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More or less. Dronebone, I totally get what you're saying in that it could be improved. The production could have been better. The four live performances could have been better. If the five of us were to get together and make a remix now, we could probably do something that sounds much cleaner, much more professional. But here's how I see it: listening to music doesn't always mean listening to pristine studio recordings; sometimes it means listening to your buddy's band rock out in his garage. Do they sound as pristine as what you hear on the radio? No. But does that at all detract from the fun? Not at all. This wasn't "let's sit down and make the best damn remix ever" sort of thing; it was more like "hey, we got five remixers here in Andy's basement, so let's throw a track together." It was a jam session between five buddies. It is entirely possible that my perception of this remix is biased by the fact that I consider that jam session to be one of my most treasured memories, but when I listen to this track, I wouldn't change a single thing. Not one waver of Jill's voice, not one aspect of Andy's production, not Mike's cheesy lyrics, not Steve's 3AM rapping, not my off-rhythm guitar playing, not one single thing would I change.

Music isn't always about refining things to sonic perfection.... see The Velvet Underground.... or the entire genre of punk, for that matter Sometimes it's more "of the moment"... as was the case here, imo. I think certain types of arrangements just tend not to even HAPPEN at all when everyone involved is thinking about pristine perfection or whether adding/removing a given element will make a song more appealing to a wider audience... it's not about saying you couldn't have made improvements at the time if you knew then what you know now, if I'm getting @Geoffrey Taucer right... it's more about some of those types of tweaks & that type of finesse ruining the vibe that birthed the arrangement in the first place.

Hey @Esperado, this is as close to the source as I'm willing to transcribe: https://www.dropbox.com/s/31dq8pwwm982cm8/Abandoned%20Castle.mid?dl=0 Right before it loops it goes into some crazy solo stuff that is really hard to hear at half speed, the airy-ness of all the instruments used in the source makes everything kinda muddy at slow speeds. I also think there is a wrong note around 2:09 but I couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be. Anyone going up against me throughout the compo is welcome to use this midi!

If I were in Taucer's shoes, I wouldn't want to change much either; there are five collaborators, so y'know, it might be best to just go for as good as you can manage without pulling some of them in for more and more fixes. That aside, I actually haven't heard this since I heard zircon's Phasma Elementum, which was like, 3+ years ago (when I heard it, not when it was released ), so let's see. Yep, Jill is still killin' it with her tone, and she only got better in the later years. Shonen Samurai makes it sound somewhat parody-like, in a good way. Almost talk-like, but not like he wasn't motivated, and not so flat that it felt unenthusiastic. A bit more like he maybe didn't understand the message of the song but wanted to sing it as well as he could anyway. Sure, I can see sometimes the lyrics are trying to fit into a large number of notes (yet a short time span), but it's not "phoned-in at best" or even "cringe-inducing". At worst I'd say it's occasionally awkward, but clearly not so bad that they might as well not be there... As it stands, it's right on the edge of the typical production standards in 2006 IMO. Maybe it wouldn't pass today, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it should have been further revised before final submission in 2006. Still holds up well today, and well worth listening to.

I'll send you my transcribed midi later tonight! It's a pretty simple source for the most part.

Hello OCR, another cover is finished. This one is very short, but was very challenging to make. Last two covers where (mostly) done with midi. I was advised to use more physical instruments and let go of the original form. Though the form is still original, I did give it a twist. As always, I wont be working on this one anymore than I already did. Feedback is welcome, any ideas or direction you think I should go or try out is welcome too. Above all, Enjoy!

This is terrific, I love the groove and the emotion from the cello and vocal together. 2:04 onwards just feels really great, with little things that keep it interesting like at 2:26 with that almost delayed effect to the cello there. This could've easily gone on for as long as 6 minutes for me.

Thanks for the MIDI, Beth, much appreciated. @Magnetic Ether: Good luck to you too, I have a busy week-end so I'll start next week! Still don't know how to fit those two sources XD

It's not the poses themselves rather than the fact that they're 3D rendered and anatomically questionable. The joint placement definitely sits right at home in uncanny valley. If you're asking why I say "cringe-worthy", it's because I find uncanny valley stuff creepy and creepy stuff makes me literally cringe.

Well Dreamtheater happen to be my favourite band! It's definitely inspired by the intro to "Lines in the Sand", even though that wasn't my intention. Btw I did mean mastering. In class we did a mixdown and then we were introduced to multiband compressors, limiters and stereo enhancers to master our mixdowns. So this is my mastering attempt. I managed to get the volume to the level of some commercial references, but I guess I need to mix better so I can ease off the compression. Edit: I just saw you linked the same DT track haha

A picture is worth a thousand words

I actually like the setup that 0:00 - 0:30 does. That intro reminds me of something by Dream Theatre. I can say more later, when I actually have my good headphones on and I have a more accurate stereo field. Also, I know you said "mastering", but maybe you meant "mixing". My initial impressions are that: - I'm pretty sure I'm hearing either slight overcompression, or overcrowding plus weak/overly clean drums at 1:12 - 2:00, but I'd probably be more sure later. - The drums are decently mixed, but it's one of those situations where it's "good but not great". They get the job done, but are merely good enough. They aren't that strong/punchy. I can barely notice the kick, the snare is there but not that upfront, and the hi hats/etc could be a bit louder. For example, these drums are quite punchy, because they've had some careful distortion added, as well as some parallel compression (especially the snare). Notice the right-panned toms at 0:51 - 1:06? Yeah, they're pretty quiet, but if you know they're there, you can hear them. The little details like that should be able to be heard in a well-mixed track. - The rhythm guitar is alright. Kind of like the drums, it does its job, but IMO, it's on the borderline of not quite good enough. When 1:12 comes in, the rhythm guitars get a bit buried because of the lack of low end (near 200 Hz). - The lead guitar is not too bad (the playing sounds great); it sounds loud enough before 2:48. At 2:48, it gets a little buried, and if not for the wah pedal adding motion, I might not hear it as well. So from this, I would say to check your midrange frequencies in the rhythm guitar. There seems to be some midrange clutter that obscures the lead guitar in the denser timestamps in the mix.

Chernabogue, I keep thinking your source is about to turn into Dr. Wily Stage every time it gets to that fast part :P. This is a going to be a weird mashup XD. Edit: Also those signatures are great, but I can't figure out how to use mine...

Helping your competitor?! How brazen!

This assessment could not possibly be further from the truth. As for the rest of the post, I'm sorry you didn't like the song. It is, looking back on it after ten years, probably not up to the standards that any of the five of us would shoot for if we were to make it today, but if I were to go back and redo the song all over, I wouldn't have wanted to do anything different.

I'm going to buy some alchool and making finishing the tracks.

Ergo Proxy: