S3&K - Glowing Spheres Bonus Stage

The title of my remix is "Everything Is Glowing". It is progressive trance, inspired by the likes of Paul van Dyk & Armin van Buuren. I almost marked this "Finished," but because I haven't submitted it for any feedback at all, I decided to wait. At the very least, I'm sure my level balances need adjusting, but beyond that, I crave your feedback.

Thanks everyone!

http://stuff.kingtigermusic.com/music/wip/Everything%20is%20Glowing%20%28WiP%201%29.mp3

EDIT: oh yeah, I also want to add some overall mastering to the whole track once it's done.

WiP 2: http://stuff.kingtigermusic.com/music/wip/Everything is Glowing (WiP 2).mp3

"Finished": http://stuff.kingtigermusic.com/music/wip/Everything%20is%20Glowing.mp3

EDIT: The "finished" version clocks in at 5 minutes, 55 seconds, and 5 frames.... eerie O.O

Finished, v2: http://stuff.kingtigermusic.com/music/wip/Everything is Glowing (v2).mp3

v3: http://stuff.kingtigermusic.com/music/wip/Everything is Glowing (v3).mp3

v4: "Radio Edit" (4:37): http://stuff.kingtigermusic.com/music/remixes/Everything is Glowing (Radio Edit).mp3 "Extended Mix" (5:55): http://stuff.kingtigermusic.com/music/remixes/Everything is Glowing (Extended Mix).mp3

Nice! This sounds pretty good for being a first WIP! Some of the synths sound a little generic, but overall I really like the groove. I'll give a more critical listen and give better feedback later, but I just wanted to say I like what you've got so far!

And yeah this is how I've been all week... I JUST WANT TO REMIX SONIC SONGS ALREADY!!! The compo can't start soon enough haha.

Some of the synths sound a little generic

Here's WiP 2, I made several small changes, partly to address what you mentioned above and partly to change things up a little. Overall, I didn't change much though. I want everyone's opinions, even if it's just difference in "artistic opinion"! I want this thing to be as good as possible.

http://stuff.kingtigermusic.com/music/wip/Everything is Glowing (WiP 2).mp3

EDIT: aaaagh, I've had so many ideas! I updated it again, this time I'm marking it "Finished". I added a couple new rhythmic synths, made some small changes to the existing arrangement, and added some compression to the master track.

Please still give your feedback. Rip this thing to shreds! so I can re-build it even better!

new version: http://stuff.kingtigermusic.com/music/wip/Everything%20is%20Glowing.mp3

Yeah the synths sound a bit better this time around. Overall I don't have a lot to add... I think overall it works, you did a good job building off each instrument as it's introduced. Kind of a staple of the trance genre though I suppose. I particularly enjoyed the piano break at 1:37. I wish it would've made a bigger re-appearance later in the song, but you did introduce enough other instruments to keep things fairly interesting. The synth around the 3:30 is pretty cool too.

Overall I felt the song went on a bit longer than it needed too, but that's probably more of a personal bias of mine, as I know a 6 minute trance song is hardly out of the ordinary . Nice job. I can't wait to hear what you cook up in the compo. Now I need to get back to work!

PRODUCTION

[X] Low-quality samples

[X] Generic/cliche sound choices

STRUCTURE

[X] Not enough changes in sounds (eg. static texture, not dynamic enough)

[X] Too repetitive

+ = Positive comment

- = Negative comment

+It's very interesting to see this in a different light than the jazzy source, and I love the solo piano that comes in. I am definitely liking this song a lot.

+I also love the vibrato you put on the pads.

-The rhythm can get repetitive at times.

-I don't like the clapping sounds you use. They seem kinda empty compared to your rhythms. Add some rhythm or give them more defined rhythm with the...well, rhythm.

-On the same note, I don't like your kick at all. It's all punch, no sub, and it barely feels real.

-It seemed very run of the mill techno, add some personal zazz to it.

Now, I didn't not like it. No, that is not the case at all. I liked it indeed, but it needs humanization and personality, some feeling. This all sounds like a big bunch of nit-picky comments, but it just needs to interest me more.

Okay, I considered both of your thoughts and tried to incorporate changes to address all of them. I added lots of zazz

Here's v2: http://stuff.kingtigermusic.com/music/wip/Everything is Glowing (v2).mp3

EDIT: added a whole bunch more zazz, and fixed the kick (for real this time!) - v3: http://stuff.kingtigermusic.com/music/wip/Everything is Glowing (v3).mp3

Nice update! I didn't do a huge comparison between the two versions, but I feel like this newer version kept my attention more throughout. I like the expanded piano part and I like the (new I think?) synth part around 4:30!

No source link, no source feedback.

Also, Finished, Finished_v2, Finished_v3? You're becoming me. That can't be good for you.

Starts off okay... 6 minutes? Oh boy. Well, that explains the slow intro build-up. 1:18 I hear the compressor working. That's not good. At 2:15, the side-chaining works while the beat is steady, but once you hit a fill where the bass drum relents or changes rhythm, the whole thing falls apart.

The sound design is a bit minimal but it works.

The track is too long. While 4 minutes went by okay, I'm getting tired of the track and it's not doing anything interesting enough to hold my interest for another two. What comes in around 4:25 now feels like an attempt to keep it interesting for a little longer rather than a natural direction of the track.

Hey, a redeeming groove in the last minute. Bitcrushed delay/fade. nice. It's still to long, I would cut some some stuff from the middle of the track to avoid wearing ppl out with it.

ARRANGEMENT / INTERPRETATION

- No clue. SOURCE LINK!

PRODUCTION

- Overcompressed (pumping/no dynamics)

STRUCTURE

- Too repetitive

Looks pretty good, I'm only hitting two of the checklist items. Granted, there may be a too conservative/liberal item I couldn't check because I R LAZY and U NO PROVIDE SOURCE LINK. Also, those two checked items... they're pretty big concerns.

It's in NO-land atm. Aside from the source, which I'm not commenting on because there was no source link, this could be pushed into YES-land.

SOURCE LINK

Sorry! There's no chiptune version of this so here's the YouTube version.

EDIT: I fixed the compressor issue and cut the song down to 4:37 (much to my chagrin): http://stuff.kingtigermusic.com/music/remixes/Everything is Glowing (Radio Edit).mp3 Don't know if you care to review it again, but if you don't, could you please change the status of this thread back to "Finished"?

You can still get the "Extended Mix" here: http://stuff.kingtigermusic.com/music/remixes/Everything is Glowing (Extended Mix).mp3

So I gave it a few listens and you mentioned on my wall that you thought you heard some distortion somewhere... I don't think I hear anything incredibly out of the ordinary... was there a specific spot you thought you heard it and I can give it a closer listen? If Rozo comments again, listen to what he says, cause he definitely knows his stuff.

One thing I did notice though while listening is I hear some very very faint crackling, hissing, popping type noises during the first piano break section, specifically at 1:06-1:08 and 1:11-1:13. I'm not sure if that's just the result of some rendering abnormality or if something clipped with the compressor. It's very very faint, but I just noticed it. It seems to be primarily in the left channel too.

I also just want to say that I really liked this trimmed down version. I think it feels like a much more cohesive & tight mix and doesn't meander like the longer version sometimes felt. Good work!

The crackling pretty much comes from the chopping/slicing I did on an underlying part of the piano section... I should be able to fix it pretty easily. Thanks for pointing it out.

I changed the status of this back to "finished"... I think I'll go ahead and submit it once I fix the problem mentioned above.

Fixed and Subbed if you go to the links in the first thread, they should download the "fixed" versions.

Wish me luck!