*NO* NiGHTS into dreams... 'Celestial Entrance' *RESUB*

Hey,

I don't want to give up on this mix.. sorry if I'm bothering you. I sent this revision to Larry and haven't heard back on it. To be honest, I sent Larry a few revisions. I was finding it a little bit confusing as to what he said was missing. But the source usage in this version is constant, between the bells and the plucked "dulcimer" type sound.. All of that continues to the second half, but the bassline switches and the guitar solo of course. So it's an EXTREMELY conservative arrangement technically. I was surprised that you guys originally no'd it due to source, haha... anyway, here's the link:

Like I said I am sorry for bothering you again! I just don't want to give up on this mix. I know if this gets NO'd and I can't fix it for you guys then I will never go back to it and nobody will hear it.

Please tell me what I need to do if more changes need made. x_x Thanks!

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Okay, I re-looked at this, and there was some stuff I missed the first time. Taking the bells, the weird synthy thing and bass in the beginning, and the downward bell pattern, this is fairly close to source in terms of what's going on, albeit in a weird key from the original. After that, most everything that is added is original. It would have been nice if the stuff you added in had more of a connection to the source. Once that stuff comes in it feels like you are just using the source to solo over, which makes the song feel not as cohesive as I would have liked. I'm also noticing that the drum loops stay the same once they get established. You could add a lot more variation to those as well, though that's a smaller detail. Right now the big issue is that you have Source and Original, and very little connection between the two.

I do like the opening and the sound you went for it. At first it wasn't really my thing, but it did grow on me. The swells add a nice touch. I'm surprised there isn't more panning used aside from the drums; the track sounds like something that could make good use of various panning techniques.

The other big issue is once the guitar solo comes in the song is VERY crowded. There's so much going on that I really can't make out individual parts aside from the bass and guitar at that point. I'd like you to restructure that section so that maybe you get rid of the fluff and let the right parts come through.

Big issues: more connection in the original stuff and uncrowd the second half. NO (resubmit)

I agree with everything that Deia said.

The drums are repetitive, it needs more panning, and a lot of it sounds like a conservative arrangement with solos over it. I think you need to really sit down and look at the elements of the source and write something that really works with that at the forefront, rather than using it as a backing track for your own original stuff.

NO

Yo Brandon, it's Andrew.

It's clear you have some skills, but it seems like when I make suggestions to improving, your efforts to implement them are somewhat halfassed.

If I could make 1 wish on my magic lamp, it would be to give you one piece of advice that you would be forced to take to heart and follow. More specifically, it would be to learn to make EQ cuts in your tracks so your compressor doesn't smash everything together. Louder mixes and professionally done albums can be so loud because they have near-invisible EQ cuts made throughout of frequencies that are just cluttering up the soundfield. Unless you make similar cuts in your own tracks, pushing things so hard is going to sound pretty bad.

Hit me up on aim sometime, and i'll try to help you out.

Arrangement-wise, it sounds like more source is dominant, but the other judges had some great tips for improving.

No, please resubmit