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Thank you so much for the thorough feedback. This is exactly what I was looking for. I'll check out those articles regarding orchestration as soon as I get a few more free moments. To be honest, I'm using Symphobia Lumina for just about everything here with the exception of the piano (Addictive Keys) and sound effects. Most of the music I've made in the past is nothing like this, so I know I have a *lot* to learn. It's very likely that I'm probably sequencing everything very poorly I'll upload a follow-up once I read up on orchestral production a bit more and tend to the present errors.

This is pretty much my first attempt at an orchestral remix, so I'd like to get some feedback/criticism before I go much further. Don't hold back if you think it's crap. I won't be too offended. https://app.box.com/s/430e6c38wzzn2mvn6w7z

Here's a full length album I've been working on since the beginning of the year. Nearly everything was recorded/performed live with analog equipment. Give it a listen - it's free! https://chrisbouchard.bandcamp.com/album/fever-genesis

Just watched the first episode and thought it was great. I honestly did NOT see this coming from Red Bull. Can't wait to see the rest of the series!

I think you've got a lot going here, so I'll get the criticism out of the way first. The intro, while some elements are executed well, drags on a bit too long. The bass synth is great, and I like how you work it into the original melody later. That said, as far as ReMix standards are concerned, I think you need to put in something more recognizable to the source during the first minute -OR- make the intro a little shorter. The chords that come in around 0:50 sound really muddy. My advice would be to either apply some EQ and change the instrument/synth you're using. As it stands, it sounds a little dissonant/loud. If you turned down that part, then the panned synths at 1:02 will stand out a little more. Things start getting more recognizable at 1:14. Honestly, it would be a vast improvement alone if you cut about 30 seconds out of the intro and got to this point sooner. I really like the lead you use when things get started at 1:27. This part is great, but it ends so soon! The drums stop at 1:39, less than 20 seconds after they started, and it's back to another buildup. Making this section longer to compensate for a shorter intro would work much better IMO. 1:39 - 2:04 is a good place to change some parts up. I hear some new instruments coming in, but they're buried in the mix. Cutting out the bassline and emphasizing the piano during this section will add some dynamic flair. The sounds are a tad muddy at 2:04, but otherwise I like what's happening. The lead is prominent and the drums sound good. Try to tone down the reverb and adjust the EQ a bit to make each individual sound stand out more. Also the part at 2:20 is awesome! I'd love to hear more bits like that. tl;dr I think the mix needs more action. You've got the foundation for a powerful track, but the awesome parts need to be expanded and other instruments like the piano should be given more attention.

I have some experience with both glitch hop and Ableton. I can't speak for anyone else's technique. I can, however, give you a few tips based on what works for me. There are multiple ways to get glitchy sounds. What's really cool about Ableton (and pretty much any other DAW nowadays) is that there are plugins specifically dedicated to glitchin out your sounds. The default "Performance & DJ" folder has some pretty good glitch presets. You can slap one of these plugins over your instrument and get something close to what you want or you can cut up the audio manually and get exactly what you want. Ableton's wave editing functionality is incredibly deep, so I'd recommend dragging in some of the coolest sounds you can think of and spending a good amount of time playing with it. Not only will this give you some hands-on experience with the program, but you might stumble on something that sounds great and end up making a track out of it. Don't be afraid to experiment. Glitched percussion sounds great, but don't stop there. Once you find a way to glitch your sounds, apply it to everything and see what you like. It all depends on the context of your mix; a glitchy Marimba might seem objectively goofy, but if executed properly it could turn a good track into something truly unique. Try to find some free or inexpensive sound libraries and glitch those sounds and layer them with your percussion. Add some additional effects to see if it improves the sound. In my experience, a lot of your best work will result from happy accidents, and the only way to get to that point is to spend a significant amount of time experimenting. In other words, just have fun with it until you stumble across something you really like. Look up some YouTube tutorials. I don't know how new you are to Ableton, but there are plenty of free tutorials on YouTube that can help you get your feet wet. Try to learn a new trick or technique with the program at least once a week. I've been using Ableton for almost three years and I'm still learning new things about it. The tutorials on YouTube are of varying quality, so take them with a grain of salt.

The distortion caught me off guard for a few seconds but I quickly understood where you were going with it. Honestly this is a breath of fresh air and totally worth a listen, if only to hear the excellent sound design. I can see how it could turn some people off and I also had a little trouble hearing the main theme at some points, but still, I really dig this.

Hey all, I've been working pretty hard on an album for my side project: Spiderdactyl. Basically 90% of the music here was recorded live with a Roland SH-101 analog synth. The full album will be released on Halloween, so I'm trying to hype it up as much as possible. Check these tracks out if you like over-the-top analog synths and loud-ass beats. https://soundcloud.com/spiderdactyl/fever-genesis-1 https://soundcloud.com/spiderdactyl/boys-in-space https://soundcloud.com/spiderdactyl/writers-block-1 Even though everything is nearly finished, I'm still open to criticism or constructive feedback. So if you think it sucks let me know why you think it sucks, and I'll be a good sport about it.

Hey Brandon, I just pm'd you the finished version of my track. Let me know if it's worthy!

There are some really cool concepts here. I'll start with the bad and move on to the good. The bass drum definitely needs to stick out more. Some EQ specific compression will make them pop out of the mix. Maybe sidechain the bass drum to one of the arp synths? I'm not too familiar with Reason, so I can't give very specific advice. Tweaking the bass drum a bit so it stands out will vastly improve the mix IMO. This has already been mentioned, but panning some of the synths (and even the hi-hats) will also improve the mix. Also work on changing up the melody a bit more. It's pretty close to the source material as is, and simply adding a breakdown or solo (along with a couple new synths) would work wonders. That being said I really really like the intro. It may be a tad long, but I still like the concept quite a bit. I also like the portamento on the lead synth. The "winding down" parts at 2:17 and 3:10 are also pretty cool. The overall dynamic of the mix would be improved if those softer sections were extended a bit. Take my advice with a grain of salt, because everyone has a different way of doing things. I do, however, think this would have a decent shot of being accepted onto the site if you tended to the issues I mentioned. All in all it's a decent remix, but you have a fair amount of work ahead of you if you want it to be accepted by the judges.

A Link Between Worlds I was floored by how smooth this game is. There were plenty of nods to "A Link to the Past" that had me grinning throughout. My only gripe is that it ended too soon, but that's probably because the whole experience was so enjoyable. Wolfenstein 3D I finally played this all the way through last year. Given the context of the game, and how it was like the first FPS, it's pretty revolutionary. But I gotta say it was kinda bland compared to Doom. Still a great game, and it felt pretty satisfying killing mecha-Hitler. Morrowind I dumped countless hours into this game (and still didn't finish it). I eventually had to stop myself because I wasn't getting any work done. I played the other Elder Scrolls games a bit last year, but mostly Morrowind. Mother As a fan of Earthbound, it was really interesting going back and playing the (maybe official) English translation of its predecessor. It's certainly not as polished as Earthbound, but it was refreshing to play a NES RPG that didn't involve swords, dragons, and castles. I played a few others, but these are definitely the highlights.

Right, I probably should have went into that in my first post. I have quite a few ideas, and at this point I'm not favoring one more than the other. I'd like to remix something from an older JRPG. Obviously Final Fantasy and Chrono games are an option, but I recently played through The Granstream Saga and have been sloshing through Saga Frontier in my spare time and there are a few songs from those games that I would love to get my hands on as well. Also, there are a number of themes from NES games that I'd like to rearrange. Kraid's theme from Metroid, Bubble Man's theme from Megaman 2, and pretty much anything from The Guardian Legend. I know that's quite a bit, but in the time I've been away the ideas have just been piling up. I'm great with FL Studio and pretty decent with Ableton, so I'm down to collab with anyone who uses either of those programs. No rush though, just checking to see if anyone is interested really.

I haven't really been active on this site for like four years (I did that one remix waaaay back), but I've been getting back into music in a big way lately and would really like to collab with one o y'all. I have a few ideas kicking around, but I'm open to suggestions as well. hmu one love peace

Here are a couple more songs I recently finished. Have a listen! Caved-in Chrysalis Fever Dreams I might go back and change some parts, so feel free to fire out some feedback if you think they're total garbage.

Here's a little something I just finished working on a couple hours ago. Have a listen! Word Salad There's also plenty more music on my Bandcamp site as well.

I was expecting the intro to be some kinda teaser, and that once the song actually kicked in, it was gonna blow me away, but it didn't. This sounds really really really really MIDI-ish. The 30 second intro is just one instrument playing the lead melody, and everything after that is just a MIDI drumloop... with one instrument playing the lead melody. There's no bassline, no chords, no countermelody, just the lead melody and a MIDI drumloop. It does sound like you're playing the song yourself on a keyboard, so if you were, props for learning the song. If this was just a 'for fun' thing to learn how to play the song, then that's cool, but if you want to get this on the site, then you're gonna have to completely start over, and focus on re-arranging the source, filling up the arrangement, and using better samples and sounds. My advice would be to read this: http://www.ocremix.org/info/Submission_Standards_and_Instructions and then go to the ReMixing forum for advice on getting better sounds and samples, and just mixing in general. Best of luck on any future projects!

This isn't bad. The drums (which you already addressed) and bass sound pretty fake, but the brass samples are surprisingly good (I'm not an expert on brass though, some people may still complain). The piano is kinda stiff too, and almost sounds MIDI-ish. Definitely get some better piano samples, man. I'll give some more detailed feedback once you post more, but this so far this sounds like a pretty good re-interpretation of the theme.

In my defense, having the aggressive drums offset the rest of the arrangement was intentional, but the thing you brought up that happens at 1:03 wasn't. Yes, I used a multiband compressor, and yes, I'm aware that I compressed the shit out of the drums here (and throughout the whole mix, really), so I guess my next logical step would be to calm the drums down a bit by making moments like 1:03 sound a little less grating. Anyway, thanks for the feedback!

First off, and most importantly IMO, I think something needs to be done with that bass drum. This mix seems to be built around a 4/4 beat, but the bass drum is often being drowned out by the rest of the arrangement. The drums in general are pretty static and repetitive, but I thought the sleigh bell sample was a pretty nice touch that certainly added to the mood of the mix. The part at 0:41 where the other pads come in sounded really nice at first, but after a few seconds, some of the chords almost sounded kinda dissonant. Not that that dissonant chords are always a bad thing, but there are definitely some heavily dissonant moments in here that I think kinda distract from the nice, cheery, winter feel that was intended for the mix, at least I'm assuming that's what your intent was. That, and some of the samples sound kinda fake, namely the trumpets. The trumpets might not sound as bad if they were maybe playing the chord progression (layered on top of some other samples) as opposed to the lead parts, where they really stick out like a sore thumb. Also, this is lacking a good bassline. The steady 4/4 beat you're using is practically begging for a good bassline to go along with it. Then again, some mixes sound great without a bassline. A good example of this is a Mega Man 8 mix on the site called 'frostydelight' by DjChako. Like this, it has a wintery theme, and the lack of a bassline makes it very cold and barren sounding, which may or may not be the type of sound you're going for. But IMO it's a good example of a mix that can kick ass even without a bassline. So, I guess the whole bassline thing is up to you. I haven't heard the original before, but changing up the melody a bit is a good idea. You're on the right track, but like I said earlier, some of it doesn't quite seem to work and the dissonant parts kinda distract from the mood. This needs a lot of work, but for only being your third mix ever, this really isn't bad, so keep it up, man!

Incredible. I love the idea of using voice samples from movies/tv in a mix, but the first few times I heard this, I didn't really think many of them fit. I could see a lot of these clips being used in music somewhere between the late 80's to mid 90's. But then, it hit me. Doom II was released in the mid 90's! So, perhaps the samples are simply referencing that period of time, and the whole "parental discretion is advised" clips are a commentary on how Doom II, along with other violent video games, triggered a lot of controversy in that period of time. Hell, even if I'm completely wrong, this mix still sounds absolutely badass, and now that I've given this a good 5 or 6 listens, I think the samples are a nice touch, regardless of their intent.

This is a remix from Destiny of an Emperor for the NES. I wasn't able to find the source on vgmusic, so I converted the NSF to MP3. If you're not familiar any of the music from the game, you should listen to the source, which I uploaded here As for the mix itself, I tried to make the original sound a little darker and a lot more aggressive. I'd say I'm somewhat close to being finished, but some feedback certainly couldn't hurt either. Anyway, you can download the mix here.

This is something I've been working on for about a year now. There were almost 40 songs made in the process, but about half of them were total shit, but I really liked the others, so I narrowed it down to a nice round 18. This album is a bit less "experimental" than my last release, The Black Widow (which, by the way, I accidentally deleted, if ANYONE has a copy of that, PLEASE PM me or something), but I definitely think it's just as, if not more, interesting. Anyway, here it is! http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XFJD2JPV And of course, feedback, comments, and ego stroking are welcome. EDIT: Okay, one of the songs in that rar was cut in half. You can get a fixed version of the album here.

This is nice, and I'm not just saying that because I have a soft spot for mixes that are titled after an irrational fear and utilize stuttering/gating effects. A few of the synths sound a tad generic, but the pads, gating effects, and overall arrangement make up for it in my opinion.

Hey avaris, I sent you a PM with a finished version of my track for the project. I shoulda sent that sumbitch eons ago, and I'm sincerely sorry if any kind of lack of participation on my part has hindered the project. It's certainly been a while since I've been around these parts. I've been really busy with college (as well as other things) lately, but then again, I imagine most everyone else involved in this project has too, so I guess it's no excuse. On the bright side, it looks like there's 21 completed tracks now! Also, I don't know how close we are to the deadline, but I can still make some minor edits to the track at this point if it still isn't up to par.

Megaman 2 The Guardian Legend Castlevania Final Fantasy Contra Ninja Gaiden Zanac Clash at Demonhead Super Mario Bros. 3 (I know this one seems obvious, but it's up there with my most played NES games ever.) Destiny of an Emperor Vice: Project Doom /thread Edit: Oh, and try out The Adventures of Bayou Billy if you're really looking for a challenge.