Wiesty

Mod Review Nice work for your first remix on this site! There are some really cool things going on here both arrangement wise and sonically.... Arrangement: I like how this piece sneaks in and slow builds intensity until 0:34, great intro on this one! I'm not a huge fan of the organ that comes in right at 0:35 however...We get this awesome and energetic intro with a very hi-fi sort of a sound and then get pelted with a sub-par organ sample....maybe swap that out with something? It doesn't sound bad in the background but when it's by itself it is pretty weak. I like the breakdown section that comes in at 1:54...nice break from the intensity of the first half. I would maybe milk the first part of the breakdown and hash out some ideas to give the song some more variation before the crazy build up (which is great by the way). After the break down section you need to throw in some more variation 2:29-3:15 is too simlar to 0:40-1:53. There is variation in the melody (we get some of the upper harmonic lines), but the backgrounds are still the same, the drum beat/bass is still the same, so it begins to sound very meandering. See if you can add some different instruments/rhythmic ideas here to make this section stand out from the beginning. I think the ending is the strongest part of the arrangement...love the descending chords at 3:15 and how the ending keep this kind of subtle yet growing intensity....great ending! Production: Overall not bad, but it does seem a bit squished for my ears....the synth and filter sweep at around 0:14 already starts pumping the mids too loud. I think the bass could definitely use some EQ here to give it more of its own space. The patch seems to encroach into the mids so we get lots of mids here but the low end is a bit lacking for my taste. Careful with the loud sections like 0:29 and 2:05. These start to sound very compressed for my ears and you can hear the volume pumping. EQing your instruments to give them their own space will free up some energy and volume but just be careful that your compressor isnt pumping too hard. Other than that it could definitely use a proper master and a boost in the high ends to give it some clarity/frontal sound. I think this falls a bit short of OC standards but with some arrangement work and a bit of tidy up in the production it will be ready....Some very solid ideas here!

Hi everyone! I thought I'd post a thread in here to make it official that the OC Jazz Collective is currently working on their second ABSOLUTELY FREE OC Remix Album! The entire crew from Chronology returns to bring you some more jazz, this time in the form of a tribute to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. We've got some new faces on board as well and as per usual are open to arrangers who would like to submit their arrangements for us to record! Currently we do not have a working title for the album but we will keep you updated with this thread as we progress! Looking forward to bringing you more music! -Currently seeking visual artists! -Currently seeking arrangements! Musicians XPRTNovice- Alto/Soprano Anthony Lofton- Tenor Sax Sir Jordanius- Trumpet John Stacy- Horn/Trumpet Fratto- Trombone DrumUltima- Vibraphone Nostalvania- Piano Andy Pearce- Guitar Jay Yaskin- Bass Wiesty- Drums Arrangers Wiesty Nostalvania John Stacy Amphibious Protodome Fratto Jorik Bergman

Don't worry, it takes a lot of time to develop ears for mixing, I've been doing it for years and still suck at it. Best thing you can do is get into a good studio monitor setup so you're hearing what is actually there.

Definitely needs some sort of melody or hint of a melody, as right now it just sounds like a backing track. It's a solid start for an arrangement but needs to go places and will need some variation in intensity/direction etc. In terms of the mix it sounds VERY mid heavy to me. You're going to need to do some EQ to add some spaces between the instruments. The drums way back in the mix and the bass is pretty calm compared to the blaring mids we get from the guitar. I would EQ the instruments to give them their own sonic space first, that is get rid of any unneeded low frequencies in the Guitar to leave that all for the bass so you can boost the bass up. The highs need a boost as well so that the cymbals really cut, it will add a ton of clarity and definition.

Shnab is the gold standard of vgm

Rockin' the classic Wharfdale diamonds!

I'm going to chime in on this one as well since it doesn't have an official "eval" yet eval Loving the chip-tuney sounds here, gives it a completely different texture while still sounding similar to the original. The stereo space here in general is nice, and the ping-pong panning you've done on the instruments works out well. That being said I'll agree with the others in that this is basically a clone of the original song; it needs some variation. Interestingly enough you bring in Mining Melancholy at the end just as the song is fading out. Smart decision, but this could have given you minutes of new material and given it much more variation if you had introduced that earlier and played with the idea. There are maybe a couple of nitpicky production/arrangement things I could get into here but honestly I don't think this would be rejected on grounds of production, it just needs to be reworked. Play around with adding in Mining Melancholy and I think you'll see all of the different avenues you have.

Digging this Markus! I like the reharm on the B section a lot, its a nice contrast from the vamp happening in the A section. Personally I prefer the chord progression from the original for the A section as it sounds a little more calm/mysterious, whereas this conveys a different mood. 100% personal preference however in those regards. I think the guitar could sit back a bit in the mix, and could maybe use some reverb to blend the piano and guitar a little better. Looking forward to hearing more!

It's been a while since my last eval since life has gotten in the way a little bit but I thought I'd push my comfort area a bit by looking at some electronica! eval Nice work on this one man. I've given this one quite a few listens because it took me a while to decipher how much source material you've used and how much variation you've thrown in. You've done a good job of staying pretty true to the original while using sounds/embellishments to add variation and contrast the original. Personally, I'd like to hear a bit more dynamic contrast in the composition. We get a nice build up in the intro, but other than that it is balls to the wall save for the break down at 00:59 and the thinner section at 1:30. These sections offer a bit of a break don't really change a ton dynamically and so the song can become quite taxing on the ear. I think some of the sounds here also sound a bit generic as far as electronica goes and the "du hast" pad rhythm starts to get a bit tiring, I think mostly because these are things we hear all the time. I understand there are tropes of the genre, but it never hurts to change things up and it can definitely go a long way compositionally. I really like the variations to the melody you bring in starting at 1:58! As far as production goes, it sounds a bit taxing to me on the ears. A lot of this is just the sounds/dynamic shape of the composition (not really a production thing). Part of this as well in my opinion is the stereo space. It feels like a lot of the instruments are very center in the mix so we get this huge build up of energy in the piece and very little feeling of space. It might be good to widen some of the instruments and move some of them around to see if it starts to thin out a bit. I don't quite think this would fly for a YES on the panel yet but it's damn close.

Yes. Yes.... YES. YES!

Any interest in working with the OC Jazz Collective? Shoot me a PM

This track has turned me on to a whole new OST...amazing work.

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I see that the original WIP was from way back in 2011 but awesome that you've made time to come back to it and work on it! Mod Eval There's a lot of interesting concepts here and I really like when arrangers take material that is very synth heavy and take it in a completely different direction. A few things here stick out to me as a bit odd however, the first being the piano. I feel like it could use a bit more humanization as there are some sections where quicker passages really sound unnatural. The first place I heard this was at 0:12. You hear almost a bit of a jitter in the quick notes the piano is playing. Some fine-tuning of the individual dynamics and adding some sustain will do wonders for this. In terms of production I think there are a few things that will help improve the overall mix. One thing is the separation of the piano/strings/flute and the rhythm section instruments tonally. The bass/drums seem to be quite dry and very frontal in the mix which makes it abrasive against the quieter instruments such as piano/strings and flute which are soaked in reverb. You might consider bringing the bass/drums a bit down in volume and also have some sort of common reverb for all the instruments to do some blending. Also, I appreciate the use of vibraslap (or ratchet maybe?) but its VERY dry compared to the rest of the instruments and needs some blending with verb/volume as it really sticks out. I don't mind the string sounds here too much but you can definitely hear a bit of their syntheticness in the quick passages such 1:46. Depending on your library you could probably remedy this with playing around with different articulations/dynamics etc. Often I find it's helpful to know the limitations of your samples. If you have string samples that sound really bad playing fast passages, it might be better to re-write the part for an instrument which can handle the music you've written for it. Composition-wise you've got some great ideas here and as I stated before I really appreciate your treatment of the original melody. There are basically three distinct themes within the original tune and I feel like you've done quite a bit with the first theme (0:01 in the original), a little less with the second (0:27), and nothing (0:51) with the third. Your mix is a bit short so I would maybe introduce some concepts from the third theme and see where that takes it. You might be surprised where it goes! Overall some neat concepts and a cool direction to take the piece but this definitely needs some production work and a little more play on the source material wouldn't hurt. I think the biggest thing here is to balance out that rhythm section and your strings/melody parts. It's not quite ready for submission yet but keep at it!

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Oh man! This is super chill, but still upbeat at the same time. Love the sounds here, and the guitar is fantastic. This song in my opinion is VGM royalty, so its always interesting to see if it gets proper treatment when arranged. You've done well!

I like one winged angel. Fairly standard changes and short.

Sorry for getting to this one so late, holidays and all! mod review (2017 1st edition) Nice work with this one! Given that the source material here is so minimal (it's really only one melody line and then a bit of a latin rhythm motif), I think that you've done a really good job at keeping things varied and playing with the source material! You've used a ton of different sounds here to keep things interesting, and the mixture of synths with electric guitar is always a great package deal in my opinion. Awesome guitar performance here! Interesting that you don't really introduce the "main" melody until about half way through at 2:47 in the guitar. Not a deal breaker for me as I can hear how you've kind of used bits and pieces of it through the piece along with a ton of original ideas. This track seems to be ever unfolding which I find a lot of remixes in this style have trouble accomplishing, so great work on that. Nice build to the finish line, and a very smart choice to bring the melody back in as it really ties it all together! Overall great arrangement here! You've done an amazing job of keeping things interesting with so little to work with. I feel that it's maybe a bit loud for my taste, though it's definitely a kind of "in your face" remix. You remedy this with a couple of nice break down sections however. I particularly like the one at 2:04, but even it is pretty frontal and loud. Hard to say without seeing a wave form on this one, but it might be something to look into as my ears were pretty taxed after a few listens. I'd say this one is ready for the panel!

I've had some sketches of an arrangement for a Cybernator tune for YEARS now....It may or may not make an appearance on the OC Jazz Collective's next album....

Sounds like an awesome idea! If time allows in the future I'd be up for writing something or perhaps singing. I sang in the fabul choir way back in the day though I don't have a credit so maybe @OA never used my files?! Either way, was a lot of fun to collab like that!

Buy an external. Go on ebay and find an old Digidesign Mbox 2...will cost you literally peanuts and has great inputs....

Or they can be epic!

Massive collab from Thieves of Fate contributors under the group name of The Thieves of Fate?

@prophetik music I would love to hop on board man! Hopefully I can get some sort of WIP to you before things fill up...things are a bit crazy over here!

Oh man, here we go radical dreamers v2.0!!!