Level 99

Sending you a PM but yeah, you have a good chance. If it gets tossed back you'll know exactly what to fix.

This sounds good to me, go ahead and sub it.

Strings are lush but the attack feels very unnatural. See what you can do to tweak that. Otherwise this is pretty kickass.

This is pretty good! In fact its good enough that I really only have two crits: I think you can do a lot more with the percussion here. As much as the tambourine sample is good for keeping it going, I'd love some more typical cymbal work as the genre has. Also a more cutting snare. Another thing that could use work is your transitions. Sections change and it doesn't feel like anything is happening. Try to pack a little more energy or variety in how things progress would greatly improve the song! I'll keep on listening for more crits but those two are pretty big on my list. Loving the style and production thus far though!

Definitely SUBMIT THIS (make sure it has a high enough bitrate though, definitely bump it to 192 kbps) I think this easily reaches the bar. Best of luck!

I'd love to hear some analog warmth on that pluck synth! Some other recommendations would be to add a gated pad to rhythmically and harmonously reinforce the track. This one is close, though. I love the arrangement. Work on the intricacies of the track with little touches and additions.

Yeah, this is a bit too unfocused as it is. There's definitely improvement from your first take at it, but you need to work on beefing up the core ideas before moving on. It feels like each section of the mix is JUST getting started when it changes direction. The first minute and the last minute should be worked together, the middle section might not be worth including in this particular song. Other things to work on are humanizing the piano (or changing it to a different instrument), throwing in some bass, and embellishing the chords in the progression so its easier to feel the flow of the song. Interested in seeing this continue to evolve!

Okay, MAYBE new categories....next year. Not fair to the six people who've already voted. Also there will be a live episode tonight at 8 PM EST to finish up what we started on Sunday. We'll still be having our normal Sunday show this week as well, so you're getting double OCAD for free.

This adequately sums up my feelings about this song: A great song for cruising or cramming homework. Anso never fails to impress, and Deia never fails to woo.

This song helps me get through the drive to work in the mornings during frogger-style traffic. Definitely a highlight of the album. This song goes through some really cool instrument switchups and always has that feeling of moving towards a battle both varied and menacing. The production is pretty damn good, too, though I feel that some sections tend to get a little stagnant without a solid melody (i really wish that flute made more of an appearance, like emu mentioned).

Shame this thread had to get started over. Not familiar with the game at all, or the music for that matter. The song is pretty stock once it actually gets started. The samples haven't aged terribly well and most of the song feels too empty. The drums could have used some work as well. Would like to hear some more from this game though!

Sublime, lush, gorgeous. Really I don't know how else to describe this. Justin, you know how to work samples so well it hurts. This song uplifts and inspires as the melody keeps driving and moving.

Okay, folks, just calm down and let me say this WE REORDERED THE DAMN SHIRTS OKAY They are on their way. Edit: also we are seeing girls shirts being prototyped at the moment. Further investigation is needed.

Yeah, it no longer exists. Marking this as WIP since there's no song.

As per our staff discussion, please make a design with either Jose's head wearing Brushfire's hat, or a ham sandwich. kthx

I'm having trouble hearing the bass but this was a really unique take on the source. Can't say I'm a huge fan of the genre or the aesthetics but I think that, as long as production flies, this should pass.

Sounds pretty good but there's some pops and clicks throughout that I think are due to the clean guitars or the bass. Might want to check on that. Other than that, the guitars are solid and the arrangement is pretty awesome and just needs a bit of mastering tweaking to bring out the best of all the instruments.

Pretty much it right here. Also there's some underlying dissonance in some of the chords. Personalize the shit out of this and then send us an update!

Yeah, this one basically just needs some intense drums and it should be good to submit. And I mean you can keep the light and flaky stuff because its good for rhythmic complexity but give this a mighty kick, a cracking snare, and a ringing ride cymbal with some other embellishments and BAM it will be majorly kickass.

I understand the need for sidechaining but the amount of volume pumping is a bit on the extreme side. Lessen the compressor about 5db if not more. Also, there's some near-distortion for instruments like the snare and the bass so make sure nothing is clipping anywhere. Arrangement is pretty good, though some of the instruments sound a tad generic and a few sections border on the repetitive side, but overall it is quite enjoyable. Tweak the production slightly as indicated above and this should be good to submit.

It will take me a little bit to really comment on the source usage but I'll give production and arrangement crits now. First, some really competent drum processing on your part. Be proud of that! However, it is slightly tarnished by the kit being a bit burried and muddy in the mix. If you can separate each part of the kit (Kick, Snare, Toms, Cymbals) and EQ tweak them to sit better in the mix, that would help a lot. EQing drums is a tricky thing to nail but resources online and trial-and-error will really help this. Now for the big issue: the guitars. The sequencing is decent, but its too rigid. Adding a slight quantization "random" factor offsetting some notes by a microscopic amount can help it feel more natural. The tone and processing however need a lot of work. It sounds like theres a flange on the whole thing, either that or two distortion boxes in a relay and its making the entire tone suffer. Also the EQ on it is very narrow and too high-end focused. Lastly, double tracking guitars with hardpanning would clear up the center of the mix and widen the sound. I would recommend using different samples or recruiting a real guitarist from the forums. If you end up sticking with samples, you can dual track by duplicating the guitar track and doing a different quantization random offset for each. The overall mastering is okay too, but see if it can be improved once the guitar and drum issues are fixed. With some elbow grease this has the potential of being postable! I will post additional crits as I have them.

Slick arrangement. I love the intro with the vintage piano processing (iZotope Vinyl?). This is a really good take on the source, and I feel that it has a good chance of passing. Seeing as you've already sub'd it, dunno how much good my crits are now but I'll give them anyway. Only real crit is the arpy synth at :45 sounds bland and generic (in general it doesn't fit). Next time, or if it gets rejected, try it with a bell synth and added a phaser to it. It gets better when it becomes more processed as the song goes on. The melody could have been used a bit more to tie in the source and make some of the emptier sections feel fuller, such as the last section of the song before the piano comes back in. The song could have also been expanded to really grow and explore other arrangements of the theme. More piano usage and interplay between piano and synth would have been a neat concept to have used to fancy up the melody line. Just an idea! Transitions are good, production is good with room for improvement. No qualms with instrument mixing, did a good job there. Best of luck with this!

Nope. Never. REQUIRED ANSWERS.

http://www.8bitx.com/OCAD/?p=819 Episode 79 - My Indentured Asshole Also go check out that page for info on the OCADemy Awards voting. It ends December 17th at 8 PM EST.

This is gonna be one big orgy. I think we're gonna need a bigger swimming pool. Edit: I'm already having to dress up once during the con. Top hat and bikini, so I'm unsure of how much extra clothes I'd want to lug.