybe one day, people will be kind to one another again...or at the very least, civil. Disagreements can be had without the throwing of fists, firing of guns, and word-wars online. This show was a little piece of what that kind of life would be like...Lauren Faust used to use Equestria as a form of escape when she was a little girl; a world of imagination, creation, and joy. Just as Twilight and the rest of the Mane 6 wanted to publish their "art" to the masses with the intention of inspiring others to do better, so I believe was the intention of Faust, and the writers, to spread that traditional wholesome ideology to the world. In conclusion, I thought this episode was very well done, with a message that we all needed to hear. The fandom got a bit carried away, especially around season 4 (which I believe is one of the reasons season 4 was referenced so much in this episode) and the only way to climb back from where we've been, is to let the writers write, and let the show's message once again take center stage. Seasons 5,6, and now 7 have all been wonderful...we've started to drift back to the way things were when the show began, and I only hope (should the writers decide to take it this way) that, we'll feel that old familiar charm more and more, as the seasons progress. ...And at the end of the day, remember... ...It's a show about candy-coloured talking horses Thank you for reading, and take care! -BV-
  5. Hey there! Basically, I'm working on a new single called "Moving On From Yesterday." It's a track about hard times, and the struggle of moving on from them. I've done some cover artwork for it, but I think it'd be cool if someone really talented basically re-drew it/overhauled it, based off of the concept art that I had imagined. I'd feature them in the descriptions, link their channels, and all that good stuff...You also get to hear the track before anyone else does too (if you're interested in that kind of thing) Please PM me if you're interested, and link some of your artwork. I'm looking for semi-realistic stuff...not overly cartoony or anything...it's kind of a more serious-in-tone song... I look forward to seeing what you all have to offer! Thanks! -BV-
  6. Timber sucks! (Legit logged in just to say that. I mean, my gosh, we went from Brad to...a much more snobby Brad...greaaaaat.) But in all fairness, I do have mixed feelings on the character, I agree with those heavily who say it feels "forced" into the show... But there's a reason for that... A lot of people that saw the show and fell in love with it, loved that it was different than all the other animated shows currently on air. No dumbed down writing, plenty of clever humour, and lack of the cliche' "teen drama." We had 6 female leads who weren't "boy obsessed" had real legitimate personalities rather than cookie cutter sitcom/drama fakey ones, and the situations they faced were well written, and for the most part, highly creative! I think that's why so many people were turned off when Equestria Girls one came out. It just felt like another "high school musical" and played to the cliche tropes that have weighed down so much of the media in the last 20 years. Could it have been the fandom perhaps that stirred it? That's actually a pretty debated question that I don't really know the answer to. Writers and artists in general go through a "give the people what they want" phase every once in a while, and two big communities in the fandom at the time, were anthro artists, and shippers. So that could have possibly "green lit" them to do what they did. (Or perhaps EQG was just a parody of bad fan-fiction.) I won't say there's anything wrong with anthro artists and shippers, because I think we're all guilty of enjoying one or the other in some way shape or form. I do believe some people go way too far with it, to the point where it gets annoying and unhealthy. (It's just a show for goodness sake!) BUT... The biggest mistake with that concept however, is that pandering to audiences generally leads to lackluster production. It's like a Michael Bay movie, 10 percent decent writing, 90 percent fan service, and for those who loved the show from the beginning, this often kills it for those who liked it purely for the differences mentioned earlier. Fan service is not a bad thing, as long as it's subtle, or has its place. The 100th episode? sure! that's a celebration of the history of the show, and for one episode out of many to have that feel, fine...it's excusable, and played for laughs and tribute. But when they start relying on pop culture, and "modern relevance" (mlp should never have smartphones or duckfaces in it in my opinion, it just doesn't suit it) and if they throw in forced relationships and cheesy writing, it waters down the show's brilliance significantly. In short, Timber (just like Brad) feels stereotypical, unnecessary, and out-of-place. They didn't need the romantic aspect in my opinion. It just feels...wrong. I liked Legends of Everfree a whole lot, but that "love story" (if you can call it that, considering how much of a self absorbed jerk he was imo) could have been left out.
  7. oh boy, this is old, oh boy am I late.......I completely forgot about this! This year has been soooooo crazy, I haven't been on in a while! If you're still around as well, here's my answer: (if you haven't already figured it out by now that is lol) It's all in your mixdown, your sound design, and your song's structure in general. In your mixdown, you want to make sure all your instruments are set to volumes where everything flows together properly. That does NOT mean that they all need to be the same volume, and somehow get "EQ'd" to blend properly. That's a mistake that I've made in the past, and something a lot of aspiring producers do. You need to treat your piece like an orchestra. You need to keep some sections quiet, some accents nicely placed here and there, and keep the important stuff forefront. One thing I learned, is subtle panning can do wonders. On smaller less-important synths, simply pan some a little to the left, and pan others a little to the right. Not a huge pan but a little one. You'll be surprised how much headroom you gain from doing that. Your sound design is also important, make sure you're using really high quality samples, make sure your synths are clean and not distorted, don't neglect the sub-bass, and don't use more sounds than you can handle mixing. Sometimes you need to trim stuff that's better left out. I've probably got over 10gbs of loops and samples I didn't end up using that I made for tracks that I ended up leaving on the editing room floor. Sometimes, you just have to. Your structure also plays an important roll. This is hard to explain, but I'll try to anyway, leave "dips" in your synth-making process, that you can fill with other instruments, that way, each instrument gets its chance to shine. In other words, sometimes if you're say...making a drop for a dubstep track or something, you'll want to have a contrast of bass growls in one area, and trance stabs/synths in another. You DON'T want to overlap those, because then both lose their shine, and become one big garbled "bleeeeh." You need to purposely leave silence in areas during your melody making so you can fill that silence with other instruments. Back to the orchestra analogy, if you watch a concert, you'll notice the conductor brings in certain instruments at some times, others at other times, and then lets the whole symphony play in unison at others. It's a structure where each part has its place and time. Just doing that alone will dramatically improve your mixdown/master. Oh, and as far as the vocal thing goes? well...you don't want to ask me that, because the way I do my vocal chops is really really stupid. In fact most of the ways I make music are stupid and overly complex, because I'm a stick in the mud who likes to use what he knows. Basically I open up a brand new project, I play a melody I made on my other laptop, so I can stay in key, or I load a melody loop from the project into the sampler. I load all the vocal samples I want to use into my DAW, and cut points that I think would make a good chop sample. Usually they're longer notes in a vocal track, or they're words/samples that'd be good impact cuts for a complextro drop. (the "uhs" "unfs" and "ahs" etc.) I take all those vocals samples one at a time, and place each cut on a piano roll/grid, and manually pitch shift every single sound/sample, and repeat it until it flows nicely with the melody. I sometimes run the completed chop session through dblue's "glitch" program, and insert small audio glitches into the track, depending on the mood I'm going for. After all that's completed, I add my finishing effects, (compression, delay, chorus, Trash2, etc) and mix it into the rest of the track, and attempt to make it sound semi-pro and decent. And as with all my projects, I listen to it completed in the car, or on the worst stereo system I own to see if the mixdown still sounds good. I do that because a good stereo system/studio is going to play me my track in as good sound quality as I can get, but that's not what most people are listening to the track on, they're using overly compressed youtube rips on cheap earphones, or in overcompensating stereo systems. So I want to make sure my mixdowns sound the same on everything, and that no matter what quality sound system I'm listening on, people will get a similar balanced listening experience sound-wise. (I hope that made sense) Anyways, Thanks for the question! Feel free to send more if you want! I'll try to get back on here more often lol. -BV-
  8. I'm loving this season so far! To me, they've brought back a lot of the charm the show had in seasons 1-3. I really didn't like season 4, and season 5 was pretty good minus a couple episodes. But so far, there hasn't been a single episode this season that left a bad taste in my mouth. Loving it immensely!
  9. I listen using my Sony PSP and either a good pair of headphones (Shure SRH-440s) or my studio setup. (Or some good speakers/whatever's available at the time) I use my PSP because it can support both 320 and WAV. I try to keep most of my music with the best quality I can find. 128's just make me...uncomfortable XD
  10. Here's a new one to kick off season 6! I'd LOVE to hear what you guys think! Free DL @ soundcloud.com/brilliantventure
  11. Alright...THIS is an episode I HAVE to post about... Originally when the episode started, I thought I was going to hate it. Once I realized the character was a Gaga reference, I was turned off... I thought "oh great...a reference for reference sake with a predictable ending." BUT...then I realized what this episode was all about. And as it went onward, it got better and better to the point of genius. Now what I'm going to say is just a theory...but I'm pretty sure I've got it 99.9% right... This episode was a subtle expos'e on the corruption and evils of the majour labels in the music industry. These are labels that sign artists at a young age, (too young to know what they're doing) trap them in basically a life long contract, limit their creative control to basically nothing, force style changes, threaten venues/make outrageous demands, shelve "un-mainstream" work, and basically rule their lives to the point of miserable madness! And if they try to leave? They either end up dead, or with their careers ruined due to media slander. This is a real life thing, and boy is it scary. A lot of people have been enslaved by labels unable to break free, and this episode kind of speaks up for them. Not only that, but the story of Gaga herself kind of is mentioned here. Before the fame, she was an opera singer. She was picked up by a label at a young age, and now well...you've seen the results. I also thought the "Svengallop" character was a clever little thing, considering it's a play on of "Svengali." Now that's interesting to me for 2 reasons, one because gaga was put on a "stardom path" by a guy who went by that name, and also considering one of the most famous "svengali's" is the one known for creating the "svengalli deception deck" of gimmicked cards magicians all around the world still use today...lots of deception in the industry that's for sure. As far as the other stuff in the episode? It was all pretty solid. Good storytelling, good message, great theme, good pacing....and the song at the end? Breathtaking...(Expect a "Brilliant Venture Remix" somewhere down the line in the near future ) Overall, it was a fantastic episode, easily one of my favourites... Boy was it good! -8.5/10-
  12. Any bronies out there into magic stuff? I've taken a big interest in it recently (I've started constructing my own tricks actually!) and I wonder if anyone else here is into it. I'm a big Penn and Teller fan, as well as guys like Tom Mullica, Mac King, and several others. So how bout it? Anyone else?
  13. What? The compy 386 is in second???...to the LAPPY???...but the compy had the best episodes of the series!!! The "Virus" email, is still my all time favourite toon! In all honesty though, it makes me happy to see this thread. Homestar Runner truely is one of the best websites the internet ever produced. And thank goodness they're back!
  14. What's up? Glad this thread is up. I'm a DJ/Producer. I have a few different artist aliases, but my main 2 are Wrillez Basics : www.soundcloud.com/wrillezbasics www.youtube.com/wrillezbasics and Brilliant Venture : www.soundcloud.com/brilliantventure www.youtube.com/brilliantventure My Wrillez Basics alias is my main one, which focuses on all forms of EDM. Trance, brostep, progressive, dnb...pretty much everything! My Brilliant Venture alias is for pony music/remixes. So if you like ponies, (Which I have a feeling you do!) check that one out! I've also been a DJ going on almost 13 years. I haven't done shows in a bit, mainly due to my focus on producing, but I'm planning to start doing a livestream or a radio mix to keep updated. Anyway, I hope you guys like my stuff! Comment/Critique if you'd like! It's much appreciated.
  15. HOW ON EARTH DID YOU CATCH THAT??? Legit...this fandom never ceases to impress me.
  16. Personally, I felt this episode was a bit hit and miss... While this one was better than the last discord episode (I wasn't really a fan of that one at all in all honesty) I felt that it still lacked that "shine" that made discord's character fun to watch. He just wasn't funny or clever in this episode. In fact, most of the episode kind of kept an uncomfortable vibe. Now, I know that's probably what the writer intended due to the moral (or lack of one there of, which I'll get to later.) at the end of the episode, but I feel it was very out of place. I mean, yes...we felt what Twilight felt, which is kudos I will definitely give to the writer. Everytime Twilight felt uncomfortable or annoyed, I felt uncomfortable or annoyed. So props to the guy on making the audience "feel" which is generally hard to accomplish. BUT...is that really what you want to feel when watching MLP? I mean...joyful, warming, epic, or even "feelsy" episodes generally work really well with the show...but "unpleasant" just makes you feel...well, unpleasant. And that's kinda my beef with this episode. Discord episodes generally are driven with a different vibe... They're humourous and playful, with a hint of mischief. Now while you could argue that all of that is present in this episode, prior ones weren't blanketed by that "unplesant-ness" I've been talking about. Even in "the Return of harmony" it wasn't that bad, and I remember watching it for my first time feeling torn as the Mane 6 lost their pleasant character traits. But I feel at least that episode was done better, and felt far more balanced. Now let's talk about the jokes...The Bob Ross parody was nice, and so was the Back to the Future reference. But again, I don't feel like they hit that hard in the joke department, mainly because...they were just references! Anyone can reference something, but in my opinion, to make a joke hit truly hit hard and work well, the subtlety is key, otherwise it just feels forced and in your face. Now finally, let's get on to what I believe is the most important part of the episode...the moral/message. ...which was...what again? I was watching this episode with my wife, and afterwards I asked her that question and after a long moment of silence she said, "To...share you feelings with one another?" Now if that's the message, which I believe it is...haven't they already been doing that consistantly for the past 4 seasons? I mean...even the whole "jealousy" thing doesn't really add up. I don't think Twilight was as much jealous as just really irratated at not being able to understand the jokes. And if it was jealousy? it wasn't well expressed in the writing, at least from my point of view. But regardless, I didn't feel it was a very strong message, and I felt it kinda fell short in comparison to prior episodes. It just felt like filler for the most part, nothing really happened this episode. There wasn't that much of a problem to begin with and at times, it felt like the writer was really stretching hard to make jokes work. But hey, if you liked it, awesome! As for me? I give it the Jerry Seinfeld seal of approval. "It was a show about nothing." 6.5/10
  17. Sup guys? New Remix and PMV! Be sure to let me know what you guys think! Happy Nightmare Night!!!
  18. Okay, this is a weird one for me. I liked it in a sense, but it feels a bit off concerning the timing. I mean, we're a week away from halloween, and we get a christmas themed episode? (or hearthswarming in this case) I know the show's layout wouldn't permit it (as far as the time frame is concerned) but I'd much rather have seen this episode in december rather than october...Scare Master is going to feel really weird after seeing this one. (And yes...I have waited patiently instead of watching the leaked version XD) Now as far as the actual episode goes? Well...yeah...I thought it was alright... I feel like the whole "split family from two different backgrounds celebrating the joy of christmas frustration" trope has been done way too many times. Is it done well here?...well...yeah...but there was no surprise at the end... While watching it you knew pretty much exactly what was going to happen every minute of the episode. The thing that kinda made me fall in love with MLP was that it wasn't really predictable, and the endings didn't seem too rushed. And when there was a typical trope being used, it was done in a creative way, with a smart ending that you didn't see coming.This one kinda fell a little short of that in my opinion...Not saying it was bad, I liked a lot of the writing, and thought that the pacing over all was pretty good...there just wasn't too much more to say than that. Now as far as the ending? I was a bit dissapointed by the conclusion. You can call me heartless for putting this...but I feel as though the episode should have ended on a more realistic note. Sometimes two different families won't get along...sometimes it takes time to work things out or to overcome differences. I'd have rather it ended with Pinkie and applejack going back to their respective homes, and discussing the event between eachother in a way that was more level headed...that even though their families are different the two of them (pinkie & AJ) can still remain friends, and maybe one day, their families would join them in their friendship... It wouldn't really matter to me if this wasn't such a realistic episode topic. This is a really common thing to see happen around the holidays, and to end it on a really watered down cliche that rarely works in the real world, just felt a bit bland. And I mean, yeah...it's a show about friendship, but that shouldn't be an excuse, and it hasn't been in the past. Look at "tanks for the memories." That episode dealt with the stages of grief over loss, which is some pretty heavy stuff to put in a "kids show." Overall, I liked the episode for the most part, I just felt it was a little weaker than the overall fantastic season that this has been so far! My score? 6.9/10 not bad.
  19. Well let's see... I drink too much coffee I worry/stress to much I get little to no sleep I have stage 3 hypertension I'm shy, weird, and geeky (if you count that as "wrong") and I don't have a smartphone nor do I want one...(which apparently IS wrong according to a lot of my peers)
  20. I'm gonna go with Ursula in Kingdom Hearts...not only was the Atlantica level annoying (So Annoying that it was an optional level in KH2) the boss battle was hard, time consuming, and just an eyesore to look at. Now in all fairness compared to other games, it's really not that bad...Kingdom hearts is still one of my favourite games of all time, but with every great game, comes at least one imperfect level.
  21. Get Ready EQD! I'm gettin ready to post another one! ;)

  22. Well...according to certain "theorists"...yes. Aerith was just paralyzed after Sephiroth's sword went through her. Cloud Drowned her...in the game, YOU kill aerith. Yeah...it's messed up, but apparently there's scientific evidence to support it.
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