[Hytheter]

So I've been messing around with FL Studio for a bit. The following is something I've wanted to make for aaaages but haven't really had/found the tools or the skill, until recently.
My friends say it's my best work yet which is... frustrating since its my only non-original, but regardless I'm proud of it and I'd like to see how it stands up in a more serious context like this.

It doesn't depart too wildly from the original, but I'm very happy with the instumentation, and I've added a few minor touches and a guitar solo worth listening until the end for.
Comments & criticisms would be very much appreciated.

Hot Head Bop Remix (better title pending...)
Original Track

[tesselode]

Everything seems to be mixed in a way so that things have trouble standing out. I think the bass is making everything else duck out of the way because it's too loud. Also, that lead guitar is quite loud compared to the other instruments and doesn't fit with the feel of the track, in my opinion.

Also, I'm not that familiar with the source, but the remix seems rather cover-y. So in summary: change the mixing and vary up the arrangement. You can worry about other stuff later.

Edit: Ignore that thing about things have trouble standing out. I think I might just be my air conditioning covering up a lot of the song. The bass is still too loud, though.

[Argle]

Something that really stuck out at me is the mixing of swing and straight rhythms. It sounds weird to my ears.

[Cash and Change]

Yeah, bass is too loud, at times it drowns out the other stuff. The guitar is way too harsh through the mix, it muddies things up a bit. At the 4 minute mark, I thought the song was over, it's an unnecessary break, or at the very least it lasts too long. This is mostly a cover, though there is nothing wrong with that, it means that it's not up to OCR standards; which may or may not matter to you, depending on your goals with this remix.

I do hear your own arrangement near the end, which was nice. I also like that reverby piano, when it's not drowned out by the guitar. Overall, I think this is good work so far. Keep at it.

[Blue Magic]

This remix as a whole is pretty close to the original song. This would be more of a cover that a remix and I honestly can't see it getting past the judges.

Try adding a bit more of your own personal touch to it spice thing up. The solo at 4:22 is a good example of what I mean. If you can do that throughout your mix, you're really have something special going.

The bass is a little overpowering. I would tone it down a bit. And again, its following the bass line in the original quite closely (almost note for note). Adding more variation to it will help.

The samples you are using are a bit weak. They pretty much sound like you pulled them from a GM bank. I'm not sure what program you are using, but it's a good idea to dig around a find some better sounding samples that are compatable (sf2 or vst samples). There's lots of free ones out there on the webz.

Decent stuff, but there's definitely room for improvement. Keep it up!

[Hytheter]

Hmm... I've never found the bass overpowering, but that seems to be the most prevelant complaint, so I'll turn that and the guitar down a little. I guess I'm just used to it/have less bassy headphones or something. Or maybe I just like the bass too much. :p
I was actually thinking I could use a little more variety. I think I might add mild piano soloey thing from about 1:05 to the end of that section, and maybe spice up the bass in some sections.

Originally Posted by Argle

Something that really stuck out at me is the mixing of swing and straight rhythms. It sounds weird to my ears

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by this...
Could you or anyone else please explain it?

[Angry Ancestor]

I can tell you used the default electric guitar for FLS. You should find I better one, or maybe mix it more.

[Skrypnyk]

Originally Posted by Hytheter

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by this...
Could you or anyone else please explain it?

I'm guessing he means your drums use triplets at weird moments.

I stopped listening after 2 minutes. When I read

Originally Posted by Hytheter

So I've been messing around with FL Studio for a bit.

I'm assuming 'a bit' means less than 6 months.

No amount of advice is gonna help you improve this song. It is what it is and no feedback or advice is going to take it from what it is and make it any better.

I suggest if you like what you're doing, start a new project and keep on learning. Practice, experiment, learn more about the software, etc.

[Hytheter]

Originally Posted by Angry Ancestor

I can tell you used the default electric guitar for FLS. You should find I better one, or maybe mix it more.

Yeah.. It's just "Electric 1" (lol) with some distortion on it. I actually quite like it but I would like to find some better/more varied guitar synths.
Do you know where I could find some? I've had a look but the ones I've found so far all sound really terrible. At least this one is a considerable step up from the Sytrus "guitars" and most of what FL Slayer has to offer.

Originally Posted by Skrypnyk

I'm guessing he means your drums use triplets at weird moments.

Hmmm idk about that, the drums are almost (or maybe completely) identical to the source, which I'll admit is probably a problem in itself. I think I'm just a bit reluctant to deviate from the original too much because it's just so damn good, but I'll see what I can do.

The rest of your post isn't really too constructive or helpful though. Yes, I'm relatively inexperienced and much of what I do is part of a learning process. But I don't see how that makes anything I produce beyond improvement.
The fact that you stopped listening because of that seems a little narrow-minded.

[urdailywater]

If you haven't already, I'd get rid of some of the reverb in the bass. I don't think you necessarily have to cut below 30khz (edit: I could have sworn somebody mentioned something about cutting it below 30khz, but I guess not), just balance it out with the mix, so it's not putting a blanket over the whole mix like it's doing right now.

Try to find a better piano sample and guitar sample while you're at it.
Tweak the guitar if anything, but if you can't get it to sound good, maybe replace it with a synth? Or heck, even layer a synth over it, that might help to give it some character.

The piano could also use some humanization.

I'd hate to keep saying things, but I do think you have a good mind for music from what I'm hearing so far. Just need to work.
When you're trying to do cymbal rolls during that piano solo at 4:04 it doesn't sound to good. I'm not sure if you're really going to get a good cymbal roll sample like you're wanting from FL Studios library, but look around. Something might work. I would also try having a pad play there or something, so it doesn't sound so awkward hearing a cymbal roll with only the piano.


There's definitely a lot that can be done with this mix. I wouldn't stress yourself out over this one song too much. It's as Skrypnyk said, only doing more projects will get you better. But you'd be doing good to apply as much as we've said here to this project if possible and the next one you do. Like I said, you obviously have a good mind for music - just keep learning production and arrangement techniques and I think you'll be alright.

P.S. I found myself liking the part towards the end. Try applying arrangement like that throughout the song. It was fun to listen to!