Master Mi   Members

For media files uploaded to OCRemix, such as images and audio files, I have always checked from time to time how much I have already exhausted my upload limit for attachments in posts or to decide how much I want to compress this media data. When I checked my last uploads of attachments, I could no longer see any such upload limit. Does this mean that this upload limit restriction has now been lifted?

@pixelseph Yo, dude, I finally finished the guitar part and the whole remix project. Gave some of my best shots in terms of my momentary composing, instrumental and mixing skills. So I'm really lookin' forward to your critical opinion of a professional guitarist. )) I posted the full version of my remix in the forum "Post Your Game ReMixes!". The remix is called "Crisis Core - Final Fantasy 7 - Wings Of Freedom (Master Mi Remix)".

@DarkeSword Big thanks. )) I forgot another question. There was also some kind of an off-topic forum here on OCRemix some time ago. Has this also been removed - or is this hidden somewhere and has been integrated into another forum section?

I had just posted a new video game remix on OCRemix after a few years (in the “Post Your Game ReMixes!” forum) and wanted to take the opportunity to update the old tags for the remix, which were still there. But somehow you don't seem to have access to them anymore - or is the tagging function just a bit hidden now? I was a bit confused, as you can still search for tags in the search function on the site. ... The second thing is this. Years ago, when you posted a video game remix, you could indicate the current status or progress of the remix. According to my memory, you could indicate things like “work in progress”, “ready for review” or “submitted” etc.. Has this also been rationalized away at some point - or is it just related to the restructuring of the site some time ago and will return at some point? ... It would be really nice if someone could give me a short answer and explain the changes I apparently missed. ))

Now, about 8 years later and with much more sophisticated composition, mixing and sound design skills in my musical repertoire, I have radically reworked the entire remix and would now like to present to you the results of my ambitions. I think one of the main reasons that inspired me to get back into this remix project these days was the release of the Playstation 4 remake of the game called “Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion”, which I mainly played in 2024 together with a good friend and enjoyed the really good story to the fullest once again. I had also set myself the goal of perfecting and demonstrating my continuously evolving dynamic mixing concept called “Life Force”. To do this, I primarily wanted to use my beloved Yamaha MSP3 studio monitors and finally mix my second larger and this time somewhat more epic soundtrack on them, whereby I ultimately decided on my Crisis Core remix. I hope you, and especially the fans of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7, like it. )) Here are the links for the new remix version 1.3: >>> or >>> https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm44603368 >>> https://soundcloud.com/master-mi/crisis-core-final-fantasy-7 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This soundtrack is the newest (and maybe even the final) version of my remix for the original song "The Price Of Freedom" from the PSP game Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7, which was originally composed by Takeharu Ishimoto. I haven't uploaded any new soundtrack or remix content of mine in the last two years because I've been particularly dedicated to developing my mixing concept, which I call "Life Force", to be able to present my compositions and remixes at a much higher level of quality. This mixing concept, which I have developed over the last years, is primarily aimed at bringing much more clarity, a more natural, organic sound, much better dynamics, more atmosphere and spatiality back into the mix through sophisticated depth gradation and unique mixing techniques. In order to achieve this, I mix all my soundtracks and remixes in accordance with the loudness standards of the European Broadcasting Union, which are set out in the EBU R 128 recommendation with a target loudness level of -23 LUFS (or -23 dB in the context of the full scale), a loudness level at which the level peaks and transients can run out completely relaxed and naturally without the need to use compressors or limiters, which are prohibited in my mixing concept anyway. This is roughly at the loudness level of many soundtracks from the early 80s and about half as loud as most soundtracks produced according to the rather unfavorable trends of today's music industry. My aim with my mixing concept "Life Force" is to bring back or even surpass the very good sound quality and high dynamics of the soundtracks from the early 80s and to breathe a little more "life" back into the music, regardless of the music genre. … But I have also developed my compositional skills over the last few years, which I wanted to show in this heartfelt remix project. Not only did I make the dynamics and playing style of the existing instruments much more lively, natural and artistically elevated, I also recorded numerous new instruments and composed completely new passages to deepen the atmosphere of the remix even further and steer it in more specific directions. The early musical part with harp, strings and bells is primarily intended to emphasize the heaviness, sadness and tragedy of the approaching death of the main character Zack Fair, while his girlfriend Aerith apparently also suspects this at this moment or has been told this by the planet itself. This part becomes a little more powerful a little later with the introduction of the acoustic guitar and a slightly more intense way of playing the instruments. The section with the brass instruments such as trumpets in combination with an almost fanfare-like solo trumpet, followed by powerful French horns, is intended above all to emphasize the heroic side of Zack's self-sacrificing final battle against a veritable superior force of hostile Shinra troops, which presumably saved the life of his friend and companion Cloud, who was still incapacitated at the time, suffering from severe Mako poisoning. A slight musical change then takes place with the new electric guitar part, which transforms the previous orchestral part of the remix into an increasingly intensifying power ballad, which, in addition to driving power chords, also contains very beautiful melodic electric guitar leads, piano arpeggios as well as a Spanish guitar, all of which together are intended to illustrate once again the extremely liberating feeling that the main character Zack might have felt at the end of his hero's journey. For the soundscape and the mixing of the electric guitars, I drew a little inspiration from the really atmospheric electric guitar sounds in the song "Everytime We Touch", sung by Maggie Reilly. And for the final part of the remix, I composed an additional harp section to symbolize the path of the inner heaven that Zack has obviously taken, because he has always pursued his big dream of becoming a real hero with his heart in the right place, without forgetting the high value of honour, friendship, helpfulness and humanity. … In this sense, the title of my remix "Wings Of Freedom" does not stand for any small-minded, money-focused libertarian ideas or for one-sided freedom without justice, but rather for the freedom of the heart within the power of the unleashed soul, which allows some people in difficult situations and hard times to take not always the easiest but the right path, which fully convinces them, literally flows through them and gives them wings. Perhaps this is also part of the mysterious gift of the goddess. ))

Enhanced sound experiment with mono/stereo signal sources and mono/stereo reverb effects ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I've probably taken my time with this, although this undesirable lobbyist government in my country is also producing a lot of problems these days (to cut a long story short: neoliberal bullshit politics >>> approval of a really hefty 500 billion euros primarily for arms companies, the military and war >>> in return, massive austerity measures for public and municipal budgets as well as a considerable reduction in public contracts mostly for critical infrastructure and the most existentially necessary things >>> mass redundancies at companies, including mine, which had primarily specialized in public construction, planting and vegetation maintenance contracts >>> I was also laid off after no major construction contracts had been recorded since the beginning of the year and my company had only been able to pay wages in chunks for the last few months >>> yeah, it radically sucks... once again). But apart from the not entirely voluntary job search, I can at least take all my remaining vacation these days and, after creating 4 different versions of my Crisis Core remix and doing the final checks of the audio samples on various audio playback systems, I was also able to complete my long-announced sound experiment and present it to you now. … With this sound experiment, I wanted to investigate the extent to which mono and stereo signal sources as well as mono and stereo reverb effects can be used in different combinations in order to primarily improve the clarity and spatiality in the mix and thus further increase the mixing quality. I have examined four main variants and compared them in detail: 1) A mix of stereo and mono signal sources + stereo aux reverb sends 2) Mono signal sources + stereo aux reverb sends 3) Mono signal sources + mono aux reverb sends 4) A mix of stereo and mono signal sources + mono aux reverb sends I tried to reproduce the four versions as faithfully as possible, taking particular care to ensure that the positioning of the signal sources (i.e. the instruments in this case) and aux reverb effects in the panorama were all correct and that the loudness ratios between the signal sources and the aux reverb effects were maintained without significant changes. This was quite time-consuming precision work with extremely fine, often multiple loudness measurements for each track within each of these four versions. The final listening tests of the audio samples (four full-length soundtrack versions + the soundtrack excerpts presented here, as well as further mono compatibility checks of the four complete soundtrack versions + mono compatibility checks of the four soundtrack excerpts) on a variety of tested audio playback systems (Yamaha MSP3 studio monitors, Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro studio headphones, Presonus Eris E4.5 studio monitors, a somewhat larger stereo system as well as a somewhat smaller, kitchen-radio-like stereo system or my HD MP3 player, for example) also really took a lot of time. But these detailed comparisons, for which I also made a few notes on clarity and spatiality in the mix as well as on special things with regard to the overall sound impression, have provided me with some really important insights that I will take into account in the future application of my dynamic mixing concept “Life Force” and which have given me further certainty that I am probably on the right path in this respect. … And so let's start right away with the first version: 1) A mix of stereo and mono signal sources + stereo aux reverb sends ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The track mainly contains signal sources or instruments in the stereo version (playing only on the outermost sides without further center participation in the panorama). I reduced a few signal sources (electric bass and kick drum) to centered mono signal sources to further improve clarity in the mix, while some other signal sources (all other drum elements) are present with a stereo width reduced to approx. 50% (playing between the outermost sides and the center in the stereo panorama, so to speak). All aux reverb effects are stereo in this version (but they only play on the outer sides without center participation). In the following audio sample, you can also hear the third and final electric guitar track for the previously mentioned part for the first time, which I wanted to compose in addition as part of my prior considerations (new electric guitar begins around minute 0:39 and plays on the left side in the stereo panorama) and which has really enhanced the electric guitar part and the overall sound ambience at this point: CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Stereo And Mono Source Signals + Stereo Reverb Version.mp3 As I had already used an electric lead guitar and a clean electric guitar for the big guitar part, I also wanted to use another individual setting for the third electric guitar. I decided on a crunch setting, for which I first experimented a little with a “Funk Frog” wah-wah effect. However, as this sounded far too playful in the context of the serious background of the soundtrack, I later deactivated this effect and instead used some really nice chorus and flanger effects in combination with the crunch setting, which made this electric guitar sound a bit more out of this world and also blended in really well with the soundscape of the other electric guitars. Here is a screenshot of this new electric guitar setting in my Vandal guitar amp plugin: After careful consideration, I also decided to use this first version of my mix as the new version for my remix, as I still find it to be the best overall package in terms of clarity, spatiality and the general sound quality of the mix, even after my extensive listening tests on various audio playback systems. Nevertheless, the following versions also have a few outstanding features that could be useful in certain mixing situations. 2) Mono signal sources + stereo aux reverb sends -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In this version, I used only mono signal sources (with a comparable positioning in the panorama as the previous stereo signal sources) and added an individual stereo reverb to each of them via aux sends in order to achieve a corresponding spatial effect, while at the same time trying to significantly increase the clarity of the mix: CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Mono Source Signals + Stereo Reverb Version.mp3 When listening on some audio playback systems, I actually had the feeling that this mixing approach was able to slightly increase the clarity in the mix in comparison to the first version. But on the other hand, this seemed to be at the expense of the spatial effect in the mix, whereby the connection between the playing instruments also seemed to get lost a little. 3) Mono signal sources + mono aux reverb sends ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the seemingly minor improvements in clarity to the detriment of the spatial effect in the mix with the previous mono signal sources + stereo aux reverb send version, I naturally wanted to find out whether the clarity in the mix could be increased even further if you combine the existing mono signal sources with mono aux reverb instead of stereo aux reverb sends: CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Mono Source Signals + Mono Reverb Version.mp3 And indeed, I had the impression that at some points in the remix (especially in the large part with the three electric guitars) this increased the clarity in the mix a little bit and you could hear the individual instruments even more clearly. But on the flip side, the whole thing seemed to worsen the spatial effect of the mix even further, while the individual instruments seemed even more detached from each other and somehow disjointed. On some audio playback systems, the spatiality and reverb in the mix even seemed downright strange. I sometimes even had the impression that this mixing approach tore some holes in the stereo panorama and that the mix sounded very thin at some points (especially at the beginning of the audio sample, when there weren't quite as many instruments playing). Nevertheless, such a mixing approach with well-placed mono signal sources and mono aux effects could perhaps come into play if you are confronted with such a complex and extremely extensive mix, whose stereo panorama is already fully utilized or even radically overstuffed, for example in such a remix here, in which a large number of instruments and other signal sources play simultaneously at various points in the soundtrack: 4) A mix of stereo and mono signal sources + mono aux reverb sends ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For the sake of completeness, I still wanted to find out how the mix behaves if I simply combine stereo and mono signal sources with mono aux reverb sends, which then sounds like this: CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Stereo And Mono Source Signals + Mono Reverb Version.mp3 This doesn't sound bad either, but here too the spatial effect seems to suffer considerable losses, while the reverb also seems to sound somehow strange and to be downright dominated and drowned out in the interplay with the predominant stereo signal sources of the instruments. … So much for that. However, as promised, I also wanted to carry out a further mono compatibility check for these four different mixing versions as part of a more detailed examination. This can be done quite easily with a DAW by simply switching the master track (this contains all the individual tracks in the music project) to mono in the mixer view at the touch of a button in this master track, of course only temporarily for control purposes. This not only sets all tracks in the mix to mono sources, they are also centered in the stereo panorama, which means that a stereo width is non-existent, so to say. And this also means that all signal sources and effects are virtually superimposed and squashed in a centered point in the panorama. On the one hand, some sound engineers do this test to get a vague idea of how well the mix translates or reproduces on a mono audio playback device. On the other hand, by centering all available signal sources and tracks with the master track mono button, you can find out whether there are any gross frequency overlaps between the various signal sources and effects (can be fixed by the precise use of EQ plug-ins, for example) or even serious phase cancellations (which can cause some sound elements to literally drown out in the mix). But let's start right away with the mono compatibility control tests of the four tracks. M1) Mono compatibility check - a mix of stereo and mono signal sources + stereo aux reverb sends ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Mono Compatibility Check - Stereo And Mono Source Signals + Stereo Reverb Version.mp3 M2) Mono compatibility check - mono signal sources + stereo aux reverb sends ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Mono Compatibility Check - Mono Source Signals + Stereo Reverb Version.mp3 M3) Mono compatibility check - mono signal sources + mono aux reverb sends ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Mono Compatibility Check - Mono Source Signals + Mono Reverb Version.mp3 M4) Mono compatibility check - a mix of stereo and mono signal sources + mono aux reverb sends ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Mono Compatibility Check - Stereo And Mono Source Signals + Mono Reverb Version.mp3 … To summarize, I would say that even in the mono compatibility checks of the 4 versions, the first version with the well thought-out mix of stereo and mono signal sources and the stereo reverb aux sends performs best as an overall package. The first version not only convinces with a really good clarity and perceptibility of all instruments and effects in the mix, but also with a really good representation of the spatial depth and the spatial coherence of the sound sources. Once again, the second version with the mono signal sources and stereo aux reverb sends as well as the third version with the mono signal sources and mono aux reverb sends seem to perform slightly better in terms of clarity in the mix. Nevertheless, the instruments in these versions sound a little more static, a little less spatial and less coherent than in the first version, while the reverb also sounds a little strange in some places or even seems to overlay and dominate some instruments. The fourth version with the combined stereo and mono signal sources and mono reverb aux sends comes off worst here in my opinion, because this somehow strange and sometimes stalled-sounding reverb does least justice to my actual intention as a composer and sound designer. … Certainly, the differences between the four versions here are more in the range of nuances, since I was able to achieve the far more resounding improvements in the mix with some of the previous mixing approaches and sound experiments. But I believe that with this second major stereo and mono sound experiment and with the previous first stereo width sound experiment from December 20, 2024 (with the title: "Using specific stereo widths for instrument and direct signal tracks for more clarity and assertiveness in the mix and for a more impressive representation of panorama and spatiality in the soundtrack"), I was able to demonstrate quite well that you can not only clean up a mix in terms of frequency. You can also clean up a mix by making more efficient use of the panorama or by using different stereo widths for signal sources and aux effect sends in the mix, whether you turn critical stereo sources completely into mono sources or simply reduce the stereo width of some stereo sources so that other signal sources have more space in the stereo panorama in order to be better perceived in the mix. … But I'm still curious to hear your opinions on the subject and very interested to hear your listening impressions of the four different mixing approaches. )) … In my next and possibly last post on this topic within this thread for now (I want to throw myself back into the passion of composing), I will show you the full version of my new Crisis Core remix and, as a comparison, upload the previous version of this remix from about 8 years ago as an audio streaming file. Because that was about the time when I started to deal much more profoundly with the topics of composition, mixing and sound design in many smaller and larger steps, while about 12 years ago (around 2013), through a few lucky coincidences (one of which was the OCRemix community) and without any previous musical knowledge, I stumbled into the topic of DAWs & remixes and some time later took the first awkward but joyful and curious steps in this direction with my first version of a DAW. ))

Dunno, when I saw the new dark theme the first times, I thought that some kind of apocalyptic Kefka cult must have raided the peaceful OCR platform - just to plunge the colourful world of video game music into chaos, darkness and depression. But then I thought you're just following the legendary Japanese prophecy, aren't you? O_O ... Nah, just thought that the world could need much more light 'cause of the annoying weather (c'mon - only writing about it and it's just already raining like in late autumn again) and because the world got already dark enough for many people. But maybe I'll just hang up a bright and sunny picture with a really nice tropical motif in my living room next to my studio environment. This one has a really stunning paradisiacal ambience: Or maybe this one? I'm not really a designer with an additional degree in psychology. But I think you understand how strongly certain colors and motifs can influence people's thoughts and feelings. This was perhaps one of the reasons why the painter Vincent van Gogh, in a mentally unstable phase of his life, longed for much more light, sun and colors to capture them in his works and even moved his place of residence to the sunny south. So if you want to have a few ambient-heavy Chrono Cross and Star Tropics remixes again, or if you want to tempt all the remixers on OC to make some of these, you can use the picture motifs as a new (tropical sun) light theme after the prophesied battle against darkness is over. ))

Thanks for also keeping the light version. )) Not fully sure about this one (due to a missing comparison) - it might be also a thing of adaptation. But my very first impression was that the former font was easier to read.

I recently finished my Crisis Core remix “Wings Of Freedom” and uploaded it on several platforms: You'll just have to turn up the volume quite a bit, as I master all my soundtracks at EBU R 128 loudness standards to around -23 dBFS in favor of dynamics, sound quality and to avoid loudness differences between my soundtracks and remixes (quite a similar level of loudness as lots of the original mixes of soundtracks from the early 80s and thus about half as loud as many modern mixes). Maybe I'll present it in more detail in the remix thread sometime soon and submit it to the judging panel. But before that, I still wanted to finish and present a small, quite interesting mixing sound experiment with mono and stereo signal sources.

Over the last few days and weeks, I have made a major update to my main post for this thread. Since some interesting new studio monitors have come onto the market or some studio monitor speaker series have been given the latest generation of studio monitor models, while the production of some older models has been discontinued and these are often no longer available at all, I have finally made this way overdue update. The update in my initial thread post contains the following main points: 1) newly released as well as time-tested studio monitor speakers made for accurate mixing in home studio conditions as well as for professional endeavors in audio engineering 2) new models within a studio monitor series (whereby I generally only took the new models as a basis for a more detailed description if they were actually better than the older models - if the old models were obviously better than the newer versions, on the other hand, I took the older models as a basis for a more detailed description and rather mentioned the newer models only in passing) 3) have slightly expanded the information in the descriptions of the studio monitor models, categorized it accordingly and standardized it (so that the frequency range, sound impression, build quality and especially their suitability for creating professional mixes are rather high up in the description of the respective studio monitor speakers and somewhat less important aspects such as design, power consumption, price and further information can be found at the bottom of the description) 4) updated links with the currently available studio monitor models as well as additional helpful information on older studio monitor models (which are sometimes even still available on the market) 5) a slightly adjusted personal rating for the larger and the smaller studio monitor speakers, which is primarily based on my personal sound impressions of the speakers in the music store as well as through comparative sound test videos, personal mixing experiences with some of these speakers, certain product characteristics such as build quality, frequency range, linearity of the frequency response or at least a frequency response that is advantageous for mixing, intensity of inherent noise, various buyer and user feedbacks, power consumption, price-benefit ratio as well as current availability on the market (whereby the sound characteristics and mixing suitability are the most important factors for my rating - although this should only be a rough assessment and I am not yet completely sure about some of the sometimes pretty close positions of my personal ranking) 6) a link to a YouTube channel where you can roughly compare the sound of a large number of studio monitor models even far away from specialist music shops (whereby the sound impression of the studio monitor speakers in the specialist music shop and even more so in the corresponding rooms at home should be the final factor, without prioritizing the first sound impression over the much more crucial mixing suitability - because what ultimately counts for composers and sound engineers is not the pleasant sound of these speakers, but the impressing sound of the final mix which you have created with the speakers and which should also sound really nice on all other playback systems) 7) a brief summery of my personal speaker search over many years (from the simplest desktop speakers to professional studio monitors with corresponding background information to better understand why I have taken certain steps in my home studio planning and why I do not always find larger studio monitors necessarily better and more suitable in terms of mixing suitability than slightly smaller models) Maybe this can help some people in their search for suitable studio monitor speakers for their room conditions. ... In addition, I wish you a happy Easter. Don't forget to bring rich offerings of natural, organic stuff (food) for the fluffy hares and bunnies to the radically sacred Long 'n' Floppy Ears Shrine to appease the gentle and wise rabbit gods. (\_/)

Must have radically missed this thread. Really amazing mindset and work. )) ... In today's world, unfortunately, far too much revolves around profits, mindless competition (competition for the sake of profits instead of real improvements and better quality standards), exploitation and the resulting conflicts in the world. That's why I'm really grateful that some people are still really concerned about the cause itself (in this case music and creative remixes of video game soundtracks), community endeavors as well as essential improvements, real progress and new opportunities for all people to participate. Since free time is often a precious and rare good, you certainly give up a lot for such a project. But on the other hand, you are creating something beautiful, valuable and perhaps even permanent - like freshly harvested, delicious fruits from the trees you planted many years ago. Just reminds me that about 10 years ago, I myself planted a variety of different fruit trees and bushes - from apples, cherries, plums, sea buckthorn, hazelnuts and others - in an open, secluded meadow area in my home town, mowed the meadow around the planted trees and bushes with a classic scythe and watered it the first time with the water of a nearby river. After three or four years, the trees and bushes yielded their first fruits and the people who came by could harvest some fresh 'n' tasty fruits. But I've also seen lots of birds coming by or even somebody who enjoyed reading something in the quiet, idyllic area of the lil' fruit tree paradise. Against all gardening knowledge and recommendations (I'm a landscape gardener myself), I never pruned one of those trees. And they grew up beautifully in their own unique and the most natural way they could grow. Didn't have to put any further work in these trees and bushes since then, only a few trees died within the first years, but the remaining ones grew really strong and vital. The only thing that can be a bigger threat to them now, are the greedy property sharks and rent roaches that literally infested my home town years ago. These kind of "people" mostly have eyes for easy money and huge profits - they don't care about natural beauty, community standards, good structures, social peace or creating something really useful (and affordable) most humans would benefit from. People like those would even sell paradise for the latest luxury resort or sell a good community for the newest sports car in their garage. It would be even a compliment for them to be called just "useless" because their greed and selfishness make them rather harmful for society, especially for the workers and common people. They piss off workers with ridiculously high (simply not affordable) rents, and then - without workers - these Trumpish Muskuitos and all the elitist, capitalist or even fascist money sniffers even dare to borrow eggs 'n food from other countries where workers don't have to live in tents yet. In this really batshit crazy world, I'm really glad I live in a social housing associating that even existed after the former socialist times of my country and still offers very stylish flats with really affordable rents, a good neighborhood, a rather rural silence and lots of trees 'n' natural green places around. Still no car (just the good ol' bike + trailer and a local public transport "gold ticket"), no expensive holidays and no luxury on my wish list - but at least plenty of good organic food in the fridge, a little home studio, a much more pleasant 4-days working week (around 30 hours a week on average) in my job life, a bit longer 3-days weekends - and much more time for recovery, for the things that need to be done and the things I really want to do. ... So if you are fine with a modest, more active and more healthy lifestyle, I'd radically recommend to shift down (especially in your working life) a bit - for the sake of the things you are really passionate about. Money is mostly for living in modern societies (and for saving a little bit), but not for hoarding meaningless luxuries and status symbols. Hoarding bananas, sashimi, good literature, video games and music as sources of life force, knowledge and joy is totally fine, of course. The higher currencies in the universe are still (life force) energy and time, with which you can really unleash your creative potential, create synergies, new possibilities and experience joy, intensity and really inspiring natural highs. ))

@AshleyXR Yeah, pretty much the perfect beat to knock the teeth out of drunken hooligans, fascists, their greedy capitalist sponsors and merchants of war. Though their connections are not limited to a few countries, it rather seems to be a global phenomenon, depending on where the big money of the rich 'n' greedy people flows - quite similar to the Shadaloo organization, which also spins their webs or "fasciae" secretly around the globe. I'm really not happy to have to live in an era of continuous downfall again, especially when I think that my birthright to grow up in a socialist society was literally taken away from me by some greedy sons of bitches. But as a martial artist who grew up with Japanese full-contact karate, I somehow still have hope that, in the worst case scenario, I won't have to stand completely alone with such often cowardly, opportunistic followers of Western German and European beer and schnitzel patriots. Since many Arabs, especially devout Muslims, have come here, I have the feeling that the tide has turned somewhat, that fascists will no longer have such an easy time terrorizing people here and that the newer generation of neo-Nazis in particular are really getting knocked out in the respective neighbourhoods. For me, it was really impressive to experience the down-to-earth, straightforward, virtuous and warm-hearted nature of the Muslim people on the one hand - and on the other, the impetuous fighting spirit, pride and sense of justice when they encounter disrespectful, unjust and malicious people. Sometimes just one of them can be some sort of a Saiyan-like one-man invasion or a small Saladin army in itself. I followed some media reports where, for example, an Arab teenager was racially insulted by an adult German, who then even wanted to get violent, but the Arab teenager only gave him about three punches, the consequences of which killed the adult within a short time. Certainly questionable from a moral point of view, but truly impressive in terms of fighting force. You will rarely see hardcore hooligans and neo-Nazis fool around in a Muslim hood, and they won't even dare to terrorize the people there for too long. Because they'll easily get engulfed in the flames of the battle they tried to start there, learning the hard way through massive pain, loss and humiliation as a just punishment for disrespectful behavior. As I have occasionally dealt with Muslims and refugees from the Arab world in my job and have often talked to them, I have noticed that some of them are also active in martial arts and often have a really good education, not to mention the many natural beauties among the really cute oriental ladies. ... Kinda chaotic but interesting times and strokes of fate these days. ... But back to the "real" (digital) Street Fighter series. I also think that Street Fighter 6 doesn't have too many memorable soundtracks besides Ed's theme "König oder Feigling". But I strongly believe that it's quite hard and annoying for the composers to make new remixes of the iconic character themes one after another for every new Street Fighter game. Sometimes you really have to try out new soundtracks, new styles and music genres to evolve as a composer and enjoy the variety of new attempts. This doesn't always meet the taste of most fans. But sometimes it works out quite well. I remember that the developers of the Street Fighter series had a similar approach with completely new character themes in Street Fighter Alpha 3 for Playstation (still own this game). And this game had at least a few pretty nice new tunes, for example Ryu's theme "The Road":

I might try a slightly more philosophical approach. A critical person might generally find it difficult to place 100% trust in a technology that they did not develop themselves, in the midst of a universe that they did not create (or at least not completely on their own). Based on the law of cause and effect, every life, every deed, every thought, every emotion, every energy and cause presumably leaves some kind of smaller or larger traces in the world - whether online or offline. The crucial question is rather how much trust or caution (both are justified) you put into your life and the things around you. Sometimes a little more courage pays off, sometimes caution is the better decision in terms of life. If you are afraid of data leaks or the loss of sensitive data, but still want to take advantage of the internet, I would simply not use any or as little sensitive data as possible on the computer or technological device you use to access the internet, or maybe change the way how you use the internet. Cell phones were once used to be reachable in emergencies (I still use them in this way - although I could easily live without a cell phone away from work) and not to immortalize almost your entire life on them, which could cause some serious problems in terms of data security and privacy in the event of loss. Nor do I have to use every convenience of modern civilization. I still get along really well without online banking and other such conveniences. ... I don't want to spill out any excessive campfire stories about the good old days. But according to my memory, there was a time of the Internet before the age of complex browsers and search engines, when kids used to hammer some weird terms directly into the URL line and, with a bit of luck, ended up on really bizarre websites (and that was probably only a quarter of a century ago). I wouldn't be at all surprised if even nowadays some people still occasionally end up on OC Remix in exactly the same way - like a few happily stranded Argonians, who were able to hide from Zoda and his space pirates just because they didn't use any modern browsers and search engines, or because they didn't put any selfies with their magic cubes on the already alien-slime-infested platform X.

I just came across it recently when a good friend told me that the Street Fighter series now also has a German character called Ed (who's been around since at least Street Fighter 5, though). And when I recently happened to listen to Ed's soundtrack theme with the real title "König oder Feigling" (it means "King or Coward") you will hear directly in the fight, it really knocked my socks off a bit, as it reached my expectant bunny knight ears in the form of a really stylish German rap track (a genre that is enjoying great popularity in this country these days). Here's a version of the soundtrack with English subtitles: Really charming groove, good messages, snappy rhymes and lush punchlines that keep building up, especially after the first part - plus the excellent electric guitar lines in the background. The skillful mix of rap and rock has a bit of a pretty cool Run-D.M.C. vibe. Basically a really good soundtrack that literally invites you to a workout, a spontaneous street fight or a more metaphorical battle against the adversities of life. The soundtrack was sung by Blumio, a Japanese rapper who grew up in Germany. The content of the soundtrack seems to be about both the life of the rapper and the life of the German character Ed. According to the story, Ed was abducted as a child or teenager by the criminal organization Shadaloo (or "Shadowlaw"), which deals in biochemical psycho-drugs and recruits many of the strongest fighters in the world, and was brought on the organization's course with these psycho-drugs and experiments, which apparently took away part of his soul in exchange for special powers based on "Psycho Power". He was prophesied that he would lose his ego or soul when he reached adulthood. And due to his superior fighting skills, he was destined to become the new heir to the throne of this organization, or at least his physical shell. Yet... The small spark of soul and willpower he still has left seems to be fighting back and fighting a completely new battle, the fate of which is still written in the stars. ... It is also interesting in this context that the Shadaloo organization was modelled on the Nazis or the fascist movement in general. Apart from a siegrune or a lightning bolt that appears in the skull logo of the Shadaloo organization, which is decorated with eagle wings, the Nazis also used various psychedelic drugs such as Pervitin (see "Panzerschokolade" or "tank chocolate") or methamphetamine to break people's wills and souls and turn them into performance-enhanced, disinhibited, but nevertheless obedient, brainwashed, unresisting fighting machines always ready for action (in the long term at the expense of their health and ultimately their lives) in line with their much more champagne-sipping and less combative leaders. Presumably the higher-ranking or "chosen" Nazis saw themselves as the leaders of an elite Roman state with a few leashed Celtic berserk warriors in the front row, who could be put into a fighting frenzy at the push of a button through appropriate propaganda, fear, hard punishments and psychedelic drugs and sent into any war without any bigger restance to be able to make use of the treasures and resources of other countries in a completely imperialistic manner. However, these elitist wannabes, many of whom came from high society or were at least their bootlickers, have probably forgotten something important that characterized the culture of the Celts and indigenous peoples in general. After all, a bioelectric form of energy called life force, which has many different names depending on the culture, can also - or in particular - put people into a state of ecstasy, bliss, joy and raging fighting spirit in a completely natural way. And apart from these artificial drugs, to which rather weak and small-minded people are susceptible, life force is also able to unleash one's own soul, which literally invites one to follow one's true nature or natural instincts against all odds ... ... perhaps remotely comparable to an untamed wild animal that also bites the hands of those who try to control it and keep it on a short leash for their own purposes. ... I have no idea whether, according to the Japanese game developers, this might also be a subliminal plot motif for the character Ed (who is perhaps trying to break out of the organization's control and go his own way), precisely because many Japanese developers of video games, films and anime often make such subliminal 'n' pretty witty allusions. But apart from the really good and meaningful message of always going your own way despite all adversity and following your true convictions, the soundtrack, especially in terms of composition ideas, is quite the banger. ))

Tips for the final checks of a mix and a better use of delay effects for more clarity in the mix --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Good news. My Crisis Core - Final Fantasy 7 remix is finally finished. In terms of composition and mixing, I had already finished the remix according to my plan shortly after Christmas. I've also uploaded the finished remix to various streaming platforms a few weeks ago. But before I share it with you here on OC Remix, I would like to spread the following information and tips on the subject of final checks of a mix and setting delay parameters for a cleaner mix in addition to a further, somewhat more in-depth sound experiment on working with mono and stereo sound sources for the sake of cleaner mixing (this will be in my next post within this mixing thread, because this already quite long, comprehensive post would otherwise go massively beyond the scope here). I also found a really good solution for the remaining electric guitar track I wanted to compose in line with my vision of the soundscape and the mixing in the song "Everytime We Touch" sung by Maggie Reilly. This one got an incredible vibe and radically elevates the entire electric guitar section in my Crisis Core remix once again. I have also greatly increased the MIDI velocity dynamics at suitable points in the soundtrack once more. The whole composition and mix is really good now and I'm absolutely satisfied and confident with it. Even a friend of mine, who is by far the most critical listener of my tracks in my circle of friends, told me that he now likes my new remix version even better than the original track "The Price of Freedom" - and that really says a lot, especially for someone who nearly always finds original soundtracks better than most remixes of them. ... The bad news is that the final checks, where I actually checked each of the 45 tracks (23 instrument tracks and 22 aux send tracks) in detail and sometimes changed and adjusted minor things until I was absolutely satisfied, took much longer than expected (ranging from a few minutes to over an hour per track). Then, after Christmas, I also met up again with a good friend, gamer buddy and passionate fan of the Japanese culture from my student days, who I hadn't met for a good 2 years because he had quit his really good job in the civil service due to some serious upheavals with a superior, moved back near his relaxed home village and this year, after several applications, found a job in the civil service again with apparently much more pleasant and far-sighted superiors. I was really looking forward to finally continuing to watch the legendary martial arts anime "Fist of the North Star" with him after all this time. In addition, another friend asked me the days after Christmas if it would be possible to have a few gaming days. And together we played through Crisis Core - Final Fantasy 7 Reunion right into the new year and, after several attempts, even managed to defeat the hardest secret boss in the whole game. The really funny thing after waking up on the first day of the new year was that my mailbox showed exactly 777 unread emails (mostly DAW, VSTi and synthesizer news, which I often skip because I'm pretty happy with the stuff I own, want to use it better before buying new stuff and prefer to radically improve my composing skills these days). When the number 777 shows up during the modulation phase in Crisis Core - Final Fantasy 7 (Reunion), it means a level-up for the main character Zack. But I've really gotten used to such mystical numbers in my life. There have been far more gnarly cases, starting with some rather trivial-looking shopping receipts with a bill of exactly 7.77 euros, plus the number 777, which I once drew at the citizens' office for the waiting list, then when I googled the world population in 2020 and it was apparently exactly 7,77 billion people or when I was on the search engine Ecosia (a rather idealistic company that uses most of its income for ecological projects such as tree planting and growing organic food in the world) and this page showed exactly 7777777 planted trees that had been planted with the help of Ecosia. Maybe I'll start a special thread someday, a thread with the title "Haunted by numbers" (especially since I've collected the relevant papers, receipts, movie tickets with such numbers or made screenshots of the relevant numbers over the years). If I wasn't so happy with my working income and down-to-earth lifestyle (I don't even bother with tax refunds - but more because I don't want all this paperwork and prefer to spend my free time doing more joyful things like making music), I could really go to the casino and try to hit a few jackpots with my Lucky 7 mode activated. ... In the last few days of my vacation, I also wanted to finish the final checks of my Crisis Core remix to make a fitting transition with some finished content for the start of the new year. But just then winter set in and I had to do winter maintenance on both weekend days, followed by the working week and then winter maintenance again on the following weekend (similar to these days, where I was supposed to chop up frozen earth and gravel with a pickaxe or do a lot of earthworks with a wheelbarrow, shovel and rake this week due to an official ban on the use of certain machines, I was eagerly looking forward to a quiet weekend and was then greeted with a full onset of winter and 2 large winter service missions just in time for the end of the week - not exactly the most favorable conditions to focus my thoughts on creative, time-consuming music projects). After that, things slowly calmed down again. When the order situation at my company slowed down a bit, I was finally able to take off a lot of accumulated overtime and take a few days off to do the final checks on my remix during this time. ... Since the final checks of a mix can be very time-consuming, but definitely worthwhile, I wanted to take this opportunity to provide you with a small checklist with useful tips on what you should pay particular attention to in the final production phase of the mix, including exporting the final audio file. So, let's start right away with... The final checks: ----------------------------- 1) I assume that you already have a reasonable folder structure for your music projects, something like this: >>> "Folder for music projects" >>>>>> "Subfolder for a specific music project" >>>>>>>>> all music project files, audio files, text files (for a description of the remix, soundtrack or audio program or for a description of all the changes made in the latest updates of the work) as well as image, video and video project files (if you want to add some atmospheric visual content to your audio work and upload it as a video file) that belong to this specific music project... If not, I would go for it in this or a similar way in the long term. ... 2) Before you start the final checks, open the most advanced version of the music project file for your DAW in which you have already finished the composition and mixing. Save this version as another version of the music project file under a different name (perhaps something like "Your Music Project File - Final Checks"). If any serious mistakes happen in this new music project file during the final checks (e.g. unintentional, irreversible deletion of objects or MIDI data), then you still have at least one or more back-up versions of your music project. ... 3) Check all the details in a track according to a defined scheme with a corresponding sequence that seems reasonable to you. In my case, the order of the final checks was something like this: A) source signal track (track 1 with the piano intro, for example): panning >>> VSTi settings >>> settings of the direct plugin insert effects including settings of the EQ plugin >>> aux send feedback B) aux send track related to the source signal track (track 24 with the reverb for the piano in this case): panning >>> settings of the plugin effects including settings of the EQ plugin C) checking the audio and MIDI objects in the source signal track (especially position and content) as well as the automations (especially position and intensity) in the source signal track and its associated aux send tracks D) final listening (both of the individual track with all effects in solo mode and then again as a complete soundtrack from beginning to end with a good focus on the individual source signal track) The procedure is then repeated with the following source signal track (track 2 with the acoustic guitar chords in my case) and all the associated things mentioned - and so on until you have checked all the tracks in detail at the end. When I had finished checking a source signal track and the associated effects, the audio and MIDI data as well as the final listening of a specific track, I used to mark the next source signal track with the solo button for orientation and saved the project again (especially after minor or major changes and adjustments). This way, when I continued the final checks at a later point in time, I always knew which track I had stopped at last and that I had really saved again before starting the next track. ... 4) Yeah, you should really save your music project regularly during the final checks, perhaps also on another project file for the final checks ( "Your Music Project File - Final Checks 2", for example), and then always save your progress on both final check project files alternately, so that the loss of time in the event of possible errors or unintentional deletion of audio or MIDI data during the final checks is always kept to a minimum. ... 5) When checking the panning of a source signal track, also make sure that the panning of the track is in the correct or desired relationship with the corresponding aux effect sends (same panning or rather opposite panning, for example). For the sake of a clean mix and with the help of your DAW's display and metering functions, make sure that only a few source signals with the instruments, synths, etc. (especially bass, kick drum, snare drum, toms and cymbals) affect the center area in the mix, while the other source signals (guitars, pianos, lead synths, chords and pad sounds, for example) completely ignore the center area in the mix and only play on the sides (for example, a piano that plays with -15 dB on the left side and with -20 dB on the right side without any center involvement). To ensure a clean mix, also make sure that all aux reverb sends are always panned to the sides and never involve the center area (regardless of whether this is the reverb of a violin or the reverb of a kick drum), as reverb in the center area can quickly make the soundtrack sound muddy and washed out. ... 6) When you check the VSTi settings, the plugin effects and aux send feeds of the source signal tracks as well as the plugin effects of the aux tracks, not only make sure that they are all set correctly, but above all that they are activated at all (in the arranger matrix as well as in all subordinate settings). If you still have deactivated plugins and effects in a track that you may have used to experiment with sound design, I would delete them completely at this point - not primarily for the sake of better computing power in your DAW, but above all for more clarity in your mixer and arranger view and a better overview in your music project. In this step, make sure that the plugin effects are arranged in the correct or desired order along the signal processing chain. ... 7) When you examine the audio and MIDI objects within a track, check the position of the start and end points of all objects within a track with maximum zoom to make sure that they are correctly positioned in time and that you have not inadvertently moved an object slightly. Ideally, you should make sure right from the start that objects are only moved to the defined points in a timing pattern (and not at arbitrary small intervals) - there should be a special function for this in every common DAW. Once this has been done, you can take another look at the content of the objects, especially the content of the MIDI objects. For example, it may be the case that a starting note is displayed but not played if the MIDI object is subsequently edited and the note would actually start before the MIDI object. The last note in the object should also be checked again to ensure that it is still safely within the MIDI object and will not be chopped off prematurely. In such cases, you can also extend the MIDI object by one bar forwards or backwards. Also make sure that there is no unwanted overlapping of consecutive MIDI notes of the same pitch or even accidental doubling of MIDI notes (especially if you draw the MIDI notes with the mouse). I would also pay particular attention to any keyswitch notes, which are used to change the way the instruments are played. It can happen that you accidentally set a keyswitch note outside the available keyswitch "pitch" and therefore either no change in the playing style is triggered at all or, in the worst case, an unwanted noise is heard, which may be somewhat lost in the overall soundtrack, but is still audible. Again, make sure that the keyswitch notes are also in the correct position in terms of time so that always the right notes are triggered by a change in playing style (place the keyswitch notes temporally slightly before the actual notes with the desired playing style). This is why, when composing via MIDI, you should always completely quantize and humanize the notes before placing the keyswitch notes, so that there are no subsequent shifts with undesired articulations or strangely played notes. In this step of the final checks, it also makes sense to double-check all automations in the source signal track and its associated aux send tracks, in particular whether the exact time position and intensity of the automations are still correct. To avoid unnecessary confusion or unwanted shifts between objects (audio or MIDI objects) and automations, I would recommend object automations rather than track automations, for example via object fade-ins and fade-outs, or in a more detailed way by using the MIDI Control Change parameters (such as "Volume" - or "MIDI CC 7" in this case) and the MIDI Learn function of your DAW, which can also be used to implement automations in real time via the buttons, switches, knobs and sliders of your MIDI keyboard or other MIDI controllers. With object automations, you can move all objects anywhere in the music project (even between different tracks or between different music projects) and the automations within the object always remain at the specified position in the object, whereas with track automations, the automations always remain at the specified position within a track and the automation does not move with the objects when objects are moved within this track. ... 8) At the end of the final checks of a single track, listen to this track again - first in solo mode including all objects within this track and then again from beginning to end as an entire soundtrack with a precise focus on the individual track. If it is a pure MIDI track, I would also run the MIDI editor again while playing all MIDI objects and check whether any missing or incorrect notes and inappropriate articulations can be identified, whether the MIDI velocity dynamics should perhaps be reduced or increased in suitable places or whether the MIDI velocity, loudness and articulation of the virtual instruments and synths should generally be varied a little more. ... 9) When you have finished all this, check all tracks and the master track again to make sure that the volume is still correct everywhere and that the level peaks do not exceed the 0 dB mark at any point in the soundtrack, someting that would lead to unwanted clipping or a technically unclean production. With my own mixing system, I always mix the individual tracks in a very relaxed and forward-looking way, whereby even the level peaks of the loudest track in the entire soundtrack often just level out at around -10 dB. This means you don't always have to keep such an anxious eye on the level peaks in the tracks, because you always have enough headroom for subsequent dynamic changes in the composition or mix, which can be accompanied by a change in loudness and level peaks, without having to completely reset the mix and readjust the volume of each track in a time-consuming manner after every major change. The loudness and level peaks of the individual tracks in the mixer should mainly describe a relation between these tracks and not primarily generate a final volume for the soundtrack. You rather set the final volume or the target loudness of the whole soundtrack via the master track, for which I usually add a volume helper plugin to the master track in order to be able to set the desired target loudness in dB precisely to the first decimal place. If you check the level peaks of the individual tracks again, pay attention not only to the values displayed by your arranger or mixer, but also to what the integrated metering functions in the used samplers, amplifiers and other sound design plugins show you. Even if a completely safe level peak value is displayed in the arranger or mixer, it is quite possible that the peaks of the input level in the sampler plugin or guitar amplifier plugin in this track is sometimes slightly exceeded at some points in the soundtrack, which can already happen if you have only switched a signal source from stereo to mono in between (despite subsequently adjusting the loudness), which I experienced once during my final sound experiment that I am still preparing these days. When checking the level peaks, it's also worth taking another look at the spectroscope or the spectrum analyzer tool in your DAW to find any excessive level peaks that might be only in certain frequency areas (mostly in the lower frequency area). With many remixes on OC Remix, but also with numerous remasters of official soundtracks and modern audio productions, I accidentally noticed that there is often blatant clipping in the bass range (in some cases around 10 dB above the 0 dB limit!) or in the lower mid-range. Even if slight clipping in the bass range should hardly have any effect on the sound, it is still somehow a technical flaw in the mix. However, this phenomenon is most likely a direct consequence of the decades-long loudness war in the era of digital music production, in which the increasing use of compressors and limiters led to soundtracks being mastered closer and closer to the 0 dB limit with ever decreasing signal peaks, causing certain frequency ranges to exceed the limit - all because of a trend that was once set in motion to surpass the musical "competitors" in terms of loudness, according to the unwritten, pretty small-minded and tone-deaf adman motto: "Whoever is louder gets more attention, more listeners and more record sales." But it may also have been partly due to the fact that appropriate loudness measurement methods, metering instruments as well as pioneering loudness guidelines were only developed and increasingly established many years or several decades after the beginning of the digital music production era. ... 10) Before you export your music project as a final audio file, restart your computer again (preferably offline) to clear your RAM and have the maximum system resources available for exporting the audio file, whereby no other programs that are not relevant to the system should be opened or started after the restart. This reduces the likelihood of any unwanted sound artefacts (such as small crackling sounds, individual, slightly blurred sound events or other errors) creeping into the exported audio file. After exporting the audio file, I would listen to it at least twice from start to finish with good studio headphones before processing it further or uploading it directly to an appropriate platform. The same goes for exporting videos with appropriate video editing software (whereby you should not only pay attention to the sound in the exported video file, but also in particular to the transition animations between images and video material). ... 11) After you have exported your final audio file, listen to it again on as many different audio playback systems as possible for comparison (for example on different studio monitor speakers of different sizes, via different studio headphones as well as via less professional headphones, on ordinary hi-fi systems, kitchen radio, TV speakers, car radio, smartphone speakers or via the in-ear headphones of your HD MP3 player). If the audio file sounds really good on all systems, you have obviously made really good mixing decisions, so you can upload the file to a streaming platform or process it in another way with an easy conscience (in both cases, make sure to use an uncompressed audio format such as WAV, AIFF or FLAC in order to preserve as much audio quality as possible in subsequent conversions). If the audio file doesn't sound really good on any or hardly any systems, you obviously have a lot of work to do in terms of mixing, or you might want to consider changing your primary studio monitor speakers or studio headphones for your studio environment if your sense of hearing and room acoustics are okay so far. If, on the other hand, the audio file does not come across perfectly on just a few audio playback systems, it may also be due to the playback system itself (for example, if it generally reproduces the bass in a somewhat muffled and less defined way). In such a case, you should definitely also listen to a professionally mixed official soundtrack on such audio devices to check whether this soundtrack shows similar weaknesses in sound reproduction on the respective audio playback device as your mix. ... 12) Always keep your music project files and generally save all your important data every year on an external hard disk or comparable data carrier! In particular, this also includes all your custom presets for software instruments, synths, plugins and DAW settings. Especially with music project files, you never quite know whether you might need them again in the future, even if it's just to export an additional version of the track in a certain audio bitrate or because you might have noticed an unwanted sound artefact in the exported MP3 years later. But if you need all those music project files and presets and still have them, it can save a lot of time and maybe even lives. I usually keep several music project files for each soundtrack or remix project (the current and best version as well as various alternative versions that went in a different musical direction or that I simply used for saving and overwriting). My Crisis Core remix resulted in around 15 music project files (might be reduced to around 7 or 8 music project files afterwards), which contain a few versions at different stages of development of the remix (I usually keep all those), several project files for saving and overwriting the current remix project version and a few other music project files for a stereo width experiment that I will be presenting soon. As I can also open several music project files simultaneously in my DAW, I like to use this feature to directly compare different mixing and composition ideas in a remix or soundtrack project and to see which approach I will pursue in the further course of the music project. … The last thing I want to mention in this almost book-length text is an experience I had some time ago with stereo delay in the context of better clarity in the mix, and I'll directly copy some of the text from my post within another thread where I recently wrote on this topic. Better use of delay effects for more clarity in the mix: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I came across a very interesting thing with the delay effect that could be more relevant for mixing and clarity in the mix. I found this out the other days during the rather lengthy final checks of my Crisis Core remix. For example, in certain parts of the soundtrack there were tracks with instruments that were opposite each other in the panorama and both had a delay effect. And I tweaked the delay parameters until I found the best possible settings in terms of clarity in the mix in line with my sound design intentions, which resulted in a primarily more mirror-symmetrical arrangement of the delay parameters and another specific setting for delay times of the left and right side in a stereo delay plugin. In this experiment I found out that I achieved the best clarity in the mix if I make the delay settings like this: 1) For the instrument that is panned more to the right side: - put the longer delay time of the stereo delay (let's say 310 ms) on the right side (so you won't clutter the side of the instrument with too many echos or too fast repetitions of the source signal) - put the shorter delay time of the stereo delay (let's say 200 ms) on the opposing left side (so you also get some sort of a more frequented impression of the instrument's delay on the opposing side) 2) For the instrument that is panned more to the left side: - put the longer delay time of the stereo delay (let's say 310 ms, or maybe 330 ms this time) on the left side (same purpose like in the first example above - you won't clutter the side of the instrument with too many echos or too fast repetitions of the source signal) - put the shorter delay time of the stereo delay (let's say 200 ms, or maybe only 190 ms this time) on the opposing right side (same purpose like in the first example above - you also get some sort of a more frequented impression of the instrument's delay on the opposing side) Here is a small picture to give you a better idea of delay settings like these: On the left side of the picture you can see the stereo delay settings of an electric guitar that is panned hard to the left side (stereo delay left side: 253 ms, stereo delay right side: 203 ms) - and on the right side of the picture you can see the stereo delay settings of an electric guitar that is panned hard to the right side (stereo delay left side: 203 ms, stereo delay right side: 253 ms). ... Nevertheless, if you really want to have a rather chorus-like short delay with only 50 ms on the right side where also the instrument is located in the panorama (and with the longer delay time on the other side) according to your own sound design vision, then you should rather go for this setting (maybe you can turn down the feedback of the delay for the other side a bit or reduce the delay time for this side in this case). But if some delay effects don't follow a more specific purpose in your sound design vision and are only supposed to add a greater feeling of distance for your instrument, voice, synth or other audio sources, then try at least to balance out delay effects against each other in the panorama if at least two instruments with delay effects play simultaneously at some points in your soundtrack. And sometimes, a little bit less of overwhelming effects can be the greater blessing for the clarity in the mix. Especially in terms of a clean mix, it is crucial to know exactly what a certain plugin effect does to the output signal, how it affects the panning or depth gradation and how it interacts with the whole soundscape of the mix. ... Take special care with delay effects that they are not active during tempo automation, as this can lead to unpleasant clicking and crackling noises - because this would obviously create a kind of digital time paradox if the spreading sound wave, which later becomes the echo of a preceding signal source, were subjected to a tempo change in the middle of its sound path. Since the signal source takes place before the echo, the temporal relationship between the signal source and the echo is likely to become inconsistent during tempo automation, which would then seem to produce such strange sound artefacts. ... That's it for now with the rather comprehensive content on the topic of this post. In my next post, I will present a more in-depth sound experiment on the extended use of the stereo width of the tracks for the sake of a cleaner mix. I will also include numerous audio samples in this sound experiment. It will mainly focus on four roughly categorized variants for a specific and meaningful part in my Crisis Core remix, which contain stereo and mono sources in different combinations, in order to then examine the effect on the clarity and spatiality of the mix. I also want to compare the different versions on as many different playback systems as possible. The four versions will contain: 1) A mix of stereo and mono signal sources + stereo aux reverb sends (my preferred option so far) 2) Mono signal sources + stereo aux reverb sends 3) Mono signal sources + mono aux reverb sends 4) A mix of stereo and mono signal sources + mono aux reverb sends The sound experiment will also include a mono compatibility check of the master track for each version with additional audio samples. To do this, I have to set up the entire remix four times, realigning the panning and readjusting the loudness of the individual tracks to each other, in order to create the corresponding, hopefully significant audio material for a comprehensive comparison. But don't worry. After many hours and really tedious days, I have already put a good 75% of it into practice. However, as I don't know what's coming up soon in terms of work, winter maintenance or private stuff, I can't say exactly how many days, weeks or months it will take before I can present the sound experiment. However, I'll keep at it and try to make the best possible use of free hours. ))