Ghetto Lee Lewis

I'm sure some of these have been said before: Final Fantasy 3 (Famicom, Japan; FF2 was awful) Final Fantasy 4 Final Fantasy 6 (FF5 was good, but wasn't stunning like this game) Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link (the first really good zelda game in my opinion, with an RPG element) Zelda: A Link to the Past (though technically it was a prequel, this game blew me away when I first played it) Zelda: Ocarina of Time (probably one of the best game sequels of all time) Zelda: Windwaker Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest Street Fighter 2 (who has actually play the original Street Fighter, anyway?) Warcraft 2 (in my opinion, a much funner game than Warcraft 3) Diablo 2 (also probably one of the best game sequels of all time) Oregon Trail 2 Super Metroid Bloons Tower Defense 3 and 4 (ninjakiwigames for Flash) Gemcraft: Chapter zero and Gemcraft: Labyrinth (other flash games) Dragon Warrior 3 and 4

No offense to Will Rock, but the velocities in his remix are pretty bad. They don't sound like something a pianist would play, even though most of the notes themselves are pretty much okay. To me the way the velocities and tempo are sequenced and the notes are humanized sound pretty awful actually. There are so many things wrong about this....it really hurts me listening to it, and I'm a sucker for good piano music. It just reinforces my point that 99% of piano sequencing is done wrong, probably even more than that. My point is that it's easier to SEQUENCE a guitar with VSTi's of today. The software does most of the work for you when it comes to articulations and keyswitching and what not. The tone of the guitar is much less effected by velocities than a piano is. I wasn't talking about vibrato and pitch bends and muting when I referred to dynamics. The tone itself is less dynamic. I'm well aware that there are a lot of nuances, but software is so advanced now those nuances are extremely easy to fake, and it's easy to sequence a live sounding performance. Of course it's going to be hard sequencing a guitar if all you play is the guitar and you've never used a piano keyboard or a sampler before. Guitar software was made for people who don't play the guitar. I don't read guitar tabs, and I never will. I don't want guitar sequencing that forces me to learn guitar. And yes, guitar sequencing has gone a long way and used to be a PAIN in the ass, but it's gotten much easier with the latest software that's available. Piano humanizing software, on the other hand, is not very advanced. The best thing I've seen probably is Sibelius, which automatically does tempo changes, rubato and adds dynamics, but it's still far from perfect. Back to Will Rock's arrangement, I can tell he spent a lot of time trying to make it sound real, and most people aren't even going to get that close. In the end Sequencing piano well is extremely hard, and isn't worth the time it takes. You're better off getting a real performer to record.

I watched the tutorial on youtube. I'm really impressed with the legato and portamento control tools and the realism you can get through a small amount of tweaking. It seems unnecessary to sample every single legato interval like they do on larger sample libraries (i.e. Hollywood Strings) for a very miniscule and all but unnoticeable amount of realism. In any case Shreddage X looks like it can be used for great sounding leads on a lot of projects. Any chance of putting an extra 1 to 2 octaves of high notes on a future expansion pack? I think doing so would really make it seem like a complete library, and a great alternative to other libraries costing many times more (i.e. Ministry of Rock and Prominy). btw, that dragon ball z cover is pretty amazing. I really need to try out the expansion when I get home from work today.

Sorry, I'm not familiar with your example. Can you be more specific? I'm not talking about piano being used in a dance track. Emotional performances are unbelievably nuanced and complex. Guitars play one note at a time (or two if they're playing power chords). You switch articulations on a sequencer, and that's about it. Guitar is not very dynamic sounding when plugged into an amp, so it's easy to fake. Pianos are EXTREMELY dynamic sounding instruments, so making them sound real takes a lot of very careful precision tweaking to both tempo and velocities. edit: I'll give you an example that would be damn hard to fake. I recorded this while very drunk on St. Patrick's Day (Waterfall of Beer by GLL): http://compo.thasauce.net/rounds/view/OHC127

99% of sequenced piano music sounds fake. In my opinion it's more difficult getting piano to sound realistic than guitar (shreddage, anyone?). Your best bet is producing the piano sheet music (via Finale or Sibelius, etc.) and asking one of the talented people here to perform it. Other people might even have better piano sample libraries for the sound you want. When you have a midi recording, it's pretty easy to edit out the mistakes and nuances you don't want in there, but still have a realistic sounding performance. Make sure you specify whether it needs to be tempo synced. Non tempo synched will sound far more emotional, but is can't be combined with other instruments. Personally, I use Tonehammer Emotional Piano. It's the best sounding piano library I've found, and for $150, it's a steal. I'd be more than happy to take a look at one of your arrangements and maybe even perform it if it's appropriate to my skill level. Unfortunately, my keyboard is only 76 keys and non-weighted, so it won't be perfect, but it's definitely better than sequenced crap. As far as arranging tips, if you don't play piano it's probably going to suck. Period. You probably need pro tips from a real pianist if you want to make something good, unless you have god-like composer talent.

90% of mixing should be done at low volume. It's not only important to protect your hearing, but it's also a good way to mix different instruments to proper levels (if something is in there that you can't hear, it's probably not being mixed right). High volume mixing is only needed when you're mixing bass. Your ears actually have built in compressors, which will make things seem quieter than they are. They can take some abuse, and recover when you stop using them for a while, but long, sustained volumes can cause permanent damage, especially when using headphones. Getting sick or ear infections can cause temporary hearing loss also, and may take a long time to recover from depending on the severity.

Were any other guitars besides Shreddage (with the XP) used in the demos? If not, then this looks pretty damn impressive.

The flute and guitar are competing for attention and don't go together the way you have them. The drums are way too quiet. There's no bass on the song at all (or bass-line). Arrangement-wise it's mostly okay besides the flute in the beginning and lack of bass-line. The guitars themselves could sound more meaty, but that's really the last thing you need to worry about.

Serious balance issues. Piano is way too quiet. I had to turn the song down because everything else came in too loud. The piano should be in the spotlight. I hear clipping on the kick drum. There is too much going on at the same time, not enough space in the mix for all the instruments. The guitar sounds out of place and shouldn't be there (at least not at the same time as everything else, i.e. the piano). I like the piano in the beginning, but it sounds fake. Probably needs more sustain, more reverb and better eq. The vocals sound really out of place and poorly recorded. You can't understand any of what's being said because of serious mixing issues.

You somehow took an extremely bad song and found a way to make it even less musical and much more annoying. And it has very little connection to the original. just terrible

Gold Dust - So much sounds out of place and cheesy in this song, I don't really know where to begin, although I did like the little flute that comes in around 1:30, I just wish I could hear more of it and less of everything else. The groove you got going on at 1:50 is pretty cool too. There just seem to be too much randomness, too many balance/mixing issues for me to really enjoy this one. Littlest Tea Party - I rather enjoyed this fun little song. I thought the synths could have used a bit of reverb/delay, and I would have like to hear a middle build up section, or maybe some vocals, but other than that, great job.

The lead at the beginning sounds a bit dry, could use a touch of reverb maybe or other effects. The drums that start at the beginning are kind of minimal. The transition to the 4 on the floor pattern is kind of awkward. You probably need more cymbals, not just hi hats, like splashes and rides. Other percussion (shakers, etc) couldn't hurt either. That transition at :45, I'm not sure that's the kind of transition you should use for DnB. The section at :50 is pretty cool, although the random sound effects are kind of annoying and drive me crazy through the entire song (the pitch bendy things). Like the rest of the song, you need more transitions, more cymbals. I feel like maybe the drums aren't coming out strong enough and giving the song enough energy. I dunno if it's the slow tempo or what, but the break section sounds pretty lifeless. The piano is pretty neat, but it sounds like it's playing all by itself. It's lonely and needs friends. =P I like the strings that come in after that. The piano seems too loud and dynamic compared to everything else. The strings could use some more oomph, and of course, so can the drums. Maybe the most important thing. I don't hear hardly any BASS on this song. DnB is all about the bass lines. You seem to have forgotten to make really huge catchy basslines that drive the track. Your kick might not even be EQ'd right to make enough room for the bass. It sounds more like a Dance/Trance kick to me.

I hated every minute of this pile of crap.

Worst sequel to a game series I ever played (biggest disappointment) was Final Fantasy 7. Do I have to explain why?

It's cliche and annoying. I don't see how anyone could deal with it for longer than 5 to 10 seconds. *note to self - stop clicking on random music suggested by people you don't know.

The Asus Eee Slate will run FL Studio, Cubase, a bunch of VSTi's and a couple of big sample libraries at the same time. I'm sure that sequencer is going to be extremely lame and won't really support any kinds of decent sounds, multiple channels, automation, and effects that are required to make anything even halfway decent sounding. I'm pretty sure the iPad still has a lot less functionality than the iPhone, for a lot more money. I'm happy that I don't have to worry about any special super apps for the $300 laptop I bought at Wal-Mart when I can run FL Studio and a whole crapload of VST's at the same time. I looked at the promotional video. They need to make the buttons bigger on that koushion drum machine so your cat can play it.

When I was 21, I was buying a Doom 3 expansion pack (you need the original game in order to play it). I paid cash for it, and they asked for my ID. I was like "why do you want my ID? I'm paying cash?" They said "because it's rated M". This was at a Game Stop. I was also carded to get into a rated R movie. This was when I was 20 or 21, also. I don't understand why they're trying to mess with laws that are just fine as they are. Let people run their business without the government getting overly involved. oh, and I live in Vegas. You can grab a bottle of bacardi or tequila or whatever off the shelf of the local super market and put it in your shopping cart. You can even take it to self checkout. I've seen very few stores that actually have a separate liquor section, and it's really annoying. I've even been in stores that carry porno mags and videos on the shelves (you don't have to ask behind the counter to get them). Cigarettes are basically the only thing that's usually hidden behind the counter.

There are probably a small handful of people on this site who are professionals. The rest, like myself, play music for fun. If you have that kind of budget and are near LA I'm surprised if you can't find any local talent. If you use the workshop link (at the top of the page), you can contact people individually and search for specific types of instrumental and vocal talent. It really depends on what you're looking for specifically, but most people on this site aren't readily available on very short notice. To stay on topic, I'll send you a link to the drunken song I made last night in like 30 minutes (in honor of St. Patrick's Day). http://compo.thasauce.net/files/GLL_-_Waterfall_of_Beer(OHC127).mp3 As far as rates go, it really depends on the size and scope of the project and how much notice I get. Like a lot of people here, I have a full time job. I make music for fun.

I can sing baritone and tenor. I have a very operatic style when I want to.

No, not really. The default settings on the limiter add 5 to 6 decibels on the track, so a signal mixed under 0 db may sound over-compressed with the limiter on (with default settings).

I've used Rammfire with Shreddage on some of my one hour compos. Rammfire owns.

Use WAVECANDY. Wave Candy is your best friend for mixing. It shows you where everything is on the spectrum. You can easily see where the conflict is in the song that's causing clipping/over compression. On wavecandy click the spectrum tab (near the bottom). Turn scale all the way up on db range all the way down. Also make the window WAY bigger (to where it's taking up like half your screen). This will allow you to see everything better. Wave candy is best used on the master channel on the mixer, at the very bottom (after all the other mastering crud). When you can see everything on wave candy it makes EQ'ing much, much easier. Try to find gaps in frequencies and put instruments into those gaps to fill up the space. If you've got really huge gaps in certain places it's probably due to an arrangement problem, and eq'ing everything to death probably won't solve the problem. Also, make sure you turn off FL Limiter on the master channel while mixing. FL Limiter has horrible default settings and will make things sound over-compressed. You can always add a master compressor to the mix later after it's mixed properly. Using stereo enhancer and turning it all the way to minus (mono) will allow you to hear conflict better and see issues better on wave candy. Of course it's easy to turn it off to hear your panning effects and what not after the mix sounds the way you like. If you pan simply to move things out of the way while mixing it makes it really hard to make a clean mix and hear where the conflict is. As far as reverb muddying up your mix, you're probably not using reverb right. Watch the decay, highs and lows on it. Short, well eq'd reverb can make things sound big without muddying up your mix.

I want a German made concert grand piano. A high end electric piano with midi (with hammer action as close as possible to a Schimmel grand piano). East West Hollywood Strings Symphonic Orchestra Platinum Ministry of Rock 2, or Prominy or something with guitars that don't sound fake NI Komplete 7 East West Silk Storm Drum 2 Good choir libraries with word building/phrase building (Tonehammer requiem, Voxos, Symphonic Choirs). Good solo vocals (Voices of Passion, etc.) a better DAW than FL Studio that can actually use the Wordbuilder tool (Cubase maybe) better scoring tools (Sibelius or Finale probably) a decent PC that can actually run everything at the same time (Intel I7, 24 gigs RAM, multiple SSD's) I know I left off a few things; eventually I want to just hire crazy talented people and make my own sound libraries.

Native Instruments Reaktor 3 came with a really amazing machine that emulated steam noises, wood wind instruments, etc, called Steampipe. I'm sure there are better versions now in the new version. Anyway steam sounds are really easy to make with white noise, clever filtering/eq and lots of reverb.

3x osc is good for making big clean basses (very short, low reverb with no top end can make it even bigger/warmer). Sin waves work, or basically any other wave form with a heavy low pass filter applied (turn low cut down really low, and maybe turn resonance up a bit). But if you want really huge warm basses or don't use FL Studio, try playing with Native Instruments Absynth. It's hard to get subharmonics that sound that good and bassy on 3x osc.