Argle

Well that's sad. Was looking forward to doing another Christmas track.

btw I can't update the first post anymore, it be giving me an Internal Server Error message.

Well this is an olde thread. Something I was thinking about on the drive to work this morning, namely that I don't like the typical method of MIDI humanization from the MIDI editor, because it bakes in the changes. What happens if you want to revert to the pre-humanized MIDI item? Well yer kinda screwed, unless you kept a backup of it somewhere. But that's messy. A way I prefer is to use the schwa/midi_humanizer plugin that comes with Reaper. That way you can have it humanized non-destructively in real time. Another benefit is it allows you to freely adjust the level of humanization. Give it a try, load it up and change the following parameters.

Does anyone else have, like, outdated body images of themselves? Despite working our regularly and having more muscle mass than ever in the past, I still feel like the skinny teenager I used to be. Not complaining or anything, I just find it strange how I hang onto things from the past.

I don't understand.

Happy birthday old man.

you can make money on music?

I honestly can't make out the lyrics. To me the vocals feel more like a texture element than a real singer, and there's nothing wrong with that. If you didn't tell anyone that there were lyrics, I'm not sure they would notice.

Wow, dat source. So that's what a bombastic orchestral piece turned into synth tones sounds like. Will get to this review soon.

Ok, so Cave Story is a game I've heard mentioned a lot and still have no idea what it is. Anyway, let's dive right in. From a source usage POV, I can spot the source even though your version is slowed down a lot. No worries there. As for as production goes, everything sounds generally ok with a couple exceptions. No mud obscuring the low-end, and fairly easy to make out the parts. A nice blend of live guitars with more electronic textures, and things generally sound clean and easy to hear. However, I almost feel that the bitcrushed drums are too loud and obscuring the underlying acoustic-sounding drums. Try changing the balance and see how that sounds? Up the main drums 3 dB and drop the bitcrushed ones 3 dB for a starting point. My primary gripe with this track is the distorted square lead that starts at 0:34. I dunno, it nags at me for a number of reasons. For starters it sounds kinda wobbly and seasick. It sounds like you were attempting to make a guitar lead but are left with an obviously square wave with distortion. It seems to dominate the stereo field too much as well, and kinda overlays the backing instruments with its nasal tone. My suggestion would be, a real guitar lead playing the part would sound fantastic and very much in keeping with the other live guitar. Could be drenched in FX and would sound pretty sweet. But if you don't want to do that, try bringing in the stereo width and EQing some of that nasally quality. Add some more reverb as well? Try to get it play more nicely with the other instruments. From an arrangement standpoint the backing track at 2:14 seems to mainly be a retread of 0:34, with mostly the same instrumentation and parts. I do hear melodic variation in your leads, but the judges might bring this up. I like the wobbly ending chord, but the ending does sounds like you abruptly gave up rather than winding the energy down. The Js would likely mention that as well. Overall I feel the issues to work on are preventing the main square lead and bitcrushed percussion from dominating the other instruments, and perhaps trying something new in the 2nd half of the track. And IMO change that square lead to something more natural and pleasing, like a guitar. Hope this helps!

Gol is quite the trip.

I'm nearly out of tracks to be posted or judged, other than album tracks. they've been going gangbusters. damn. I need to make more stuff.

Well it looks like I'm the new guy here. Real name: Adam Kirby Location: Tinley Park, IL, USA Occupation: Programmer analyst Preferred method of contact: PM Five OSTs I recommend: Chrono Trigger , King's Bounty: the Legend, Rayman, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Super Mario Galaxy About me: just a dude who likes to make teh remixes. Been at the music thing for over a decade. I play violin and guitar but I consider that secondary to composing computer-based music. I try to write in a variety of genres to prevent myself from getting bored, and would like to think I can give feedback on pretty much any genre. Look forward to helping people out!

Source links? Don't make me go lookin' for them.

Ok, so the intro captures my interest right away with the airy pads and female vox. I like the unabashed 80s feel of this. Overall with this track you have a nice blend of instruments and offer a very different feel from the source. Source-wise you seem to have it well-covered, adequate source tune with some melodic modifications. Don't see any problems in that area. Production-wise, everything is clear and easy to hear, no muddy buildup. Nothing in the mix blew me away, but it's solid work. I don't foresee any drastic problems with the judges on this aspect. Two minor things I would note is the snare, which could be a little beefier and more present, and the bass could MAYBE be turned down a tad. Try it and see? Now, I PERSONALLY have no problem with your synth leads, but the judges may say they are sort of thin and static, particularly the one at 1:04. Just be aware it could be a possible point they bring up. They might ask you to vary your lead sounds as well. Possible things to consider. The thing I think would cause you the most trouble with the judges is the arrangement; specifically, the relatively static feel of the backing track. There's a great airy intro. Then the main body of the track begins and 0:30 and for almost 2.5 minutes keeps the same beat, groove, and instrumentation. Then there's a nice ambient break, but soon after that starts with pretty much the same arrangement as before. Now the little crushed and panned percussive ear candy at 4:02 was much appreciated, as was the outro. But overall, almost 4 minutes the song continues along at much the same pace and feel. So, options for you. Tastefully placed automation of your drums, bass, or anything else can spice up the arrangement and give surprises to the listener, which you should always try for. Distort the beat on the last measure or bar of a section, filter it along with the bass to allow a breath in the action. Like, ah, wall of sound momentarily lessening... and now we're back into it. Try to feel where a little production surprise would be welcome for the listener. Another thing is to simply vary instrumentation and density of arrangement in later sections more radically. Perhaps choose a lead sound that is completely different from your previous ones. In a successive iteration of a section, you could drop out the beat and bass entirely for a couple bars before bringing it back in. Or substitute the drums with other percussive sounds that keep the beat but offer a different feel for awhile. Swap out backing instruments for other ones that sound different. Even change the part writing! You've got loads of options at your disposal so that the listener doesn't say, "I liked this track, but a lot of it felt the same to me." Just my impressions to help you hedge your bets with the judges, should you choose to submit. I think it's an enjoyable track, I really like the airy instrumentation and overall feel, and would like to see it have some more arrangement diversity. Hope this helps!

Nothing at all. You're just my first victim.

I would love to join, except I don't have an internet connection at my apartment.

looks like you'll be the first person I cut my teeth on. give me a day or two to give a proper listen and put my thoughts down.

anyone that I try to it explain to, gives me a blank look.

I can give you a YES, no problem.

It's worked in politics forever.

maybe compared to some people, but I have a huge list of artists I can look at and think welp, might as well give up. and you know what? so do they. so it's all relative, and I think you have to be careful comparing yourself to others too much, or it can be a real bummer. you should do it SOME to get inspired, but too much and you'll go into a depression. when it comes to making music we are all special little snowflakes, and I am not being sarcastic at all.

2 years, how adorable. I've been at this for over a decade and I still feel like I basically understand nothing. and you can find old dudes on KVR who have been at it for multiple decades and say the same thing. the thing to realize is, self doubt can easily cripple you. so there are boundaries.... one side is arrogance where you don't grow because you don't strive to improve. the other side is being paralyzed by self doubt and not growing because you don't get anything done. you have to walk in the middle. understand your weaknesses and work to improve them, while realizing there are newbies who would look at you and say wow, that guy knows what he's doing. so look at peoples music that you look up to and say, ok, what are they doing right that I am not. and then try to do it.

I can understand Larry and djp when they express interest in hearing about the process, but honestly most of the time I don't have all that much to say about a track. it's like, here's a track, I was feeling this genre at the time, hope you like it. this idea came from Patrick Burns Balance and Ruin track, which I really like. and like djp says ambient is relatively rare here. so I had a hankering to do some. I guess the unique challenge of this track was designing animal and other sfx that are shout outs to the original forest sounds, rather than just ripping the ones from the game. my favorite occurs about halfway through. half speed, actually.

wow, this must be a lucky time of year for me.